As all fans know soon enough, everyone has an opinion about music. Here are three reviews—The Good, The Bad, and the Ugh?—of David Archuleta’s new music from his sophomore album, The Other Side of Down, released today.

The Good

This Good review is really an interview with David more than a review of the CD. But it fully captures David’s intentions for his new music. David Archuleta says the other side of down is up. You don’t have to stay down. You can surround yourself with good friends, good times, and good vibes, and ‘things are gonna get better’. David’s album is filled with songs that deliver that hopeful message.

…[David’s] “don’t give up” attitude is reflected all over The Other Side of Down, from the self-questioning “Who I Am” to the choir-enhanced “Things Are Gonna Get Better.” Even Archie’s infectious single “Elevator” has the 19-year-old taking a dream about a girl as an opportunity to wax poetically about the ups and downs of growing pains. It’s a message all the more eerily prescient given the recent onslaught of teen suicides….

Listen to what David himselfsays about The Other Side of Down.

SOURCE: Jim Cantiello (@jambajim) of MTV

The Bad

I don’t pay much attention to these blog-like snippet (sniper) reviews, but I needed this one for The Bad category. At least Mr. Tarradell had the courage audacity to sign his name to it.

Grade: C
Label: 19 Recordings/Jive
The kid is likable. Maybe it’s that perennial smile and his 19-year-old joie de vivre. If only that translated to his music. Sure, The Other Side of Down is catchy and upbeat most of the time, but it’s also wholly unimaginative pop of the day. To boot, these dozen songs are swimming in a crowded pool of co-writers and producers. We don’t ever get a sense of who Archuleta is as an artist, or even a singer. Chances are good that if you sing along to hooky stuff like “The Other Side of Down” and “Things Are Gonna Get Better,” you’ll forget them once the CD stops spinning.

SOURCE: by Mario Tarradell for The Dallas Morning News

The Ugh?

This reviewer gives The Other Side of Down 3 out of 5 stars, but his critique seems to go down more than up. Is he trying to have it both ways? In blurbs about this article, I saw positive statements, such as, “Remember ‘Idol’ finalist David Archuleta? His CD’s actually pretty good” and “Farber: Singer’s 3rd CD impresses, earns 3 stars.” So, let’s review the reviewer and try to make sense out of his critique. It seems to me that he is criticizing the music producers and engineers rather than the vocalist.

David Archuleta may be one of the best singers ever to vie for the “American Idol” title (coming in a wrongheaded second to David Cook), but at this point, his reign seems as distant as the fall of Prussia….For the new “The Other Side of Down,” however, the strategy has shifted in a defensive and frustrating way. Instead of tailoring the sound to Archuleta’s forte — his innocent voice of need — the songs and production feel like they came straight off the rack. The hooks, sound and vocal approach could just as easily have turned up on an album by ­Jason Derulo, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars or any number of other young hopefuls who perform hits to order….

Read the rest of the Jim Farber article for the New York Daily News.

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Tags:   Dallas Morning News · MTV · New York Daily News · The Other Side of Down
Filed in: career|David Archuleta|music|news|opinions|reviews|voice
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