Daughtry LEAVE THIS TOWN

Personnel: Chris Daughtry (vocals, guitar); Vince Gill (vocals); Phil X (guitar, guitars); Brian Craddock, Josh Steely (guitar); Aubrey Haynie (fiddle); Howard Benson (keyboards, programming); Jamie Muhoberac (keyboards); Josh Paul (bass instrument); Joey Barnes, Joey Barnes (drums); Michito S?nchez (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Chris Lord-Alge.
Recording information: Bay 7 Studios; Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Entourage Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Sparky Dark, Calabasas, CA; Valley Village, CA.
Illustrator: Jim Lee.
Photographer: Max Vadukul.
Arranger: Debbie Lurie.
When he was recording his debut album in 2006, Chris Daughtry didn't have the time to assemble the real rock band he so desperately wanted to have, so it appeared under the band name Daughtry without featuring any of the musicians who later became part of the group. That's not the case with LEAVE THIS TOWN, Daughtry's second record: all five members are glowering on the album cover, floating like specters over an abandoned Californian street. The five rockers serve as visual evidence that Daughtry is a band, not a person, and such reminders may be necessary because LEAVE THIS TOWN doesn't differ much in feel or form from DAUGHTRY. Overall, LEAVE THIS TOWN isn't quite as studio slick as DAUGHTRY, which was fueled by Chris Daughtry's desire prove that he belonged in the big leagues; here, he's achieved that goal and he's happy to stay there as long as possible, giving the people what they want in the form of furrow-browed rockers and brooding power ballads, all saved from their self-conscious sobriety by arena-level hooks, hooks that come from Daughtry and a variety of co-writers including Ben Moody and Nickelback's Chad Kroeger. Daughtry brings these big hooks down to human scale, injecting warmth into his phrasing. Daughtry the band has no desire to make anything other than good, basic, black-and-white modern rock and they do so efficiently on LEAVE THIS TOWN, a sophomore album that's every bit as satisfying as the first.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock and Pop