Mario Vazquez

• Artist: Mario Vazquez
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 26, 2006
• Genre: Rhythm & Blues

Review

Despite being an early favorite who made it to the final round of 12 contestants, Mario Vazquez bailed from American Idol's fourth season, citing personal issues as the reason for his exit. Allusions and speculations led to the belief that Vazquez had cold feet about a potentially paralyzing management contract with AI's co-producers, 19 Entertainment, which would've been unavoidable if he had remained in the competition. He hired the lawyer who removed Clay Aiken from 19's grip and, prior to competing, recorded vocals for Worlds of Change, an album by a guitarist named Cesar -- a big AI no-no, even though it was like placing one grain of dirt in the path of a tank. Somewhat ironically, a freed Vazquez wound up signing with Arista, the same label that released the multi-platinum debut from Carrie Underwood, AI's fourth-season winner. Vazquez's own first album seems no more or less autonomous than Kelly Clarkson's Thankful, Ruben Studdard's Soulful, Fantasia's Free Yourself, Justin Guarini's ill-fated debut, or even American Juniors' Kids in America. With the involvement of heavy hitters like Ne-Yo, Stargate, Scott Storch, Sean Garrett, and Johnta Austin, it's clear that Arista controller Clive Davis sees Vazquez as someone who can go far beyond AI. The singer's voice is smooth and attractive, and it's boyish while knowing as well -- as he demonstrated during his time on AI, he's a natural entertainer. While there are a few standouts on this album, Vazquez sounds tentative and too conscious about making the right moves, and the variety of material must be an experiment to find out where he fits best, including soppy adult contemporary ("4 the 1," "One Shot"), harmless ska-inflected pop ("Don't Lie"), and marvelously horrible club-oriented garbage ("Cohiba"). To absolutely no surprise, all the highlights fall within the realm of breezy pop-R&B, like "I Bet" and "How We Do It," both of which deserved to be summertime radio staples. The results next time should be significantly improved if Vazquez can work with a smaller team that can give him a more personalized and focused set of songs. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Gallery (Lyrics)	Shaffer Smith, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen	Mario Vazquez	(3:43)
I Bet (Lyrics)	Johnta Austin, Hallgeir Rustan, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen	Mario Vazquez	(3:35)
Cohiba (Lyrics)	Scott Storch, Sean Garrett	Fat Joe, Mario Vazquez	(3:40)
One Shot (Lyrics)	Lester Mendez, Johnta Austin	Mario Vazquez	(4:24)
We Gon' Last (Lyrics)	Johnta Austin, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen	Mario Vazquez	(3:40)
Don't Lie	Shep Solomon, Fernando Garibay	Mario Vazquez	(3:27)
Just a Friend (Lyrics)	Francesco Romano	Mario Vazquez	(4:26)
Fired Up (Lyrics)	Johnta Austin, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen	Mario Vazquez	(3:26)
4 the One	Dan Warner, Steve Morales	Mario Vazquez	(3:44)
Everytime I... (Lyrics)	Tamara Savage, Mario Vazquez	Mario Vazquez	(4:01)
How We Do It (Lyrics)	Brian Kennedy, Steve Russell, Damon Thomas, Harvey Mason, Jr.	Mario Vazquez	(3:36)
She Got Me (Lyrics)	Anthony Dent, Sean Garrett	Mario Vazquez	(2:37)
Like It or Not	Camus Mare Celli	Mario Vazquez	(3:06)
We Supposed to Be (Lyrics)	Damon Thomas, Harvey Mason, Jr.	Mario Vazquez	(3:25)

Credits

Ruben Rivera (Editing), John Hanes (Digital Editing), Ruben Rivera (Engineer), Kevin Mahoney (Mixing), Riley Mackin (Assistant), Jason Boyd (Vocals (Background)), Anita Marisa Boriboon (Art Direction), Dan Warner (Guitar (Electric)), Anthony Dent (Programming), Manny Marroquin (Mixing), Fernando Garibay (Producer), Steve Morales (Producer), Anthony Dent (Instrumentation), Ne-Yo (Vocal Producer), Jim Caruana (Engineer), Steve Morales (Engineer), Ann Mincieli (Vocal Engineer), Mikkel S. Eriksen (Engineer), Wayne Allison (Engineer), Soulshick (Producer), Sean Garrett (Producer), Riley Mackin (Editing Assistant), Josh "Eddie" Grant (Engineer), Anthony Dent (Engineer), Lester Mendez (Producer), Keith Sengbusch (Assistant Vocal Engineer), Karlin (Arranger), Aaron Renner (Editing), Keith Sengbusch (Assistant), Clive Davis (Producer), Steve Morales (Arranger), Tor Erik Hermanson (Instrumentation), Conrad Golding (Engineer), Ramon Stagnaro (Spanish Guitar), Ed Williams (Engineer), Karlin (Instrumentation), BK (Producer), Rafael Padilla (Percussion), Steve Morales (Drum Programming), Anita Marisa Boriboon (Design), Johnta Austin (Vocal Producer), Keithin "Mizzle Boy" Pittman (Keyboards), Tim Roberts (Mixing), Steve Morales (Keyboards), Shep Solomon (Vocals (Background)), Chris LeBeau (Art Producer), The Underdogs (Producer), Fernando Garibay (Instrumentation), Aaron Renner (Engineer), Anthony Dent (Producer), Chris Gehringer (Mastering), Dan Warner (Guitar (Acoustic)), Mikkel S. Eriksen (Instrumentation), Soulshick (Instrumentation), James Fauntleroy (Vocals (Background)), Fernando Garibay (Programming), Larry Jackson (Producer), Arnold Stiefel (Management), Josey Alcantar (Engineer), Fernando Garibay (Arranger), The Underdogs (Mixing), Karlin (Producer), Jim Jonsin (Producer), Lester Mendez (Beats), Joe Wohlmuth (Engineer), Sonus Quartet (Strings), Francesco Romano (Guitar), Stefan Campbell (Stylist), Lester Mendez (Moog Synthesizer), Tatsuya Sato (Engineer), Soulshick (Arranger), Anthony Terrebonne (Engineer), Mario Vazquz (Vocals), Ben Watts (Photography), Lester Mendez (Arranger), Shep Solomon (Producer), Scott Storch (Producer), Serban Ghenea (Mixing)

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