★★★★★
On his post-Idol debut, the season 8 champion sniffs around a musical identity but never quite curls up in one. Despite scoring writing credits on an impressive nine of these 13 tracks, Kris Allen gets himself stylistically lost somewhere between Fly White Guy Avenue ("Can't Stay Away") and Bleeding Heart Boulevard ("The Truth"), while rarely visiting original territory...
- ew.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
Kris Allen finished in first place on the most recent season of "American Idol," but did he really win? If this fresh-faced Arkansan had been cut from the show a few weeks earlier than he was, it's easy to imagine his post-"Idol" debut delighting his loyal fans, many of whom would've been perfectly happy with -- horror of horrors -- an entire album of Fray covers...
- latimesblogs.latimes.com
2010-04-02
★★★★★
Most American Idol contestant albums have a couple of above-average-to-great singles, and a lot of filler; not so with Kris Allen. The 2009 Idol winner's debut ? produced by Mike Elizondo, Salaam Remi and other ringers ? is the definition of "not bad": Songs like "Can't Stay Away" and "Before We Come Undone" make no mistakes but are utterly forgettable...
- www.rollingstone.com
2009-11-26
★★★★★
Summary: Like vanilla ice-cream with very little topping. Itâ??s all Kanyeâ??s fault. To many, much of whatever credibility the Idol franchise still had, flew out the window when Kris Allen was voted the winner of the 8th season of American Idol. How he conquered any of the top five contestants, let alone eventual runner-up Adam Lambert, shall continue to astound. Weâ??re (allegedly) talking nearly 100 million votes here folks...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2009-11-26
★★★★★
It's tough to say that "American Idol'' winner Kris Allen's debut is disappointing because it's just the type of record anyone who watched the show last season would expect him to make. It's a polite mix of soft rock with hints of boundary jumping that, unfortunately, never truly come. There's really nothing wrong with the set; it's sweetly executed and produced. Allen sings well but shows little of the expressiveness he needs to give real meaning to the songs of yearning or loss ("The Truth'')...
- www.boston.com
2009-11-19