David Cook (album)

David Cook is the first major-label studio album, second overall from seventh season American Idol winner David Cook, released on November 18, 2008, in the United States by RCA Records. It was certified platinum [1] and has sold over one million copies in the United States.[2] It has produced two top twenty singles, "Light On" and "Come Back To Me". The single "The Time of My Life" has also been certified platinum by the RIAA.[3][4] "Light On" was certified platinum in January 2010.[4]

David Cook
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 18, 2008 (2008-11-18)
RecordedJune – August 2008
Genre
Length52:40
55:43 (Wal-Mart Bonus Track)
Label
ProducerRob Cavallo
David Cook chronology
Analog Heart
(2006)
David Cook
(2008)
This Loud Morning
(2011)
Singles from David Cook
  1. "Light On"
    Released: September 30, 2008
  2. "Come Back to Me / Bar-ba-sol"
    Released: March 23, 2009

Singles

The first single, "Light On", was released to U.S. radio on September 30, 2008. The song sold 109,000 digital downloads in its first week of availability, leading to a number seventeen debut on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the Hot Digital Songs chart. "Light On" was certified platinum in January 2010.[4]

"Come Back to Me" and "Bar-ba-sol" were released as a dual A-side single in March 2009 as the second and third singles, respectively.[5] The video for "Come Back to Me" premiered on American Idol on April 1.

Other singles

On May 20, 2009, Cook performed the song "Permanent" on the finale of American Idol Season 8. This version was released as a digital single, independent of the album promotion, with the proceeds from the song and the video of his performance going to charity. The single version of the song is longer than the version on his album.

"The Time of My Life" (his first feature single as the winner of American Idol[6]) is also featured as a bonus track on the album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic61/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Artistdirect link
Blender[9]
Entertainment WeeklyB[10]
NewsdayB+[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Us Weekly link
USA Today[13]
TuneLab Music link

The album's reception has been generally mixed to positive. Entertainment Weekly gave the album a positive review saying, "They give David Cook's clutch of bombastic verse-chorus- verse rockers an impressive melodic sheen, one well suited to Cook's husky, expressive vocals. If anything, the series of booming midtempo anthems (most notable among them "Bar-ba-sol" and "Mr. Sensitive") could use a little sandpapering around the edges."[10] AllMusic concurred writing, "He not only is a star thanks to AmIdol, but he's always been ready to do big, happy, crowd-pleasing grunge-pop, as his self-released 2006 debut, Analog Heart, proved. David Cook is remarkably similar to that now-suppressed effort, heavy on crawling, melodic midtempo rockers and power ballads, only given more gloss in its production and writing."[8]

Billboard said of the album, "Much like his predecessors' quick-turnaround debuts, Cook's is fairly generic, but its rock edge is dirtied up with crunching guitars and the artist's tuneful growl. There are a host of big, anthemic choruses that highlight the power of Cook's voice, namely the soaring "Declaration" and Chris Cornell/Brian Howes-penned "Light On." Elsewhere, Cook exercises his right to rawk with the swaggering, gritty "Bar-ba-sol" and bares his soul alongside a delicate piano and string arrangement on "Permanent." There are some lyrical missteps ("Life on the Moon," which marvels at the titular concept), but as the lone rocker winner of "Idol" to date, Cook stands apart from cookie-cutter pop."[14]

Rolling Stone gave the album an average review commenting on its lack of "out-of-the-box songwriting". Meanwhile, Ken Barnes of USA Today was also subdued in his review, particularly criticizing the production team and the song choices made on the album. Of it, he wrote, "they did him a disservice ... [Cook] has a more supple, versatile voice than Daughtry, and he demonstrated vastly more musical originality than most Idol finalists, but you’d never know it from this collection of formulaic, tune-averse tracks."[12]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Declaration"3:13
2."Heroes"3:27
3."Light On"3:49
4."Come Back to Me"4:07
5."Life on the Moon"
  • Cook
  • Bjørklund
  • Lind
  • Maloy
3:38
6."Bar-ba-sol"
  • Cook
  • Danny Grady
  • Dan Dixon
  • Steve Slovisky
  • Chris Wojtal
  • Jade Lemons
4:27
7."Mr. Sensitive"
  • Cook
  • Maida
3:37
8."Lie"
  • Cook
  • Bjørklund
  • Lind
  • Maloy
3:49
9."I Did It For You"
  • Cook
  • Maida
3:49
10."Avalanche"4:32
11."Permanent"2:56
12."A Daily AntheM"
"Kiss on the Neck" (hidden track after 7 1/2 minutes of silence, beginning at 12:00; full track is 15:24. Included on all hard copies of the CD)
Cook
4:23
3:17
13."The Time of My Life" (Bonus Track)Regie Hamm3:36
14."My Last Request" (iTunes pre-order Bonus track)3:30
15."Breathe Tonight" (Japanese edition and Walmart Bonus track)3:03

Personnel

Adapted credits from the album's liner notes.[15]

  • David Cook - Art direction, guitar, vocals
Musicians

Release history

List of release dates, showing region, and label
Region Date Label
United States November 18, 2008 (2008-11-18)
Brazil March 11, 2009 (2009-03-11) Sony Music Entertainment
United Kingdom April 5, 2009 (2009-04-05)
  • RCA
  • 19
Japan July 7, 2009 (2009-07-07) Sony Music Japan

Chart performance

The album debuted at the number-three spot on the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 280,000 copies in the United States.[16] In the beginning of February 2009, it was announced that the album had been certified platinum by RIAA[1] for shipment of 1,000,000 copies. The album also broke digital sales records for a debut artist, selling 59,000 electronic copies.[17] The album has sold over 1,500,000 copies worldwide.[18]

Chart (20082009) Peak Position[19]
Finnish Albums Chart[20] 15
U.S. Billboard 200 3
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 2
Canadian Albums Chart 11
Japanese Albums Chart[21] 130
Year End Charts (2009)[22] Year End Rank
U.S. Billboard 200 13
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 4
U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums 9

Sales and certifications

Country Total sales Digital sales Certification
United States 1,500,000[23] 158,000[24] Platinum
Canada 50,000 Gold[25]

Notes

  • The song "A Daily AntheM" was featured on the eighth season of American Idol during the audition episodes.
  • The song "Heroes" was featured on the commercial for the FIFA World Cup and when he was on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition while he was coming off the bus. It was also used as the soundtrack for NBC Sports Championship Season promos in 2010 for: The Kentucky Derby (May), The Players (May), The Preakness Stakes (May), The French Open (June), The Stanley Cup Final (June), US Open (June), and Wimbledon (July).[26]

References

  1. "Certified platinum". Archived from the original on 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
  2. Mansfield, Brian (December 8, 2010). "Idols maintain chart presence with guest appearances, compilations". USA Today.
  3. RIAA news
  4. RIAA search - David Cook
  5. Ward, Kate (February 27, 2009). "'Idol' Update: Clay's Out at RCA – and Kelly's All We Ever Wanted". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. David Cook Sizzles With Record Chart Debuts
  7. "Reviews for David Cook by David Cook". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "David Cook - David Cook". AllMusic. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  9. Eddy, Chuck. "David Cook : David Cook". Blender. Alpha Media Group. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  10. Greenblatt, Leah (November 12, 2008). "David Cook". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  11. Gamboa, Glenn. "Review: David Cook's debut CD". Newsday. Newsday Media. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  12. Ganz, Caryn (November 27, 2008). "David Cook : David Cook". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  13. Mansfield, Brian (November 17, 2008). "David Cook: The official review". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  14. Menze, Jill (November 22, 2008). "David Cook". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  15. David Cook (booklet). David Cook. RCA. 2008. 88697-33463-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. Ask Billboard: "Idol" Worship
  17. Beyoncé: I Am... Bigger Than Nickelback, David Cook
  18. David Cook to perform before and after RSL Game
  19. "David Cook Album & Song Chart History - David Cook". Billboard. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  20. "Finnish charts - David Cook (Album)". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  21. "David CookのCDアルバムランキング、David Cookのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  22. Year-End Chart 2009
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-06-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. Mansfield, Brian (September 24, 2010). "Season 8 Compilation Tops This Week's American Idol Albums". USA Today.
  25. "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum - January 2005". Cria.ca. Archived from the original on December 15, 2010. Retrieved 2012-02-12.
  26. "NBC Sports Championship Season".
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