Defying Gravity

Comment: Always loved Keith Urban. Wanted to own this CD for awhile. Great songs. Not damaged what-so-ever.

Comment: First of all it must be said that I very much like what Keith is capable of and I have been WAY impressed by the warmth, color, personality and talent displayed in his LIVE acoustic performances. Keith is no doubt a very talented artist of massive (and realized!) potential. Further I am all for stylistic liberties being taken within the country or Americana genres but in what alternate universe is Keith Urban's over-slickly produced boy band caterwauling even remotely considered "country music?!"

I have really tried to like this formulaic and crassly commercial pablum for the masses but I simply cannot get past the WAY overblown production which to me thoroughly obfuscates and drowns all the character of Keith's actual musical personality, talent and heart.

I have seen Keith playing an acoustic guitar and singing live and it was compelling, inspirational, and downright good in a way that drew a person in to enjoy his great vocals - which totally work at the organic level. And therein lies the problem with Keith's recordings: They are so overtly faceless and pop that they could be any flavor of the month pop idol. Not a country star or singer-songwriter (which Keith really is) of any lastingly meaningful resonance.

There is absolutely NOTHING here that makes this stand out against the myriad masses of other over-produced, slick, radio fodder pop idols out there in corporate radio land. This is so slick it is just bland and gutless. BOR-ING!

Any true lover of real organic heartfelt natural music (which country is surely supposed to be on some level?!) would be hard pressed to sit through the insipid entirety of this "look how perfectly sterile and bloodless we can make this music sound" record.

I am really anxiously awaiting the day that Keith makes an acoustically-oriented finger picked less audaciously arranged and ostentatiously produced record where his personal style, the song, and actual quality of his voice are allowed to shine through and inhabit the center of focus.

Keith; the get rich quick commercial juggernaut formula scheme has worked. You no longer need the money nor the media spotlight platform to bring attention to your work. Please take a tip from the vintage recordings of artists such as Loggins and Messina, Dan Fogelberg, early Eagles, James Taylor, and Neil Young (who are no doubt MAJOR influences!), and get some life, heart, blood and breath into your future recordings.

Comment: I think this is one of my favorite Keith Urban albums to date! A few of my favorite songs off this album are: "Kiss A Girl"; "Only You Can Love Me This Way"; "Til Summer Comes Around"; "Sweet Thing"; and "Hit the Ground Runnin." Keith somehow manages to keep making his albums greater and greater as each one is produced. I have always been a fan and I highly recommend this album to any country music fan!

Comment: Ordered the Keith Urban CD Defying Gravity. This is a great CD. Every song is a winner especially Thank You!

Comment: While "Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Thing" was darker, this album is so fun and light! Listeners can hear Urban's passion in every song, every note, every harmony, and every instrument. I loved "Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Thing," mostly because you can hear the struggle, the truth behind every song for Urban himself. The lyrics reflect his life and listeners' own lives. "Defying Gravity" - the very title says it all! Urban has everything going for him right now, and the album reflects that. There are fun songs, romantic songs, and the beautiful "Till Summer Comes Around" ("Hand in hand we cried and laughed, knowing that love belonged to us, girl, if only for a moment"). Every guitar lick screams emotion. I love that about Urban. You can feel what he is saying. This latest album is completely different from "Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Thing," but it is a good different. I look forward to the next one.