Bigger-than-life Orlando Magic center
Dwight Howard added “recording artist” to his résumé with the release of
Shoot for the Stars, an 11-track collection of classic “sports jams” that finds the Olympic gold medalist/NBA All-Star backed by a gang of enthusiastic kids and some of the industry’s finest session players. To be fair,
Howard is no
Shaquille O'Neal, as he actually has a decent set of pipes, and the performances, although occasionally goofy -- the basketball-themed reworkings of “U Can't Touch This (Howard Time)” and “Whoomp (Hoop) There It Is” are hardly subtle -- are immaculate, even if they’re just aping the original recordings.
Shoot for the Stars' title track, the lone original, is a sentimental midtempo ode to being a team player, good sportsmanship, and positive thinking, and in a world where highlight reels are inundated with horrific injuries, stupid dances, and locker-room controversy, it’s hard not to start bobbing your head in time to its simple refrain of “Aim high with your heart.” ~ James Christopher Monger