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Dan Powter is one of the current crop of soft adult contemporary artistes who have been "making waves".. along with the likes of James Blunt, Maroon 5 etc. Though they have some similarities in their work, each has their own individual personalities... in Dan Powter's case, two personalities. Daniel Powter, his debut album reflects this dual nature.. part Elton-Johnesque piano balladeer and part funky, falsetto driven Macy Gray impressionist. Both work relatively well. The album revolves around the single "Bad Day" which is everywhere.. thanks to being chosen to be part of the sound of American Idol, the TV show and to its presence on the video and radio charts. The tune has a universally relatable theme.. some one having a bad day, whether its at work, or at home or in love.. could happen to anyone, and features the constant refrain "You had a bad day". My first impression was, "Oh, not another whiny little song!" Still, the melody was hard to ignore. I was gradually warming up to the song over days of constant exposure to it on my way to work, or maybe I was having a few bad days of my own as well (just kidding).. but I was completely converted after seeing the video. The video is about a couple of young people in close proximity in "space", but always thirty minutes apart in "time" in the space time continuum. His schedule is always 30 minutes behind hers. They both have a bad time in the office and eventually meet, at the end of the video.. collaborating anonymously on a piece of graffiti art along the way. The video tells their story charmingly.. it reminded me of the video for the 80s Lionel Richie smash, Hello. It is absolutely worth watching.. and the album is worth a listen, just for this song alone. Moving on to some of the other interesting tracks on the album... Free Loop is a simple melody looping through a simple piano chord progression. Lie to Me has a lively funky rhythm and mostly falsetto delivery. Jimmy gets high is again high on the falsetto content and pleases overall. Styrofoam is another soft piano based composition, but when Powter asks in the song "Isn't this an ordinary song ?" , I have to wonder..however, the piano solo in the middle has a haunting quality to it. Though the rest of the album is overshadowed by the success of "Bad Day" it does have a fair amount of good supporting work on the piano, easy melodies and lyrics that "do the job" without competing for attention. One gets the feeling that we will be hearing more from Daniel Powter, though he probably won't be having a "Bad Day" anytime soon thanks to his chart successes. |
Moody Blue Bad Day lyrics and chords Intro: Eb Ab / Bb Ab |
