Album reviews for the latest music available for streaming and jammin’.

Daughtry / Baptized

By Jennifer Russo

So although Daughtry’s Baptized album has been out for a few years now, I thought I’d do a little flashback review. I love when you come across an album that you haven’t listened to in a little while, and I was recently doing some spring cleaning and found this one. After revisiting it, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it … so back into my car it goes.

Chris Daughtry has always been an amazing storyteller, and his songs really run a narrative. This 15-song album is full of stories that people can relate to, the most notable song being “Waiting for Superman,” which peaked at the No. 11 on the Adult Top 40 Billboard and is also one of my favorite music videos.

“Broken Arrows,” the song I wish the radio would have grabbed on to, documents a troubled relationship that he is struggling to keep together, with lyrics like “I know, I may not be a saint, but I’ve got a heart of gold” and “the best of intentions I lay at your feet … I’m tired of taking my aim when I keep on missing,” is just a beautiful ballad that pulls at the heartstrings. It also shows the higher end of his vocal range. I also really love the song “18 Years,” which made me reminisce about friends I’ve known forever, some of whom I still talk to and some with whom I’ve lost connection.

As a whole, the album is solid and true Daughtry. I think some of the critics who didn’t care for it are over-analyzing something that is intended to be simple and true-to-self. Whereas it’s a little mellower than past albums, I really liked the change.

For more, visit daughtryofficial.com

Iggy Pop / Post Pop Depression

By Jason Savio

“I’ve shot my gun/I’ve used my knife/This hasn’t been an easy life,” sings Iggy Pop on “American Valhalla,” featured on Post Pop Depression, his new collaboration with Queen of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme. Pop has worked with some interesting artists throughout his long and storied career, and this project with Homme continues that tradition.

At 69, it appears that Pop has found the fountain of youth on Post Pop Depression, but that bastion of energy doesn’t come without its share of newfound cynicism, and Pop uses it to propel his ageless angst. While there may be a hoot and a holler here and there, Pop spends most of his time channeling the ghost of Jim Morrison with his haunting vocal delivery, painting a portrait of a man not at peace with himself or the world he’s built around himself. The tension Pop brews within his mind and his surroundings builds up throughout the album and reaches a crescendo on the final track, “Paraguay,” when he unleashes a scathing critique of the 21st-century everyday man in convincing slam poetry fashion. Add the ticking time-bomb melodies Homme produces to Pop’s brash honesty, and you have a listening experience rooted deep in your psyche.

What you hear on Post Pop Depression isn’t the “Lust for Life” version of Iggy Pop; it’s an older, hardened version that is as bare bones and real as it gets, and that’s what makes it such a compelling work of art.

For more, visit postpopdepression.com

Zayn / Mind of Mine

By Mike Wood

Zayn Malik’s debut solo record is a labor of intention to distance himself from his boy-band past. The former One Direction member makes good use of his millennial angst, writing all the lyrics on the album himself with the aim of snatching pop music’s crown as its new prince.

If sales are any indication, he might already be on his way. Mind of Mine debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and he’s the first male solo artist from the U.K. to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. charts with his first album since George Michael … but it took Faith nine weeks on the charts to reach that mark. Zayn debuted there. But, as they say, the higher you climb, the further you can fall. Does one-name artist Zayn having staying power a la other one-name wonders like Prince, Madonna, or – dare we say – Bieber?

Let’s first talk about the lyrics. From a 23-year-old guy, you’re going to get just about what you would expect. Zayn wants listeners to know he likes sex, has sex (lots of sex) and is sex personified – literally from start (“Pillowtalk”) to finish (“She Don’t Love Me”). He’s also a capable crooner with brooding good looks, but does he succeed in creating some pop art akin to Justin Timberlake a decade-and-a-half before him when he departed *NSYNC? Or is Zayn just trying too hard to be brooding and dangerous and everything anti-1D? We suppose that depends on just how cynical you are. There’s a Sam Ocean infusion, and you might be forgiven if you mistake Zayn for The Weeknd on more than a few tracks, but the kid can certainly sing.

Whether you buy the sex-on-a-stick shtick or not really depends on the listener.

For more, visit inzayn.com