Winning American Idol on the strength his grin and cornball down-home appeal,
Scotty McCreery delivers his debut
Clear as Day just five months after taking home the big prize, the quickest turnaround in Idol history. Forget whatever this portends about the health of the television show or the power of
Scotty’s personality: it does suggest that
McCreery is the easiest of all Idols to fit within the pre-existing machinery of the music industry. Possessing no distinct persona outside of the good guy next door,
McCreery can sing any generic Nashville number, and so he does on
Clear as Day, singing songs about sweet tea, pecan pies, country, football, the King James bible, mom, water towers, and, of course, love. Songs this basic need flair, either in the writing or the performance departments, to distinguish themselves, and there are moments with flashes of life, both coming courtesy of writer
Rhett Akins whose “You Make That Look Good” and “Write My Number un Your Hand” have some pep and sturdy country roots. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine