David Cook - David Cook

...I fell in love with David Cook. A gorgeous soft rocker, with an amazing ability to change around a well known song and make it his own.

I have been waiting for months, but now the winner of American Idol Season 7, David Cook, album is out and arrived on my doorstep this afternoon. Here is my review.

==Track 1- Declaration 9/10==

Despite having a slight headache at the moment, I found myself sitting here ...
...David starts off with a ballad track, which you can't help to play very loud. The song starts off with some gorgeous music, and then David's unique voice joins in. I wouldn't say this is the most powerful that I have heard David, I will be comparing most of these songs to the tracks he sung on American Idol and this is know where near as good as his performance of 'Always Be My Baby' or 'Billie Jean'. But it's an anthem through and through and it ... more

The title for this review may seem a bit weird, but on track 12 he has a song called A Daily AntheM which is dedicated to his brother Adam, who is battling cancer. This album I'm sure is definetly dedicated to him

David Cook

As most of you already know, I'm a big rock chick when it comes to heart. I'll listen to other types of music, but will always find myself coming back to my first love, rock music. Whether it's heavy rock or soft rock, as long as it's got a good beat and a good singer, I'll probably love it. I have never really adored the X Factor, I have always found the singers to be just okay, excluding Leona Lewis whose voice is just out of this world, none of the others have in my eyes, done well. Every year since as far back as Ruben I have tuned into American Idol, they seemed to allow the talented people into audition, where as X Factor seemed to fail on this point.

Throughout the years nearly every 'top 5' has been talented, and I have never really 'cared' who won, because I thought all of them were fantastic. In Season 5, I adored the singer Chris Daughtry, he only came 4th, but has become one of the biggest selling American Idol's and even rockers in the world. Then Season 7 came on our screens, and from his first audition, I fell in love with David Cook. A gorgeous soft rocker, with an amazing ability to change around a well known song and make it his own.

I have been waiting for months, but now the winner of American Idol Season 7, David Cook, album is out and arrived on my doorstep this afternoon. Here is my review.

Track 1- Declaration 9/10

Despite having a slight headache at the moment, I found myself sitting here with my headphones on, with this song on full blast. David starts off with a ballad track, which you can't help to play very loud. The song starts off with some gorgeous music, and then David's unique voice joins in. I wouldn't say this is the most powerful that I have heard David, I will be comparing most of these songs to the tracks he sung on American Idol and this is know where near as good as his performance of 'Always Be My Baby' or 'Billie Jean'. But it's an anthem through and through and it will stick in your head.

Despite not being the best I've heard them, his vocals give you goosebumps within this song, he may not have a voice that you haven't heard before, but it does have something special about it, it really does manage to get the audience to listen and gives them goosebumps. I always like it when a song ends good and this one really does.

A gorgeous first track on the album, and he really did start off with a bang, I know the guy can do better, so let's hope he can live up to my expectations. A good ballad and well worth listening to.

Track 2- Heroes- 10/10

Goosebumps. Straight away, as soon as he began to sing, I felt my heart flutter and I knew that this would be a good track. I absolutely adore the lyrics in this track, the annoying thing with this album, is they didn't provide the lyrics with the CD so I had to go searching for them on the internet. Bloody hell (sorry about my language) but damn are these gorgeous lyrics. In the song he's talking about all the heroes in the world, and they come and go, but the girl of his dreams is still there and is still a hero in his eyes. Gorgeous.

His vocals I have to talk about as well, they really are powerful and he doesn't allow the music to overpower him in this track, which I felt the previous one doing, this track is so much better than the ones I've heard on American Idol, it's unique, you can hear that he wrote it, he puts so much emotion behind each lyric and you really do feel the emotion behind the song and behind his voice.

A gorgeous track, a definite 10/10 already, I think this track has everything, a great start, a great middle, a great end and it all works together brilliantly. Check out the lyrics, beautiful.

Track 3- Light On- 8/10

I already have this track on my IPod (it was released as a single) and already and I have to say I was disappointed that this was the track released. It never really touched me, the lyrics were beautiful as was his voice, especially in the second verse, I really loved his vocal at this point, however, the song just felt a bit too 80's and not very modern.

Despite the track not being really modern, I still find myself amazed at the power behind his vocals in this track. Absolutely gorgeous. He really put his heart and soul into this track and you can tell again that this song was written or co-written by David, as he manages to put so much emotion behind it.

A beautiful powerful vocal and a very good song, but just a bit too much 80's stuck into it. The lyrics are good, but nowhere near as brilliant as Heroes. Well worth checking out, but I have to find bad points I have to say.

Track 4- Come Back To Me 9/10

The track starts off quite up-beat and I was unsure whether this track would be for me, but then he joins in and I'm taken in. I am not too keen on the beat behind the track, it's just someone almost attacking a keyboard in the first verse, but it hits the chorus and I'm lost. The drums come into play, and I really think they should have used the beat that they use in the chorus throughout the song. They add a bit more drum beat to the second verse, but there's not enough.

His voice as always is just damn beautiful. He puts so much power behind his voice and he really manages to deliver brilliantly. A gorgeous track, which takes a while for you to 'feel' it, especially if your only into 'David' for his rock style, the keyboard in the first verse, can make the song too poppy, but really give it a chance and it becomes a great rock ballad, with some gorgeous lyrics and his vocals are definitely on par, and just brilliant.

An amazing track and a great addition to the album. Well worth checking out.

Track 5- Life on The Moon- 10/10

The song starts off with a great guitar beat, and then David's voice joins in. The song I assume, he is talking about his life, since auditioning and winning American Idol. He's talking about Life On The Moon and could it be any stranger? And how his life has changed and how he sometimes feel alone and needs help to feel grounded.

A gorgeous song, it starts off quite soft with just two guitars playing, and when it gets to the bridge, it really is just a gorgeous piece of music, and the lyrics are just amazing. He is saying that despite his new life style, the girl he is talking to should have faith in him, and he'll be there for her.

His voice is just amazing throughout the song, I think this is the softest he's sung on the album, but this track really touches you, his voice is raw, and powerful in this song, and he really delivers each lyric with so much emotion and he delivers every line brilliantly and just makes you fall in love with him and his voice.

A beautiful tale of how his life has changed since AI and now the life that he knew is through; he'll need this person more than ever. A great song and such a powerful voice. Amazing.

Track 6- Bar-Ba-Sol- 11/10

I had heard quite a bit about this song, from people before I got the album, but had never heard it before. When it starts with someone saying 1-2-3 and then it goes into a very heavy drum beat and guitar beat, I was a bit like, why the hell is he copying Nickelback. But his voice joins in around 25 seconds and you understand that it's nothing like Nickelback.

His voice is very powerful in this song and it has to be due to the fact that the instrumental pieces in the track are heavy, this is the heaviest track on the album so far, but it really shows what David is good at and this style of music is my type of music. A heavy drum and guitar beat, but you almost put them to the background and listen to every word that the lead singer is saying and this is one of those kind of tracks.

Such an amazing heavy track, if you don't like proper rock music, then you probably won't like this, if you are a fan of Nickelback's 'main' music and no by that I don't mean the likes of Photograph, Far Away or Rockstar, I mean tracks like Next Contestant or Animals, tracks that are heavy and really just touch you down to your very soul. An amazing track, 10/10 from me.

It'll definitely be a crime to have this song on very low; you need it on max volume, with all your windows open.

Track 7- Mr Sensitive- 11/10

I already feel like I've got my money worth and I'm on track 7, but this is another gorgeous song. It's a lot softer than the previous track, especially in the verse, the song picks up during the chorus, but I have to say that prefer the verse in this track, it's absolutely beautiful, especially Cook's voice, my god does it give you goosebumps. An absolute stunner of a track, one that will stick in your head for a very long time to come.

This little bit took me a bit longer than the rest and I actually had this track on repeat for around 3 or 4 times, and I have to say, it's become one of my favourites on the album. I just adore the lyrics, especially in the chorus, they are really amazing and they are delivered to such brilliance. Despite the fact I didn't like the heavy music to start with, I can't imagine it without now. I don't know if it's the fever I have at the moment, but something with this track gave me chills, absolutely brilliant and I am unsure if David played the guitar on the track, but the solo riff near the end is pure brilliance.

Well worth checking out; make sure you give this song a chance. One of the best songs on the album. Gorgeous.

Track 8- Lie- 12/10

Even if this track was absolute crap, I have already got my money's worth and I think so far, he can't really go wrong. Let's see. This is the sort of music that will make David Cook a big star, blooming hell did this song make me almost burst out in tears. I have ended a relationship recently and I knew from half way through that it wasn't going to work and this song is exactly what I felt for most of the relationship. I knew that it wouldn't work, but I knew that it was best to lie to myself and enjoy the time I was having.

The song is just beautiful, he is talking about knowing that the girl he is with is not happy anymore, but he'll cope with the silence and with her lying to him, just to be with her. An absolute amazing song, one that will appeal to a lot of people. It's amazing how heartfelt this song is, for someone still in his early 20's. He manages to put so much emotion behind each lyric adds something to it, which seems very honest and very upsetting almost.

A beautiful song and another stunner by David Cook, just an amazing and beautiful track.

Track 9- I Did It For You- 8/10

When I was searching for the lyrics, before I heard this song for the first time, I heard it was a grower. When I first put it on, I wasn't sure. I liked the song, no doubt about that. I would never find myself skipping it, but it has to be the weakest on the album so far, but that's not saying anything I have to say.

The song is sung beautifully, however it doesn't have a lot of the special things that a lot of the other songs had. The lyrics are gorgeous, but the way the song can't really decide if it wants to be a ballad or a heavy track puts me off slightly.

I can't put my finger on why this track is the weakest on the album, but for me, it wasn't as good as the others.

Track 10- Avalanche- 13/10

I'm getting my lyrics for this song, from David Cook's website, and this seems to be one of the favourites on the album, and to start with I wasn't too sure, so I made sure I listened to it 3 times before I did this review and bloody hell. I know I have a fever and a half but boy does this song make you feel, it's absolutely gorgeous. David goes into his falsetto in this song, and it adds so much emotion to the song and, I can't say much at the moment, I'm actually in awe of this song, not only are the lyrics beautiful, but the whole song is powerful, without being too heavy, the lyrics are soppy without being too soppy, his voice is just out of this world.

I really adore this song, and it's probably the best on the album behind Bar-Ba-Sol which is amazing. An absolute stunner of a track, and if David decides to release Avalanche, he really will find even more success. This song has something special about it, and it is truly an amazing song, with some great beats and more importantly, David Cook rocks out on this track, his best vocals by far, and it's just brilliant.

Please check out this song, it is just pure brilliance.

Track 11- Permanent- 1000/10 (not a typo, pure brilliance)

OH MY GOD. I have heard people talking about this song and I knew it would be emotional, but it takes a lot to make me cry, and at the moment I'm a wreck. Jesus Christ, is this a good song should never be a question? It should be how hard this song is to listen to? I have probably listened to it 8 times at least so far, but it really does make me feel so much when I'm listening to it.

David's brother is struggling to deal with brain cancer and this is what this song is about, and like most people I have lost someone in my life due to cancer and this song was just amazing and it was absolutely gorgeous.

This is the best track on the album by far, but I know some people struggle to listen to it, it's a short song at just under 3 minutes, but each time you listen to it you get something different from it. Every piano note, every syllable sung by David has a lot of emotion and it really does make you listen.

Such a beautiful song, so painful almost, that I'm struggling to write a review about it. The only way I can explain how amazing it is, is by getting you to check out the track on Youtube. This is when you'll get the power behind this track. It is a hard track to listen to, but his best by far, beautiful.

(http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y6PUDlbiEDU&feature=related)

Track 12- A Daily AntheM - 8/10

The main things that stood out for me was the name of this song, if you can see, the capital letters spell out a name, ADAM, who is his brother who is suffering with cancer. This song is slightly special, when you see that it's 15 minutes long, I was slightly worried, would I enjoy a song that long. However A Daily AntheM is actually two songs, both around 4 minutes long, so what does he do with the rest of the 7/8 minutes, dead silence. I have seen people asking if they have a defective CD due to this, it does ruin the track for me, however both A Daily AntheM and the second track which I have heard is called A Kiss On the Neck are worth it.

A Daily AntheM is the first song on the album, and it is one of the heavier tracks on the album, however David's voice is very powerful. I'm not too keen on the lyrics within this song, but as a track it is really beautiful, everything seems to fit.

Then you get around 7 minutes worth of silence, which is the reason why I have rated this track quite low.

A Kiss On The Neck takes until 12.00minutes to hit in, and like A Daily AntheM is heavy, but this is one of my favourites on the album. This is what I was wanting on the album, a very heavy track, and Bar Ba Sol was the only one that really did it for me, but A Kiss On The Neck is just as good, the only bad thing I have to say about this track is the 7 minutes you have to wait until you get to it. Stupid really, but a brilliant track. Well worth checking out.

Track 13- A Time Of My Life- 8/10

I'm not sure about this song, it shouldn't work, but it just sort of does. It's absolutely beautifully sung by David and really manages to get down to your soul, despite the fact that it's not one of the best tracks on the album. I'm still confused by the track, it's something I shouldn't like, but I really find myself liking.

Well worth checking out, a great addition to the album, one of the weaker ones on the album, but still amazing.

My Opinion

I have heard some brilliant albums this year, Kings Of Leon's so far has been my favourite, as has Pink's recent album, however this makes Pink's album look awful. I think there are three songs on the whole album that I'll give under a 9, which is pretty amazing considering there's always one you don't like. This is not the case with David Cook; he has produced something magnificent and something that I'll be talking about in years to come.

For starter I have to talk about the wonderful David Cook. He really proved to the world, that a rocker could win a talent show. It hasn't been done before in the history of American Idol or X Factor, Daughtry came close, as did Bo Bice and Constantine, but no rocker has won the show before. David had something that the likes of Daughtry and Bo Bice didn't, they were afraid to take risks, I adore Daughtry, I think he rocks, but he never really took many risks. David managed to take every different challenge by the hand and make it into his style and make it a hit single.

When it was Mariah Carey week on AI, I was worried for him. How could a rocker sing a Mariah Carey and when I heard that he had picked 'Always Be My Baby', I went, oh god, but I should have had more faith in him, he changed it, he rocked it up, and I actually have the version on my Ipod, it's absolutely amazing.

When I heard that he was releasing his album, I went straight onto Amazon and bought it alongside David Archuletta who came second, behind David Cook. When Archuletta's album bombed in my eyes, I was worried. Cook's album took a little bit longer to arrive, but it was worth the rate. The album doesn't have anything you could call a weak track, not only is this album the best album of my collection, I think it'll break a few records when it comes to Idol and record sales.

This is an album which has shocked me I have to say, I wasn't expecting it to be this good, yes most of the Idol's have released some brilliant albums, but this album takes the biscuit. It's absolutely amazing.

The track for me that made this album worth it, has to be Permanent. This song, is just indescribable, it's chilling and it touches your very soul. I actually sent it to a friend of mine, and he didn't like it. It is a 'girly' song and you really need to have lost someone to cancer, or to have felt loss or pain like he obviously has to understand the meaning for the song. For all you women out there, that cry in films like Beaches or The Notebook, then you need to listen to this song, and put the lyrics up beside it. You really do understand the song more, with the lyrics in front of you. It's a gorgeous track, an absolute stunner and beautifully sung by Cook. A gorgeous track especially when he sings, 'I know he's living in hell every single day, and so I ask, Oh god is there some way for me to take his place, and when they say it's touch and go, I wish I could make it go away, but still you say'. A very touching track, that really digs into your soul.

Permanent despite being my favourite on the track, is not to everyone else's taste, if you are a rocker, I would really suggest checking out Bar-Ba-Sol, this song is brilliant, a very harsh sounding song but it will appeal to everyone who likes David for being a heavy rocker, its an amazing track, and one that NEEDS speakers behind it, and for you to put the bass on max, this is what David is really about, and this is what a lot of people fell in love with, and I think in his next album he should release more of these types of tracks.

Songs like Heroes, Life on the Moon, Mr Sensative and Avalanche will appeal to all the people that like soft rock with very meaningful lyrics, especially with Avalanche, it really does have something about it, it takes a while for it to stick into your head and make you feel buy you'll find yourself listening to it one day, going wow, this is actually an awesome song.

Should You Buy The Album?

For the first time EVER, I'm telling you to buy the album. I spent just over £8 on the album and it was money well spent Yes you can buy it from Itunes, but download every track because it is just magical and amazing. One of the best albums ever, not a BAD track on the album and well worth every penny.

An amazing album, check out some of these songs however on youtube.

The only bad thing about the album is the jewel case, the picture that he uses really makes him look awful, can't stand guy liner and it really doesn't work with him

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y6PUDlbiEDU&feature=related (Permanent- make sure you have the lyrics up with this song)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nA2HEaE14FA (Mr Sensitive)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mg59TY8dM6s (Heroes)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLK6nIZMNBA (Bar-Ba-Sol)

(C) 2008 

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