Taylor Hicks

Refusing to commit to a location is Taylor Hicks' M.O. on The Distance. The salt-and-pepper haired winner of American Idol, Season Five, has parted ways with J and Arista, the labels that handle the recording contracts of theIdols, but that hasn't razzled, shaken or knocked Hicks off his game. The husky crooner dabbles in pop, blues, country, soul, gospel, Latin and classic rock throughout the whole of The Distance. He's even a balladeer commenting on the Iraq War on the album. By avoiding the trappings of "genre-fication," Hicks is able to be everything to everyone and that's the cultural touchstone upon which American Idol is able to succeed.

Thankfully, Hicks' smoky voice is the reason he avoids being another chunk of manufactured grist for the Idol mill. There's a passion and a sincerity that laces his vocals and while some of the songs are standard, verse-chorus-verse numbers, replete with hearty, back up female vocals to support Hicks' ultra-manly vox, the album never comes across as overly cooked or processed. Hicks' is a bit too real for that and whether that's his saving grace or his downfall remains to be seen, a decision that will be handed down by his public.

The Distance opens with a heartfelt title track that could be about a lover or family members while "Nineteen" ponders the plight of military servicemen. "New Found Freedom" is a positive, life-affirming anthem that basks in the glow of, well, life in general, while “Once Upon a Lover” is infused with Latin, semi-tropical percussion and guitars. Fellow Idol Elliot Yamin pops up on album closer, the funked out duet "Woman's Got to Have It," while "What's Right is Right" resonates with a bit of pop-country twang. The dapper Hicks has the pipes and the ability to plant roots across multiple genres. He's a jack of all trades and actually masters the sounds of the styles he is working in. Ain't nothing wrong with that.

— Amy Sciarretto
03.19.09

Even when Taylor Hicks was on American Idol it was never clear if there was a record-buying audience for his brand of blue-eyed soul, so when they didn't manifest in large numbers for his major-label post-Idol debut in 2006, it wasn't too much of a surprise when 19 Entertainment dropped him afterward. For some AmIdol finalists, this abandonment would be the kiss of death, but Hicks was a journeyman before Idol and he was a journeyman after it...the only difference is, he has a national audience and the budget to hire Eric Clapton's latter-day collaborator Simon Climie as a producer for his second album, The Distance. Climie also produced Michael McDonald's two Motown albums, so it follows that The Distance is somewhere between Clapton's well-tailored blues-rock and McDonald's soulful soft rock -- which also means it's not too far removed from Taylor Hicks, it just lacks the crossover inclination that led to such wannabe hits as "The Runaround." It's also true that The Distance lacks the need for a crossover hit: this album is pitched solely to the faithful, to those who are already paying attention, to those who will silently thrill at fellow Idol soulman Elliott Yamin's duet on Bobby Womack's "Woman's Got to Have It," to those who will chuckle at Hicks' hamfisted jabs at Paris, Britney, and OJ on "Keeping It Real." Considering the limited ambitions of The Distance, it may boast too fancy of a production -- it's akin to slapping high-thread count sheets onto a bed at the Super 8 -- but Climie's clean approximation of Southern R&B does make for a more consistent album than Taylor Hicks. True, Taylor's brand of soul is suited for the House of Blues, not a roadhouse dive, but Hicks is never in denial that he's a ham, milking those cornball jokes, shedding a tear for the teenage Iraqi war soldier on "Nineteen," wondering why we can't all just get along on the title track, sailing along on a supperclub cha-cha beat on "Once Upon a Lover," and stealing a bride on her wedding day. Hicks doesn't show great sensitivity as an interpreter -- he barrels through Nick Lowe's "I Live on a Battlefield," not doing it much harm -- but as an entertainer he pulls out all the stops, determined to get every last person in the joint to crack a smile. It's a trait that served him well in those small clubs and on television, and it still serves him well here. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide