Ace Young

Few American Idol contestants have ever seemed to come straight from central casting as much as Ace Young, that long-haired, non-threatening hunk blessed with the good looks of one of Samantha Jones' interchangeable boyfriends on Sex & the City, and a name to match. Young tries a little bit of everything on his eponymous debut, all the better to fit on some radio format somewhere. Most of the time, he rides a Michael Jackson-inspired groove borrowed from Justin Timberlake -- the JT of Justified, not the cold robotic loverman of FutureSex/LoveSounds -- a sound that does have its appeal, particularly as the disco-fied rhythms are immaculate and warm. When he's not in this mode, Young switches over to arena-filling, radio-devouring power ballads that prove he does indeed bear some responsibility for DAUGHTRY's success (he helped pen DAUGHTRY's hit "It's Not Over"). Both sides of the coin are well-crafted sonically and structurally -- and they're both tied together by a slight '80s obsession, as both the dance tunes and power ballads feel indebted to the heyday of Michael Jackson, George Michael, and Bon Jovi -- and although Young's blandly handsome voice is lacking personality, he does succeed in being slick and sweet. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide