Right Where You Want Me [Enhanced]

i really like jesse. he's got a good, if unique, voice and his songs from his solo debut were catchy enough. however, that disc had its lowpoints as it was geared heavily to the radio disney demographic. jesse grew up a little bit on his sophomore effort to great effect. the songs are a lot more guitar-driven and hook-laden. the highlight of the disc for me is the painful 'invincible.' the vocals will hook you, the lyrics will keep you in. highly recommended disc.

Jesse McCartney is definitely one of the prominent so penned "heartthrobs" of today. He is a talented actor as well as a talented, credible enough singer. Jesse doesn't so much have the problem of say Lindsay Lohan or Ashlee Simpson in releasing an album; he was a member of the lackadaisical, underrated Dream Street prior to becoming a serious actor. Also moreso than Lindsay or Ashlee, the boy can sing, even if this album in particular does have its flat moments. Having not heard BEAUTIFUL SOUL, I don't have the ground to compare this album, but based off the single "Beautiful Soul" compared to the songs here, this album doesn't necessarily have song nearly that strong. It isn't a bad album though in the least, and it has many shining moments.

"Right Where You Want Me", the title track features soulful production with a very minor-dark feel during the verses. The chorus though takes on "cliche proportions" as the guitars are overproduced and tend to cover up McCartney's vocals. His falsetto here is particularly notable, and almost makes up for the more indicipherable vocals by McCartney at the chorus.

"Just So You Knew" is a rather unexciting, uninspiring track. There is nothing new here to draw you in; at times infact, McCartney sounds a bit thin. Despite that, McCartney does sit on top of the production vocally well here, but quality supercedes production with this track making it filler material in my eyes.

"Blow Your Mind" is the track that you've been waiting for McCartney to record (yeah I know he's only released 2 albums). What is particularly exciting is the soulful-rock quality of this track that just might give McCartney a bit of rock-credibility. This track is the strongest rival where quality is concerned to "Beautiful Soul". Also, an "electrifying" guitar solo makes this track all that much better than it already is.

"Right Back in The Water" is another solid track exploiting the best facets of McCartney's vocals. Unfortunately by this song, you do start to wonder how nice it might be if McCartney stepped outside of his comfort zone to try to sing a different type of song. "Anybody" showcases an over-exerted performance by McCartney meaning that his voice here sounds like McCartney is working to hard. Despite the faux-pas, "Tell Here" almost completely makes up for the uninspiring, predictable "Anybody".

The only other major standout of RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT ME is the penultimate track "Invincible" which is among the top echolon where quality of the tracks are concerned. Here McCartney sounds great, the lyrics are exceptional, the string orchestration is lush, and it makes for perhaps the best track or one of the best tracks on the entire album. Otherwise, the ball is dropped on such tracks as "We Can Go Anywhere", "Feeling You", or "Just Go" while other tracks are above average, though nothing to write home about ("Daddy's Little Girl" and "Can't Let You Go").

It is hard for some of the strongest material here to assign a rating of just 3 stars, however as whole, the album has its phenomenal moments and its dull moments making it average. However, I believe Jesse McCartney has more than his looks going for him, meaning vocally, he isn't a bad singer; he is one with great potential. 3 stars.

Jesse McCartney is amazing. I really thought that 'Beautiful Soul' was a great album, but now that I've heard 'Right Where You Want Me' it just blew me away. He has definately grown up so much from Beautiful Soul, but not so much as to change his fan base of teenage girls. Jesse has a more rock sound on this CD (#'s 3, 8, & 12) and I like it more than all the ballads on Beautiful Soul. This CD is more upbeat and fun, but still has it's slow & sweet songs. Two of his best songs on this album lyric wise for me would be Just Go & Invincible. I am going to rate every song on the album from 1-10. ---

1. Right Where You Want Me- 9/10 - definately one of the best songs on the record. Has a rock/pop sound & is very catchy.

2. Just So You Know- 8/10 - also one of the better songs. Not my favorite but not my least favorite either.

3. Blow Your Minds- 10/10 - This song is great. I love the rock vibe and you can tell that Jesse put his heart into this song.

4. Right Back In The Water - 8/10 - I really like this song. probably one of the better slow songs. The lyrics are good, just like all the rest of the songs on the record.

5. Anybody - 8/10 - This song was pretty surprising for me, but in a good way. It starts out slow and then the chorus has a more rock sound. This song also sounds amazing when sang live.

6. Tell Her - 9/10 - By far the best slow song on the record. The lyrics mean a lot to all of us teenage girls "If you see my girl just tell her I miss her smile//Tell her I'm counting the minutes gonna see her in a little while//Just tell her i love her." Not many artists can have such meaning and things that you can relate to in their lyrics.

7. Just Go - 9/10 - Another one of my favorites. The lyrics on this one are very much something that people can relate to "I trusted you, yeah that would be my first mistake//i've been lied to//Your eyes are ice cold blue, a mirror of the heart inside of you."

8. Can't Let You Go - 9/10 - Another song with a rock vibe. I love this song even more when performed live. You can definately tell that Jesse thinks hard on his lyrics and puts his heart into his songs.

9. We Can Go Anywhere - 7/10 - Not one of my favorite songs. It was written for Jesse's fall 2007 movie 'Keith'. Kind of reminds me of Beautiful Soul songs.

10. Feelin' You - 8/10 - The ONLY song on the whole record that Jesse did not write, but that doesn't mean much. This song is still catchy and fun.

11. Invincible - 10/10 - Wow how can I even begin with this song? I can hardly bare to listen to this song because it has so much meaning and it's very sad. The song is about a friend of Jesse's who died in a drinking and driving accident about 3 years ago. The lyrics for this song are amazing and so meaningful.

12. Daddy's Little Girl - 10/10 - My absolute favorite song on the record. It has a rock sound and is very catchy. It makes me want to get up and dance. I found the lyrics very funny but still very good- "Girl shake what your momma gave ya//Shake it like your tryin' to break it//Bout to start an earthquake//BOOM!" You sort of have to listen to the song to understand it's meaning.

Overall this album is GREAT and you should definatley buy it and see how you like it. This is a must have for teenage girls who like Rock/Pop --think Justin Timberlake or Teddy Geiger-- and is amazingly a much more grown-up sound from Beautiful Soul.