Daughtry

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Chris Daughtry's sturdy rock presence and distinctive vocal style won the hearts and minds of American Idol Season 5 fans across the globe. On his debut record for 19 s/ RCA Records, Chris will be fronting his own band, Daughtry, and fans can expect the same cutting edge attitude and startling rock immediacy that made Chris a household name. With noted rock producer Howard Benson at the board, Daughtry's is the first Idol album with most of the songs written or co-written by the singer. A host of high-profile artists are also working with Chris as writing partners. Chris' track 'Wanted Dead Or Alive' is the most downloaded track from the America Idol Season 5 encores album with more that 100,000 downloads and still counting. Chris is by far the fans' favorite and is consistently singled out as the most talented performer in every review of the tour: 'Daughtry proved that he's b far the most talented performer in Idol history.' -St. Petersburg Times. .com ---- Chris Daughtry starts his first post-American Idol disc with a song whose title reviewers coast to coast will be grateful for: "It's Not Over." What an understatement. For the Idol-watching rock fan's money, nobody--not even Southern-fried heartthrob Bo Bice in season four--stormed the stage with more raw talent. That it translates so well to a solo disc (Daughtry was recorded with studio musicians; future discs will include a Daughtry-assembled band) proves all he needed was a little prodding, the kind the tube has gotten so good at. Here are a dozen songs that'll flick your rock & roll switch, whether you're a Creed fan, a club kid, or a mambo king: "Used To" and "Over You," a couple of early tracks, ought to arrive bundled with a road they're so highway sing-along-ready, and "Feels Like Tonight" screws the lid on the premise that Daughtry can deliver a punchy pop-rock song without flinching. Elsewhere, the North Carolina family man lets his inner (and outer, actually) goatee- and eyeliner-type guy rip: his built-for-the-hard-stuff voice bites down appealingly on "Breakdown," a dark serenade to mental , and also on "What I Want," an '80s-style fist-pumper featuring Slash. The loud mad dash of those songs leads to a midtempo wind-down ("All These Lives," "What About Now"), but as a mix, it works. Daughtry is a man of many moods--contemplative, explosive, insistent, humble. No matter which pokes through on a given song, he steadies it to a place as honest as it is accessible. Rare is the rocker who lays out so broad an on-ramp. --Tammy La Gorce