The problem with shows like American Idol is that contestants rarely achieve the same level of fame in their career that they held when the eyes of primetime USA were on them.

This rule may not apply to Chris Daughtry, though.

Because after finishing 4th in the 2005 season of the show, the North Carolina frontman got straight to work on creating what would eventually become the fastest-selling debut album in rock history.

It’s a collection of songs which hints that there are levels to Chris Daughtry’s heartfelt, gut-wrenching vocal style which weren’t fully explored by Simon Cowell and co. His desire to prove himself as more than just a “TV singer” provides the record with an audible sense of grit and drive which helps to elevate several tracks to impressive heights.

Daughtry appears blessed with an almost Bon Jovi-esque ability to pen irresistibly catchy tunes.

This skill immediately separates him from contemporaries such as Staind, Fuel, and/or Shinedown, and should see him capitalize on a dual appeal to both rock audiences and the mainstream music scene.

Indeed, such is the chart-ready nature of the material here that no fewer than seven of the album’s twelve tracks went on to be released as singles. Two of those, It’s Not Over and Home, were able to inflict serious damage on the US Billboard Hot 100 (reaching #4 and #5 respectively), firmly establishing Daughtry as one of the US’ most promising up-and-coming rock acts by early 2008.

“Generally speaking, when rock music is catchy and straightforward it tends to get the worst reviews, so I was pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback we managed to get for this record. I put my whole heart and soul into making it. I have heard people say that they think our music is like Nickelback, but hey, I know they mean it as an insult but to me it’s a huge compliment – they’ve sold 5 million records so far, and that gives me hope that maybe I can continue doing this thing that I love doing for a living!”

– Chris Daughtry

Lead single It’s Not Over captures the very essence of what Daughtry is trying to do.

It’s dark, it’s brooding, and it’s significantly heavier than any of us were expecting it to be thanks to Josh Freese’s thunderous drums and Phil X’s pummeling lead guitar.

It’s no bad thing that several of the other standout tracks on offer here attempt to follow a similar musical template, such as the delightfully heavy Crashed, the forlorn Gone, and the slow-burning Breakdown which features a chorus capable of soundtracking even the baddest of bad days.

Elsewhere, legendary axeman Slash make a guest appearance on the crunching What I Want.

Daughtry attempts to straddle the line between where he is and where he wants to be by including just enough syrup-filled ballads to appease the large following he attracted through American Idol. It’s worth mentioning, though, that despite serving a very deliberate purpose these songs are still fine pieces of work. For example, the likes of What About Now, Feels Like Tonight, Over You, and the irresistable Home demonstrate that Daughtry is able to switch between genres with relative ease.

Speaking of Slash, the top-hatted guitar legend was said to be impressed with Daughtry’s pipes.

We’re left to ponder what might’ve been if the North Carolina frontman had managed to break through a couple of years earlier, when he and his Guns N’ Roses alumni (bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum) were searching for a vocalist to front their new band, eventually handing the gig to ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland for the short-lived but much-loved Velvet Revolver.

“I grew up listening to the likes of GN’R, Alice In Chains, Bush, Soundgarden, and Skid Row. Nowadays I also listen to some modern rock music, but there’s just something special about those nineties bands. Having Slash appear on one of my songs really blew my mind – starstruck can’t describe it! When he came to the studio I didn’t know how to behave, so I just sat outside like an excited kid as he worked. I could hear him ripping into this guitar solo through the wall and I eventually summoned all of my courage to go inside ask him if I could watch him do his thing (laughs). He was like, “Yeah, so is this solo okay or would you prefer another take?” and I just said with really wide eyes, “Hey, if you think it’s cool then it’s definitely cool!”. It was an unbelievable experience.”

– Chris Daughtry

Special praise must be given to Daughtry for his incredible self-belief.

Immediately after being dumped out of the final of American Idol he was reportedly offered the chance to take up the vacant lead vocalist position for the aforementioned Fuel, a band whom he often references amongst his biggest musical influences, but he famously declined the role in order to focus on crafting his own material.

That takes serious guts, and although it seemed like a strange decision at the time, it’s safe to say that this storming debut LP proves he was right to do so.

One of the most interesting aspects of Daughtry (2006) is that it birthed a fully-fledged band.

The writing and recording process was most definitely a Chris Daughtry solo project, but shortly after dropping the first single he made the call to recruit a permanent line-up and operate as a band moving forward. Said band was imaginatively titled DAUGHTRY (yikes), and an announcement was made that all future albums will be collaborative efforts fearuting contributions from all five members of the project.

It’ll be interesting to see how the musical style develops on upcoming releases, but such is the promise shown by Chris Daughtry as a singer/songwriter here, that one must hope he retains an infuential role in the creative process.

In summary:

This storming debut LP is loaded with the kind of radio-friendly choruses and big guitar hooks which have been missing of late, and despite being written off for his prior association with American Idol, Chris Daughtry may just be the shot in the arm the dwindling rock scene was crying out for.

Daughtry receives 8/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★