As far as the Cook haters, as rightly pointed out, his CD has already gone platinum, with one pretty blah song (Light On) as the first single. Look for a lot more success with CBTM.

His voice is to pretty and melodic for rock and he really sounds the best when he puts a rock/pop twist on songsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

Couldn’t have said it better than that. However, his voice fits many formats and his vocal range is incredible. Rock music has morphed into many different vibes. You can play with it and spin it in many different ways. He puts a “rock” edge to his music and that makes it fun. He is not “hard” rock but he can do that. His Analog Heart music is not hard rock. If you compare him to Daughtry, Cook has a better vocal range and Daughtry’s music, though folks call him “rock” is not rock but pop/rock.

I find “rock” edge type music fun music–it’s concert-going music and it makes me want to roll down the windows in my car, turn up the volume and blast it. He even puts a “rock” edge to ballads.

I particularly like listening to songs that I can sing along to, nice lyrics and not too complicated and something that has emotion and feeling to it–otherwise it’s just a song. I need to relate to the song.

David’s songs on DCTR is eclectic and there is something for everyone. He touches you in these songs and there is a lot of passion in them. I have to believe that the singer has experienced what he/she is singing. I like to listen to music on a CD that has different types of songs–a good mix otherwise it would all sound the same and quite boring. This is why he sells more albums than singles. This is why nobody can make up their minds on which song they like best on his CD at any one time.

he really sounds the best when he puts a rock/pop twist on songsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

You know,you got me thinking…. for me, the reason Cook putting a rock twist on the pop songs worked well in the confines of AI was not really because he found his vocal niche, but because he took cheesy lyrics and reinterpretted them in a way that made the songs a lot cooler. Hello…hated that song because Lionel seemed oblivious of the stalkerish undertones when he sang it. Cook embraced the stalker vibe and made the song darker, and suddenly it’s tolerable. ABMB…Mariah sounded waaaay too peppy in that song, like a chick who is delusionally refusing to accept the relationship is over. Cookie made the tone more haunting, and the lyrics took on this wistful quality that made the song so much less annoying. When you add in the Adam factor you can buy it as a homage to the deeper ties that bind. Now compare that to CBTM…they handed him a poppy song with cheesy lyrics, and he’s singing it straight, really, on the record. There’s no Cook twist to it. Maybe the live version would be more Cookified and tolerable, but as is, it doesn’t work for me. He’s got so much more to offer than nice vocals, but you’d never know it from that track.

I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t make it through 30 seconds of BBS, I just feel like it is a bad imitation of a rock song.

I think it’s just the opposite. When Dave and the band perform that song it just clicks and it’s tons of fun to watch them obviously having so much fun. A natural element kind of thing, pre-AI Dave coming out to play, something like that. CBTM is the one song that seems most un-Cook-ish to me. I mean, those lyrics are barely a step above Magic Rainbow, and his own songwriting is very much about the lyrics with the quirky word usage. There’s just something about it that seems like he’s wearing someone else’s clothes. The fit isn’t quite right. Sigh.

My picks would have been…

1) Declaration
2) Avalanche
3) Kiss on the Neck to CHR, HAC and rock/Permanent to AC
4) Lie to HAC and CHR/ BBS to rock radio
5) Heroes or LOTM

I will say that I love that he’s so versatile, and I’d hate for him to get stuck in the Adult Contemporary world. I don’t feel like that is truly him, but I guess RCA/19 has a path for him that they are working towards. As long as he can keep putting out good music, I’m good.

I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t make it through 30 seconds of BBS, I just feel like it is a bad imitation of a rock song.

I completely agree with you, he can rock with Kiss On The Neck or Let Go (from Analog Heart) but they are still rock/pop songs and it’s ok. I always skip BBS, I’m not a big fan of that song, I think it doesn’t suit him and sounds a little forced.

I never found another fan not liking BBS, well maybe there’s only two of us.

Speaking about Come Back To Me, it’s one of my favorites on DCTR. It has all the means to become a hit, catchy lyrics and easy-listening music. It has the touch of european rock groups like Snow Patrol, which has amazing songs (like Chasing Cars).

I don’t know why all the people is thinking his next single is going to be their favorite song on the album, RCA is a successful music company which surely knows its business. But whatever it’s a great tune that will be a huge hit, and 3/30 is still a month away maybe they change their minds.

Well, I would’ve picked the following as singles:

1st Single: Declaration
2nd: Come Back To Me
3rd: Heroes
4th: Permanent
5th: Life On The Moon / Lie

Since the room to breathe from one single to another is 5 months, we will have a new album by 2011 LOL.

None of David’s performances on AI, in my opinion, were “rock” in its truest sense. He will never be admitted into the rock genre’ by the casual fan and will find himself frustrated if that is what he chooses to do. His voice is to pretty and melodic for rock and he really sounds the best when he puts a rock/pop twist on songs….therefore AC is where he needs to be. I can’t make it through 30 seconds of BBS, I just feel like it is a bad imitation of a rock song.

Word on the street is that RCA has greenlighted CBTM :tongue2_tb: annnnd…..Bar Ba Sol :drunk_tb: :jittery_tb: :smoke_tb:. Possibly a dual release. Could all be B.S. Buuut…something to chew on…

*runs out of thread to pray to rock gods*

I am almost positive that RCA picks the singles at this point in his career. That I believe is standard for them especially for a new artist.

I was hoping for Declaration or Heroes. Would definitely love Heroes to be next.

Agree that they are taking way too long to get this single to HAC. I.don’t.get.it.

Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s good, but heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not THAT good. Frankly, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be shocked if he even gets nominated for a Grammy next year, let alone actually win one. Maybe if he comes out with an album without TPTBà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s influence, but I honestly canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see him having sales on par with Daughtry or Underwood.

As a new artist who charted 11 songs on Billboard at one time, a record since the Beatles in 1963 with 14 songs, I think that Cook has a very good chance of being nominated for a Grammy. His album also went Platinum in 10 weeks competing with many known artists in this crappy economy. I have no doubt that his sales will be on par with Daughtry and Underwood; however they didn’t do it overnight either. Let’s check up on Cook’s sales figures in 3-4 years which is what Daughtry and Carrie have under their belt. When Daughtry & Carrie put out albums it was a totally different market years ago. One thing for sure that since Daughtry, Carrie, and Cook are personally managed by Simon Fuller he sees Cook’s draw, talent, and potential and it sure helps to have the right manager to ensure success who has the right connections in the industry. Cook certainly has the talent to get there.

I actually think that Cook has more vocal range and is more versatile than Daughtry, whom I also like and Daughtry had to go pop/rock to make a go of it whereas I felt he would have liked to be more “hard” rock type of singer. I only listened to Daughtry’s CD around 3 times and now it’s in my stack but I enjoy listening to him on the radio. Carrie is country and has her own market so you can’t really compare Carrie with David. Carrie is very likeable and Cook is also and music lovers respond to that. It’s very hard not to like Cook as a human being–he’s down to earth, sincere, caring and talented which is how I would describe Carrie. Neither Carrie, Daughtry, or Cook are the best singers out there today–there are plenty of fantastic singers. They have that star vibe and presence and all put out a great show live. That is not true for many artists whose CDs are better and when they perform live — not so good.

I actually like CBTM and think it will do well on radio in multiple formats. I prefer this song to Declaration or Bar-ba-sol which is more rock. Rock is a very hard genre to market and CBTM is a very good song. I like all the songs on the album and my “favorite” song is the one I’m listening to. I have never ever liked all the songs on an album and in the past, after a few listens, I tend to get bored and move on but DCTR is something that I can’t get enough of.

I was listening to mix 107.3 (Washington, DC) and the DJ commented about David Cook – particularly that he had 11 songs charting at the same time on Billboard, he loved Cook as did his crew on the air and they all loved LO. Clearly his songs have been featured on various things on TV already as a backdrop and I think that’s a sign that people like Cook and his music. His biggest draw is that he’s such a likeable guy and that goes a long way with people.

It really doesn’t matter what single is released because Cook has proven that he can sell albums versus being a one-hit single type of artist. Releasing singles is a way to generate sales for the album and in Cook’s case, his album is selling just fine. Now that DCTR has already been certified platinum by RIAA, the pressure is off–the rest is gravy!

I still don’t think it will be the song that blows up on CHR and gets David that “big hit” but it’s a solid bet for HAC. To be honest considering what gets played on CHR now I don’t think any song on DCTR is a lock to be a “big hit” there, just cause of genre.

So it will probably sell million downloads just like Rainbow.

teenie, I think all the angst is coming from the hardcore DC fans that are way deep into his music, listening to Analog Heart, Axium, MWK and DCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s other material.

I dont’ think it’s a good idea to make assumptions about people just because they don’t like a song. I listen to a grand total of one song from Axium, two songs from Analog Heart and I wouldn’t recognize a MWK song if it hit me on the head! Based on comments in other threads, I’m pretty sure that I listen to a lot more pop and hip-hop than most people here and I actually would have been very happy if one or two pop songs had ended up on DC’s album because I think they would kill. So when people who don’t like top40 are saying that it is a perfect fit, all I can say is huh? I think CBTM fits in that grey zone between AC and pop….if given the right promotion and maybe a cool music video it can do well in the top 40 but I don’t think it’s a natural fit.

For the record, it’s nice to hear that a lot of people like it (more than I would have thought). As long as it does well enough so that they can release his other songs, then I guess it’s all good.

First of all, why is anyone surprised? Rate The Music had a survey of the three tracks they were considering to release as Daveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s next single: CBTM, Declaration and Lie. So CBTM had a 1 in 3 chance of being selected – or 33% chance. Those were the songs for consideration.

On the packaging of DCTR album (not WalMart bonus cd), RCA chose to put a silver sticker that featured: ToML, Light On, Life on the Moon, and Come Back to Me. So again, CBTM was featured. So Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not understanding the surprise.

Here’s where my surprise came in….it was obvious to me that CBTM was RCA’s intention for a second single right out of the gate. LO was reminiscent of Billie Jean with the Cornell tie in, CBTM is a poor man’s ABMB. Those were his big hits on AI. Lazy strategy, but possibly a fruitful one. LO wasn’t hugely embraced out of the gate a la Billie Jean, though. It had to grow on people. And it’s cool, I’m a big champion of that song, but I don’t think the label expected that kind of trajectory. The album, however, was another story. Lots of positive buzz, great sales. THus I erroneously figured when they were taking so long to name a new single that the RCA suits were pleasantly surprised by the positive reception to DCTR, specifically the songs co-written by Dave, and rethinking their original marketing strategy and embracing him more fully as an artist. I thought he earned a little more label attention with the platinum record sales. I thought they were willing to change gears if the other two songs tested as well as CBTM. I thought a lot of stuff. When ADAM showed up on AI, I didn’t assume it meant ADAM was the next single, but I did have high hopes that his management and the label realized the value of pushing the singer/songwriter angle with him. I thought pushing that angle would have been smart. I still do. I am super happy with the roll out of the tour, and I still think his management probably gets it. The label? Not so much.

Sadly, I overestimated the significance of the 6 month waiting period between singles. But I’m wiling to concede to their wisdom if this song has label support and becomes a big hit. Maybe CBTM scored huge on that RTM survey, so huge that they had to make this decision. Maybe CHR program directors liked it best. Who knows. Like I said, it all comes down to how they promote this song from here on out. I am not loving RCA right now and will be looking at this decision with a very skeptical eye, but I am open to embracing it if it proves to be the thing that pushes Cook beyond top 20 in CHR radio, if z100 loves the song and plays it right out of the gate, if the video is awesome and does well on VH1, and all that jazz.

I dunno. You have to balance preserving an artistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s identity with the need to make salesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦push it too far towards the bottom line and it gets icky.

Although maybe I see now why this first album was half ballads and half à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“non-balladsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , they wanted flexibility for which way they would go. And if they end up going the softer route and thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s honestly okay with David, then fine.

I do think that you can strike a balance, show another side of David the artist and still have a hit (with Declaration or Heroes) but it looks like the label is playing it safe by going with what they think is a sure thing based on past experience, and thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s disappointing. (and even thenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦why not Lie?)

Sales at this point are not the issue. I’m fairly certain that if, starting today, he never sells another copy of “David Cook”, album #2 would still be greenlighted.

Actually, though, let me correct myself. Current sales do matter not because he’s at risk of being one-and-done, but because they will build up currency with the label if album #2 is measurably less successful than album #1, so album # 3 (and beyond) will still receive the go-ahead.

But, the even bigger matter is the necessity of having a hit– something that will establish his name in music as an artist-in-demand. This is vital so that when the first single from his second album drops, radio will think that he still matters and will make it a priority to play his songs and also so the music-buying public will think that he still matters and that a new David Cook release is an album-to-have.

It has never been and don’t ever think it will be my favorite from DCTR, but if it does sell records, I’m all for it!

Oh yeah and way back I wondered about this being a good-bye song on AI. I pictured as a good-bye song from the families of the contestants to the contestants. However, since then I thought, hey, AI is all about their contestants knowing who they are. Following that line…those who get voted off don’t know who they are and so the music industry can be saying to the contestant, “When you find you, come back to me.”

LOL, really I’m reaching here. But, I just wanted to blow some wind into your hair. Ugh! Sorry!

More than anything, I think it is the extremely catchy chorus, the emotive vocals, and the beat that will drive the popularity of this track. I don’t think CBTM is near as cheesy as TOML, which I do respect. If he turned that song into a hit, he can do the same for CBTM, which I believe Is 10 times better. I still think it will outperform LO on HAC and especially on Top 40. If CBTM becoming a big hit helps pave the way for more singles, especially being DCTR is so loaded, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m all for it. Just like everyone else, whether now or in the future, I will support whatever he releases. I wish him nothing but the best.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m just peeking at this thread now.

Aww MJ, you’ve been extremely busy with editing comments today..LOL.

Ozarka – I agree. I think this song is targeted to win new fans/AI fans,etc.

Tinawina http://mjsbigblog.com/?p=6755&cp=1#comment-192397
^I’m not going to quote your whole post, but I think your comment is spot on..Hee.

Keel, I applaud that you captured it for me with this:

Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s almost like David/19 are creating a specific David Cook brand with the Declaration Tour and the MTVu sponsorship/synergy and RCA is off on its own creating an entirely different David Cook brand with dear old à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Wind In Her Hair.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  I hope the fans donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get whiplash

LOL Too true!

On the packaging of DCTR album (not WalMart bonus cd), RCA chose to put a silver sticker that featured: ToML, Light On, Life on the Moon, and Come Back to Me. So again, CBTM was featured. So I’m not understanding the surprise. RCA has been pointing to this as a possible single since November because, again it was ON the original album packaging. And besides, it sounds very similar to ABTM, and many AI viewers and non viewers flove DC’s cover of ABTM.

DCTR, as David Cook described it, is an eclectic album with twists and turns. The reviews for DCTR also highlighted different songs. The beauty about art and music is that song can touch people in different waves. Some people really DO love ToML. To each his own I guess.

And Kelly’s monster hit, My Life Would Suck Without You, was not penned by her. Some would argue that this is her comeback single. I hardly think ANYONE thinks that song is not Kelly’s because she didn’t write it. It’s Kelly’s song. So I really don’t get the big deal that Dave didn’t write Come Back to Me. Are peeps suggesting that RCA doesn’t have faith in Kelly by having her sing a non Kelly written song? Sorry, I don’t buy that argument either. Since when did it matter if an artists sang 100% of the songs off his album that he wrote? AI is a TV show where people sing covers. Were Kelly’s third singles or Carrie’s third singles penned by them? Nope. Did that hurt them or their artistic cred? Nope. In fact, how many songs did Carrie or Kelly pen on their debut, post AI albums? Hm, not 10 of 12.

If it’s any consolation, we do know with 100% certainty that Dave’s NEXT single after CBTM will be a song he wrote. Heh.