Danny Gokey's Best Days: CD Review

I text-ed two of my sisters last week to tell them that I had picked up Danny Gokey's debut CD, "My Best Days" and really thought it was fantastic, and better than Kris Allen's to my listening ear. Funny, both of them immediately text me back the same question: is it country? A neighbor on the sidewalk asked me the same thing the very next day.

So, what would be wrong if it was country, I wondered?

Best Days been on heavy rotation in the minivan while I digest it. You may recall that at the conclusion of last season of American Idol, I announced that the only CD I would purchase would be Danny's.

(I've kept to that promise....technically speaking....I was given the gift of Kris Allen :)

So, is it country? That depends on your definition. There are certainly a banjo, fiddle and mandolin on this record. I guess those are typically "country" instruments. The opening notes and lyrics of several tracks had me immediately thinking Carrie Underwood and Rascal Flatts, and the association was so strong I had to run to the Internet to see if there were any songwriters that crossed these three artists (there aren't. ) But to me, Carrie and RF aren't pure country, they are crossover artists who straddle the country/pop/mainstream markets.....hardcore country they are not. Bottom line is that if you like that sort of pop/country, you will DIG what Danny Gokey offers here.

Admittedly, I was a fan of Danny's last season. I think he was the kind of contestant who polarized viewers: either you liked him, or you didn't....and there weren't many people who were entirely neutral. While some viewers called him "Goaty Gokey" among other nasty monikers and found his style arrogant and preachy, I found him entirely endearing and was uplifted by his smile and terrific voice. Finally hearing his debut CD, I have to say, LOVE IT! It's just what I would have expected and wanted from him and I couldn't ask for more.

So what is the music like, then? If you followed Danny on AI, you know that at the time of his American Idol audition, he was serving as the worship leader at a large Christian church in Beloit, WI, and that his wife had suddenly passed away just 4 weeks before his AI audition. The first single "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me" has an amazing story. Turns out it's Nashville songwriter also lost his wife too soon; you can read the full story here.

But that's just the beginning of the CD; the songs that follow took me through a reaffirmation of faith with the rousing "I Still Believe" (with Kara DioGuardi as co-writer!) where Danny sings "...never saw a man walk on water, but I still believe..." The CD continues through the escapism of the upbeat "Getaway" (reminded me of Carrie Underwood's "Get Out of this Town") and the lovely "Tiny Life". This lovely tune's lyrics tell of a man peering out of an airplane window at 20,000 feet wondering what life is all about, and realizing that "...the love I have, and the love I have to give" are all that matters. I love the humanistic tenderness of "It's Only" , which urges us to consider those less fortunate, and the catchy "Crazy Not To", where in the lyrics the singer hesitates to jump into a romantic relationship and decides "aw, but look at you....I'd be crazy not to." This is all solid stuff, and more than worthy of Idol's Season 8's 4th place finisher. I think 19 gave him some awesome material to work with.

In "Best Days", Danny Gokey has teamed up with some of Nashville's best songwriters to craft a debut album full of hope and strength, with the powerful and rich voice we came to love on Idol. Checking my local concert listings to get out and support in person on the road this summer!