REVIEWED BY CHUCK ARNOLD
POP-ROCK
Chris Daughtry must have been scratching his bald head wondering what happened when, in one of the biggest shockers in American Idol history, he was sent home in the final four last season. But while the voters didn't get it right—Daughtry should have been the one to deliver us from Taylor Hicks—it didn't take long for the North Carolina native to get a record deal. Further vindication comes with his debut album, Daughtry, a solid if not spectacular effort that at the very least proves that he is not just another Idol also-ran destined for cruise-ship duty. Daughtry, who wrote or cowrote all but two songs, is at his best on testosterone-charged rockers on which he comes off as the anti-Clay. He really rips into the blistering "What I Want," featuring ex-Gunner Slash on guitar. But he loses some of his edge on poppier mainstream fare such as "Feels Like Tonight," on which Daughtry seems torn between being a headbanger and a heartthrob.
DOWNLOAD THIS: "What I Want"
