It's not even that they are stale.
They are just forced. It would be like me writing a song about growing up in the hot California sun, hanging out on Friday night's with my friends, losing the girl of my dreams, and wooaooh looking for the dream in the fire and rolling off into the sunset down the highway.
I'm from the South Coast of England, i'm antisocial, i've not even found the girl of my dreams (they've all just been "some girl"), I don't drive, and if I did i'd be stuck on a roundabout and on several motorways... no top down, no sun, no dreaming.
Now, I know what would make the better song, but you can't force this shit. So i'd just write about something I do know. If you do force it, it sounds contrived and doesn't make for a very good song.
Now Erik can sing all the contrived, cliche'd, forced songs he likes, because i'm never going to go and buy his solo album. But the fact that so many artists I do like are now having Erik albums served up under their name is beginning to piss me off.
Especially as I know it'll only happen more.
Giant, Toby Hitchcock (although any AOR album released as his solo album would probably be contrived, as anyone who follows him knows he's actually more of a gospel/country singer in his own right), Kimball/Jamison, Jimi Jamison, Jeff Scott Soto (in W.E.T), Harry Hess and even Smokie. Apart from Toby, they are all people who can either write their own material, or have collaborators who they famously write with. Why do they all need albums to be written for them by Erik... to the point where it all just sounds the same?
Enough is enough.
It's actually quite boring. I've rarely listened to much in AOR this year aside from Rick Springfield, Richard Marx and older releases, because alot of the new stuff (aside from guys who I know will deliver what I like such as Newman and Chris Antblad) just all sounds the same... and that's largely because it's all written by one person!
Niv