HuffPost Review: Daughtry - Leave This Town

"I practiced this for hours, gone round and round, and now I think that I've got it all down...I'm not taking the easy way out..."

It's all true, Daughtry worked really hard on this one, and it sounds it. Right out of the gate, with its Queensrÿche intro and shades of Nickelback, Leave This Town's opener, "You Don't Belong," batters with some real anger (thank you co-writer, Chad Kroeger), at least until we get to the hooky chorus which yanks the musical experience back into traditional, chart-tested Daughtry territory. From the above-quoted, second track and single "No Surprise" and on, it's Daughtry 2.0 (down from "You Don't Belong"'s 3.5), which is okay since Leave This Town still kicks its multi-hit, multi-platinum predecessor's ass, alternating between big guitar'd, Creed-inspired grunge-a-longs and country-bred, beer hall breakup ballads across its twelve powerful tracks.

This is all really likable material, even though its every move is predictable. Cuts like "Every Time You Turn Around" charge out of the jungle like a wild pachyderm that unfortunately is tranquilized by the pop dart "I know you're standing there waiting for me, to take it on back down the other road baby, but I won't let you down" in its extremely anthem-ic chorus. This happens on every single rock workup, those energized recordings alternating methodically with sensitive, mid-tempo purges. Regardless of topic, tempo or potential for tediousness, every song delivers its mandatory, Top Forty hook within a little below the minute mark. And interestingly, there is much attention to detail production-wise on the front half of these workups, the lure as important as the payoffs, those being irresistible choruses guaranteed to indoctrinate after their first repetition.

The lyrics? Well, that's a work in progress. On one of Leave This Town's best tracks, "Life After You," we're told, "...all that I'm after is a lifetime of laughter, as long as I'm laughing with you," that comes off as genius when compared with some of the album's other dissertations; stray dogs such as "Every Time You Turn Around"'s "...pardon me, I've been following my dreams," "What I Meant To Say"'s "...wounded by the same old shots you take," "Supernatural"'s "...lost from the start, I might as well be on the moon, it's much colder than I thought, even in the month of June," and "Learn My Lesson"'s "...tonight the sunset means so much, the one thing that you know you never touch" needed to be followed with a poop-scoop. Then again, sophisticated lyrics are not what we're buying with a Daughtry record; he's an everyman, not a Socrates. No, we're rooting so hard for this guy/band that it's best to overlook details as long as we're being expertly entertained which we are.

Though Daughtry's rockin' with testosterin' made him/them popular at frats, at tailgate parties and on army bases, it's the good ol' ballads that got the girls. No shortage here, with the beautiful "Every Time You Turn Around," "September," "Call Your Name," and the acoustic waltz "Life After You" all starting like your favorite John Mellencamp song before bordering on modern "country" (the track "Tennessee Line" actually hiring-in one of that musical genre's heroes, Vince Gill). Come to think of it, that's the smartest hand this group plays...working the rock and country rooms at once without actually being country rock.

In the past, musically, Daughtry has been placed in the House of Creed, but a better location now might be in the State of Bon Jovi, especially after Chris' nailing "I'll Be There For You" while performing in honor of Jon and Richie at the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Think about it...there's not much of a difference between that dude who's wanted "Dead Or Alive" and Chris' good bad boy who either is heroically trying to save relationships or bravely ending them. And melodically, especially when our vocalist goes for the high notes, couldn't he be mistaken for a Richie Sambora-era Cher? (Nah, we kid because we love so we kid...)

Everyone knows Daughtry the human is especially talented and obviously worked hard to deliver a record this satisfying. Still, for real longevity, he eventually is going to have to cut loose from his assembly line handlers and reveal real depth, not just skills, and that could earn him a discerning audience and a place in the music books beyond American Idol history. And a really quick intervention: Chris, you need to stop using those same three or four note intervals...it's now devolved from style to formula, and your imagination and pipes certainly can handle vocal jumps beyond major fourths that resolve to thirds; that said, you sure do sound good singin' 'em, so never mind...for now. Beating the sophomore jinx and looking at what was accomplished here, to borrow some out of context words from "No Surprise," Daughtry was "...a tough act to follow," but Leave This Town succeeded admirably, something we all pretty much expected from this band's talented namesake.

Tracks:

1. You Don't Belong
2. No Surprise
3. Every Time You Turn Around
4. Life After You
5. What I Meant To Say
6. Open Up Your Eyes
7. September
8. Ghost Of Me
9. Learn My Lesson
10. Supernatural
11. Tennessee Line
12. Call Your Name

Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ragz2008

Comments

[glacierfalls]

I liked the review, and agree the lyrics seem to be seem to be weak. I liked the first cd Daughtry made very much and bought that album. I will probably get this one too. David Cook is a decent singer too. Creed is coming out with a new cd, Full Circle, in September. I like to see your review of them. Looks like I'll be staying at the House of Creed for awhile. lol

[filmex]

Never trust the word of anyone over 20 who wears a baseball cap backwards.

[ragz2008]

Dude, it was Daughtry review, gimme a break.

[ragz2008]

Okay, it's official, you don't like Daughtry.

[spiderbucket]

Word.

[spiderbucket]

What a joke. Can we get some reviews of anything decent ?

[LLNYRN]

Mike,
Suprisingly, I really liked Daughtry's first release. It had the beginnings of that 70s "arena rock, guitar crunching" sound that I admit, I sorely miss.
The last band to have that type of sound was CREED. And we all know how slaughtered those Dudes got by a music press that wants to be too Hip and Emo for its own good.

BTW...
What do you think of the new Alice In Chains single?

[ragz2008]

Thanks for the comment LLNYRN,

I always liked Alice In Chains, I think "A Looking In View" is great, the video is pretty intense.

As far as this album, I think Daughtry was trying to emulate Creed in the guitar sounds, they're bigger though they're reeled-in by the mixes that stayed more "hit" concerned than not.

[Mike Ragogna - Huffpost Blogger]

Well, I do think that HuffPost readers are a wide mix, one that includes followers of this group. However, I do use this forum to get the word out on acts that need attention, so I understand where your comment is coming from.

Daughtry is a cultural phenom, that's news, and I don't think it should be ignored. If you check out the review, I'm making a couple of suggestions on how this act could get better, including distancing himself from American Idol handlers, and I don't think I've ever read that before. And if Chris wants to stick around for a while, even ten years, then he'll need to evolve, and that was my biggest point.

[spiderbucket]

Daughtry is a cultural phenom ? For who - 14 year old boys with no taste ?

[ragz2008]

Well, American Idol seems to have made at least two contributions that have mattered to this point: Daughtry and Kelly Clarkson. No, they're not the coolest or hippest kids in the room by "cred" standards, but they're a part of pop culture now, yeah, beyond 14-year-old boys with no "taste" (whatever the definition of the day is going to be applied to that word).

[AKaye]

Please review music that is actually good. Use the forum you've been given to enlighten people about bands that may not be played all day on their local Top 40 station. I have a feeling they know what those bands sound like and don't need a 500 word diatribe touting the wondrous qualities of said band. However, if you wrote about up and coming bands and journeyman bands maybe you could help people learn about new and exciting music that might actually stand the test of time. In 20 years Daughtry won't be a staple on the "Classic Rock" stations.