Song Highlight | Orianthi - Suffocated

I struggled for a long time over which Orianthi song I wanted to write about. For what it's worth, this is what I was planning to write next before I took my "extended hiatus" over on Thoughts From an Internal Monologue so yes, I've been struggling for about 5 months over which Orianthi song to write about. (Geez, when I put it like that it just sounds pathetic.)

I thought about just writing about the lead single "According To You" from her major label debut album, Believe, but as good as a song as that is, it sort of violated my rules for this feature since it was a mainstream radio single that was getting decent play. I considered the track "Highly Strung" which is a purely instrumental track featuring Steve Vai that showcases Orianthi's incredible guitarist talent. Only problem there was that it was purely instrumental and I wanted to find the perfect song that wasn't getting radio play, was one of the best on the album and showed off both her singing voice and guitar talent.

So I wound up going with "Suffocated." The only reason I was hesitant about this song was because it was a cover of the Sound The Alarm song, called "Suffocating" (interestingly enough.) You can find Sound The Alarm's version on YouTube and I almost feel sorry for them. They wrote a very good song but Orianthi's version, in my opinion, is a better take on it and has kinda blown their version out of the water. Her version of the song was featured in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Whether or not Sound The Alarm will ever get noticed remains to be seen but to be honest, there wasn't much I found their version that wasn't improved upon in Orianthi's version. There was nothing inherently bad about their version, and I still give them great original writing credit... but their music video's protagonist is a giant ball of lint. With bad CGI and green screen to boot. It's only sad because, aside from being a little heavy on the hipster style, they have the makings for a decent alternative band. Here, I'll just link it. There, I don't feel so bad anymore.

At the risk of rambling on too much longer, I'm looking forward to seeing what Orianthi does in the future. If you factor in the re-release/deluxe edition/whatever version of the album, Believe (II), a lot of the songs on the album are cover songs. Not inherently a bad thing in itself, but I prefer more original music. I like covers, but I think maybe one on an album is plenty. That being said, I still love "Suffocated" as one of the best songs on the album and her cover of "Courage" featuring Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley is pretty good too.

Frankly, it's just nice having a female artist in pop radio and who connects with the pop crowd but who actually showcases some real musical talent and isn't afraid to infuse a lot of rock elements without alienating said pop crowd. It's stuff like this that gives me hope for the genre because after enough exposure to real music, eventually people start to crave more like it and hopefully come to recognize true talent when they hear it.