Review: Surprise! David Archuleta's self-titled debut album is not bad

David Archuleta's liner notes for his self-titled debut album add up to more than 3,500 words, with the majority reserved for thank yous.

Thanks are certainly in order for his management, record label and producers, as that team helped the 17-year-old Murray teenager record an album that plays to his strengths. This is an adult-contemporary album with ballads that will appeal to his young, female fans.

Most important, the album avoids Timbaland-lite dance numbers and flavor-of-the-month guests like T-Pain or Lil' Wayne that would be as appropriate as the same accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The reason Archuleta bested thousands of aspiring singers to become the runner-up in
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last season's "American Idol" is his voice, the strength and confidence of which belie the young man's giggly demeanor and lack of onstage charisma.

Archuleta's rich tone, warm timbre and seeming inability to sing in the wrong pitch are created, of course, by endless takes in the recording studio. The harshest criticism for Archuleta during his weekly televised crucible was that while his voice was perfect, his youth and lack of life lessons made him unable to connect emotionally to what he was singing. While that is still his biggest challenge, he sounds invested in many of these tunes.

That plays to his advantage, because many of the songs are piano-based and mid- to low-tempo, which allows him to unleash that powerful, adult
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voice that doesn't sound capable of coming from a teenager, much less one who suffered from vocal-cord paralysis several years ago.

"Crush," Archie's lead single, is a near-perfect pop tune that doesn't suffer from the mind-numbing verse-chorus-verse blandness that plagues most of his contemporaries' hits. And his expected second single is a rendition of Robbie Williams' "Angels," the only song here that Archuleta sang on "Idol," and he sounds in control here.

Highlights of the new record are "Touch My Hand" and "Desperate," which aim for grandeur, or at least as much as a teenager is able to strive for. Those songs have big choruses and sweeping (but not overwhelming) arrangements, but Archuleta delivers a penetrating, deep vocal that shows remarkable restraint. He doesn't have to prove his voice with octave-jumping, as actors-turned-singers too often do.

The lowlights are too many midtempo tunes that fail to make an impact, even after repeated listening. (In contrast, "Crush" rewards numerous listens.) This isn't an album that takes risks. Archuleta is to be commended for co-writing two songs, but those sound more filler than killer, with lyrics that settle for platitudes. But then again, who are we to look for answers for the meaning of life from a 17-year-old from Murray?