Mika
The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Release Date: Sep 22, 2009
Genre(s): Rock, Pop
Record label: Casablanca
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy The Boy Who Knew Too Much from Amazon
Album Review: The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Mika
Very Good, Based on 7 Critics
Based on rating A
Rollerblader-?disco album ? of the year! ? London’s Grammy-nominated divo has described his second disc, The Boy Who Knew Too Much, as a rock opera about his adolescence, and yep, there’s enough transcendent drama-queeniness here to make Lady Gaga sound like Woody Guthrie. With Rock of Ages-style bombast (”Touches You”), classic-Disney-score playfulness (”Toy Boy”), tap-dance-routine cabaret (”Dr. John”), and stomp-your-Louboutins stadium rockers (”We Are Golden”), it’s a Technicolor pop explosion designed for throwing your jazz hands into the air.
Based on rating 8/10
Making an album even more vibrant than Life in Cartoon Motion would have been difficult for Mika. On The Boy Who Knew Too Much, he doesn't try to top himself; instead, he reins in just enough of his debut's indulgent tendencies to let his gift for great melodies and hooks be the focus. His multifaceted pop sounds a little calmer and a lot more confident here -- rather than cramming songs with moments intended to impress that end up being overwhelming, "Dr.
Based on rating 8/10
Sunday morning, 20 September. Inside the Arts Section of The New York Times is a half-page ad for Mika and the release of The Boy Who Knew Too Much. The awards he rounded up for his debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion (2007), are listed with the same graphic used for a movie’s film festival accolades. Mika’s honors from the UK, France, and Germany reside under the headline: “Over 5 Million Albums Sold Worldwide”.
Based on rating 7.5/10
No one could have predicted this: Wesley Eisold, owner of a publishing house called Heartworm Press, and a guy who has writing credits on more than a few Fall Out Boy songs (Pete Wentz loves to steal dude’s poetry), has gone and restored all the dark splendor of synthy post-punk that was washed ….
Based on rating 3/5
Mika sold 5 million copies of his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, a collection of stylishly infantile, jazz hands-friendly pop tunes which established the charismatic 23-year-old as a very carefully stage managed Serious New Talent. The timing was perfect: this eager-to-please performer appeared at the precise moment Robbie Williams released Rudebox. Now Mika is a little older, childhood is left behind and The Boy Who Knew Too Much, he claims, is his "adolescent" album.
Based on rating 3/5
Those who believe that faux-classical arrangements, children's choirs and bouncy bonhomie have no place in pop should look away now. The follow-up to Mika's highly successful debut abounds with all of them, and when his falsetto is factored in, the result is more than some people will be able to stand. But The Boy Who Knew Too Much also makes a case for Mika being one of the most underrated pop mavericks.
Based on rating 5.2/10
Sugar shock.
'The Boy Who Knew Too Much'
is available now