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TEDDY GEIGER
RATING: 6
PLAY THESE: THESE WALLS, SEVEN DAYS WITHOUT YOU
SKIP THESE: NIGHT AIR, UNDERAGE THINKING, A MILLION YEARS
The debut release from seventeen year old singer/songwriter/actor Teddy Geiger, Underage Thinking is currently taking the adult pop music scene by storm. The album recently debuted at #8 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart, and his latest single 'For You I Will (Confidence)' is getting an enormous amount of airplay, mostly on the type of radio stations I never listen to. Yes, it certainly appears as though Ted is a rising star. He's young, "cute," and talented, and as such his appeal is quite obvious in the coveted 15-24 year old female demographic. Even his harshest critics will concede that Underage Thinking is a remarkable achievement for anyone, let alone a seventeen year old kid, and it's clear that Teddy possesses some talent. He writes his own songs, and plays a variety of instruments, including guitar, keyboards, and drums. Geiger is also an effective vocalist, with a slightly grittier sound than most of his adult pop peers (i.e. John Mayer), although he's firmly rooted in a "blue eyed soul" kind of thing that will probably turn off most rock fans. Still, if you like glossy, made-for-radio pop, you'll probably eat this stuff up.
So what does Teddy sound like? Well, the bad news is that young Ted hasn't yet developed his own style just yet. Rather, his songs tend to sound like carbon copies of his musical influences, the most prevalent of which seem to be John Mayer, Maroon 5, and Rob Thomas. I don't think I need to explain why this not a good thing. The good news, however, is that Teddy's second-generation parodies are in many cases better than the originals. The most striking example is the album opener 'These Walls,' which basically rips off Maroon 5's 'This Love' right down to the chord progression, rhythm, and melody in the verses. However, the overall performance is much stronger than Maroon 5's, and the fact that we get to hear Teddy's voice instead of Adam Levine's nasally yowl is an added bonus. Ditto for 'Possibilities,' which sounds like John Mayer, but with a hint of passion - a definite improvement, if you catch my drift. However, my vote for the strongest track is the mid-tempo ballad 'Seven Days Without You,' which has a kind of Britpop thing going on. It boasts some nice chord changes, a good melody, and an overall energetic and inspired performance. More than anything, though, it's just a great tune, so hopefully it gets culled as a single in the coming months.
The album does have a few clunkers on it though. 'Night Air' is so generic that it hurts, and the title track is soft, acoustic guitar-based pop a la Rob Thomas with no hooks or melody to speak of. The worst of the bunch, however, is the uber-ballad 'Look Where We Are Now,' which is so yawn-inducing that it just might replace Nyquil as the nation's leading over the counter sleep aid. Ok, ok, it's not as bad as all that, but it's pretty bland stuff. In fact, I would go as far as to state that most of the ballads (i.e. 'Love Is A Marathon' or 'A Million Years') are among the album's weakest selections, which indicates that Teddy would be better off writing a few more faster tunes on the next album.
The final verdict? Pretty good overall, but one gets the distinct impression that Teddy just isn't quite there yet, although he can fake his way through it most of the time. He has yet to develop his own style, which isn't at all surprising when one considers his tender age. The sad thing is, he will probably be hitting his stride in his late 20's, but by then he'll probably be long forgotten. That being said, most adult-oriented rock fans (especially females under the age of 25) will love this album, and there are some impressive moments to be found here. Three out of the four people in my family love this CD (yes, they're all female), so I'm quite certain that my opinions are pretty much inconsequential this time around. Six out of ten.
By the way, this is what I was up to at the age of seventeen...so take that, Teddy Geiger!