CD Review: Justin Roberts - Meltdown!

It was with some trepidation that I decided to review the latest album by Justin Roberts, a growing star in children's music. I braced for inane, annoying, repetitive songs — along the lines of the Barney theme song — which would bounce through my head all night long, with me waking up sweating and screaming.

When I think of children's music the adjectives "clever," "witty," and "funny," are not the first to come to mind. But those are words I would use to describe Robert's album, Meltdown! The album is scheduled to be released March 21.

"I Chalk," the first song on the album, reminds me of drawing chalk pictures on my mother's driveway with my nieces. The lyrics to that song - my favorite on the album - are illustrative of the singer's style:

Outside our house, the neighbors just gawk (or maybe not) Why can’t they see there’s a museum on our block All the grown ups they just stand around and talk I chalk, I ch-ch-ch chalk Sister and me, drew dragons and kings (with tiny wings) While all the grown ups talked about their grown up things I drew a monster’s door and made sure it was locked I chalk, I ch-ch-ch chalk But you won’t believe what happened the next day I went to leave and they’d washed it all away Yeah, my paintings were gone Because they fed the lawn But I will start again With Ch-ch-ch chalk! You can’t stop us with those sprinklers on the block Cause I chalk, I ch-ch-ch chalk..."

There are songs about common problems encountered by children, including blaming siblings for problems, learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels and dealing with meltdowns by parents. One of my other favorites on the album is "Our Imaginary Rhino," about a family setting a place at the dinner table for a child’s imaginary friend. The song ends with a twist, though, as the imaginary rhino has his own imaginary friend and insists another place be set at the table:

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

Visit Scott Butki's author page — Scott Butki's Blog