Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 12/12/2006
Out of all the millions of words that have been written about
American Idol, one topic that's never fully addressed is how the show winds up finding and filling America's forgotten
pop music needs. Genres that have been banished from the airwaves for one reason or another -- usually because they didn't fit within the strictly regimented confines of corporate radio -- have resurfaced on the show, whether it's unabashedly square middle of the road
pop, old-fashioned
deep soul,
Southern rock or
blue-eyed soul. This may not have been true of the show's first season when the two finalists,
Kelly Clarkson and
Justin Guarini pretty much fit the bill for TV-produced
pop stars -- clean and cute, singing
dance-pop designed for the teenagers everyone assumed were
AmIdol's core audience -- but things started to veer off track in the show's second season when squeaky-clean
Clay Aiken and
soul crooner
Ruben Studdard constituted the top two. Instead of being a fluke, this was the beginning of
American Idol's celebration of neglected styles, leading to the barnstorming
soul of
Fantasia Barrino in season three, the
Southern rock of
Bo Bice in season four, and then the white-haired,
blue-eyed soul belter
Taylor Hicks, who unexpectedly took the top honors in season five.
At first glance
Hicks sure didn't seem like an
American Idol: with that prematurely white hair and his slightly hefty frame, he seemed like somebody's dad trying to pass as an
AmIdol contestant, which was part of his charm. But charm alone doesn't win a singing competition, and
Hicks had real power as a singer, blessed with a husky, soulful growl that displayed a clear
Ray Charles' influence but an even heavier debt to
Joe Cocker and
Michael McDonald, two singers raised on
Motown and
R&B who still retained a soulful edge when they eased into
soft rock later in their careers.
Hicks picked up on this trick of
Cocker and
McDonald's, how they could still sound passionate while singing schmaltz, and that helped propel him toward the
American Idol championship, but even though he took the crown, there was a huge question looming over the release of his debut album: would
19 Entertainment,
Clive Davis and all the powers that be behind the scenes at
American Idol let
Hicks stay true to the gifts he displayed on the show, or would they shoehorn him into a sound that doesn't suit him, the way they did with
Bice on his debut
The Real Thing?
Bice served as a cautionary tale for
Hicks and his producers, since he was another Alabama boy who shined on
AmIdol because he was bringing back a Southern sound not heard on the radio, but when it came time for his debut he was forced into a stilted modern
rock that not only didn't suit him musically, but it ignored the very reason
why audiences loved him on the show: they loved him because he didn't sound like everybody else on the radio, but on
The Real Thing, his producers tried to make him sound like everybody else, and failed miserably. The same thing could have happened to
Hicks, since he also didn't sound like anybody else on the radio in 2006, but fortunately, everybody involved in
Hicks' debut do not try to force modernity upon him: they let
Taylor be
Taylor.
Which doesn't necessarily mean that
Taylor Hicks is nothing but a
Doobie Brothers album in disguise: it certainly has tracks that fit within the confines of
adult contemporary radio in 2006, but they never feel as crass or formulaic as
"Do I Make You Feel Proud," his post-
Idol chart-topper that found him straining against the constraints of
AC conventions. Cuts that are nothing more than professional and pleasant -- mainly
ballads, such as the plodding yet anthemic
"Just to Feel That Way" and the
Diane Warren-penned
"Places I've Been," which was written with
Hicks' back story in mind but nevertheless feels formulaic, but also an overly slick cover of
Marvin Gaye's
"Wherever I Lay My Hat" -- account for about a third of
Taylor Hicks, and while they're little more than the perfectly fine fodder of a waiting room,
Hicks does not sound uncomfortable singing them. Indeed, he invests them with just enough personality that they're more engaging than the bland yet pretty
ballads that pass as modern
soft rock, and their inclusion here makes commercial sense; these are the tunes that play by the rules of modern
adult pop, and
Hicks performs them as a pro without losing his personality. In contrast, the rest of
Taylor Hicks is a throwback -- not necessarily a throwback to the
Motown and '60s
pop that he sang on
Idol, but rather to the
soft rock and
blue-eyed soul of the '70s and '80s, which itself was informed by the spirit of the '60s. And at its best -- and it's frequently very good, even excellent --
Taylor Hicks resembles nothing so much as a forgotten '80s
soft rock album, a blend of
Michael McDonald,
Bridge-era
Billy Joel,
Hall & Oates and
Steve Winwood's
Roll with It that certainly satisfies any hopes that
Hicks would indeed make a record that could be called Yacht Rock for the new millennium. Digitally polished though it may be, there's a lived-in warmth to the performances of
Hicks and his studio pros, and producer
Matt Serletic, who made his name helming records for
Matchbox Twenty, is sharp enough to retain that feel even when he's building tracks upon samples, as he does on
"Heaven Knows," which reworks
Ray Charles'
"What I'd Say" into an addictive, danceable piece of modern
soul-
pop. This gives
Taylor Hicks a sound that's appealing on its own merits, but what makes the record work are the songs that evoke the past yet still sound fresh. Occasionally, this means something that's been unearthed, like
"Gonna Move," a light, laid-back number found on
Paul Pena's cult 1973
soul album
New Train, but for the most part these are newly-written songs by professional songwriters.
Matchbox Twenty's
Rob Thomas is the only writer who attempts to bridge the gap between
Hicks'
retro-soul and contemporary
pop, and he does so very well with
"Dream Myself Awake," but the best stuff here are the songs that simply revive soulful sounds, whether it's
Bryan Adams' surprisingly successful
gospel-inflected closer
"The Right Place," the neo-duet
"Give Me Tonight" or, most of all, the absolutely terrific opener
"The Runaround," a propulsive throwback to '80s
soul-
pop that's as good as any hit
Michael McDonald had in that decade. As good as any of these professionally written tunes are
Hicks' two originals -- the funky
"Soul Thing" and the closest thing to genuine old-fashioned
Southern soul, the quite wonderful
"The Deal" -- revived and re-recorded from a pre-
Idol independent album he made that show him as a solid writer in addition to being an inspired deal. Their inclusion also shows that he, assisted by some smart pros, can make the songs of others fit his musical style, which makes this debut somewhat of a subversive success: he's created an album that fits all of
American Idol's requirements -- it's big, clean, catchy and commercial -- without losing his own identity, so he's sneaked
blue-eyed soul back into the mainstream. But he never would have gotten this chance if
American Idol's huge audience didn't recognize that he had this talent and if they didn't realize that he was making music that they had forgotten to hear, and fortunately,
19 Entertainment, in turn, realized this and let
Taylor Hicks make an album that will surely satisfy anybody who loved to hear him on the show, and an album that stands as one of the best
Idol-related records yet made.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Average Review:
Number of reviews: 2
Write an online review and share your thoughts with others!
A reviewer
from Franklin, TN
can't believe this album hasn't sold more copies.....
One of the things I looked forward to most about the post-AI Hicks was being able to hear his real music. The single "Do I Make You Proud", though it sold well, was anything but Taylor Hicks.
The whole album pleases, top to bottom. To me, the best track is "The Right Place". Written originally by Brian Adams for Ray Charles, Taylor shines throughout the whole song. "Heaven Knows" is also a great song for Taylor. And I really enjoyed the remakes of "The Deal", "Soul Thing" and "Hell of a Day" (available only from Wal Mart).
The songs play well on the CD and especially in concert. My wife and I had the privilege to see him in cocert at the Ryman in Nashville. Nothing like Taylor Hicks live, that's for sure.
I don't understand management's reasoning behind releasing the first single 2 months after the album debut. Nor do I understand why they chose "Just to Feel That Way" as the first single. But Hicks has said that he's in this for the long haul, not to be a shooting star and fade soon thereafter. I look forward to his next album.
A reviewer
from Connecticut
Heaven Knows that I have found The Right Place with Taylor
Heaven Knows that I have found The Right Place with Taylor
For the longest time, I have been rather dispirited when it came to listening to music, as it all sounded the same, so I primarily listened to either Broadway or Country
I admit that when American Idol began 5 years ago, it did not interest me.
When Bo Bice appeared, I hoped that he would win, just because he did not sound like the music that was out there, and I enjoyed his style
BUT, this year, when I first heard, and then watched Taylors audition, something REALLY struck a chord in me
Taylor did NOT sound like everyone else, and he sang A Change is Gonna Come.
He thought he had a voice, and to give him a chance
As each week went by, he enthralled me by truly making each song his own.
Taylor was never in the bottom 2 or 3, which had only been done by 2 others: Kelly Clarkson Carrie Underwood
I was remembering people that I had not listened to in years, such as Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Doobie Brothers, Bob Seger and too many more to mention
Boy was his audition song prophetic, or what?
A change HAS come, and the name belongs to Taylor Hicks
These songs will make you either get up and dance or they will touch your soul and make you cry or make you remember relationships that went awry
There is something on this album for every taste in music
Get this album, and you will not be disappointed!
Thanks for reading this!
;)
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