Clay Aiken – A Thousand Different Ways

Artist: Clay Aiken

Title: A Thousand Different Ways

Label: RCA

Rating: 6/10

CORPORATE LINE: The project, Aiken’s first outing since 2004, combines 10 cover versions of well-known songs from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s with four brand-new songs. The album is a follow-up to Aiken’s debut set, “Measure of a Man,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and is certified triple-platinum, as well as the platinum-selling “Merry Christmas with Love,” the best-selling holiday album of the 2004 season.

THE GOOD:
“Lonely No More” – Sappy, honey tinged, and way over the top and it’s what Clay Aiken does best.
“Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word” – The rare cover that Aiken actually changes to fit his voice and style. Aiken is surprising with his nice rendition of the Elton John classic.

THE AVERAGE:
“Right Here Waiting” – This is a tough song to cover, mostly because it was a tough song to listen to in its original form, and Aiken doesn’t do much to inject new life into it.
“Lonely No More” – Through the verses Clay sounds flat. When the chorus comes and Aiken can let his voice boom he nearly makes up for the less than stellar verse.
“When I See You Smile” – The original was sappy enough—Aiken goes right for a way over-the-top version that would be fit for Broadway.
“Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” – Suffers a similar fate. Aiken goes for the gusto and its far too much.
“I Want To Know What Love Is” f/Suzie McNeil – This is the type of version you’d expect to hear any night of the week on American Idol.

THE BAD:
Nothing, but a few songs come close.

FRANKLY: There is no doubt Clay Aiken is a great singer but the lack of original material kills A Thousand Different Ways. There are far too many covers, most of which seem to come right out of a Broadway musical, and no brilliant original tracks. It doesn’t make sense for such a young artist to record so many covers since it does nothing to further his career or reputation. As Simon would say on Idol, “‘you didn’t make it your own” and Aiken never reconstructs the covers. He instead opts to sing a karaoke version of each song. Fans of the ‘80s might enjoy the songs better than me—it’s better to forget the bad ballads of the ‘80s.

+ Rae Gun