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Well, I guess that's enough generic advance bitching. I've had my loins thoroughly girded by professionals -- let's go through the songs, note by overwrought glory note.
1. "Invisible." The bland, generic opening guitar line in this song makes it sound like Clay's about to break into an allergy medication ad. Actually, it sounds almost like one of the fake commercials your Sims can record in Studio Town if you own the "Superstar" expansion set for "The Sims." And then I start wondering if I'd enjoy this album more if Clay sung it all in the made-up language "The Sims" uses. This song is about stalking somebody you're secretly in love with, which is certainly a good message to send out to impressionable children. I wonder if Clay's a 7th Heaven fan? What I don't like about this song, more than the overwrought singing and laughably cheesy background vocals, is how stupid this song is when juxtapositioned with where Clay's life is at right now. The title refers to how some girl (one assumes) doesn't notice he's alive. At this moment, the very idea is ridiculous. I don't think even pre-American Idol nerdy Clay had this problem, if the profiles are an indication. These are the kinds of things that make me flag songs as insincere. It's like little Johnny Mayer singing about how he's going to be all big and famous someday and Madonna whining about the vagaries of Hollywood. I can't buy into this song. It's just not "real," as they say. Oh, and to songwriters and producers: When a line of the chorus only takes up half the time that the music is playing, just echoing the last word repeatedly to fill up space is lame and sad.
Here's a fun thing to do with the song: Listen to the chorus -- "If I was [sic] invisible, / then I could just watch you in your room. / If I was [sic] invincible, / I'd make you mine tonight." Now imagine Vern Schillinger singing it to you instead of Clay. Isn't it romantic?
Unforgivable lyric: "Wish you could touch me with the colors of your life." Be sure to use protection, you two.
2. "I Will Carry You." Just by the title, you know exactly everything there is to know about the content of the song. When you (whoever you are) are having a bad day, Clay will be there for you. The lyrics don't get into any real specifics about any particular situation, because this song is all about listeners projecting their problems onto Clay and pretending that he's helping them because he loves them, and not a song inspired by actually helping someone in particular, which would make the song remotely interesting, so that's not going to happen. It's like R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" as sung by a robot. And that's stupid, because Clay should be able to identify with this song, but the lyrics are so damned bland and vague ("No one ever said that life's an easy thing") that it's like being sent a musical sympathy card from somebody you've never met. As for the singing, Clay allows some breathiness to get into the verses, which is actually a good thing, because it lends a touch of variety, but the frying pan of talent comes back in full and painful force for the relentlessly melodramatic chorus and bridge.