Daughtry Releases Sophomore Album, Leave This Town

This album art is the property of Daughtry

If you told Chris Daughtry after being eliminated in fourth place on American Idol a few seasons ago that a multi-platinum album, Grammy nominations, and recognition as one of today’s biggest rock groups was in his future, he would tell you there was no way in hell that you were talking about him. But that is exactly the fame his debut album DAUGHTRY gave him. And now his band has released the all-important sophomore album, Leave This Town and it is more of the same, stadium anthems and power ballads full of cliché lyrics that often don’t seem to fit together with each other. But this time, luckily for us, they have sprinkled in songs that are worth listening to more than once.

Chris does have some things going for him. His voice will make men and women alike fall in love with him, and his style of music is perfect for your modern rock radio station of choice. But this is also his biggest downfall; almost all of the songs on this album sound the same, choruses with heavy distortion and Chris’ high voice that moves into a quieter verse with a simple moving guitar riff. This formulaic approach to music may put you on the radio and may sell albums. It’s just whether or not people will listen to that album more than two or three times, and I’m guessing that not many do.

This new album starts off with a track “You Don’t Belong” and a very heavy riff, and I thought that I accidentally was listening to a Linkin Park tune until I heard the distinctive voice we all know as Daughtry’s. And then we move into power ballad territory, starting with the first single “No Surprise” and the cheesy “Life After You.” If that song doesn’t end up in a chick flick or dramatic teen TV show soon, I’ll eat my hat. “What I Meant to Say” and “Open Up Your Eyes” are just more outputs from the formula, although Daughtry shows genuine emotion for the first time in “Open Up Your Eyes.”

The second half of the album is a slightly different story, as the band moves in a more acoustic direction, and that is when this group becomes musically interesting to me. I was pleasantly awoken out of my haze with the acoustic guitar driven verses of “September.” And there is actually harmony here! It adds such a huge layer to the music that makes it so much more interesting. He does it again in the slightly bluegrassy “Tennessee Line,” and then closes the album with the quietest song I think he has ever done, “Call Your Name.” This track may never reach the radio waves, but it gets my vote for best on the album. If I were Daughtry’s manager, I would suggest doing an all-acoustic album, or at least doing an MTV Unplugged show to see how the response is first.

Hard-core Daughtry fans may disagree with my best on album pick, but they can’t be disappointed with this change. The music is still heavy even though there is no distortion. I think Daughtry is heading in the right direction, just as long as they don’t appear to be so calculated. Throw caution to the wind boys and see what happens. I think you will find that the result is better than you expect.

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