Listen to Full David Archuleta Album on AOL!

David Archuleta’s debut CD (yeah, the WHOLE thing!) is now available for preview on AOL.  Make sure you head over and check it out before they take it down.  I have to say that, after listening to it, I can’t understand why it got such bad reviews.  He’s a young artist releasing his first album and I think this was a good start.

I know some people have been critical of "Crush" but I actually really like the song.  Sure, it’s not a musical masterpiece but I think it’s a decent first single for a teenager (hasn’t anyone heard the "music" being spit out by those Disney channel stars?  Ugh). 

"Touch My Hand" sounds like a Keane song to me (Keane is one of my favorite British bands) so I actually don’t mind it. 

I was less fond of "Barriers" but it wasn’t terrible.  I just thought some of the echoing was annoying during the chorus. 

"My Hands" was good to me!  I liked the little violin accents in the background, the pace and the lyrics.

On "A Little Too Not Over You," he seems to be on the verge of going R&B and I think it suits his voice.

"You Can" is beautiful.  It’s mostly David’s sweet voice accompanied by an acoustic guitar (and later some drums, etc… but the music remains minimal, allowing his vocals to take center stage).  I love the words and the chords.  Did it remind anyone of a Goo Goo Dolls song, though?

More after the jump!

I think that "Running" is gorgeous!  Again, it’s got inventive chords and the melodic interchanges and complexity of the backup vocals is really nice. 

"Desperate" is the first song that I really disliked.  It doesn’t seem to suit David’s voice, the mixing is weird and the pace is awkward.  That techno blipping behind the vocals during the chorus is just awful.  Really.

The ballad "To Be With You" is another really pretty song – I got little goosebumps.  I can see it being used in movie soundtracks/promotional ads.  It’s interesting that new American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi co-wrote the tune.  Very nice.

David co-wrote "Don’t Let Go" with JC Chasez (N*Sync) and Jimmy Harry.  It’s kind of got a late 80s feel to it and I find it forgiveable.  It’s definitely not my favorite track but I’ve heard worse.

I’m not even sure how to characterize "Your Eyes Don’t Lie."  It almost feels like a hybrid between the guitar-work from the Chappelle’s Show intro, the humming from Blackstreet’s hit "No Diggity" and a little bit of Annie Lennox’s "Sweet Dreams" (the baseline).  There’s something else in there too (help me out!).  Oh well.  I actually like the song.  It’s strange but it’s not bad.

The final song is a cover of Robbie Williams‘ mega-hit, "Angels."  David, of course, sang this on Idol and he did a great job live and the recorded version is great too.

image credit: Amazon.com