“My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me”? I certainly hope so, but Danny Gokey could have done with a more attention-grabbing debut.

The genuinely likeable 29-year-old widower had a sterling season on American Idol 8 – sailing through to the final week (where ultimately he lost to Adam Lambert and winner, Kris Allen) and constantly garnering the judges’ praise throughout. Gokey continually demonstrated a flair, which added to any of the variety of artists and genres thrown at him, from Aerosmith, to Seal, to Carrie Underwood.

Perhaps it was this last one that led to the choice to market Gokey as a country singer. But on the basis of “Best Days,” that doesn’t display him at his true potential. Certainly, you hear glimpses of his undeniably awesome power and control, but little can counteract the fact that the song was, from the sounds of it, written and recorded in a hurry. Danny Gokey’s strength was in adding a unique edge to any song he sang, and in this, a disappointingly standard pop-rock crossover, he tried to go all Carrie Underwood on us–except Carrie’s charm is being a cute country girl, and Danny’s is not. He isn’t given any real scope to show us what he can do within the confines of an adequate but rather mundane track.

In short, “My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me” is certainly acceptable enough not to be the downfall of his career, but it certainly is not the explosive burst onto the charts that he could reasonably have hoped for. For his sake, I hope the rest of his album is more off the beaten track: It would be a shame to see such a gifted artist fall into the lower and more obscure end of the country charts.

The release date is currently set for December 22, 2009.

[starreview]