American Idol winner Philip Phillips released his first studio album this week. It'll be interesting to see how many copies it sells, since Idol seems to be on the downswing (can anyone name the winner before Phillips?) and in renovation mode (the new judges Keith Urban, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban may overshadow the talent, never a good thing for a talent show).
It's always a challenge for the new Idol to gain any momentum six months after their win, but the debut album is their chance to show a different side and their own creativity, since they're no longer performing a minute and a half of someone else's song. Phillips, when performing, also had moves like Matthews (Dave, that is), he had them moves like Matthews, so of interest also was if there would be any musical influence from Matthews, and apart from having saxophone and violin on some songs, there really isn't, apart from perhaps the cheesy side of Matthews' songwriting ("Get Up Get Down, "Drive Me").
The problem with The World is that there isn't anything distinctive- there's not a signature groove or a memorable lyric. The best song is "Home", which has been out for months, but even that isn't distinctive because of Phillips, but because his most well-known song has close similarities to Mumford and Sons songs. Phillips voice is also extremely grating after 14 songs, as it alternates between a growl and a more plaintive tone. Hopefully, the next American Idol winner does better.
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