Music Review: Jed Madela, When An ICONIC Singer Becomes An Icon

World Championship Jed Madela drops a bomb as he releases his new album ICONIC, under Star Records, without making any press launch prior to its release.

Featuring songs from iconic female singers, Jed not only sang his favorites but also showcased his range and voice quality in this album after being rumored that his voice won't be the same again when he became ill.  In this album, Jed not only owned these iconic songs but also gave it a new sound without distorting its original beauty.  Not only did he sang his favorites, he also displayed another side of him as an artist by writing an original piece (Welcome To My World) and becoming part producer to this album.

Featured songs in this album are as follow:

• Welcome To My World (Intro-lude)
• Beautiful (originally sung by Christina Aguilera)
• Don't Wanna Lose You Now (originally sung by Gloria Estefan)
• If Love Is Blind (originally sung by Tiffany)
• Didn't We Almost Have It All (originally sung by Whitney Houston)
• Love Takes Time (originally sung by Mariah Carrey)
• That's The Way It Is featuring 5th Gen (originally sung by Celine Dion)
• Sweet Love (originally sung by Anita Baker)
• You Mean The World To Me (originally sung by Toni Braxton)
• Evergreen (originally sung by Barbara Striesand)
• Somewhere Over The Rainbow (sung by Judy Garland in the movie Wizard of Oz)
• Like A Prayer (originally sung by Madonna)
• Welcome To My World (Extro-Lude; Kidwolf Remix)
• Beautiful (Moophs Remix)
• Like A Prayer (Brian Cua Sunset Remix)

The one thing that is clear and definite with this album is the voice dynamics that Jed Madela has shown and the respect that he has for all those icons.  His interpretations are truly his own.  His voice adapted well to the need of the song, giving justice and new flavor to there iconic female songs.

Technically speaking, Jed Madela is the only male singer to date that is capable of interpreting known female songs without distorting its original beauty.

My review:

As a former artist, I would say that Jed Madela truly showed the range and capability of his voice with this album.  To quote: "This is Jed Madela in his prime!", and it is true when you get to hear this album.

I will be honest when I say that I am not a fan but he captivated me with his performance during the press conference of ICONIC, the name of his latest album under Star Records.  The way he sang and performed that day was hair raising in a very good way.  And his album reflected that live performance.

Not everything in this album is to my liking.  Not that I hate it, it is simply not my cup of tea.  My favorites are as follow:

• Like A Prayer (non-remix and remix version)
• Love Takes Time

Jed's version of Like A Prayer (non-remix) is so beautiful!  The counterpoints that can be heard between Jed and the choir singer is a good blend.  The way their voices interacted in the first part of the song was so contrasting that you would feel the pull but when they reached a certain point, they blended well giving musical support to one another.

The Brian Cua Sunset Remix version of the same song is so beautifully made that it reminded me of some U.K. remix done in the past.

Love Takes Time will always take a special place in my music repertoire since I have a fascinating story about it.  When I first heard of this song (original version) over the radio, I immediately thought of a girl walking down the beach with wind blowing her hair.  I did a sketch and wrote the lyrics of the song along with it.  Two weeks later, I was able to catch the whole video and lo and behold, the scene that I have sketched was shown in it.

His interpretation is so hauntingly good!  The emotion was reflected beautifully and his voice dynamics were suited to it without destroying the music.  He gave at the right spots and drew back his voice power at the right moment, giving it drama.

As an artist, he truly showed his flexibility when he did a song with Ms. Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and another with 5th Gen, an up and coming group composed of winners from the World Championship competition.  He knows how to share and stage and the spotlight - a very good trait of an artist who is not threatened in his craft.

Like what I have written above, his interpretation is near to the original, what makes it new is the treatment given to all the songs.  Since the album is composed of different types of popular songs sung by iconic female singers, the dynamism that he displayed is simply near phenomenal.  He gave respect to the original harmonics but pushes his voice to give and withdraw at the right moment.  He owned all the songs by showing his voice range and what he can do in terms of interpretation.  Is this simply something like that of a cover album?  DEFINITELY NO!

ICONIC is an album where an iconic singer truly became an icon in his own rights.    

Photos:
(Press Conference photos used were personally taken by me)