Much much better than I was expecting! (Dive In - Darius)

Member Name: dippykitty

Product:	Dive In - Darius
Date:	29/05/09 (20 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty of good tracks, a nice mix of faster and slower offerings

Disadvantages: A couple of weak tracks

I know that a lot of people have a low opinion of Darius, as he had a reputation for being cheesy and not very cool. However, I can honestly say that this album is one of my favourites, and I like the majority of the tracks on it. For those of you who are not very familiar with Darius' singing style, he is a singer-songwriter who rose to fame on reality television show, Pop Idol, after coming third. He originally auditioned for the Popstars series but didn't make it into Hear'Say (or Liberty X for that matter). Ironically, he was only included in the Pop Idol live shows after Rik Waller was eliminated due to a sore throat, but went on to come third after changing the public's perception of him.

***Colourblind***
This was the first single release from the album and hit # 1 in the UK charts. It has acoustic guitar style backing but is still essentially a mid-tempo poppy track that sticks in your mind effectively. As the most successful track on the album, it seems fitting as the album opener. As a nod to the title, the lyrics feature a lot of references to various colours (for example, "Feeling red/ When you spend your time with your friends and not me/ Feeling black/ When I think about all of the things that I lack".

***Rushes***
This track is a bit faster than Colourblind. Like that song, it is also pretty catchy and commercial. Darius demonstrates his ability to move into a higher register on this track and there are some nice touches in that respect. This was the follow-up single to Colourblind, although it wasn't as successful.

***Incredible (What I Meant To Say)***
This is another commercial mid-tempo track that was released after Colourblind and Rushes. Despite the fact that the theme of the song revolves around a relationship that is either failing or has already broken down, it is very cheerful and nowhere near as melancholy as you might expect from a song on this subject.

***Girl In The Moon***
This is a slower track, and the slowest on the album so far on the tracklisting. It is well sung and his vocals sound lovely, but I am not really very keen on this track and find it quite dull to be honest. Because of this, I tend to skip past it. It was released as a single but I am not really surprised that it did not chart very well as it is quite a weak track and not strong enough to be a single in my opinion.

***I'm Not Buying***
As with Incredible, this track also deals with the subject of a relationship breakdown. The lyrics sound very heartful and I can believe that this song came from the heart (not sure if it is actually based on a real event in his life but it is certainly comes across as though this is the case).

***Dive In***
The album's title track is one of the best for me. After several slower tempo tracks, this one reverts the album back to the same style as Colourblind, Rushes and Incredible and is just as catchy. Darius' vocal range is well displayed in this track without it sounding over the top.

***Gotta Know Tonight***
This is one of the slowest tracks on the album so far and is a similar tempo to I'm Not Buying.

***Sliding Doors***
This takes the album back in a bit more of an upbeat direction. This is a fun, upbeat track that I absolutely love.

***Better Than That***
This is another fairly upbeat track but I'm not as keen on this as the more commercial tracks on the album.

***Simple Like The Truth***
This is another of the slower tracks, but it is slightly different to the other slower tempo songs on the album as it has a bit of an acoustic feel without actually being acoustic as such.

***Mocking Bird***
This is a bit more upbeat and goes back into the same vein as the more commercial album tracks.

***Mercury Rising***
This is one of the slowest tracks on the album and like Girl In the Moon, it rather bores me. There is nothing wrong with the vocals as they are spot on, but it is another that I tend not to listen to much.

***Overall Thoughts***
All in all, this is a fantastic album that really exceeded my expectations. If you liked Colourblind, there are several tracks that are of similar tempo and style so it isn't one of those albums where the lead single is far and away the best track and the rest is very much inferior. Instead, there is a good mix of faster and slower songs. Granted, there are a couple of tracks that don't do anything for me but there are enough very good tracks to make this only a minor criticism.

Summary: A fabulous debut album