Clay Aiken and Mario Vasquez CD Reviews

Dec 27, 2006

American Idol finalist Clay Aiken and American Idol dropout Mario Vasquez have both launched new albums. See if these artists still have what it takes now that they're off reality TV and dealing with plain old reality.

Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways

If you took your grandmother's taste in music, mixed in a tub of straightening balm and sprinkled the whole thing with a heavy coating of cheese you would wind up with something that closely resembles this album. A Thousand Different Ways is packed with soft rock classics (which means old, whiney songs) that my make the old folks sigh with nostalgia but will make you wince in pain. This album should come with a Parental Advisory that says "Not Suitable for Listeners Under the Age of 50".

Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways Fun Facts

A Thousand Different Pieces consists of ten covers and four new songs.

The album sold 211,000 units in its first week.

Writers of the four original songs include Desmond Child who has written songs for Cher, Michael Bolton, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, KISS and Ricky Martin.

Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways Hot Tracks

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

Clay Aiken - A Thousand Different Ways Rating:

Mario Vasquez - Mario Vasquez

Mario Vasquez took a risk when he dropped out American Idol's fourth season after making it into the final 12. With the release of his self-titled debut, Mario is about to find out if it was a risk worth taking! While many of the songs on the album including the single, Gallery, are pretty generic, there is no doubt that this boy really can sing. If anything, Mario played it too safe on this album by not distinguishing his "contemporary R&B" from zillions of other artist trying to find success. Still, Mario has shown in the past that he's not afraid to carve out his own path in this industry so we're holding out hope his follow up album will show a lot more creativity.