With "Day I Forgot," Pete Yorn fails to avoid the dreaded sophomore curse. This second effort from this singer/instrumentalist who is a little bit Ryan Adams, a little bit Coldplay and a little bit John Mayer is a good album, but all of the songs could easily have been on his debut.
"Day I Forgot" is the second release on Columbia Records for this New Jersey native and Syracuse University graduate. His breakthrough album, 2001's "Musicforthemor-ningafter" was certified gold, and it secured Yorn a place in the stars with his already famous brother, Hollywood producer Rick Yorn.
As well as tearing up the charts, Yorn's songs appeared on the soundtrack for Jim Carrey's "Me, Myself and Irene," and it didn't hurt the hype surrounding Yorn when he was temporarily paired in the Hollywood tabloids with actresses Minnie Driver and Winona Ryder.
When "Musicforthemorningafter" was released, Yorn was hailed as a pop musician with bona fide musical talent. It is indeed impressive in these times when many popular musicians can barely play the triangle that Yorn plays almost all his own instruments -- from drums to guitar to e-bow -- and writes all his own songs.
After the original and refreshing blend of Britpop and American folk-rock that was Yorn's debut, and the success of his opening stint with Coldplay, "Day I Forgot" is somewhat of a let down. It's a good album in and of itself, but it shows little forward motion for Yorn as a musician.
It was a mistake for Yorn to collaborate with many of the same people on "Day I Forgot" as he did on "Musicforthemorningafter." Lightning does not strike twice. Yorn won points for his ingenuity on his first album, but this lackluster sophomore performance leaves questions about his creative potential.
"Day I Forgot" includes a few bright spots, but most of the few changes Yorn did make for his second album are unfortunate departures from Yorn's folk-rock-gone-mad first album. On the whole "Day" is more upbeat and a little catchier than the musical hangover that was "Music-forthemorningafter," but to accomplish this new sound Yorn moves away from the loops and unusual instrumentation that made his debut so intriguing.
Perhaps success and semi-fame have softened Yorn's emotional bitterness a little, but his recipe of simple and creative lyrics with a slow rock beat still works as well with new songs like "Crystal Palace" and "Come Back Home" as they did with many ballads on "Musicforthe-morningafter."
"Carlos (Don't Let It Go to Your Head)" is one of the few spots on the album that tastes more like the originality of Yorn's first album. Though it's not a great song, it stands out because it incorporates even more loops than most of "Musicfor-themorningafter." Yorn also experiments more with his vocal range on "Carlos" than anywhere else on either recording. If nothing else, "Carlos" is worth listening to for all the different instruments that make at least brief appearances.
Even though its love-gone-wrong bitterness makes it probably the most lyrically similar to the songs on "Mu-sicforthemorning-after," "Long Way Down" is probably the best song on this album. Its harder feel and great multiple-guitar blending stand out from the rest of the album.
"Long Way Down" may be catchy, but there is nothing on "Day I Forgot" like his first album's "Just Another" or "Life on a Chain" to secure radio airplay for Yorn.
Few excuses can be made for the song "Burrito," in which Yorn uses burritos as a metaphor for a childhood spent hanging outside of 7-11s in New Jersey. It is out of place on this or any other respectable album. Lyrics such as "If you want a burrito/You can have another bite of mine/It can last you forever" take away from Yorn's usual serious songwriting.
For Pete Yorn fans, "Day I Forgot" will be a welcome addition to what "Musicforthemorningafter" already accomplished, but for those of us who played his first album to death, the second one is already old.
