‘Conchita‘ is the debut album by Austrian pop singer Conchita Wurst, released on Sony Music Austria. It includes her most recent singles ‘Heroes‘, ‘You Are Unstoppable‘ and of course her winning Eurovision Song Contest track from 2014, ‘Rise Like a Phoenix‘, which became a top 20 hit in the UK.
It’s safe to say that on this record ‘Rise Like a Phoenix‘ is the best song. Not only is it the song that made Conchita the success she is today, it’s also very well produced and sounds like it belongs in a Bond film. It’s clear why this was the winning entry for Eurovision last year.
As for the rest of the album, it’s pretty dull and slightly messy in places. Normally albums start off with some of the better songs but in this case it starts off with two of the weakest. ‘You Are Unstoppable‘ and ‘Up For Air‘ sound really flat for album openers and are quite uninspiring.
‘Where Have All The Good Men Gone‘ sounds really out of place and very dated. The track sounds like a really bad Cher song that she never released. Luckily this is followed by two much better songs. ‘Somebody to Love‘, has a powerful message with really great production; probably the best on the whole record in fact. The other,’Firestorm‘, is another powerful pop song with a strong chorus that’s reminiscent of Cher‘s ‘Woman’s World‘.
It’s clear that Conchita is made for those powerful pop ballads but in places it can seem a little too karaoke or over theatrical. Her self-titled debut album is a good start and is a heads up to how good she can potentially be in the future. But, judging purely on this album alone, it may take her a while to produce something that will knock our socks off like she did during Eurovision.
