Review Summary: An extremely strong debut that shows the foundations of a clearly talented group of musicians and not simply a solo vehicle for its popular lead singer.
If you followed the American Idol season that featured Chris Daughtry, you would have witnessed his superb vocal abilities and his clear interest in classic rock music. While the band's debut album still has the fingerprints of that show on it's production, it's never a crippling thing. Even with that towering influence, the band still showcases their clear rock edge and maintain it throughout.
The opening track 'It's Not Over' was one of the main singles off the album and it's clear to see why. It's a no frills rock ballad that could very easily be altered to fit several Idol winners but here it relies on chunky guitar riffs and big vocals. Most of the album keeps with that similar meat and potatoes rock approach, but always being elevated by the excellent lead vocals. Chris's vocals are so layered and versatile that he'd have no issue tackling any type of song, of any genre. While his vocals are impressive, the rest of the band don't simply stand in the shadows, musically anyway. Songs like 'Gone', 'There And Back Again' and 'Home' show a band comfortable with both the heavy and more melodic types of songs. If you enjoy that mix of styles the album delivers on them perfectly. Each song is tailor made for a live sing along experience.
With the Idol connection looming over the album, it's clear the band wanted to be taken seriously as a rock group, so they enlisted Slash from Guns N Roses to lend his dependably stellar guitar skills to the track 'What I Want'. It's the heaviest song on the album and a clear confirmation that these guys wanted to be a proper rock act, even with all the safe radio singles side by side. That being said, one of the most calculated songs on the album called 'What About Now', is arguably the best song the band has ever been a part of. It's one of those rare songs that gets better and better with each listen. From the brooding verses to a epic finale it's a excellent last track for the album to have. It's a piano ballad that was written by Ben Moody of Evanescence fame and his lyrical stamp fits in well with Daughtry's lineup.
Daughtry ultimately went on to repeat this formula on their next two albums but they never quite reached the heights that this self titled album does. While the album lacks any moments of surprise it undeniably excels in it's own area of expertise, which is catchy pop rock songs with a vocalist that could sing the phone-book and make it a top 40 hit. It's a shame that they've since left their rock routes behind and went full pop on their latest album 'Baptized'.
