Released on August 2nd, 2011, Greyson Chance’s album Hold On ‘Til the Night bears all the marks of just another cheesy pop album released by a crack-voiced preteen looking for attention. However, Chance’s songs stray far from that expected theme, especially since the young star carried most of the writing load himself.
Discovered on YouTube after performing Lady Gaga’s song Paparazzi at his school talent show, Chance has had a fairly easy route to success. Much in the way of Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black, this universally-known video sharing site, known for doling out successes in the form of viral videos, or videos that catch on with the public and end up totaling millions of views, discovered Chance’s video online. From then on, his popularity and, even, notoriety grew to an unbelievable level. Unlike most YouTube hits, Chance, however, did not simply remain a “one hit wonder.”
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who often brings in people and shows interesting videos from the internet over the course of her hour-long daytime show, invited Chance the opportunity to appear and perform on national television. Of course, he could not simply pass it up. DeGeneres created a record label to record his music, and he has now appeared on her show over eight times. Over a year later, Hold On ‘Til the Night is the unexpected baby of Chance’s Internet success.
Two potential hits from the album include “Wait Outside The Lines” and “Unfriend You.” Both songs are adorned with flashy titles and cutesy choruses, but the deeper meaning in them is evident. Specifically, “Unfriend You” features lyrics that catch the attention of the album’s target audience, teenagers. As the title itself references popular social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, the song is rife with little hints about the different aspects of maintaining your profile, liking comments, and adding friends. The line “Cause I should have known, right from the start/I’m deleting you right from my heart” stays with the listener for a long time because of its applicability to real life and its melodious rhyme.
Highlights among the other eight songs on the album include “Heart Like Stone” and “Take a Look At Me Now.”
Check out Chance’s album on iTunes or Amazon!
