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Leave This Town finds Chris Daughtry delivering cruel and unusual punishment on the ears of
humanity for a second time. Inexplicably his band's turgid rock offerings managed to top the Billboard
chart upon the release of their self-titled debut album. But then, consider that Chris Daughtry came fourth
on American Idol in 2006, and suddenly it's not inexplicable at all.
For when it comes to advertising, it's still hard to beat the likes of The X-Factor and American Idol.
After more than six million copies of the first Daughtry album were sold worldwide, it would appear that
televisual brainwashing has succeeded in convincing a frightening amount of people that this soulless
pap is somehow worth listening to.
So, what is it that Daughtry do? Well, remember Nickelback? They do that kind of sincere but
ultimately empty rock that, for reasons unknown, is extremely popular. In fact, Chad Kroeger has
his twisted, pink devil claw involved here too, notching up a couple of co-writing credits on No Surprise
and Life After You.
Undeniably these contributions are perfect MOR radio fodder, as you'd expect. Massively
earnest, they sport low key verses followed by choruses designed for stadium rock sing-alongs that would
ordinarily be accompanied by lighters in the air. Of course anyone finding themselves at a Daughtry gig
and in possession of a lighter would be advised to go outside and smoke for a good couple of hours
while thinking about what they've done.
The list of collaborators on this album saps it of any authenticity whatsoever, and let's face it, for a
rock band, authenticity is absolutely vital. Ben Moody (formerly of Evanescence, now co-writer for
Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson) adds his golden touch to Open Up Your Eyes. Once
again the big choruses leap to the fore, stuffed with meaningless lyrics ("welcome to the first day of your
life, just open up your eyes") that might resonate with anyone with an emotional age of eight but to anyone
else will just sound hackneyed.
It is perhaps telling that the only song that Chris Daughtry wrote himself is possibly the best moment
on an album that is full of spectacular clunkers. You Don't Belong may be crammed with lyrics as abysmal
as most of the other efforts on the album, but there are some nicely insistent riffs. In addition there is
actually some genuine emotional weight to his vocals once he hits the chorus that appears to lacking
elsewhere on the album. If only he, or more likely his record company, had faith in his "talents" then
perhaps this would an album worth investing a little more time in.
Leave This Town is a stony faced, two-dimensional album that struggles to provoke the kind of emotional
response that it clearly seeks to. Daughtry are hollow idols, devoid of fun, exuberance or a pulse.
It'll sell by the bucketload. Leave This Town? How do we get off the planet?
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