Search - Elliott Yamin :: Elliott Yamin

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 7/5/2023...

One hit wonder with Wait for You.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Worth the Wait

Gabriel Oak | Middletown, CT USA | 03/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well, we've had to wait quite a while for Elliott's CD but I have to say he has done a fine job. His voice sounds great and several of the songs deserve to be hits. My personal favorites are You Are the One, Trainwreck, I'm the Man, Wait for You, Take My Breath Away, and A Song for You. I heard the whole CD on AOL music and I received my Amazon order today, right on schedule.



Someone else posted that they thought all the songs sounded the same. I don't agree. Elliott sings his heart out on each track and makes each song his own.



I do think the lyrics are sometimes too simple but that does not take away from the quality of the album.



And the album gets even better after the first listen.



Now I just hope those who didn't watch American Idol will buy the CD, too. They are in for a huge treat.



BTW, there are bonus tracks at other places to buy the album and Elliott does a fantastic version of Whiter Shade of Pale."

American Idol's Underdog Competitor Shares His Day In The Su

J. E. Barnes | Bayridge, Brooklyn, New York | 03/28/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'American Idol' presently holds a strange position in contemporary American culture. Watched religiously each season by millions of Americans from every walk of life, the program continues to be disparaged as the ultimate in lowbrow entertainment by many prominent media figures. Note, for example, how MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Joe Scarborough regularly ridicule and mock the American Idol phenomenon, while CNN's Larry King and Fox's Bill O'Reilly treat it with varying degrees of curiosity and respect (whatever their primary motives may be).



Among the faux-sophisticates of New York City, many of whom claim to reject both regular television viewing as well, in some cases, as television ownership, watching `American Idol' is also proof of an individual's blatant lack of cultural development and taste. Enthusiastically discussing the program in public, whether in a cafe, while riding the subway, or around the proverbial office water cooler, is, for the 'hip,' a cardinal sin of the first magnitude (nevertheless, Yamin's recent appearance at Time Square's Virgin Megastore drew telling record crowds).



But as no-nonsense cultural critic Camille Paglia underscored more than a decade ago, television IS American life, and has never been more so than in 2007, when access to cable and satellite television practically ubiquitous in this country, despite increasing competition from the internet.



More to the point, there is a lively record of public competition throughout history; it's fairly safe to say that public competition was one of the first forms of entertainment among ancient, even primitive, man. Thus, in essence, American Idol is only the latest incarnation of a literally age-old tradition, and one that assists in bringing a divergent range of people together to share a pleasurable and occasionally educational experience.



Genuinely sophisticated persons probably agree with writer and novelist Rebecca West, who, some eighty years ago, said, "What a boring place the world would be if there were only room for first-rate art." Such individuals might be conversant in the works of Euripides, Dante, Chaucer, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Milton, and Blake, and may know an Ionic column from a Doric, but probably also enthusiastically enjoy watching reruns or DVD collections of 'Rawhide,' '77 Sunset Strip,' 'Green Acres,' 'Keeping Up Appearances,' and/or 'Entourage.' Thankfully, when it comes to music, people everywhere aren't limited to listening to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Satie, and Richard Strauss.



Even when considering previous seasons of American Idol, Elliott Yamin was arguably the show's ultimate underdog. Comparatively short of stature, initially of awkward physical appearance, 90% deaf in one ear, a diabetes sufferer, and of Jewish/minority heritage, in addition to his beautiful voice, Yamin had one quality that set him apart from most of the other contestants: like previous winner Fantasia Barrino, Yamin had genuine soul. He sang, and in singing, cast a shadow across the stage and screen that directly touched the hearts of millions of American viewers. Ace Young, Bucky Covington, and Katherine McPhee might have been better looking, but Elliott was more lovable--and talented.



Who will ever forget Elliot's semi-triumphant return to his home town of Richmond, Virginia, advancing down a thoroughfare in an open convertible as the throngs of the Richmond population cheered him on, the tears streaming down his face--and down the face of his mother?



A year after the end of season five, Yamin has released his first album, an event many feared might never come to pass. Highly listenable throughout, 'Elliot Yamin' is, first and foremost, real music, the kind of genuinely moving, grooving, touching, and comforting music rarely produced since in this country since the mid-Seventies.



Though many of the lyrics err on the side of the generic, most of the songs are catchy in the best kind of way, and Yamin's vocals, which are disciplined without any sacrifice of energy or spontaneity, soar far beyond anything heard during his tenure on American Idol.



This is an album that deserves to go right to the top of the charts, be played on radio stations everywhere, and reach as large and diverse an audience as possible. The appeal of its pop-jazz-soul fusion may be universal.



Four songs are particularly riveting: 'You Are The One,' 'I'm The Man,' 'Trainwreck,' and especially 'Free,' which is the kind of joyous, driving, and potentially liberating youth anthem the world hasn't heard in thirty years. When Elliott emotes on these tracks, the listener believes him--and believes in him--utterly.

















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