Reina Chan
The classics are back! And whichever way you fancy to slice and dice it, the oldies are cool, and can never go wrong, or so this UrbanWire reporter had initially presumed.
Forever Young is an all-kids foray into the golden era, but at first listen, your face is most likely to break out in a fit of spasm-like expressions. It’s only after the fourth or fifth spin that one will gradually come to accept the album in all its childish glory.
Hey, you may even find yourself moving, grooving and bopping like it’s the good old eighties again – with a smidgen of tweenies to the mix.
The Good
Well, if you’re looking for a fun tune to belt out to, “Walk Like an Egyptian” is a fine bet. The children keep it surprisingly sweet and succinct with The Bangles‘ perfect early-morning tune that’s certain to get you singing along to the ‘oh-whey-ohhs’. Another classic to look out for is Captain Sensible‘s Wot, where the budding singers gave it their cute take on the rap.
The Bad
Then again, there’s just something utterly disturbing about kids singing along to songs like AC/DC’ s ‘Highway to Hell’, where they gleefully belt out the lyrics “I’m on the highway to hell, highway to hell, don’t stop me!” – so much so that you can almost feel their happiness reverberating about your earphones.
Chalk it up to the fact that it’s rather absurd for little boys and girls to be singing about the pitfalls of romance (“Tainted Love” covered by shock-artist, Marilyn Manson), one night stands (“I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), and immortality (the mundanely-executed title track, “Forever Young”) when instead, they should be singing good old children songs.
Where vocal prowess is concerned, this isn’t exactly an album with haunting vocals that captivate. It does however, raise the hair on the back of your neck every now and then, for all the wrong reasons – unless you happen to like vocal deliveries that range from whispery to screechy.
The Verdict
A comparatively short album at 37.6 minutes, Forever Young isn’t exactly Grammy Award-winning material.
This Urbanwire reporter couldn’t help but feel like she had stepped through the looking glass to emerge in a kindergarden gone wild as the last track on this 11-track album faded out on her iPod.
Sure, credit has to be given to the aptly titled album for it does attempt to showcase the crystal clear innocence of the children’s voices via the delivery of songs.
But it all goes downhill from there because sometimes, just sometimes, classics are simply meant to remain the way they originally are composed. Any major alteration is akin to insulting the great giants of our music history, not to mention that the children singers spin a less than flawless tune.
I won’t go as far as to say that this is one compilation of songs you should avoid at all cost. It just depends on whether this is your cup of tea.
If you like solid karaoke versions of oldies a la a primary school freestyle choir then this is yours for the taking.
Urbanwire rates Forever Young 2 out of 5 stars.