.png)
While Taylor Swift has become known for re-recording her early albums to own her own work, JoJo did it first back in 2018 with her debut album and The High Road (I, of course, listened to the re-recorded version).
I remember checking out The High Road from my library after watching JoJo in Aquamarine and playing it on repeat in my first-ever walkman. This album has stood the test of time and has made it to me streaming it through Spotify and AirPods sixteen years after it released. So it's safe to say I'm a pretty big fan of this album.
The fact that JoJo first put out The High Road at 15 years old is jaw-dropping, not only because of her mature vocals but the quality of the album as a whole. It goes well beyond anything any Disney teen has ever released. It's R&B pop influences, sky high vocals, and range of musical sounds would be impressive for a well established artist, much less one barely of high school age.
Stand out tracks: "Too Little Too Late" "The High Road" "Note to God"
My favorites: "This Time" "Coming for You"
JoJo kicks off this album with two upbeat, hip-hoppy songs in "This Time" and "The Way You Do Me." JoJo really hits her stride with her biggest hit "Too Little Too Late" (which honestly continues to hit has hard as it did back in 2006) into title track "The High Road;" JoJo's vocals are killer across this album, but these two songs are her at her absolute best. The 2000s-R&B influences kick in in the middle of the album with "Anything," "Like That" and "Good Ol'"-- these are fun songs, but nothing all that special. I've been thoroughly obsessed with "Coming for You" since I was 8 years old and it remains gorgeously hopeful and pining at the same time. The album closes with pared-back, emotional "Note to God," which again puts JoJo's stunning vocal range on full display in a way that will give you chills (and again, she put this dynamic of a song out at fifteen? ).
JoJo's early music is undoubtedly an underrated gem of the early 2000s, and it gained new power with her re-releasing them in 2018. The High Road is an album of sassy, emotional R&B/pop brought to a whole new level with one of the most dynamic voices in the business.
AM I OBSESSED?
Comments