Album Review: Introducing Michael Fredo by Michael Fredo

What should you expect of an artist who lists among his achievements a featured spot in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial--a sound that's reasonably pleasant but presented in so belabored a format as to be painful? That's Michael Fredo in short--a "talent" to whom that word should be applied cautiously.

Fredo's first album, Introducing Michael Fredo, gives us some of what the "talent" calls his "youthquake" sound. Fredo's got all the makings of a boy-bander gone awry. In songs like "Who Said," his voice is pleasant, but not enough to keep you listening, and the beat in "This Time Around" (the song used in the Tommy spot) is too unemphatic to make you want to dance.

What there is to like in "Do You Think About Me" and "Candy (Make It Right)" is pretty clearly lifted from Janet Jackson and Boyz II Men. Even the album's most promising song, "Everybody Wants Her," suffers from a weak beat. Your best bet is to steer clear of Introducing and hope Fredo sticks to the commercials. Sometimes pretty boys are meant to be seen and not heard. D+