Yin Yin
On My Way Here is the 4th studio album by American Idol (AI) Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken. This is a well-crafted album that tells a lot of Aiken’s life experiences – it seems almost as though you are listening to his autobiography.
The album contains 12 tracks, and it is not difficult to spot a diversity of music genres, ranging from ballad to soft rock and to some light R&B; this demonstrates Aiken’s vocal’s versatility. However, most tracks fall into the mid-tempo range though.
His soaring and lush vocal adds a warm and irresistible touch to the album. The lyrics actually carry meanings, unlike the songs that you usually hear in mainstream stations these days.
Title track “On My Way Here”, written by Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic, will predictably be Aiken’s next signature ballad. The smooth rhythm coupled by Aiken’s clear vocal makes this a great opening track for the album.
Talking about learning from past experiences and emerging as a stronger person, the lyrics of this song enocurages the listener to reflect on his/her own thoughts and experiences. “I’ve learned to fly / I’ve fallen hard but I’ve been loved / And in the end it all works out,” Aiken sings.
This helps listeners better relate to the song. Arguably, this song tells Aiken’s tale about what he went through since his second place win at AI in 2003 and it is seen as a good representation of his career and life now.
“Ashes” is a pop song that showcases Aiken’s broad vocal range well, and its catchy beats are bound to set you moving along. “Weight of the World” continues to keep the tempo up with the drums and guitars.
“Something About Us” is a great song to slow dance to with its jazzy quality and the light piano arrangement makes it a relaxing and easy-listen.
“Falling” is worth a good listen, as Aiken impresses with his altered voice, bringing out the soft rock vibe in this song, which is not commonly demonstrated in his tracks. A slightly deeper and raspier voice, an altered voice is commonly used by rock singers who like to play with their voices for effect.
The tempo slows down in the moving ballad “As Long as We’re Here”. Aiken handpicked this track during his UNICEF visit to the Tsunami victims in Indonesia,.
The lyrics are uplifting and talks about cherishing everyone around you before it’s too late. The song starts slow but takes off beautifully after the second verse. His exceptional use of vocal techniques, such as falsetto, in this song makes it a captivating listen. The song stands out from the rest with its usage of a fiddle that gives it a different feel. The track ends soft on a few piano notes, which adds a touch of melancholic quality to the song.
However, it seems that that Aiken’s niche lies with the Adult Contemporary (AC) genre, which may to be his disadvantage as it makes it difficult for his songs to hit the pop charts or even attract much attention from the mainstream stations.
In addition, even though most tracks in this album make the grade in terms of vocal and production, none really grabbed UrbanWire’s attention. Aiken definitely needs to work on a stronger musical identity.
Above that all, if you’re in for some easy listening and AC is in your league, this album is worth the time.
UrbanWire gives Clay Aiken – On My Way Here 3.5 out of 5 stars.