Regular Columnists

Artist: Lynn Julian
Album: Cookie Cutter Girl
CD Review: Artist: Lynn Julian (www.cookiecuttergirl.com)

Album: Cookie Cutter Girl

Rating: 50%

Rating Key: 0 - 19% (It hurt to listen) 20 - 29% (Awful) 30 - 39% (Bad) 40 - 49% (Almost average) 50 - 59% (Average) 60 - 69% (Good, but has problems) 70 - 79% (A good record) 80 - 89% (You must check it out!) 90 - 95% (Best I’ve heard in a long time!) 95 - 100% (Incredible! Nothing like it!)

Lynn Julian is a gal that has some serious ambition. She glows with goals of “Freeing women everywhere from the mold in which society has held them captive”. What do you do when you have such ambition? That’s right, you turn yourself into a superhero. Complete with knee high boots, pink top, and a glimmering headband - Cookie Cutter Girl claims to be “Power Pop with a Punch!” When I received this record in the mail, I felt that I may not be suitable as the reviewer. Since I don’t have the parts to unite with the CCG’s of America, I did what any confused male would do - I let my girlfriend take a listen. Of course I listened too. Multiple times as a matter of fact, trying to put my finger on exactly what I thought of this CD.

Here’s where I think Lynn Julian has the right idea. Her marketing strategies are great. She’s empowering women - and lord knows women buy CD’s. She’s got an image - sure it may be corny, but it made me take a second look… and a third… and a fourth. She’s got a website that’s chalked full of information and praise from other people... Pretty much anything that you would need to promote a record, she’s covered all the bases! All the way down to a screaming yellow CCG car that she’s using as a moving billboard!

So here’s where I thought the record fell short. Musically. Really the songs aren’t bad. Julian has a soulful, powerful voice that leads a record with some really great production qualities. There are even a couple of tunes that with a bit of rearranging could be pretty darn good. The tune “Get the Picture” stands out as one of those. It’s got a strong chorus with driving guitars - pretty much a straight forward, catchy rock tune. “Jenny” is another song with a good chorus and some pretty decent musical points. That’s just it though - throughout the record there’s nothing that really stands out and forces me to give it an above average rating.

I will say this - the way she had everything packaged, I was almost sure that there was going to be something great about it. Yes, it comes across as corny - but she’s talked herself up enough to make me question whether or not I’ve written the right review. So with that said there must be something great about this record, it just might not be in the area that she was hoping for.