Kris Allen - Kris Allen Review

Posted by Michael James on 11.23.2009

Where will Kris Allen's post-American Idol debut fall on a scale from Taylor Hicks to Carrie Underwood?

Winning American Idol can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the exposure is massive, and the winner’s name is soon falling from the lips of housewives across America (which is important, since they are the only group that really buys albums these days). However, with the 40 million votes comes a great deal of pressure, and in a lot of cases the hype is nearly impossible to satisfy. Trying to capitalize and build on the American Idol brand, the winner’s debut album usually disregards any pretext of artistry and instead focuses on a crass, calculated commercialism. Arriving on that bed of conflict is the debut album from 2009’s American Idol, Kris Allen.



1. Live Like We’re Dyin’
2. Before We Come Undone
3. Can’t Stay Away
4. The Truth
5. Written All Over My Face
6. Bring It Back
7. Red Guitar
8. Is It Over
9. Let It Rain
10. Alright With Me
11. Lifetime
12. I Need to Know
13. Heartless

It seems a foregone conclusion that Allen’s post-Idol career is destined to pale in comparison to that of runner-up Adam Lambert. The fact that Allen won at all has been treated in some circles as a perfect storm of middling taste, thinly veiled homophobia and voting party conspiracies. However, that view does Allen a great disservice— throughout the season he gave repeatedly strong performances and demonstrated an ability to reinvent and reinvigorate familiar songs. Allen made the smart move to remind people of the artistic high point of his Idol run, on his debut, including his anthemic cover of Kanye West’s “Heartless” as a bonus track.

Kris Allen is a mixed bag when it moves on to less familiar material. As with most Idol debuts, the album canvasses a variety of styles, throwing things against the proverbial wall to see what style resonates resonance with the buying public. The lead single, a cover of The Script’s “Live Like We’re Dyin’” finds Allen in his comfort zone as a Gavin DeGraw-esque “funky white boy with a guitar.” While the chorus veers dangerously close to the Barenaked Ladies “chickadee china, the Chinese chicken” rap, the track is catchy and establishes a nice momentum. Even more interesting is a vocal breakdown two and a half minutes in which shows a surprising Bob Dylan influence.

Allen’s charm and the unique character of his voice is completely lost where the 19 Entertainment powers that be try to push him into overproduced ballads. “The Truth,” written by Train’s Pat Monahan drowns in a wall of sound and treacly strings. Likewise, “Let It Rain” sounds like an anonymous Take That outtake. In fact, a lot of the songwriting on Kris Allen is pretty uninspired. In certain instances, Allen’s distinctive singing style elevates the final product. “Before We Come Undone,” as an example, is a typical onslaught of love song platitudes, but Allen’s vocals move effortlessly from the slower intro to the racing chorus. “Bring It Back” sounds like a cast off by The Fray which is only saved by the tender vocal. Unfortunately, Allen can do nothing to salvage songs like the pseudo-country of “Is It Over” or the bland “Lifetime.”

The more upbeat songs on the album are by far the most interesting. Unlike most Idol artists Allen receives writing credits on 9 tracks, including the album’s highlight, “Red Guitar.” Written by Allen several years ago about his relationship with his wife, it captures his personality in a way that’s nearly impossible to achieve by singing someone else’s songs. “Can’t Stay Away” features a guitar and bass style which gives it an unexpected swagger before it builds into a big arena rock chorus.

There are a few moments of genuine artistry on Kris Allen, and they are not surprisingly the album’s high points. “Alright With Me” features an intro of percussion and layered vocals which are reminiscent of Peter Bjorn & John, before building into a slice of upbeat guitar pop. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the brooding “I Need to Know,” which features a slow, woozy vocal over a churning piano melody. The song provides an intriguing window into Allen’s future potential, mostly because it eschews a sledgehammer pop chorus in favor of tasteful restraint.

If you’re like me, most of your music ends up in an endless .mp3 “shuffle.” In order to preserve your valuable disk space, here’s what’s Ipod-worthy from Kris Allen:

“Live Like We’re Dyin’”; “Can’t Stay Away”; “Red Guitar”; “Alright With Me”; “I Need to Know”; “Heartless”

The 411: As with many Idol winners, Kris Allen doesn't really establish a consistent musical identity on his debut album. That being said, there are certain songs on the album, particularly with "I Need to Know" which show a great deal of promise. Hopefully Allen will get to release another album a few years down the road, because there is a lot of potential here.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]