I am not really a huge fan of American Idol.  I have seen a few shows, here and there and I think I saw Bo Bice perform only once, and at the time I thought he was pretty good.  So, a few years later, I get to review one of his albums.  As a finalist in AI, I knew he had to be somewhat good, but most of the winners usually sound too pop & commercially contrived for my tastes.  I however, was surprised at what I heard.

His music is kind of country, well what I would categorize as southern pop rock.  It is not exactly Lynard Skynard, but he has a nice voice, and although the lyrics are good, they no way compare to those of a Ronnie Van Zant.  Bice also mixes up the mood of his songs from up beat songs with driving instrumentals (e.g., "Witness") to soft ballads (e.g., "Only Worlds").  Then there are those real rock n' roll songs, such as "Got Money" which, although is one of my favorite songs on the album, will probably not be its biggest hit, which is followed by another really good song with a rock-a-billy sound called "See The Light." The best song on the album lyrically is "Sinner In A Sin," which has more of your true country sound.  The instrumentas on this album was also very good, and I was surprised to read on the cover notes that Bo Bice played guitar on most of the songs.

This is probably not the type of album you would expect from an American Idol. However, it is an album you would expect from a real musician.  It is not synthesized garbage, and although it does sometimes take on an air of commercialism, it proves to be well produced, and provides good music to simply listen too (which is always the ultimate goal).  My biggest criticism with the album is that it is a little too diversified.  Whereas I have reviewed albums where many of the songs sound the same, in this case, they sometimes sound too different.   It might just be me, but when I get into the mood for a type of music, I really just want that type.  Bice may have come under pressure of the record execs that he needs to try to please all the people, so make the album as wide reaching as possible, but to me it does not come off that well.  However, other listeners may take this as a positive in that it shows Bice's diverse musical talent and that listening to different genres of music is what they want.

To sum it up, if you want some dance & pop tunes, you are not going to find it here.  For a bit of that good country music, that transcends into rock and contemporary sounds, then this is a great album for your listening pleasure.