Review Summary: Filler aside, Daughtry has released their best work to date.
Daughtry, the man and the band, is a seemingly different brand of rock artist; despite making it big performing mainstream rock songs, he isn't as universally despised as those he is compared to, such as Nickelback or Theory of a Deadman. Perhaps this is due to his complete lack of c**k-rock anthems that spew nonsensical lyrics about sex and drugs in every way, shape, or form. The problem, however, is that there is very little to differentiate Daughtry from the rest of the pack of mainstream rock artists, except for the gift he's been given: that ridiculous singing voice. A solid, if forgettable, debut album was followed by a less popular, and far less consistent, sophomore album. Millions of records later, and the true formation of a band to back up Chris,
Break the Spell is released to the masses. How does it fare? Filler aside, quite well.
Right off the bat, Daughtry tries to let everyone know that he's willing to go back to some of his harder rock, present and quite refreshing at points on his debut album, with the single
Renegade. Beginning with a slow buildup into a nice guitar riff, followed by very audible bass and a nice pounding drum,
Renegade was the best way for Daughtry to demonstrate that they were aiming so much higher than
Leave This Town would have us believe. It contains one of the catchiest choruses the band has ever recorded and makes the listener aware that this is not just Chris and a backing band, but rather a full on rock group with Chris on the mike. Not straying too far out of their comfort zone, however,
Crawling Back to You was chosen as the very first single. Quite akin to
No Surprise on their prior album, the song sees Chris singing about another relationship, only this time he's unable to keep himself from crawling back to his ex, making him sound just too desperate. Strictly speaking, the song isnt bad; it's got a catchy chorus, and given their proven track record with such songs, it was a safe choice for a single, especially with the nature of mainstream radio. As a result, it's hard to fault them there. Nonetheless, based solely on quality,
Renegade is far and away a stronger track and more indicative of what the group can do if they actually set their mind to making quality songs, not just mediocre songs wrapped around catchy chouses. Further, it's just not nearly as good as the aforementioned
No Surprise, or even
It's Not Over from their eponymous debut.
After these two introduce us to the new album, the rest takes off in typical(almost) Daughtry fashion, with genuinely good songs surrounded by pretty standard, boring filler. For every extremely up-tempo rocker like
Outta my Head, where the other group members really stand out, we have to settle for a song
Start of Something Good, a song that slows things down, no doubt to attract more fans, but contains extremely bland music, barely passable lyrics, and a chorus that leaves one forgetting the song immediately upon completion.
Despite the extreme contrast in some songs, when Daughtry makes an attempt at experimenting, so to speak, the results are quite fantastic.
Tennessee Line from
Leave This Town, was a blatant, completely obvious attempt at gettng Chris some country music fans on board, with his strong and somewhat harsh vocals completely contrasting with the delivery of Vince Gill. This time around, the band did something different, and quite possibly recorded one of their most ambitious and quality songs to date, in the soft country rocker
Rescue Me. The song nicely begins with a clean acoustic passage followed by an extremely simple drum pattern; surprisingly, though, its not just Daughtry's voice that shine's on this song; rather, Josh Paul lays down a solid bass line, maintaining a strong rhythm, making his presence truly known, immensely increasing the quality of the song. Right around the 1/3 mark Daughtry increases the power in his voice, the lead guitar is introduced, and Chris maintains his newly found emotion throughout the majority, clearly demonstrating that he and the guys put a great deal of effort and feeling into the whole song. It should certainly be a future choice for a single, too, as it blows away any of Daughtry's previous radio singles, and it should find itself engrained into the heads of most listeners, as its the kind of chorus that becomes continuously catchier after each subsequent listen.
Often detrimental to the overall quality of Daughtry's releases, however, is the lack of consistency and quality music for an entire album. Too often there is excess filler that, seemingly, increases the overall length of the album and the odds that there will be many pop-radio hits to come. In the case of
Break the Spell, there are some genuinely great songs to be heard; the problem is that in the grand scheme, the flow of the album is disjointed and lacking a cohesiveness that would make the album as a whole so much better. Songs like
Renegade, Outta my Head, Break the Spell, Rescue Me, and, to a point,
Losing my Mind, where Daughtry changes up his vocal delivery at points, demonstrate a rock group that know how to make solid songs that can cater to the tastes of many music fans, rather than pigeonholing themselves in one genre and aiming for just one particular fan base. Why are these songs the best to gauge the group as a whole? Because it's in these songs that the entire group makes their presence known; while Chris will always be the main attraction, the band behind him play more than capable rock music and demonstrate their talent, adding some much needed variety and a breath of fresh air into what could very well have been described, at this point, as a disappointing, yet very commercially successful, group marred by frequent bouts of inconsistency, despite the strength and popularity of Daughtry himself.
So where does
Break the Spell rank out of the three of the albums? Filler aside, this is the best of the three, as the band behind Chris finally found an identity, sometimes outshining the man himself. Each album is marred by extreme inconsistency, present one included, and the effect is that the album, as a whole, is quite difficult to fully get through from start to finish. While the high points are among the best in Daughtry's discography, the low points of the album make it a difficult one to truly recommend for a full start to finish listen. Stick to the best songs on the album, and it speaks volumes about how far the group has come from the debut album to the group oriented band we see today.
Recommended Songs
Renegade
Outta my Head
Rescue Me
Losing my Mind
Break the Spell
Who's They (bonus track)
Maybe We're Already Gone (bonus track)
Final Grade: 3/5 (too inconsistent)
