Kate Ryan All For You Video

Kate Ryan, the crown jewel of Belgian music scene, released a follow-up to her previous albums, Different and Stronger. On her third album, Alive, Ryan takes a notable step away from euro-influenced dance in favour of a more Madonna-like dance-pop approach.

Earlier this year, Kate Ryan represented Belgium in the Eurovision song contest. Her song was called Je t´adore and it didn`t exactly blow my mind then. As a part of this album, however, the song does a surprisingly great job. Kate Ryan is fabulous with her vocals and the bassline is also impressive. The more Madonna-like moments can be found in Alive, a lightweight pop piece, which works mostly because of its chorus.

In addition to Je t´adore, the Swedish Double N duo also created All For You, How Many Times,Why Imagine and Wonderland for Ryan`s album. How Many Times does have a bit too much Eurovision style in it, but otherwise the Swedes made a fine job, especially when it comes to catchy choruses. Still, with its high-flying style and splendid sounds, Why Imagine clearly stands out as the best of the lot.

As for Madonna, Yves Jongen has clearly been influenced by her when writing Tapping On The Table, Nothing, Driving Away, Love Or Lust, Stepping Out and That Kiss I Miss. Especially Nothing, Driving Away and Love Or Lust contain several Madonna elements in their vocals and backgrounds. With its crafty use of guitar and an airy soundscape, Stepping Out is definitely the best that Jongen has to offer here.

Madonna`s name may have popped up too many times already, but it is pretty obvious that Kate Ryan in 2006 is more like Madonna and Kylie Minogue, rather than the fast-paced dance-pop performer she used to be. Whereas Different was trance-pop and Stronger a dance-pop album, Alive can be described merely as pop, with the emphasis on the electronic kind, of course. If you liked the previous album mostly because of such songs as Hands Up and Can You Fix This, then you should definitely give Alive a try. Besides, quality-wise Alive is also pretty stable, filled with appealing parts and catchy choruses to keep the listener hooked until the end. As a nice conclusion, there are also four French versions of the songs on the album.