David Cook (album)

David Cook
Studio album by David Cook
Released November 18, 2008 (2008-11-18)
(see Release history)
Recorded June- August 2008
Genre
Length 52:40
55:43 (Wal-Mart Bonus Track)
Label
Producer Rob Cavallo
David Cook chronology
Analog Heart
(2006)		 David Cook
(2008)		 This Loud Morning
(2011)
Singles from David Cook
  1. "Light On"
    Released: September 30, 2008
  2. "Come Back to Me / Bar-ba-sol"
    Released: March 23, 2009
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic61/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Artistdirect link
Billboard(positive) link
Blender link
Entertainment WeeklyB link
NewsdayB+ link
Rolling Stone link
Us Weekly link
USA Today link
TuneLab Music link

David Cook is the first major-label studio album from seventh season American Idol winner David Cook. The album was released on November 18, 2008, in the United States by RCA Records. It was certified platinum [2] and has sold over one million copies in the United States.[3] It has produced two top twenty singles, "Light On" and "Come Back To Me". The single "The Time of My Life" has also been certified platinum by the RIAA.[4][5] "Light On" was certified platinum in January 2010.[5]

Reception

The album's reception has been generally mixed to positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a positive review saying, "They give David Cook's clutch of bombastic verse-chorus- verse rockers an impressive melodic sheen, one well suited to Cook's husky, expressive vocals. If anything, the series of booming midtempo anthems (most notable among them "Bar-ba-sol" and "Mr. Sensitive") could use a little sandpapering around the edges." Allmusic concurred writing, "He not only is a star thanks to AmIdol, but he's always been ready to do big, happy, crowd-pleasing grunge-pop, as his self-released 2006 debut, Analog Heart, proved. David Cook is remarkably similar to that now-suppressed effort, heavy on crawling, melodic midtempo rockers and power ballads, only given more gloss in its production and writing."

Billboard said of the album, "Much like his predecessors' quick-turnaround debuts, Cook's is fairly generic, but its rock edge is dirtied up with crunching guitars and the artist's tuneful growl. There are a host of big, anthemic choruses that highlight the power of Cook's voice, namely the soaring "Declaration" and Chris Cornell/Brian Howes-penned "Light On." Elsewhere, Cook exercises his right to rawk with the swaggering, gritty "Bar-ba-sol" and bares his soul alongside a delicate piano and string arrangement on "Permanent." There are some lyrical missteps ("Life on the Moon," which marvels at the titular concept), but as the lone rocker winner of "Idol" to date, Cook stands apart from cookie-cutter pop."

Rolling Stone gave the album an average review commenting on its lack of "out-of-the-box songwriting". Meanwhile, Ken Barnes of USA Today was also subdued in his review, particularly criticizing the production team and the song choices made on the album. Of it, he wrote, "they did him a disservice ... [Cook] has a more supple, versatile voice than Daughtry, and he demonstrated vastly more musical originality than most Idol finalists, but you’d never know it from this collection of formulaic, tune-averse tracks."

Singles

The first single, "Light On", was released to U.S. radio on September 30, 2008. The song sold 109,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability, leading to a number seventeen debut on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the Hot Digital Songs chart. "Light On" was certified platinum in January 2010.[5]

"Come Back to Me" and "Bar-ba-sol" were released as a dual A-side single in March 2009 as the second and third singles, respectively.[6] The video for "Come Back to Me" premiered on American Idol on April 1.

Other singles

On May 20, 2009, Cook performed the song "Permanent" on the finale of American Idol Season 8. This version was released as a digital single, independent of the album promotion, with the proceeds from the song and the video of his performance going to charity. The single version of the song is longer than the version on his album.

"The Time of My Life" (his first feature single as the winner of American Idol[7]) is also featured as a bonus track on the album.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Declaration"  
 3:13
2. "Heroes"  
 3:27
3. "Light On"  
 3:49
4. "Come Back to Me"  
 4:07
5. "Life on the Moon"  
  • Cook
  • Bjørklund
  • Lind
  • Maloy
 3:38
6. "Bar-ba-sol"  
  • Cook
  • Danny Grady
  • Dan Dixon
  • Steve Slovisky
  • Chris Wojtal
  • Jade Lemons
 4:27
7. "Mr. Sensitive"  
  • Cook
  • Maida
 3:37
8. "Lie"  
  • Cook
  • Bjørklund
  • Lind
  • Maloy
 3:49
9. "I Did It For You"  
  • Cook
  • Maida
 3:49
10. "Avalanche"  
 4:32
11. "Permanent"  
 2:56
12. "A Daily AntheM"
"Kiss on the Neck" (hidden track)		Cook
 4:23
3:17
13. "The Time of My Life" (Bonus Track)Regie Hamm 3:36
14. "My Last Request" (iTunes pre-order Bonus track)
 3:30
15. "Breathe Tonight" (Japanese edition and Walmart Bonus track)
 3:03

Personnel

Musicians

Production
  • Keith Armstrong - Additional Pro Tools, assistant engineer
  • Tyler Dragness - Guitar Tech
  • Mike Fansano - Drum Tech
  • Erwin Gorostiza - Art Direction
  • Ted Jensen - Mastering
  • Chris Lord - Mixing
  • Doug McKean- Engineer
  • Chris Feldmann - Art Direction, design
  • Lars Fox - Additional Pro Tools
  • Cheryl Jenets - Production coordination
  • Nik Karpen - Additional Pro Tools, assistant engineer
  • Jamie Neely - Production assistant
  • Frank Ockenfels - Photographer
  • Steve Rea - Assistant engineer
  • Steve Salas - Musical direction
  • Emerson Wahl -Studio assistant
  • Seth Waldmann - Assistant engineer
  • Russ Waugh - Studio assistant

Release history

List of release dates, showing region, and label
Region Date Label
United States November 18, 2008
Brazil March 11, 2009 Sony Music Entertainment
United Kingdom April 5, 2009
  • RCA
  • 19
Japan July 7, 2009 Sony Music Japan

Chart performance

The album debuted at the number-three spot on the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 280,000 copies in the United States.[8] In the beginning of February 2009, it was announced that the album had been certified platinum by RIAA[2] for shipment of 1,000,000 copies. The album also broke digital sales records for a debut artist, selling 59,000 electronic copies.[9] The album has sold over 1,500,000 copies worldwide.[10]

Chart (2008–2009) Peak Position[11]
Finnish Albums Chart[12] 15
U.S. Billboard 200 3
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 2
Canadian Albums Chart 11
Japanese Albums Chart[13] 130
Year End Charts (2009)[14] Year End Rank
U.S. Billboard 200 13
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 4
U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums 9

Sales and certifications

Country Total sales Digital sales Certification
United States 1,500,000[15] 158,000[16] Platinum
Canada 50,000 Gold[17]

Notes

References

External links

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