Daughtry

Don’t judge Chris Daughtry by the company he keeps. Touring with Nickelback, Puddle of Mudd, and Finger Eleven, the American Idol hopeful and the band he assembled could easily be lumped in with the pool of indistinguishable Clear Channel rockers. In fact, even if you judged him by his first post-Idol album, the self-titled Daughtry, you still could reach that conclusion. Between its release and the time he had finished fourth on Idol, he had been offered a slot as lead singer for Fuel, an opportunity he turned down because, he said, “I wanted the world to hear what I had to say.” But that may have been the problem, because anyone who watched him on TV knows that most of what he has to say on his own is as interesting as what Paula Abdul has to say. Needless to say, his debut was underwhelming. But, for his second release, Leave This Town, he hired experienced songwriters and, through them, found an opportunity to show off the vocals and edge that gave him an audience to begin with.