IdolHeadEd.com - Is David Cook about to break the Idol winner drought?

IdolHeadEd writes
I was, as I suspect many, anxious to hear what David Cook would offer up. I was personally wondering which Cook would be my favorite of the CD releases.

The last 2 years have not been banner years for the Idol winner’s CDs. While Jordin has certainly gotten mucho airplay, her CD is not running away with any records. But she did do the best from that season. As for season 5 winner Taylor, he got neither airplay nor sales. More embarrassingly, he placed 3^rd in sales from that season way behind Chris Daughtry and marginally behind Kellie Pickler. As for Kellie, she has a new CD out and without giving too much away, it is better than her first. I will review this later.

I suspect strongly this vicious cycle is about to be broken. With a good mixture of Acoustic Rock and Pop Rock this CD is worth the buy. Every song has a very good melody. And Rock with good melody equals mucho record sales. Just ask Chris Daughtry.

Here’s how I see it:

“Declaration”
With an electric Acoustic start it grabs you from the first note. This one could be a single. David delivers a knockout hook and bounces back and forth from hard driving to light touch with ease. Grade: A-

“Heroes”
This one has David harmonizing with himself very effectively. It is hard driving tune has the sound of a TV theme song and a great one. We might be hearing this on a Fox show soon. Grade B+

“Light On”
This first single shows the many textures of David’s winning voice. Whilst it is a good tune it is not the best on this CD by far. In fact the first two tunes were better in my opinion. Grade B

“Come Back to Me”
The very catchy electric plucking is an early attention getter, and is followed by full orchestra. David does not get lost in the music at all. The message “when you find you, come back to me” is poignant and may help this become a single. I really like this tune. Excellent melody. Grade A

“Life on the Moon”
This one starts off as an Acoustic ballad but soon moves into a Pop Rock tune. It is David’s voice hat makes this song work. His range is put to test and passes. Another good song. Grade A-

"Bar-Ba-Sol"
This one starts off like a Heavy Metal Blues song. David’s gruff side is on display here. I could see this song being sung about 10 different ways. Bar-ba-sol is unique to this CD. It is the only tune on this CD that could be considered pure Rock. This tune is reminicent of tunes from the ‘70’s. Grade A-

“Mr. Sensitive”
I love the sounds this gives in the beginning. This may be the David Cook signature type song. There is a lot of contrast in this tune, something I personally like. This too could make the singles arena. Grade A-

“Lie”
Now we get to my favorite song on this CD. There is no reason this should not be a single and do very well. Great melody, great vocal contrast and control. David’s entire vocal repertoire in on display for us to sample here. Love it. The message can be understood by all. Grade A+

“I Did it for You”
Another good melodic song. I’m not sure this is single material but it is certainly good enough to gain some degree of fandom. Grade B

“Avalanche”
Another catchy beginning. I love all these cool electric plucking arrangements. While this is another good song, it gets kind of lost amongst all the other great songs on this CD. We do get to hear more of David’s mid range which is a good thing. Grade B-

“Permanent”
The first and only piano intro. This is more orchestral than Rock. It, like “Bar-Ba-Sol” is unique on this CD. It’s a good change from almost all Idol debut CDs to date. This song will remind many of the Andrew Lloyd Webber night. In fact this could be a song from a “Phantom....” type play. Very majestic in scope. Grade A-

“Daily Anthem"
The electric guitar intro swells into a soft spoken piece. And with all the instrumentation it amazes me that David’s voice never gets lost. He’s got it goin’ on. This also has single potential. Grade A

There is no reason this CD shouldn’t go at least double platinum. First week's sales were 279,578 and the digital (which I did) set a record for a debut album at 58,713. "Light On" has already been certified platinum. I think the PTB are really working hard to turn the tide with season 7 contestants as far as production and songs. Although the other Cook, Kristy, got the shaft on promoting, she got the royal great song treatment like Mr. Cook. I actually like this CD better than Chris’s. The public rarely sees it my way as can be evidenced in my enthusiasm for Kristy’s CD.

Great effort for David and whether this CD sells millions or hundreds, David will have a sparkling music career. This debut CD can not be accused of "all the songs sound the same" line. Each song is quite unique in its own right. "David Cook" is every bit worth a buy. You can click the iTunes banner on the side and buy it now. This is a Great CD that will easily out sell Kristy, even though I like Kristy’s better, and in my opinion, is the 3^rd best CD ever put out by a first time Idol behind only Kristy and Carrie. In fact Kristy’s has now replaced Carrie as #1 for me and is only outpaced by Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway” as #1 of all time. Maybe in time, "David Cook" will move up a notch.

I will be standing in line for the David Cook concert tickets. I hope you will too after you buy this CD.

Is it Season 8 yet?

Idolhead Ed