Bad Day: A Review of Daniel Powter’s First Single

Daniel Powter has come out of the gate running with “Bad Day”, the first single from his debut album. It has gotten near nauseating amounts of airplay everywhere from American Idol to VH1, where the video is in high rotation. It’s difficult to tell if it’s that well liked by the public or the media is just in love with it. With the release of more singles from the album time will tell.

Bad Day is a simple concept on a very old songwriting story. It’s definitely catchy, for sure, but the whole song is extremely predictable lyrically, and lacks any depth whatsoever. Powter tries very hard to come across as a unique artist bringing something fresh to the charts, but doesn’t pull it off.

The beginning of the song seems to suggest we’re going to be surprised by his eloquence with phrases like, “Where is the moment when we need it the most /You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost”. Eloquence quickly fades to constantly repeated hooks that are tiresome two minutes in. The listener is treated to “Cause you had a bad day/ You’re taking one down/ You sing a sad song just to turn it around “, over and over again. It almost seems like he ran out of things that rhymed so he just kept saying “Ya had a bad day”.

Powter’s singing style sounds alot like he could backup for Train, or even Billy Joel, and the background music seems very canned. He is obviously a very talented pianist, as evidenced by “Bad Day”, but doesn’t set himself apart enough with the playing to be a long term contender in the pop world. Even in attempting to be generous, the music simply is not as soulful as he seems to want it to be, and indeed not as soulful as it could be with a little more originality, both lyrically and musically.

Based solely on “Bad Day” the single, it’s hard to give the album of the same name much hope of survival. Even though the single is a huge hit, the momentum may not be enough to carry the album. The remaining tracks don’t sound that similar to “Bad Day”, but don’t have enough of a punch to pull off longterm success. Songs like “Song 6”, and “Suspect” could be minor hits in their own right, as Powter plays to the generic Pop loving audiences. However, it almost seems like whatever passion he had was pounded out of him by the record company’s eagerness to make high profit mass marketed pop. Even his picture on the album cover looks defeated.

Powter may be a longterm success, but not with this single or album. If you are a pop-loving pre-teen, or a parent tired of hearing gangsta rap,”Bad Day” may be for you. But if you’re looking for something unique and different from what you’ve been hearing lately, this isn’t it. Don’t look to Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” to restore your faith in pop music.