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Taylor Hicks, "Taylor Hicks" (Arista): Why did Taylor Hicks win "American Idol"?
Well, it wasn't just his soulful voice or Clooney-esque silver hair. It was his unbridled, passionate delivery and goofy charm (plus those rhythm-less dance moves, of course).
Hicks still has that amazing voice — somewhere between gruffness and sweetness. But the quirky appeal and fiery performance style that led him to be the unlikely king of this year's "Idol" unfortunately is in rare supply in his overproduced, self-titled debut.
Hicks, an Alabama-bred crooner with a penchant for soul, attempts to cover the hallowed ground of his forefathers: legends like Ray Charles and musicians such as Ry Cooder, Michael McDonald and Joe Cocker.
Does he succeed? Yes ... and no.
Sleekly produced in L.A. by Matt Serletic (Santana, Willie Nelson), Hicks' album plays on typical themes entrenched in the soul-blues tradition: heartache, journeying, more love loss.
He pays homage to Charles on such songs as the funky "Heaven Knows," which samples a riff from Charles' "What I'd Say."
Other tunes range from the horn-fueled thrust of "The Runaround" to such cheese-pop as "Dream Myself Awake," written by matchbox twenty's Rob Thomas, and the disco-funk theme "Give Me Tonight," with its slap bass line and Hicks' overt reference to gettin' jiggy.
Some of it is catchy, certainly. But there's less grit to be found here. Where is the pizzaz that drove Hicks to snatch that "Idol" crown? One wishes for the raw emotion of his heroes.
Perhaps the best song on the album is one that he wrote — "Soul Thing": "The road can be your friend, or the devil in disguise," he sings.
That track, with its ecstatic whoops, comes closest to the uninhibited soul that Hicks does so well.