Ryan Cabrera: Take It All Away : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

The man that brought you Jessica and Ashlee -- their dad -- now delivers twenty-year-old Ryan Cabrera. Joe Simpson may have developed Cabrera and become his manager, but it's Ashlee who gave Cabrera something to sing about on his debut. The pair broke up as their albums neared completion. The young Texan seems intent on transcending his Diesel-wearing, mall-kid status and being taken seriously as a musician. Take It All Away is about girls -- a mixture of teen angst ("Echo Park") and raging hormones (the clever "Shame On Me"). Cabrera lyrically demonstrates an assured sense of self, but the album's impact is blunted by slick production from Goo Goo Dolls leader John Rzeznik (who clones his band's radio-safe pop-rock sound). Cabrera's themes are often rough around the edges, and ditching the multi-layered studio sheen for a more organic sound would have greatly helped in communicating them.