I know, I know, I know. On my last post I said in my last post that I'd do more reviews that month, but I got lazy (really lazy) and I am so sorry. I will try to not procrastinate as much in the future.
Today's album review will be "Brie Larson's" first, and to date only album, "Finally Out Of P.E." Yes, before Brie Larson became the Academy award winning actress she is today, she was a singer when her album was released 12 years ago. Initially the album was set to be released in the fall of 2004 but due to several delays it was released in October 2005, which was probably why it wasn't as popular or well known. Here's my track by track review:
1) Life After You: The second, and unfortunately final single from the album. It talks about becoming stronger after a breakup. It was the last song recorded for the album and which was one of the reasons why the album was delayed. While it did receive airplay on Radio Disney it it did not have a video and failed to chart. Still a great song. 10/10
2) Whatever: This song was originally going to be the second single but it was later scrapped in favor of "Life After You". The song is about an ex who keeps begging for another chance, but because they screwed up last time you tell that person, "NO!" It's pretty good. 8/10
3) Shoebox: This song is about how you like someone but you're so afraid to tell them how you feel. This leads them to fall for someone else or as the lyrics say "going in the wrong direction." It was supposed to be the 4th single from the album but it was cancelled. 10/10
4) Falling Into History: After a few upbeat songs, we get a ballad. The song is about a relationship that has ended because you fell out of love with them. It's my favorite song on the album and it was supposed to be the 3rd single from the album but likely due to the album's sales it was cancelled. The song was originally recorded by "Avril Lavigne" for her debut album, "Let Go" but while it was not included on that album it did make it's way on youtube along with several other songs meant for that album. I'm not sure which version I like more. 10/10
5) Done With Like: Co-written by "Holly Brook", better known now as "Skylar Grey", this upbeat song is about a short-lived romance or hookup that was "all so pointless". It's catchy but it gets a boring after a couple listens. 7/10
6) Loser In Me: This song is a ballad about wanting to take a break from your real life, whether it be going to school or work or both. Very relatable to everyone (especially teenagers). I used to listen to it a lot during my freshman year of high school and it's still one of my favorites on the album. 10/10
7) Finally Out of P.E.: The title track. Brie has said in an interview that she wrote this song about a P.E. teacher who didn't like her. I can relate to this song except that she was out of P.E. when she was 15 while I had to wait until I was 18 (it sucked!) Anyway the song is pretty good and while didn't win a grammy like she sings in the lyrics "I'm never gonna win a medal, but maybe a grammy", she did win that academy award. I wonder how that P.E. teacher feels though. 9/10
8) She Shall Remain Nameless: This song is about how a girl (snobby cheerleader that you see in the movies) uses her "assets" to get guys to like her while competing again the narrator. In a way it can be seen as a brains vs. brawns situation and I kept thinking the song was called "I Don't Care" because the actual title is never sung in the song. It's very upbeat. 9/10
9) She Said: The first single from the album and it also had a video. In the video, "Brie" works at a fast food restaurant while dreaming of being a musician. The video was pretty good and even got played on "TRL". Sadly, like "Life After You", it's only source of airplay was Radio Disney and it didn't chart. Surprisingly it was the 99th best selling single in the U.S. in 2005 which was pretty good. 10/10
10) Invisible Girl: In the booklet for the album, it says this was the first song "Brie" ever wrote. It was also one of two songs that got her a record deal with Casablanca Records. The song is about being attracted to someone but they don't know you exist. Yeah, we've all been there a few times. Great song but I wish it was longer. 10/10
11) Go Goodbye: Initially called "Go", this was the other song that got "Brie" a record deal. The song is a ballad about breaking up with someone despite it being hard to do, you know that that person isn't the one for you. 8/10
12) Ugly: Continuing with ballads, this song is about not feeling good about not feeling good about yourself despite having a partner who sees your beauty. "Brie" had planned to re-record the song for an Ep in 2008, but the Ep was never released. Lyrically it's great with a beautiful message and I hate to say this, but after a couple of listens I felt it got boring. I wish she had released a new version of the song. 7/10
13) Hope Has Wings: This song was featured in the end credits of the movie, "Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus". Never saw the film but I found this out from wikipedia. Despite not being released as a single, this song does have a video which contains clips of the film as well as Brie singing thesong in a recording booth. The was not was not supposed to be on the album. Originally a song called "Go Your Own Way"was supposed to be there but "Hope Has Wings" replaced it. 9/10
The album is best described as a Hilary Duff meets Avril Lavigne. While the album wasn't a success, "Brie" did stay in music for awhile. She recorded "Coming Around" for the film "Hoot", which she also stared in, a demo of a new song called "Stilts and the Titanic" was posted on her myspace. She also planned on releasing a 5-track Ep (like I previously stated) with songs with a re-recorded version of "Ugly" along with 4 news songs called: "If All Goes Well", "Sharpen My Nails", "Dear Universe", and "Arielle" but it never came. My favorite songs on the album are: "Falling Into History", "Loser In Me", "Life After You", "She Said", "Shoebox", and "Invisible Girl". Out of 130 points I give the album 117 which is 90%, an A.
Thank you for reading this review, I'm sorry it took so long, and I promise I'll do more this month!
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