My impression is that most of us loved Kat's debut album, at least those of us who still support her, even though it did not sell as we would have hoped.  A lot of people prefer songs like BOA, OW and Home, while my favorites are Neglected, EIG, NUG, EO (and ILY  ).  For someone like me it would be bitter sweet if Katharine released an entire album of BOA's and OW's that went on to sell millions.  I would be happy for Katharine, and of course I would still support her, but I don't know if I'd love that album like I do the first.

Obviously we all hope for both great sales that ensure a long career in recording and hence more music for us, and for that music to be the type you think Katharine should be singing (read: the type of music you like), but if you have to choose...

I too enjoy Katharine's debut album very much and am disappointed it didn't reach high success for her. Hey, she's only in the early stages of  a life time career.  I can't wait to get her sophomore album, hopefully, under David Foster's guidance.  It's a "no brainer" that I would choose an album that I personally love, especially Kat's!!!  

I find it hard, if not impossible,  to vote for either choice Mark.

Here's why:

It would be incredibly selfish of me to want Kat to make an album I personally love if it isn't the best style, genre or content to best suit her unique talents or fulfill her artisticly.

And it would be an incredible waste of those talents to make an album solely in persuit of commercial success.

I want her to make an album that allows her to express herself artisticly and make full use of her unique gifts while still enjoying enough commercial success to continue her career as a recording artist.

Whether or not I personally love this album is moot, though I can't imagine an album satisfying these requirements that I would not like. Actually, I'm quite sure I would love it!

That statment is totally faulty.  I support Kat just as much as anyone, but was not a fan of her first album.  Just because I like the artist, doesn't mean I automatically am going to like the material they choose.  The first album was a compromise at best, and for that reason it didn't do well.  If you are going to call yourself an artist, you have to have passion in the material you choose.  You can't worry about it's popularity.  Neither choice is appropriate, because Kat should just pick material that she loves.  If she loves it, it will mean a stellar performace, and in turn, we her fans, will probably love it as well.

BTW Mark, even though I love slow ballads and standards, my favorite tracks are exactly the same as yours! Kat's heart and soul were more into those songs. Sure, BOA and OW were flawlessly sung, but they were sterile in comparison to the emotion of Neglected and I Lost You. For that, I lay the blame squarely on the producer of those tracks, because we know darn well what the artist is ultimately capable of. 

I support Kat's singing career, even her movie career. But this is my straight up wish:

The truth is- I didn't go wild crazy over her debut album. I have reasons - her ballads in this album didn't even make it to my playlist, and I'm big with ballads. I put Over It and Love Story on my playlist just because I support her singles so she could sell. But if you ask me which Kat song I like best, I will tell you it's "Someone to Watch Over Me", and it's a cover, not even her own song.

For Kat's second album, I wish she sings more straight up songs, with less runs and melismas. Sorry, but I have loved and liked Kat's voice in straight up singing -- full vocal throttle with enough vibration - without too much belting, spurts and bursts or screech - because I believe in Kat's ability and capability. She has a very beautiful tone in her voice that I love.  

I think the beauty of the song is derived from the beauty of the voice in harmony with the tune and melody in such a manner that interpretation is delivered in a passionate way. I used to think, as a child, that singing is like crying in a sense -- because you lament your love or your pain in your story and you create an emotional account of it in a tune, which is the song itself. This is just me.

I have to love or be crazy about  (not just like)  the songs of a recording artist for me to continue fully supporting her/him. I do listen to a lot of singers and there will be songs I like best in one album more than the others. So I pick out only the songs that stand out and usually, the one that I get crazy about are the songs I could connect with.  I have to feel the emotion of the song (lyrics and music together).

I dig every genre, believe it or not. But there are vocals that would only suit certain genres, while there are more versatile vocals. There are also songs that should be sung with a more complex or higher musical sense about it like in an orchestra or a full band. And, there are songs that can be sung with just the guitar or piano but these songs are almost always sung simply and usually in rhymes (as in poetry) but always felt with a sustained and sincere or intense emotion from beginning to end. I hate it when I get lost in a song. It's a real challenge for a song to be loved.

Take for instance, Don McLean's "Vincent" with the guitar. Beautiful song sung as beautifully.

"....And now I think I know what you tried to say to me, how you suffered for your sanity, how you tried to set them free. they would not listen, they're not list'ning still, perhaps they never will..."

Then listen to Nazareth's "Love Hurts". It's a lament - a cry.

"....love is like a flame, it burns you when it's hot, love hurts...."  

I happen to love both songs - music and lyrics together, although not in the same genre. The same is true with Heart's "Alone". It's an anguish - an angst. 

"....till now, I always got by on my own, I never really cared until I met you, and now it chills me to the bone, how do i get you alone...."

There is an intrinsic beauty in the lyrics of the song, and the vocal- musical interpretation of it must be as beautiful - as in passionate - about a certain emotional feeling, be it love, disapointment, blames or regrets - or just anything in between or beyond.

Lastly, the song must be unforgettable, and for it to be so, it must stick with you,  for it to last. In the case of Nazareth's "Love Hurts", I have loved it since the 1970's and it stood the test of time. It's still one of my favorites of all time. When I listen to it, I get a certain relief from having this pain in my heart that hurts so painfully, and it damn feels good singing about it.

Ok, putting aside my faulty statement for the moment.  I did say "my impression" and "most", but that's just semantics.  Disregard...

Katharine fought very hard to get the material she wanted on this album.  Coming off of Idol the label had a vision of what they wanted Kat to be, but she had a very different one.  They let her go in that direction.  That was their compromise.  When the time came to select the tracks that would eventually make the album, again Kat fought very hard for the songs she wanted, but in the end the label had their way.  That was her compromise.  If she had complete freedom her album probably would have been much more upbeat as a whole and more towards what you hear on Top 40 because that's the type of artist she said she wanted to be.  That is her passion.  Maybe things have changed since then depending on how much stock you put into her comments about becoming a "female John Mayer meets Celine Dion" type of artist.  But the comments going from the Idol finale all the way through the album promotion were consistant.  She wanted to be a Top 40 artist.  And she was.  OI reached #29 on the Hot 100.

The question in this poll is strictly hypothetical.  You, GB, are exactly the type of person I wanted to ask this question to.  Let's assume that Katharine is passionate about the music she makes (OI not withstanding).  Of course that's what we all want for her.  You did not care much for Kat's debut album, but if it had gone, say, double platinum, would that be what you would choose, or would you prefer an album that's more to your liking but with mediocre sales?  That's what I'm trying to get at with this poll.  In a perfect world you get it all; music you love, music Katharine loved making, and tremendous sales.  In this scenario you only get two of the three.  Again, assuming Kat is passionate about her music, which of other two choices would you choose?

One more thing to remember.  Mediocre sales of her debut album likely caused the parting of ways with her record label.  At this point I don't know for sure if the low sales numbers was the main reason, but I'm sure that if the numbers were great she'd still be with RCA.

I would love to see Katharine with an album that had love ballads and songs capable of being movie scoresI'm sure David Foster is capable of producing that type of music

Thanks, GB.  I agree with you 100%.  I think album sales are of the uptmost importance at this point in her fragile recording career, and hopefully along with sales comes great material.  It has been debated ad nauseum which genre/market Kat should be targeting, and it's difficult because she is so versatile, as Randy Jackson pointed out on the Larry King show.  She can do many different things, but she has to find what works best for her.  The pop thing didn't pan out the first time around so I think she's looking to go a little more in the AC direction with her second album.  Names like Norah Jones and Joss Stone seem to pop up as artist people would like Kat to emulate in style, and even though I don't listen to those types of artists I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as she gets good material.

I think Kat will end up signing with Warner/143, David Foster's label.  He announced at the Young Musicians Foundation Gala that they would be working together on her next album.  Hopefully he can give her some guidance and help her find her sound, whatever that may be.

I agree, Bill, but you have to choose or kitty gets it.

This thread is very interesting and full of grits. Please, ppl, bump it up.

I have to agree with BigShady that sales is very important at this point in Kat's recording career. And Kat should never abandon her music career at all. With the right material and guidance, Kat should be able to nail those songs and sell her records. It's expedient.

GIVE IT TO THE CAT!

I voted for commercial success. Kat needs to fight to stay in the business. She could just upload to her own website or sell from the back of a truck an album that she (or I/you/we) loved, if that's all that was needed or demanded. The point of being with a label is to sell albums and make money. Hopefully that means she will produce a record that we love at the same time.

I'll try to post more thoughts later.

Hmm...Not wanting to sound like a "simpleton", but this almost sounds like the old question of "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Well, almost.....

Everyone who has expressed his or her opinion in this thread has made very convincing and thoughtful arguments for their vote. It has been extremely interesting to read all of the different opinions and the reasons behind them. I almost did not want to respond to this thread because I could never express myself as well as those who have participated already. We really have some very gifted fans on this site who can express themselves so eloquently.

I guess I will have to vote with the majority saying that Kat having a commercially successful album should/must come first. And then, as stated by others, she may have the luxury of compiling an album that truly reflects everything about her vocal talents that we all value so highly.

I think that her "breakout" album will come....in time. It's only a more "mature" woman's opinion but, may I suggest that Katharine just needs a chance to experience life a little more before that incredible album, that we all know is in her, is produced! From the answers she gave to our questions, I know she has the heart and soul as well as the vocal abilities. It's somewhat like a "stew" that needs the "tincture of time" to bring all the flavors into one tremendous feast of (in this case) sound. It's so hard for us to wait for those cookies to finish baking or that Thanksgiving Turkey to finish roasting. And, it's just as hard to wait for Katharine's successful album to come to fruition!

No matter how we vote, we are all in the same boat, waiting for the wind to come up to catch the sails of Kat's musical career!  I have no doubt that someday, our "ship" will come in and Kat will give us, and herself, an album that will be a combination of the poll choices.

I feel like a just got a musical education.  Great post.

I agree, the song should be enough on its own to evoke emotion and to affect people. I have however grown to appreciate some of kat's runs more. i think sometimes she's brilliant with them.  sometimes it may hurt the performance.  maybe as she grows as an artist she will continue to develop her instinct on that. i think her improvisations with runs are great sometimes and i wouldn't want her to get gunshy but she doesn't always need them, too.

The perfect album "recipe' is quite easy for me.  That first one could have been it; it had the necessary elements, but the over-blown production spoiled the whole affair.  It was produced like they have to when artists can't sing.  Showcase that lovely voice of Kat's and it won't take much to push her to the top ranks; if not with sales, with many of her fans.

If it was for Ella Fitzgerald, she would have picked out the first choice. Let's learn from the first lady of song.

There was an interview done with Ella back in the 60's, and she was asked "what constitutes her singing?" Ella answered, "I like pretty lyrics".

You see, Ella had a beautiful voice, and she knew music -  jazz, standards, straight up singing, scatting, crooning, improvisations. She lived and breathed singing. She sang and recorded the way she knew and the way she loved best.  I think the first female grammy award winner was Ella Fitzgerald, herself, in 1958.

Just do the thing you love. Fortunately, Ella was rewarded accordingly.

For Ella, it's 57 year music career, 13 grammys and countless others awards - doing the thing she loved.

There should be a "Both" option there--though I slightly weigh toward the "commercial" side of things...just for the "re-invention" album (or the sophomore album, if you want to call it that). A "both" option would be viable, because it's workable if you have the right producer and personal vision with what you want to do. While I'm not 100% convinced Kat and David would agree on everything when creating her new sound (if the rumor holds they're working together soon)--I think Kat can come to a compromise much easier with him than with any other producer out there. Well, I take that back and say that Babyface may be her best bet as her main producer. Really, a collab with those two would be the perfect fit and working relationship. David typically demands what he wants and gets it--though maybe not in Kat's case.

Outside of all that, I have to forward Mattsie's detailed musical history and exploration of musical vision/philosophy above. When you go into that recording studio--you MUST know what you want and convey that through the songs you're given. Kat has to find songs she truly connects to on an emotional level. Back when the news was announced that Kara DioGuardi would be working with Kat on most of the songs for the debut album (or was it Diane Warren, I can't remember)--I'd heard that either one of those composers frequently worked with young singers to create lyrics based on personal feelings. They reportedly used this method as a unique form of psychotherapy where the teen star shared her personal feelings about various issues in their life--and then Kara or Diane would extrapolate all that into lyrical form.

When we heard Kat abandoned a lot of the songs that were intended for the initial album--that process obviously didn't happen. All that scrambling to rebuild the album from scratch didn't give her time to truly connect strongly with some of those songs--despite the emotional readings on the ballads. Kat's a great actress who can emote when she has to on any song on the spot. Still, though, you can tell when a singer truly believes what they're singing. She needs plenty of time to either create or assimilate songs that she can become one with.

Once that more personal album is made--then everybody will sit up and take notice. I even bravely say that it doesn't matter what genre she sings. It's the passion in the songs. Some of the songs Kat sang on her debut didn't equate to her true personality as much as they tried to convince us otherwise.

Yes, as Ella Fitzgerald said in Mattsie's post above: "Bring on the pretty lyrics..."

Greg, I'd like to respond with this video clip of Ella Fitzgerald singing

"Manhattan" and "Everytime We Say Goodbye".

Ella Fitzgerald - "Manhattan" and "Everytime We Say Goodbye" in London (1965)

 "Everytime We Say Goodbye" is one of my favorites of all time.

Half a century old song is still as beautiful as when Ella Fitzgerald first recorded it in 1957. It proves that pretty lyrics last a very long time, like forever.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Title: Manhattan / Everytime We Say Goodbye 

Artist: Ella Fitzgerald

Format:  Mono 45       Label: His Master Voice        Cat. Num.: 45 POP 373      Rel. Year: 1957

02:48  29/8/1956  20,230-1                Manhattan       (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers)
03:32  7/2/1956  20064-6                 Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye       (Cole Albert Porter)

Ella Fitzgerald (vc), Vincent DeRosa (frh), Unknown (frh, str, vl, vla), Chuck Gentry (bs, cl), Ted Nash, Wilbur Schwartz, Bud Shank (fl), Bob Cooper, Arnold Koblentz (ob), Corky Hale (hp), Robert La Marchina, Edgar Lustgarted (ce), Milt Holland (mrb, gck, vb, xi, bg), Paul Smith (p, cst), Barney Kessel (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Alvin Stoller (d), Misha Russell (cm), Buddy Bregman (cnd, arr)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

DAVID FOSTER would be the "Cole Porter" for Katharine McPhee.

I'd like to live my generation watching and waiting for the time when Kat would sing David Foster Songbook of Standards and Jazz Songs. And, I wish for Kat to sing and record Ella Fitzgerald's songs on a Tribute album. That's not too big to ask, is it?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Everytime We Say Goodbye" (Lyrics) Cole Porter

Everytime we say goodbye, I die a little,
Everytime we say goodbye, I wonder why a little,
Why the gods above me, who must be in the know.
Think so little of me, they allow you to go.
When you're near, theres such an air of spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about it,
Theres no love song finer, but how strange the change from major to minor,
Everytime we say goodbye.

(can be repeated)
When you're near, theres such an air of spring about it,
I can hear a lark somewhere, begin to sing about it,
Theres no love song finer, but how strange the change from major to minor,
Everytime we say goodbye.