Album Review: Cassadee Pope - Thrive

For as much as people love to whine about American Idol and the nature of competition shows, let's remember that it did produce a multitude of singers who have gone on to have lengthy and successful careers (ok, that was in the early days, but it still counts). There are plenty of people who we may never have heard of if not for that show, so why do we denigrate a way these singers were able to get their names out there? What we might be able to sneer at more is The Voice, a show that is entirely about the already famous 'coaches', a show that has never created a single real star.

Cassadee Pope was the winner of season three of The Voice, which makes it a bit surprising that when I happened upon the video to the single "Tomorrow Night", it was the first time I had ever heard her name. That's some marketing machine you've got there, NBC.

"Thrive" is an album that takes us back to the warm and sunny days when pop/rock actually sounded like what it's name implies. There are hints of "Breakaway" era Kelly Clarkson, as well as some pop/punk in the guitars, of which there are plenty. This record is that thing I've always loved most; guitar rich pop music. Cassadee is turning back the clock in order to move forward, and that decision couldn't be any better, at least for me.

Her propulsive hooks on songs like "What The Stars See" are heightened and amplified by the volume and swell of the guitars. An electronic beat wouldn't have the same energy, and that's what makes these types of songs work so well. The extra boost needed in the vocal to sing over the band requires more emotion, and more of a performance. Cassadee is giving it her all, and that comes through on every track. She is indulging in a more emo way of bleeding through her art than someone like Adele does, but for people of a certain stripe, that's even more effective.

I'm out of touch with the mainstream, so I don't know how well "Thrive" fits into the current trends. Olivia Rodrigo had a hit with a re-written Paramore song, but I don't know if that's a fluke or not. I think the fact she chose Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind to make a guest appearance shows what Cassadee's aim is, and it's the same target I keep checking for stray arrows.

"Thrive" is an album right out of the height of early 00s pop/rock, bringing us back to a time when rock and pop were able to coexist without either needing to be broken down into spare parts. Cassadee Pope gives this album a warm and inviting sound, where even the tracks that don't quite stick never feel like a drag. It loses a little bit of steam int he back half, but the highlights are more than enough to make this a record well worth hearing, if this is something you've been missing. We don't get a lot of it anymore, and every time a record like this comes along, I wonder why.