I received my copy of Mickie James’ ‘Strangers & Angels’ CD yesterday, and listened to every song today, so I offered to do a review for Diva Dirt. They said to go for it, so here goes!
First, a disclaimer. I’ve been a fan of Mickie James’ since she debuted in the WWE in 2005. But I’ve promised to be an unbiased reviewer, and I will be.
The first song is the single, ‘Are You with Me?’. It’s a country rock-style song that celebrates being a country girl. A good pick to be the single, its upbeat, catchy, the type of song that you’d find yourself singing along with. I’m sure everyone’s heard this one so I’m not going to spend too much time on it.
The second is ‘Hollywood Movie Moment’, one of the three songs Mickie co-wrote. In her interview with John Canton, she says that this song came from when she found out her ex-fiancée had been cheating on her. It paints a picture of how any woman who’s been cheated on would have liked to react (or may have reacted, depending on the person’s temperament). Rather akin to Carrie Underwood’s ‘Before He Cheats’. It’s a similar country rock style tune. At times, her voice tends to become ‘uneven’, but the pain she felt at the time is recalled and poured into the song.
The third track is ‘I Call the Fight’. You might’ve gotten the impression this one would make references to wrestling, but instead boxing is the theme. It likens a boxing match to a turbulent relationship she’s been through, with more downs than ups. Mickie’s ‘calling the fight’ – she’s giving up and walking away, she can’t take the punches any longer. It’s a softer song, relying on quiet backup from drums, guitar and piano. You can really get a feel for Mickie’s voice in this one since the instruments aren’t overpowering. She has a sweet voice, strong in parts, soft in others. She sounds vulnerable in this song – it isn’t easy to give up but sometimes you have to.
Former WWE Diva and 5-time Women’s Champion, Mickie James has released her debut country album ‘Strangers & Angels’ worldwide today.
The news of Mickie James being released by World Wrestling Entertainment has rocked a lot of people with good reason. She’s the kind of person that women wrestling fans looked up to as a role model because of the amazing work ethic that she has. She’s the kind of person that male wrestling fans wanted to watch because she’s a gorgeous woman that put on entertaining matches. The best thing about watching her is that you can see in her face that wrestling is all she ever wanted to do. Whether heel or face, whether in a good storyline or bad, she always did her best. Look at her eyes. Look at her smile. It was there for us to see. She grew up a fan of the business and it showed in her work. Week in, week out, she proved herself. Even though she’s one of the smaller girls standing at 5’2″ she showed she belonged more than any of them. Why? The combination of work ethic, passion, knowledge and desire. Not only that, but she was successful as both a heel and babyface. Her heel run in late 2005/early 2006 is still as good as any Diva in WWE history. For four years she’s been in the babyface role taking beatings, coming back and making everybody else look good. That was her job. She did it better than anybody. Now she doesn’t have that job anymore? Excuse my language here, but what the fuck?
PART 1 