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Music

'Idol' on the download

Thirty days. That's how long until the sixth season of American Idol starts gobbling great chunks of our brains. 

By Sean Daly
Published December 18, 2006

Fantasia, Fantasia J Records

GRADE: A

I'm an unabashed Kelly Clarkson junkie ("Since you been GONNNE!!!"), but after hearing the mind-blowing Fantasia, I have a new favorite Idolist. With Tina Turner's strength, Patti LaBelle's holler and legit songwriting skills, the Season 3 champ from High Point, N.C., is everything an R&B diva should be: bold, brash and unafraid to take chances. Such wickedly thumping jams as Baby Makin' Hips and Not the Way That I Do are the best tunes Beyonce never had the guts or independence to make. Fantasia is the American dream, a hardscrabble teen mom turned star who is both accessibly real and deliciously fantastic.

Chris Daughtry, Daughtry (RCA)

GRADE: B-

Season 5's Bald Wonder has one of the most distinctive voices in modern rock, that stylishly warbled metallic yawp that made him the most controversial also-ran in Idol history. But talent aside, somebody needs to get it through his shaved skull that "Nickelback imitator" is not a viable career option. On the early tracks of his debut, the sheer force of Chris Daughtry's voice is enough to overcome the derivative guitar scrum, especially on It's Not Over and catchy power ballad Used To. But everything eventually starts sounding the same, faux-metal gunk clogging your ears. It's no surprise that the album's most thrilling moment is the Guns N' Rosey What I Want, with a guest solo by guitar god Slash. Note to Daughtry: Find cooler friends.

Ruben Studdard, The Return (J Records)

GRADE: D

Poor Ruben: No one likes to live in another's shadow . . . especially when that shadow belongs to someone one-third your size. But that's been the fate of the Velvet Teddy Bear, who won Season 2 of Idol but lost out to the sales power and elfin charisma of runner-up Clay Aiken. Studdard was created in the Luther Vandross mold, a God-fearing loverman who could belt gospel and mushy ballads. For sophomore disc The Return, such popular producers as the Underdogs try to give Studdard a sexier, street edge, but the album is consistently dull, one blah love letter after another. The Claymates were right: Neither Ruben's voice nor his persona is the stuff of champions.

Kellie Pickler, Small Town Girl (Sony Nashville)

GRADE: B-

Kellie Pickler's Huckleberry Blond routine last season made me want to pull an Elvis and take aim at the tube. But the lil' minx's debut disc makes for cheap-o fun, like watching Hee Haw in your underpants. Pickler's thin voice has been smoothed out via studio trickery, but her sassy spirit remains, especially on go-girl dustup Red High Heels. The highlight is a moving ballad called I Wonder, a strong, unapologetic letter to an estranged mother. The liner notes don't list writer credits, but if Pickler had a hand in that one, she really was a lot smarter than she let on.

Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls (Sony Urban)

GRADE: B

Dreamgirls, the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway smash, doesn't hit theaters until Christmas Day. But just from hearing the soundtrack, I'm pretty sure I already know my favorite scene. That would be the one in which former Idolist Jennifer Hudson, playing a disgruntled girl group singer, belts the octave-spanning showstopper And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. Just hearing it gave me chills. The rest of the album, which also features Beyonce, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy, is a likable blend of show tune bigness and Motown flair. But believe me when I say Hudson's big moment is worth the price of the album - and maybe the price of a movie ticket, too.

Taylor Hicks, Taylor Hicks (Arista)

GRADE: C

Taylor Hicks making soul music is kind of like McDonald's making neckbone soup. You can't mass-produce a beloved delicacy that needs time, love and experience. I don't doubt the reigning Idol champ has great affection for Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye, but when he samples both of them on new song Heaven Knows, you've gotta wonder where homage stops and desperation starts. Hicks, whose voice sounded much richer on TV, gets decent songwriting help from Rob Thomas, Diane Warren and Bryan Adams. But the wanna-be juke joint stink of the album is too synthetic to enjoy. McRib, anyone?

Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways (RCA)

GRADE: D-

I once had a great interview with Clay Aiken, a giddy young man who laughs like a hyena hopped up on Pez. The most famous runner-up in Idol history kept talking about ditching fame and working with autistic children. Asked about the new album, he sighed: "We're still trying to figure things out." I'm willing to bet Aiken despises his sophomore effort, with its gauzy covers of such lame pop songs as Mr. Mister's Broken Wings and Richard Marx's Right Here Waiting. (After all, Claymates will buy anything by their boy, right?) The wishy-washy orchestration makes Manilow sound like Metallica. And with the exception of a curiously pleading Without You, the singer sounds bored throughout. Still, if Aiken is trying to sabotage his fame - and it sure sounds like he is - I find that strangely admirable. Good luck with the teaching thing, buddy.

Sean Daly can be reached at (727) 893-8467 or sdaly@sptimes.com His blog is at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic.

Name, Time, Artist, Album, Price, Sean Says ...

1. Baby Makin' Hips 3:21 Fantasia Fantasia $0.99 "See that wobble-wobble? Shaped just like a cola bottle." You go, 'Tasia.

2. What I Want 2:49 Chris Daughtry Daughtry $0.99 Guest licks by guitar freak Slash give Bald Guy switchblade edge.

3. And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going 4:46 Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls $0.99 Beyonce who? This desperation ballad is the definition of showstopper.

4. Red High Heels 3:43 Kellie Pickler Small Town Girl $0.99 Huckleberry Blond out-Shania's Shania on this foot-fetishist anthem.

5. Not the Way That I Do 3:36 Fantasia Fantasia $0.99 Doomsday drums add menace to a killer kiss-off.

6. Without You 3:34 Clay Aiken A Thousand ... $0.99 Claymates rejoice! For the first time, Aiken's pleading sounds genuine.

7. It's Not Over 3:36 Chris Daughtry Daughtry $0.99 Nickelback knockoff or not, the guy can flat-out sing.

8. I Wonder 3:58 Kellie Pickler Small Town Girl $0.99 Tough-love note to estranged mom is surprisingly moving.

9. The Runaround 3:13 Taylor Hicks Taylor Hicks $0.99 Mr. Soul Patrol mixes Basin Street stomp with Motown sheen.

10. Hood Boy 3:34 Fantasia Fantasia $0.99 OutKast's Big Boi raps on this retelling of Salt-n-Pepa's Whatta Man.

[Last modified December 18, 2006, 08:48:15]