Anastacia - Freak of Nature

Released: 2001 (2002 in the US, which is the version I have)

(keeping that line from my Living Proof write-up because it's exactly right for this album as well, which is a little weird)

First Thoughts: Oh, God. Not really looking forward to this. I know it has a couple great songs, but I remember it as mostly being boring. Actually, I'm not sure why I still have it, since I got her greatest hits. I got rid of Not That Kind, so maybe I kept this because it's better and I've just forgotten?

Purchase: Another one from SwapaCD. Think I got it in a deal with Kylie's "Slow" on CD single and something else. I thought I was getting the collector's edition, but it was just the regular US release.

Playthrough: I'm on One Day in Your Life as I type this, and I've already forgotten what the first three songs (Freak of Nature, Paid My Dues, and Overdue Goodbye) sound like, so that's not a good sign for them.

You'll Never Be Alone is amazing, though. I'd like to see one of today's big pop girls turn out a power ballad like this. That's not shade, I'd genuinely like to, because at least some of them (okay, at least one of them - Gaga) could. It's maybe my favorite Anastacia song. Just gorgeous Céline-like realness.

One Day in Your Life is one of the other two competitors for my favorite Anastacia song (the third and final one being I'm Outta Love). It's a pure pop choon that reminds me a lot of the A*Teens/Jump5/Myra kind of teen-pop I listened to in elementary and middle school.

How Come the World Won't Stop is pleasant but doesn't really grab me. It'd be nice to drive to, or to have on while I was cleaning or doing laundry or something. I think that's a good characterization of those first three songs, too.

I Thought I Told You That is okay but boring (apt description of the whole album apart from You'll Never Be Alone and One Day in Your Life). It sounds like Anastacia trying to be an edgier Mariah, and it doesn't really work.

I don't have Why'd You Lie to Me on the album on my iPod, I assume because I pulled it off when I got Not That Kind so as not to have a duplicate. Based on what I remember of it, it's one of my least favorite Anastacia singles, but it is frustratingly hooky - I can't tell you how many times I've walked around campus and "Why'd you lie to me, good-for-nothing type of brother?" started running through my head. I've always wondered if the line was originally going to be "good-for-nothing motherfucker" and she changed it to avoid getting an explicit slug or something, since that scans perfectly with "type of brother" and makes much more sense.

Don'tcha Wanna is borderline ridiculous and not at all amazing.

Secrets is pretty boring. It sounds like a KM94-era Kylie album track with a little bit of Anita Baker, except not nearly as good as that sounds like it would be. Her vocals are really great, but the song just does nothing for me.

Don't Stop (Doin' It) is like How Come the World Won't Stop (nice driving/cleaning song but no more) except it's even more boring.

My first thought as I Dreamed You opened was "THANK GOD ANOTHER BALLAD MAYBE IT'LL BE DECENT." Anastacia is pretty damn good at ballads, now that I think of it - not just You'll Never Be Alone, but I Belong to You, and I guess Pieces of a Dream sort of counts as a ballad. I Dreamed You is nowhere near those three, and it turns out to be more midtempo than ballad, but it's certainly more interesting (and better) than the vast majority of this album.

The reprise of Overdue Goodbye sort of serves to remind me what the actual song sounded like, but it's unnecessary.

Verdict: My fears were confirmed. Aside from those two standouts, there's nothing on this album that merits another listen, I don't think, aside from possibly "I Dreamed You." I'll probably send this to Goodwill or FYE in my next culling of my collection. 4/10 or so.

Standout: "You'll Never Be Alone"