Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 11/21/2006
Everything that made
Chris Daughtry insufferable as a contestant on
American Idol -- his utter lack of humor, his oppressive earnestness, his desire to sing every song in the same gut-wrenching fashion, a style that only suited the
post-grunge brooding that is his chosen specialty -- work for him on his post-
Idol debut album,
Daughtry. Technically, this is not a solo album, it's the debut of a band called
Daughtry, which is actually spelled all in capital letters, which could be seen as a sign that
Chris Daughtry might have a bit of a credibility complex. It certainly seems as if he thinks he'll only be taken seriously as part of a band that, like lots of bands from the
grunge revolution, is spelled in a specific, exacting way, even if it means that by the rules of the internet he is, quite literally, shouting at us -- which is only appropriate for a singer who is fueled by
Fuel and lives by
Live. And, let's face facts,
DAUGHTRY was formed by
Daughtry not only after his run on
American Idol, but
after he recorded this debut album: the band is for show, to prove that he's the real deal, baby, not some pansy TV singer. It's a posture that's not only just a teeny bit defensive, but one that's utterly unnecessary because the album
DAUGHTRY is actually very good, whether it's judged by the standards of
American Idol or by the standards of
Fuel or
Nickelback. Compared to
Fuel -- the band that invited
Daughtry to be their frontman after he was voted off
Idol --
Daughtry has a lighter touch not just in his delivery but also in his songs, which are far hookier than most
post-grunge; and if he's compared to
Nickelback, he's a far more appealing frontman than that lunkhead
Chad Kroeger, with a greater vocal range and far more sensitivity in his singing.
Daughtry's way with a hook and empathetic emoting are placed far up in the unapologetically professional mix on
DAUGHTRY, which is designed to cross over not to the
pop market -- everybody involved knew that
DAUGHTRY had that anyway thanks to
Daughtry's TV celebrity -- but to the
rock market, so everybody involved made sure not to temper the guitars with layers of synths or even to indulge in too many power
ballads. The resulting album may play strictly by the rules of mainstream
post-grunge and it may never achieve the sweat and grit that real
rock bands do even after they've been cleaned up in the studio, but it follows the modern
rock blueprint exceedingly well, creating drama even in its pedestrian moments. It also helps that the songs are sturdier than most
post-grunge, with big, anthemic hooks on the choruses and verses that are lively enough not to bore. In short, it sounds like the work of a bunch of professionals, which is true to a certain extent: it was produced by
Howard Benson, best-known for LPs by
My Chemical Romance and
All-American Rejects, but
Benson and
DAUGHTRY didn't draft in a bunch of pros to write the songs -- each tune bears a writing credit by
Daughtry, and most of them are solo credits. Listening to these songs, it would be easy to mistake them for the work of seasoned pros: they not only follow the template of
post-grunge well, they do it with better hooks and a commercial flair lacking from bands like
Fuel and
Shinedown, bands that have inspired
Daughtry but who he betters here. To put it mildly, that's a surprise -- not just that
Daughtry pulled off the tricky move of being
pop enough for his
Idol fans and
rock enough for post-grungers, but that he pulled it off on the strength of his own work. While he hasn't shaken off all the problems that plagued him on the show -- he still could learn that a sense of humor helps add depth to his music, or at least he could realize that
rock & roll should be fun at least
some of the time -- but he's made those qualities work on a debut that's not only a lot more credible than any
American Idol-affiliated
rock album should be, but it's a lot easier to digest than most of its ilk.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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