photo by Brian Davis
The photo is from this Entertainment Weekly photo exclusive. He’s been collaborating with Ed Roland from Collective Soul and Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace:
American Idol winner David Cook is currently at work on his debut 
album (due in November). His goal? ”Something that’s undeniably me.” Not that he won’t take help from his own idols: ”I got to write with Ed Roland from Collective Soul, Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace…. I’m gonna keep a few close to the vest. I like surprises.”
Cool. Very cool.
I just got a chance to read that. I can’t wait! :)
Only now, seeing this picture, did it hit home for me just how much I’m anxious and impatient for this album to come out already.
I really can’t wait, I hope we do get a new single as soon as August-September (Hopefully ASAP). I believe I heard the tracking sessions only start this coming week, so this picture must have been taken during pre-tour studio time. I think.
Also - if David openly speaks about the collabs with Maida and Roland, does that mean these songs have definitely made the cut? I’m so happy he gets to work with his own idols.
WOOHOO! This boy is BUSY! I hope he’s just ecstatic about all this. I can’t wait for this album to come out. Can’t wait. Is it ready yet? Is it ready yet? Is it ready yet? Oh take your time, darling, we want it to be what YOU want. Yes, so happy he gets to work with some people he has admired and who have inspired him. How COOL is that? So…wait wait wait…listen to Analog Heart, Axium, Idol music while waiting….
LOVE that picture.
Probably not. I doubt they’ll pinpoint exactly what will make the cut until he has every single song recorded. I’ve seen other singers I follow talk about collaborations and the material sometimes doesn’t make the album or sometimes they’ll be used as an exlusive for iTunes. I’m guessing Raine and Ed are the ones he’s really excited about so he’s putting their names out there and probably the names TPTB are allowing him to drop right now I want to know about the surprises though!
I’m e-x-c-i-t-e-d….!
Ahh, lovely :)
Me, too. He loves his idols, and is quite the “fanboy” with them. If anyone notices the writing on the hat he wears after the tour concerts, that’s actually an autograph from Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), who brought his family backstage to meet DC after the Glendale show. He blogged about it.
I think this is one of his best pictures. I’m loving the intense look he has. Really shows how dedicated and passionate he is about his music! It’s really infectious!!! Noticed he has his guitar with him. Does this mean he also plays along while he records?
Just my feeling here, but I don’t think DC would mention working with those two if they weren’t going to get credited in some way on the album. Again, just my opinion, but I think he’s too sensitive to other people’s feelings to want to take a chance of insulting them by saying he worked with them–and then the album comes out and they’re not on it, so then everybody assumes that their their songs didn’t make the cut. So if I were a bettin’ woman (nickel slots, heh!) I’d bet there’s at *least* one song on it that has Maida-input and one that has Roland-input.
I’m just so freakin’ excited that DC has started work
on his “record” (love how he calls it that). Hope we get a single before the album drops!
I think that’s my bet too. I assumed the song selection would actually take place before the tracking… am I wrong on this? I know very little about the actual process of making an album.
Would they spend the money to record full tracks only to ditch them? David’s recent interviews and fan talks make it sound like he knows what’s going on the album and what’s not. He said, for instance, that Better Never Than Late (Also known as Optimistic To A Fault) will not be on the album. Shame.
Trina is correct. There are colabs mentioned that don’t make the final cut on CD’s.
Yes, it happens all the time. One example is from back when I was a Clay fan I remember reading he recorded so many tracks (I think like 55 or something) that they had enough for 5 CD’s. When David put all his pre Idol material up for consideration it’s possible he was told what won’t make the cut and what MAY make the cut. Someone else could chime in but I’ll be very shocked if they have the tracklist picked already. Very shocked. Especially if he has so many songs to choose from and songs may very well still be coming in from people pitching their songs to him. They may want to see how they flow together once recorded. Of course for his sake I hope the Raine/Ed songs make the cut.
Blake claimed in interviews last year he had enough material for 2 albums. He did a ton of work with Ryan Tedder and all the songs he worked on with him didn’t make the cut. So yes, this is very common.
There’s rather infamous “myth” about how Brian Eno, producer of U2’s “The Joshua Tree”, was so frustrated with “Where the streets have no name” that he was about to destroy the tape - about months worth of work at that point.
Fiona Apple apparently re-recorded her third album with a different producer because she was so unhappy with the results.
Anyways, adding to stories of tracks being abandoned.
Isn’t that the outfit he wore when he went to the Glamour shindig? (God, if I’m right this means it may be time for an intervention).
Yeah, as exciting as it would be for David to have collaborations with his heroes on the new alubm, I wouldn’t get my heart set on anything yet. Too many variables at play with these things.
I’m pretty sure Chris Daughtry gives thanks to Raine Maida on his album, Daughtry, so I’m sure Maida and Rollins will be acknowledged by DC somewhere on the “record,” but we’ll just have to keep our collective fingers (souls?) crossed for him that these songs make it onto the album if they’re up to snuff.
I must say it’s really delightful to watch this remarkable young “everyman” have so many of his dreams come true. I hope the ride lasts a really long time for him. Seems like it couldn’t have happened to a nicer or more hard-working guy.
Oh no! Say it isn’t so! I LOVE that song! Rats!
LOL Yeah, that is the exact same shirt.
Now THIS is the kind of picture that I really like to see. GO DC! This makes me so excited and impatient for the album. This is the first time that I’ve EVER wanted summer to hurry up and be over!
This picture should be captioned: “An artist hard at work.”
I love this picture and the intense look on his face (like waffle said)! I like that he likes some suprises, that’s one of the things that makes it so exciting!
Woohoo! I’m so happy for him!
Even if those songs he collaborated with didn’t make the cut he’ll probably keep them on the back burner. From what I read of him (and I think I read everything…lol” he keeps working a song until he’s happy with it. If he likes the lyrics, out pops his acoustic guitar as he tries to invision a melody to go along with it. Take The World I Know, AI got clearance for him to do that song and that week he didn’t do it because he just wasn’t ready for it. Ed Roland said that they called him and when DC didn’t perform it he was a little disappointed. Then on the final 2 night he arrived in his hotel and turned on the TV and within a minute, DC started his last song and it was The World I Know. He loved how DC sang that song and said that it’s nice to see a “professional” sing it because he just became the lead singer by default. I can’t imagine that at some point Maida’s or Roland’s song doesn’t eventually get on one of his albums. I don’t want him to rush it because that first album is critical for his success (which I know will be that of a superstar.
“There’s rather infamous “myth†about how Brian Eno, producer of U2’s “The Joshua Treeâ€, was so frustrated with “Where the streets have no name†that he was about to destroy the tape - about months worth of work at that point.”
It’s not a myth. They discuss it on VH1 Classic Album - The Joshua Tree. Eno CLAIMS he had a back up but Danny Lanois says otherwise ;)
Stunning photo.
My favorite photo yet. Hope DC makes the record he wants to make. I don’t expect mega success. I hope for moderate success so that he gets a chance to survive another day in the music industry. So that there could be albums 3, 4 and 5.
Fantastic photo.
Reinharv- your post prompted me to listen for the 1,000th time to TWIK (the Final 2 version). I had not in a while.
That song just makes me cry. Every time. He goes “so I walk up on high / and I step to the edge / to see my world below”, and I choke up…
If even one song he puts on this new album of his has any of the same beauty and intensity, it’s worth every penny to me!