For this review, we'll be going back to a stellar album of Beatleseque goodness that 'Drake & Josh' star Drake Bell released in 2006.
Release date: 5 December 2006
Record label: Universal Motown
Genre: Power pop, pop rock
Best songs: "Makes Me Happy", "I Know", "Fallen For You", "Fool The World", "Do What You Want", "Rusted Silhouette"
Worst songs: "End It Good"
Rating: 10/10
NOTE: Skip to second paragraph to skip background info.
Ah, Drake Bell. Most of reading this will know who he is... because of me. But I don't praise someone without good reason, and this album is a very good example of that. Drake Bell's an amazing musician, showing prowess on several instruments. While he's mainly a guitarist, he's a pretty good pianist as well. And his range is really good, especially in his later works. Now, for those who don't know, Drake Bell's an actor/musician who got his start at the age of 5 in several commercials, notably one memorable one for the video game 'Pokemon Red & Blue', and a nice little role in Tim Allen's 'Home Improvement'. He later, when filming the 2001 film 'Chasing Destiny', got his initial guitar lessons from The Who's Roger Daltery. And Daltery clearly had an influence, as he went on to take guitar as his primary instrument, and his music from 2005-2014, encompassing three studio albums, got major influences from the 1950s and 1960s, and a bit of 1980s as well. He later went on to star on Nickelodeon's 'The Amanda Show', and 'Drake & Josh', where he had his breakthrough roles. Now, to music. Bell's most successful record, it shot him to super stardom in Latin America. While it only debuted at #81 on the Billboard 200, with 23,000 copies sold (it later went on to sell 200,000 copies in the US), and he only had a song reach the Bubbling Under chart, in Mexico, the album was a Top 5 success, and yielded the #1 single "I Know". Which led to him to selling out Auditorio Nacional, a venue with over 10,000 people, and performing to 50,000-60,000 people on several occasions... and that record was 'It's Only Time'.
I didn't understand it at the time, but if this came out from a current Nickelodeon star, I'd be astonished. Most artists from Nick are putting cookie-cutter pop... and here we get Beatles harmonies, references to Norma Jean, Mildred Davis, and Harold Lloyd, and production that sounds like it was largely influenced by Abbey Road Studio. Colour me intrigued. Now let's get to the tracks themselves. "Up Periscope" is a breezy jam that could've fit well in the summer, with obvious references to sex. It opens up with a monologue of a... submarine captain? This guy has been listening to 'Yellow Submarine' or something? And while there are some cheesy lines like "Don't you want to be the captain of your submarine?", which sounds like he wants to ride her, not the other way around, Bell's charisma pays off. The second track, the lead single "I Know", which was promoted at TRL, became huge in Mexico, and reached over 20 million views on YouTube. Opening up with really good instrumentation, the piano diddly is clearly very 60s influenced. It's clear the girl's despreate for love, and she'll take anyone who will fulfill her fantasy. This track's surprisingly accusatory despite it's more upbeat sound. Calling her out as "the pride of every fake that comes around". She's just a groupie who isn't in any way talented and just hangs out with celebrities all the time. But he does acknowledge they're both in the wrong, and that he's in love with her, something not a lot of people can do... I'll give him some credit.
Then we get the track "Do What You Want". Another piano driven song, the relationship doesn't appear to work out after the break-up, as they're pretty angry. He does censor out the cursing, but Bell tells her to just do what she wants, be free, live how you want, if that's what you want. It's clear she doesn't want this anymore. And he just wants to be done with it. The anger really shows here, and it's a pretty damn good song. Now, the title track, has a bigger gear towards guitar on this song. Oddly enough, the lyrics seem to tell that he's cheating, and "It's Only Time till you find out", and it's because she wasn't appreciative enough. Hmm... okay. Not going to typical route of saying "sorry". "Found a Way" is next, of course the 'Drake & Josh' theme song. I'm not too fond on the acoustic version of track, his delivery doesn't fit the acoustic backing. Still decent though. The second single, "Makes Me Happy", reminds me largely of "Baby's Coming Back" by 80s power pop band Jellyfish (believe me, hear the guitar line in both songs), and it's a pretty upbeat love song about how this girl makes him happy, and it's basic, but effective all the same. Damn catchy too. Now I don't even know what "Fool the World" means, but it's piano line sounds so 60s, I just couldn't not love it. "Everyone would love me if I could fool the world", hmm... what I got from this, is Drake doesn't have to be honest about who he is, and if he fooled the world, everyone would love him. Pretty interesting I guess. Now, what followed was a interesting medley.
"Fallen For You" starts it with references to Jelly Shoes of the 80s and 90s... okay. And he name drops Buddy Holly, Betty Page, and Norma Jean. Seriously, I'm just thinking this kid was really born in the wrong era. He likes classic girls, I guess. I do wonder why he should lie about his age, though. Is she older? I mean, he was dating Stevie Ryan at the time, and she was a bit older, so maybe it was her? Sounds sweet. "Rusted Silhouette", once again, loving the 60s feel. Sounds like something I could see Paul McCartney putting out. Drake here, appears to have been friend-zoned, after "Falling For You". He gets cocky, calling her a "lucky one" that he's coming over, but she wouldn't have it. It's a very dreary track for just being rejected, saying he likes her company more than a "sympathy symphony". Now, "Break Me Down" is a medley of both songs, where he takes about him wanting to get his "78s and 45s" back after a break-up... seriously, man. Retro references all over. And finally, we get "End It Good", which goes even more retro and sounds like a ragtime song from the 1910s. And it's pretty good, albeit, short, and really goofy and cheesy, with again, another retro reference, to B.B. Daniels. It also features vocals from the late Stevie Ryan, and does end the album "good", I guess.
All in all, this was a really amazing record that I'd recommend for any Beatles fan, especially of their weirder stuff or records like 'Yellow Submarine' or 'Abbey Road' or 'Rubber Soul'. 10/10, I'll take this over whatever kid pop star's putting out a record now. So, thanks for reading, I will be reviewing Taylor Swift's 'Red' next, so stay tuned for that.
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