I want to give Howie lots of credit for
this 2nd album because it has real music in it not fake/electronic
music which was featured heavily for his 1st solo album. I also applaud
him for having the courage to tell the world about all the struggles he had to
overcome as kid which he sings his heart out, to teach future kids how to
overcome those struggles and to show them they are not alone in this world.
He talks about dealing with anxiety and
being shy, many of which stemmed from his identity struggles of being a
biracial kid from Irish Catholic and Puerto Rican parents, struggling to fit
in either ethnicity or not knowing how to speak Spanish. He also decided to make this album for kids because there
wasn’t suitable music for his young kids of 10 and 6. He felt other kids also
needed music geared for their ages as well, but music that all ages could
relate to.
9. No Hablo Espanol
The album features a wide
variety of genres from Rock, Reggae, to the blues. In the song “Small Town
Blues” about a laundry list of struggles he had growing up and duets plus his
best genre pop. The first track is more of a joke song than a serious thing as
someone always confuses him for what band he is in and which member he is, so
he takes the time to explain the differences between his band members which are
clever and comical to view through his eyes. He then has two versions of his
own theme song on this album that has a doo-wop feeling to it as they introduce
him, the album and his kids give their opinions on it but he doesn’t sing all
of it. He tries to rap and it sounds like quick talking which is an issue on
another song that takes away from it but that’s what the kids like.
One of his singles
“Monsters in my Head” is a great song as it’s a real rocking song like a punk
rock-grunge feel it to as he does his Axel Rose/Eddie Vedder impression on it,
but again the small rapping part takes away from some of it. His reggae attempt
in “Worry” is catchy but gets annoying after a while so it’s a song that could
have been left off the album. Songs like “Shy” “Pollyanna’s Shadow” and “The Me
I’m Meant to Be” are examples of beautiful songs that he sings from the heart
accompanied by beautiful music that tell real good stores about being shy or
hiding behind his older sibling’s shadow. The issue with the shadow song is the
duet sounds great because of Howie but the woman is trying too hard which takes
away from the song as you can’t tell if it’s a country, R&B, or a blues
duet as well. The other beautiful track “The Me I’m Meant to Be” is a song we
all can relate to and see how emotional he is when singing it. It sounds like a
classic Backstreet Boys song that would go on any of their albums.
He then
tackles the Latin heritage with a Spanish dance song “School Bell Tango” that
is cute and clever about not going to school and dealing with that schedule.
The song with the most Latin theme to it is the 1st single-music
video where it sounds like a classic Carlos Santana rock song called “No Hablo
Espanol”, where he goes on to sing about his struggle of not knowing Spanish or
fitting in. It is a great song and a great choice for a single that was used
for the music video. This is the song that stands out as a song you need to
hear and will remember the most. He ends it very well with a famous cover of
Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me”, which really shows off his strength which is his
regular singing voice. He plans on making this album into a children's musical called
