David Cook Debut Rocks 'idol’s’ Pop Music World

David Cook debut rocks 'Idol’s’ pop music world
By PRESTON JONES
dfw.com


American Idol, the reigning pop cultural king- and-queen-maker, is so tightly controlled and aggressively packaged that it’s difficult for any of the contestants to break free and develop their own personalities.

There are exceptions, of course, although they tend to be largely female — Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood have each demonstrably broken free from Idol’s bonds. Chris Daughtry is, arguably, the only male to have accomplished much of note (OK, and Clay Aiken) and the lone rocker spawned by the show. Most other male contestants — Taylor Hicks, where have you gone? — have slipped almost completely out of the public consciousness.

The Houston-born David Cook, who beat out cherubic moppet David Archuleta to win the show’s seventh season earlier this year, stands to have the best chance at breaking out of Idol’s pop ghetto, aided by overwhelming goodwill and a willingness to embrace the sort of white-bread rock music that inexplicably soothes the souls of the modern masses.

Yet there are a few thrilling curveballs tucked away in Cook’s self-titled, major-label debut, produced by slick radio savant Rob Cavallo, suggesting that the 25-year-old singer/songwriter isn’t interested in spending a career exclusively doling out tunes better suited for movie soundtracks than mosh pits. A sizable chunk of David Cook bogs down in tired alt-rock tropes (although his slavish aural nods to mid-'90s heavyweights like Live and Our Lady Peace warms the heart of someone who also came of age during that time), but it’s far from the micromanaged misfires that are most Idol debuts.

Life on the Moon might be the sharpest evocation of navigating sudden fame ever penned by an Idol contestant; if nothing else, it’s an incredibly self-aware piece of songwriting that deftly walks the line between pop psychology and pure emotion. It’s followed by the deliriously crunchy Bar-Ba-Sol, which spins out lyrics steeped in defiant paranoia against a thumping beat that might even wring a smile out of Toadies frontman Vaden Todd Lewis.

Cook proves to be an overly throaty pro at the big, arena-filling numbers, but his most unexpected asset? A light, achingly melodic gift for penning ballads that feel poignant without becoming maudlin. The powerful Come Back to Me echoes the mood of Kelly Clarkson’s signature Breakaway, with its carpe diem-with-love couplets and soaring sonics.

The adoring fans will doubtless embrace David Cook as one of the finest Idol albums yet produced, a thoroughly debatable point. It’s easier to approach the disc for what it really is: the capstone for what has undoubtedly been a whirlwind year for the budding musician and a collection of songs suggesting that Cook could become what fellow Idol alum Daughtry can’t or won’t — a reality show-birthed rock star worth watching.

Download this: Come Back to Me



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Preston Jones is the Star-Telegram pop music critic, 817-390-7713



article link: http://www.dfw.com/entertainment/story/62527.html

David Cook being funny during Idol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qglEKtPWvM8


I had never heard the story he tells around 7:47 of the video.