"Love Is Dead," the freshman album by Estonian pop star Kerli, was released on July 8, to generally positive reviews. I'm going against the grain on this one, however — I completely disagree.
Kerli is an Estonian singer whose debut album, "Love is Dead," was released last month.
"Love is Dead," was released last month.
Kerli established herself back in 2004, when she entered the Eurolaul, an annual competition to select a song that goes on to represent Estonia in the year's Eurovision Song Competition. She finished second and was not heard from again in the music world until "Love Is Dead."
And I've got to say, I'm not impressed. The song setup is standard — a mix of up-tempo pop songs, dramatic ballads, etc., all tending to stay within the three- to four-minute realm.
The songs have an obviously intentionally creepy gothic edge to them, referencing the predictable bats and cats and death.
Her album cover, a cold black-and- blue image of a deathly looking bride (representing Kerli, I suppose) clutching a stitched-up rabbit in front of a silhouette of twisted tree branches and a couple of crows, certainly goes along with the gothic theme. As a matter of fact, she appears to have completely stolen the look and feel of this image from Tim Burton's "The Corpse Bride."
The album is produced in such a manner to follow this gothic theme, full of dark string arrangements to backdrop Kerli's vocal performance. It was here — in the production — that I saw a good deal of potential for this album to take a stand of originality. And it was here that, once again, "Love Is Dead" disappointed me.
It has been declared that Kerli "dares to be different." If so, why must she hide these interesting string sections behind radio-friendly drum/drum-machine beats and pop arrangements that guarantee the songs will sell but rob them of their originality?
Kerli, rather than daring to be different, has chosen to follow the formula.
Even her gothic image and lyrics that strive to be darkly poetic are far from daring, or even different. We live in a time where the music industry is no longer seeking the pure bubblegum-pop stars of the late '90s, unless they are aimed at a younger audience (i.e. Hannah Montana).
So Kerli has given her image and song style a slight twist and can therefore be taken seriously in the music world.
But when it comes down to it, she's still just another radio-friendly pop star. She's just packaged slightly differently.
The one aspect of "Love Is Dead" that does come to Kerli's rescue is her vocal performance. Indeed, she has a unique voice.
Her vocal range is fairly limited, but she manages to let her notes soar just enough and present her singing in such a way to always keep the listener interested.
This is certainly far from the worst album of the year. Anyone who's looking for something new, however —something truly "daring" — well, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere.
FYI
WHAT: Kerli, "Love is Dead"
COST: $7.99
PURCHASE: www.kerlimusic.com
NOW PLAYING
• The Coffee Co., 1638 Lititz Pike, Lancaster; all shows 7 to 9 p.m., including:
Tonight: Frank Amanze — acoustic rock, blues and folk
Friday: Frank Velardo — soul jazz, from Coltrane to Hendrix
Saturday: Watch Out for Children with Jordan Rast — folk, old time and originals
Thursday, Aug. 28: Leanne Spurlin — acoustic rock
Friday, Aug. 29: Acoustic Nostalgia Jack French & Todd Borkey — soft acoustic rock from the '60s to today
Saturday, Aug. 30: The Back Porch Gang — country and bluegrass
• Chameleon Club, 223 N. Water St., Lancaster:
7 p.m. today: Everclear; $16.50 in advance, $18 day of show; 18 to enter
7 p.m. Saturday: Saving Jane; $10 in advance, $12 day of show; all ages
6 p.m. Wednesday: We the Kings; $9.70 in advance, $12 day of show; all ages
• Hersheypark Stadium:
6:30 p.m. Monday: Allman Brothers Band, with Bob Weir and RatDog; $39.50 to $65
7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28: Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick; $39.75 to $125
• Giant Center, Hershey:
8 p.m. Sunday: Rascal Flatts; $55.75 and $75.75
• Champion Ship, Lemoyne; all shows are all ages:
5:30 p.m. today: This is Hardcore Fest with Forfeit, Foundation, Barricade, The Carrier, Reignition and 1-2 More; $8
6:30 p.m. Friday: Farewell Flight CD release show, with Kingsfoil, Kohi on the Roof, Raise Up Roof Beams and more; $8
6 p.m. Saturday: My America Is Watching Tigers Die, with Girlfight, Of the Few, Lucy and Seas We Fear to Sail; $7
6:30 p.m. Wednesday: Cold World, with Strength for a Reason, No Turning Back and Barricade; $10
6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29: August Burns Red, with A Skylit Drive, Sky Eats Airplane, Greeley Estates, This or the Apocalypse and A Late Night Serenade; $12 in advance, $14 day of show
• Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, N.J.:
6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30: Brad Paisley with Jewel, Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough; $30.75 to $55.50
• Festival Pier, Philadelphia:
8 p.m. Saturday: Rascal Flatts; $37.50 to $77.50
5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30: Crue Fest with Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, SIXX:A.M. and Trapt; $29.50 to $95
• Crocodile Rock Cafe, Allentown
7 p.m. today: Jimmie's Chicken Shack, with Euphoria, Recent Hours and Kinsey; $12
7:30 p.m. Friday: The Stone Cult, with Maddam Ink, Rest Assured, SugrHi, First Strike, Overlook and Narco Lolo; $10 in advance, $12 day of show
8 p.m. Saturday: Everclear; $13 in advance, $15 day of show
4 p.m. Sunday: Battle of the Bands with Weather Birds, Neglected Youth, Steadfast, Certain Tragedy, Shapes and Stars, Letallis, My Parasites, Sirus Design, Grieve and Lethean; $10 in advance, $12 day of show
6 p.m. Monday: Bleed the Sky, with Straight Line Stich, Within Chaos, Ekotren, This Fever called Living and Hope Fails You; $10 in advance, $12 day of show
6 p.m. Tuesday: Zebrahead; $13 in advance, $15 day of show
5 p.m. Wednesday: Midterm Break, $10; 6 p.m.: Mystic Dub, $12
5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28: The Anix, with Kelsey and the Chaos, $10; 6 p.m.: Sarai, $13
5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29: Recon, with Stray the Path, Soldiers and Entrails of a, Sillman Father, Dissian, as Life Ends, A Thirst for Failure, $10; 7:30 p.m.: Candlebox, $18 in advance, $20 day of show
6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30: "The Old Man's Birthday Bash," with Old Scool, Trust, Hierosonic, Half Lip, Kinetic Blu, The Rooftops, Underwhelmed, Of Broken, Prop Joe, KNS, nowhere, Gangsta Gook, Letters for Lovers, Dynamite, Artists over Industry, American Halo, Knotz and d.f.m. (drugfreemondays); $10
9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31: The Young Adult Summertime Jump Off; $10 in advance, $15 day of show, $25 VIP in advance, $35 VIP day of show
Tyler Kulfan is a senior at Ephrata High School and the arts and entertainment editor for his school's newspaper, Mountaineer. E-mail him at YourLife@LNPnews.com.
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