Kaitlyn Maher
Kaitlyn Maher made her first appearance on the third season of America's Got Talent, aged only 4 years old. She advanced to the Top 10, where she achieved her ambition of watching the sparkles come down onto the stage! She's now 9 years old and has released one album You Were Meant To Me & one single God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Kaitlyn is also a prolific actor appearing in films such as The Search For Santa Paws.
Official Website
Official YouTube
Official Website
Official YouTube
2009
You Were Meant To Be-Kaitlyn Maher
We'll be completely honest, we ummed and ahhed about reviewing this album for a while, dismissing it as too "cutesy" after seeing her audition on Youtube. However, something told us that we should really give it a go and we did. We're certainly not disappointed.
If you have a choice, get the disc. Although the physical CD is now much harder to get(it only seems to be available from her official website), the design of the CD makes it worthwhile owning a copy. However, you can still download the album from iTunes. The CD itself is presented beautifully and this was the first thing we noticed when we unwrapped it. It's a cardboard case with a plastic holder for the CD, making it a best of both worlds. The booklet is a little tricky to get out, so don't be afraid to wedge it. The best thing about the design are the images, on the outside you get bright vibrant photos, open it up and your treated to absolutely gorgeous black and white pictures of Kaitlyn in the studio. If that wasn't enough photos for you, the booklet also contains more, alongside lyrics to every one of the songs. Unfortunately you do have to bend the disc to get it out, but that's our only real qualm with the design front.
In terms of originality we are really impressed to see three original songs on an album recorded at such a young age, as well as the fact that Kaitlyn has helped to write two herself!
1. I Can See Clearly Now-This is one of her stronger if not strongest song. You can't help but love it. it's so upbeat and cheerful. In the notes, Kaitlyn describes it as her "get funky" song, because she can't help but dance when she listens to it. 5/5
2. Daddy, I Love You- This could easily be sickly sweet for some people. We didn't like it so much on my first listen, but it was a grower and now we're quite fond of it. It's touching, and well thought out, going from the present time to when she grows up and leaves home. 4/5
3. God Bless The USA- This starts with a snippet of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech, which is great. It's very patriotic, (us Brits are not so much so) but an enjoyable track with Kaitlyn's vocal quite strong when the backing chorus comes in to guide her. 4.5/5
4. Amazing Grace- We've heard a lot of versions of this song, it seems somewhat of a staple for child singers, along with a song we can no longer stand due to hearing far too many versions(My Heart Will Go On). This is our favourite of Amazing Grace interpretations we've heard so far. The arrangement makes the song different & refreshing rather than repetitive. 5/5
5. You Were Meant To Be- We adore this track. The message is moving & the chorus is extremely catchy making it the standout track on this album, Kaitlyn actually displays some fair vocal skills here, and we don't think people have given her credit for how talented she is for her age. 5/5
6. Somewhere Out There- This is a successful track which shows off Kaitlyn's range a bit more. Excellent. 5/5
7. Ave Maria- An interesting take on this classic where she sings half in English and half in Latin. She covers this really well and we were surprised but impressed to hear how well. Another outstanding track, especially with a brilliant high note softly hit right at the end! 5/5
8. Dreams Come True- Another catchy little number with some interesting chord changes. It has a nice flowing feeling to it. 5/5
9. Lullaby- This isn't one of our favourites, probably because we don't like the spoken interlude in the middle. The first time you hear it it's funny and cute, but we can see it becoming irritating quite quickly. When she sings the songs it lilts well and sounds fluent however. 3.5/5
10. Amazing Grace(Reprise)-Interesting. It's basically a demonstration of Kaitlyn's vocal without any accompaniment. We like it as a bonus, but we wouldn't choose to listen to it. 2/5
With this album you need to look beyond the cute factor and realise that she actually is talented. Many people have compared her to Connie Talbot, but this is really an unfair comparison as Connie recorded her first album when she was nearly 7, Kaitlyn recorded having just turned 5. There's about two years between them, and therefore two years between the standard of their vocals. We're not saying this is vocally perfect, in fact we would love for this album to be rerecorded one day to show how Kaitlyn has grown, but the messages behind the songs give the album a deeper meaning. Her voice is quite warbly, and she does better with the more upbeat numbers, and because of her age diction isn't always brilliant. However, she does cope really well with some unusual chord changes that we can imagine been very tricky to sing. It's probably an album you won't like the first time around, but listening it really grows on you. So not perfect, but pretty darn close.
Original Release Date: 1st December 2009
Where To Buy: Kaitlyn's site, iTunes
Age At Time Of Recording: 5
Editions Available: Physical, Download
Genre: Christian
Official Website
What Other People Thought
"Kaitlyn was only 5 years old when she recorded this album. No, she wasn't as good as an adult might be, but she has tons of talent for her age!!!"
"This is great! Wonderful! No words can describe this!"
Rating:
If you have a choice, get the disc. Although the physical CD is now much harder to get(it only seems to be available from her official website), the design of the CD makes it worthwhile owning a copy. However, you can still download the album from iTunes. The CD itself is presented beautifully and this was the first thing we noticed when we unwrapped it. It's a cardboard case with a plastic holder for the CD, making it a best of both worlds. The booklet is a little tricky to get out, so don't be afraid to wedge it. The best thing about the design are the images, on the outside you get bright vibrant photos, open it up and your treated to absolutely gorgeous black and white pictures of Kaitlyn in the studio. If that wasn't enough photos for you, the booklet also contains more, alongside lyrics to every one of the songs. Unfortunately you do have to bend the disc to get it out, but that's our only real qualm with the design front.
In terms of originality we are really impressed to see three original songs on an album recorded at such a young age, as well as the fact that Kaitlyn has helped to write two herself!
1. I Can See Clearly Now-This is one of her stronger if not strongest song. You can't help but love it. it's so upbeat and cheerful. In the notes, Kaitlyn describes it as her "get funky" song, because she can't help but dance when she listens to it. 5/5
2. Daddy, I Love You- This could easily be sickly sweet for some people. We didn't like it so much on my first listen, but it was a grower and now we're quite fond of it. It's touching, and well thought out, going from the present time to when she grows up and leaves home. 4/5
3. God Bless The USA- This starts with a snippet of Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech, which is great. It's very patriotic, (us Brits are not so much so) but an enjoyable track with Kaitlyn's vocal quite strong when the backing chorus comes in to guide her. 4.5/5
4. Amazing Grace- We've heard a lot of versions of this song, it seems somewhat of a staple for child singers, along with a song we can no longer stand due to hearing far too many versions(My Heart Will Go On). This is our favourite of Amazing Grace interpretations we've heard so far. The arrangement makes the song different & refreshing rather than repetitive. 5/5
5. You Were Meant To Be- We adore this track. The message is moving & the chorus is extremely catchy making it the standout track on this album, Kaitlyn actually displays some fair vocal skills here, and we don't think people have given her credit for how talented she is for her age. 5/5
6. Somewhere Out There- This is a successful track which shows off Kaitlyn's range a bit more. Excellent. 5/5
7. Ave Maria- An interesting take on this classic where she sings half in English and half in Latin. She covers this really well and we were surprised but impressed to hear how well. Another outstanding track, especially with a brilliant high note softly hit right at the end! 5/5
8. Dreams Come True- Another catchy little number with some interesting chord changes. It has a nice flowing feeling to it. 5/5
9. Lullaby- This isn't one of our favourites, probably because we don't like the spoken interlude in the middle. The first time you hear it it's funny and cute, but we can see it becoming irritating quite quickly. When she sings the songs it lilts well and sounds fluent however. 3.5/5
10. Amazing Grace(Reprise)-Interesting. It's basically a demonstration of Kaitlyn's vocal without any accompaniment. We like it as a bonus, but we wouldn't choose to listen to it. 2/5
With this album you need to look beyond the cute factor and realise that she actually is talented. Many people have compared her to Connie Talbot, but this is really an unfair comparison as Connie recorded her first album when she was nearly 7, Kaitlyn recorded having just turned 5. There's about two years between them, and therefore two years between the standard of their vocals. We're not saying this is vocally perfect, in fact we would love for this album to be rerecorded one day to show how Kaitlyn has grown, but the messages behind the songs give the album a deeper meaning. Her voice is quite warbly, and she does better with the more upbeat numbers, and because of her age diction isn't always brilliant. However, she does cope really well with some unusual chord changes that we can imagine been very tricky to sing. It's probably an album you won't like the first time around, but listening it really grows on you. So not perfect, but pretty darn close.
Original Release Date: 1st December 2009
Where To Buy: Kaitlyn's site, iTunes
Age At Time Of Recording: 5
Editions Available: Physical, Download
Genre: Christian
Official Website
What Other People Thought
"Kaitlyn was only 5 years old when she recorded this album. No, she wasn't as good as an adult might be, but she has tons of talent for her age!!!"
"This is great! Wonderful! No words can describe this!"
Rating: