So this is 'sultry bluesy rock.' Oh Lord have mercy.
Topping my list of Haley Reinhart's performances this past season is her brilliant and genre-bending interpretation of The Animals' ‘House of the Rising Sun.’ This bluesy folk rock ballad recounting the tale of woe and regret about a gambler's life of ‘sin and misery’ is a personal favorite of mine, with its poetic lyrics and doleful melodies. Ranked #122 on Rolling Stone Magazine's '500 Greatest Songs of All Time,' The Animals' 1964 version became the standard of the song and the first 'British Invasion' No. 1 hit in the U.S. by a group not named The Beatles.
Mere words cannot convey just how much I love Haley's unique spin on this timeless classic, from its smoldering a cappella opening stanza to its final exultant note. Even though I have heard different versions of HOTRS by various artists, it's as if I'm listening to the song for the first time here. Haley somehow managed to make a well worn and familiar song sound entirely fresh and new, and to do so with seemingly effortless ease. There's just no other way to describe it; this was a scorching hot performance on a balmy night in May that many viewers, including myself, will never forget. It's been over five months since Haley initially blew me away with this performance, but I am still in awe whenever I watch it. Had she been born of Joplin's generation, she would've killed this at Woodstock. Wearing a '60s style black halter-top and a pair of broken-in jeans, Haley had never looked sexier and gave us the grungiest, badassest rendition of HOTRS I have ever seen or heard. Her seductive movements onstage and the rising smoke effect only put more emphasis to what is clearly the sexiest performance on American Idol to date.
Standing ovation from the judges aside, it is worth noting that of all her Season 10 performances, this is the one that most people cite as her best, including Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson and Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert (who also called this the "sexiest performance ever" on American Idol). Tom Hanks and his wife became fans and voted for Haley because of this performance, and it was only after watching this that Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page gave her their blessings to cover 'What Is and What Should Never Be' on Top 3 week. This is the kind of 'sultry bluesy rock' that Haley was born to sing, and I'm sure that we'll get to hear some of it on her upcoming release early next year.
Well, it's been fun, my friends. This blog is going on temporary hiatus as far as weekly updates go, but I will occasionally post whenever I can with new developments or when I come up with something worthwhile to write about. Thanks for following this blog these last couple of months and, in the meantime, keep watching repad's Haley vids and your ears peeled for her eagerly awaited new album. I know I will. Peace!
Mere words cannot convey just how much I love Haley's unique spin on this timeless classic, from its smoldering a cappella opening stanza to its final exultant note. Even though I have heard different versions of HOTRS by various artists, it's as if I'm listening to the song for the first time here. Haley somehow managed to make a well worn and familiar song sound entirely fresh and new, and to do so with seemingly effortless ease. There's just no other way to describe it; this was a scorching hot performance on a balmy night in May that many viewers, including myself, will never forget. It's been over five months since Haley initially blew me away with this performance, but I am still in awe whenever I watch it. Had she been born of Joplin's generation, she would've killed this at Woodstock. Wearing a '60s style black halter-top and a pair of broken-in jeans, Haley had never looked sexier and gave us the grungiest, badassest rendition of HOTRS I have ever seen or heard. Her seductive movements onstage and the rising smoke effect only put more emphasis to what is clearly the sexiest performance on American Idol to date.
Standing ovation from the judges aside, it is worth noting that of all her Season 10 performances, this is the one that most people cite as her best, including Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson and Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert (who also called this the "sexiest performance ever" on American Idol). Tom Hanks and his wife became fans and voted for Haley because of this performance, and it was only after watching this that Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page gave her their blessings to cover 'What Is and What Should Never Be' on Top 3 week. This is the kind of 'sultry bluesy rock' that Haley was born to sing, and I'm sure that we'll get to hear some of it on her upcoming release early next year.
Well, it's been fun, my friends. This blog is going on temporary hiatus as far as weekly updates go, but I will occasionally post whenever I can with new developments or when I come up with something worthwhile to write about. Thanks for following this blog these last couple of months and, in the meantime, keep watching repad's Haley vids and your ears peeled for her eagerly awaited new album. I know I will. Peace!
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