A new American Idol is about to be crowned, but the fact that so many runners-up continue to have careers may mean that you don’t have to win the contest to reap the benefits-after all, Clay Aiken came in second to Ruben Studdard, and we all see whose career has fared better.
Elliott Yamin came in third during the fifth season of American Idol, and while winner Taylor Hicks (”Soul Patrol!“) hasn’t exactly risen to superstardom, Yamin has continued to work to carve out a niche for himself in the industry.
Yamin’s sophomore album, Fight for Love, features lead single, “Fight for Love,” a laidback neo-soul number that has received a respectable amount of airplay in recent weeks. Even with the horrible, trendy, Kanye-esque vocal processing, it’s clear that Yamin has a better voice than most of his contemporaries, making the effects unfortunate and unnecessary.
As expected, Yamin’s strong, Stevie Wonder-inflected vocals are the star of the show, but the album’s personality could just as easily belong to any number of smooth-voiced r&b/pop singers. The lack of identity is likely due to the fact that few of the songs were written by Yamin, making the album seem like it was tailored to have hits (the ballad, the soulful number, the upbeat dance track, etc) rather than to stand alone as a complete album.
Then again, in the age of downloading albums one track at a time, it’s little surprise that the Fight for Love doesn’t attempt to flow together as a cohesive piece of music-it doesn’t need to. In fact, that may be the most positive aspect of Green Day’s new concept album, 21st Century Breakdown: that it puts the emphasis on the album, rather than the singles.
To his credit, Yamin did co-write a few of album’s tracks, including “Someday,” a hope-laced tearjerker dedicated to his recently-deceased mother, who had been a popular audience fixture during his Idol run.
While Yamin is certainly a better singer than many past Idol winners and contestants, the fact remains that the reason he lost to Taylor Hicks was probably a matter of personality, as in Hicks had a flamboyant one, and Yamin had a forgettable one.
He is getting closer to finding his own sound and vibe, but until Yamin really steps out of the shadow of his by-the-numbers songwriters and his influences (Wonder, Donny Hathaway), he may continue to be unduly overlooked.
