It's been a while since I've watched "American Idol," so whenever a winner or runner-up comes out with an album, I try to give it a fair once-over. Archuleta has been pandered as the cute little boy with a cute little voice, and when he came out with "Crush," it took a while to grow on me. After listening to his entire album, I decided it was a good first effort for an amateur with no clear artistic vision. His voice is strong, it's just the lyrics, as usual, that this "Idol"-alum has to work on.
Despite the fact that his latest single is a cover of Robbie Williams' "Angels" and the next one will be the mellow, party-starter "Touch My Hand," I'd recommend giving a listen to "Waiting for Yesterday," "My Hands" and "Running." But for your own sake, completely avoid the annoying echo in "Barriers" and the useless assistance of former N'Syncer JC Chasez on "Don't Let Go." However, if you want to hear the Adam Levine-fiery-potential in his voice, listen to the semi-tolerable "Let Me Go."
"Angels" isn't a single--it was just released on iTunes before the album went on sale. I'm not sure why people keep making that mistake. "Touch My Hand" is the second single.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you want artistic vision, you should have pre-ordered the album on iTunes and received "Somebody Out There," or bought the bonus track version at Walmart and received "Works for Me," both of which represent the likely direction David will take on his second album. "Works for Me" is the most autobiographical song, partially about his experience on Idol, and fuses the sounds of Jason Mraz and Stevie Wonder. Go look it up on youtube.
I happen to love this album--it's a solid pop album with catchy songs (and I adore "Barriers"), but Jive decided what songs to put on the album because they felt these were the most radio friendly. And they were right--they are. David needs to establish himself as a player before he can change the game, and that's what this album will do. So many Idol alumns never get the chance to make a 2nd album, and this is an album that will get David a second one.
The best songs on the album, in my opinion, are the ones David wrote or co-wrote. So artistic vision is clearly there-whether you respond to it or not.