Review Summary: Walz returns with a solid collection of songs that seem to have lost the 'soul' in soul-pop.
The mega hit "Wonderchild" became the real breakthrough for Christian Walz in Sweden and in the rest of the world. Critics called the album "Paint By Numbers" a pop wonder and that it proved that Walz was no ordinary artist. The singer-songwriter from Stockholm had learned from his mistakes on his eponymous debut album. He had matured musically, improving his skills in crafting catchy hooks. At the same time, he had also learned to master his unique voice and how to use it to strengthen the soul-influenced songs. Walz's vocals and his vocal melodies formed a deadly combo. And four years later in 2008, his third effort was released: "The Corner". Since his sophomore album was such a great success, and was hailed by many, it was going to be tough to top it. The expectations were high. Could he exceed them?
Walz opens the album with the track "Corner". In honor of his long-awaited return, he sings: "In the gutter; I'm getting up again thinking why". The familiar sneering voice is back. And what a way to do it! "Corner" is what you'd expect from Walz: it has an infectious vocal melody, a mysterious "soulness" to it, while still managing to sound new. Something to keep in mind before going into the album is that it's not a re-hash of "Paint By Numbers". Sure, the concept worked, but it probably wasn't going to work again. And, it had been four years since "Wonderchild" took the pop audience by storm. As an artist, Walz was keen on challenging himself and create something fresh. The thing about keeping things different is that it can backfire. Severely. "The Corner" is an interesting case, though. It
is different. But it's almost bordering on boring and it feels too safe. I get the feeling that he was afraid. He had to keep the hype going and didn't want to risk the success of "Paint By Numbers". Because of this, the album is far too pop-heavy. Opening track "Corner" is the only track on the album that retains the soul sound that made him original. The rest of the songs, while not particularly bad, are just well-crafted pop songs. There are a few exceptions, of course. "Atlantis" is a song that deals with a lot of political questions and criticizes society in general. The lyrics are surprisingly good and the song itself has a great melody. Walz's singing is fantastic as usual, delivering the lines with the right amount of attitude.
Democracy, hypocrisy
Bureaucracy and schmockracy
Feeding lies upon humanity
Selling short due to our vanity
My Atlantis a million miles away
Getting closer, each and everyday
My Atlantis, my Atlantis
No ark nor a hidden way
Nor a hidden way
"Money" is probably the most different song on the album. It sounds a bit out of place but it's still a good song. The verses are melodically tight and the moody bass line drives the song forward. Still, the soul element is missing. Songs like "What's Your Name?", "Loveshift" and "Fade Away" are just ordinary pop songs, something we haven't really heard from Walz before. "What's Your Name?" is certainly the stronger of the three, but still sounds too unoriginal. It has a mildly redeeming factor in the chorus. The other two are nothing special; "Fade Away" is a ballad that fails where the ballads on "Paint By Numbers" succeeded. It isn't as honest and doesn't have enough (pardon the pun) soul. This goes for album closer "Hold My Hand" as well. The song feels empty, soulless and very average. A shame really, since Walz had been praised for being full of soul. "The Corner" as a whole lacks the heart and honesty that his previous album had. Even though it's a solid, well-written pop album, it's just not the same as what we're used to with Christian Walz. Track "A Beat Like Me" is good but is missing that one ingredience: the 'soul' in soul-pop.
It's now been six years since the Swede's third album "The Corner". At the moment he's enjoying life as a producer, collaborating with other artists. The album itself isn't great, and it couldn't meet the expectations set by its predecessor, but it's still a fine album. He still has a sense of melody in him, he just needs to use it better and incorporate the soul a bit more. Has it aged well? Not really; I would stick with "Paint By Numbers". It's far and away his best album and still holds up today. Personally, I hope we'll get to see one more Walz album. But we probably won't. Because everything comes to an end.
Recommended tracks:
"Corner"
"Atlantis"
"Money"
