[.ca] Soulful

WHAT A DISASTER!!!!!!!!:
This CD is absolutely terrible. I listened to it riding in a car with a friend. Oh, what a disaster. Stay away....stay away. Studdard will not last mark my words.

Solid debut from Ruben:
I love Ruben Studdard and think he has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to his music career. When he popped up on American Idol last season during the Wild Card show, Fox did nothing to promote his appearance. However when Clay shows up, he gets all the promotion!? Ruben won and deserves some respect. If there had been more promotion for him, he could have sold many more albums than he did. As for the songs, they could have been better, but most of them are pretty good. People have complained about the more hip hop songs, but I'm glad he made what he wanted to make rather than cater to every possible demographic there is. If the album had been all slow love songs, it would have been boring. My only complaint is the inclusion of some songs he sang on the show. If they had to be included, why not include some that he sounded better on. I don't even remember "For All We Know" and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart". The original songs are pretty good. "Sorry 2004" was a good song for him, and "What Is Sexy?" is an interesting song. I also love "After the Candles Burn".They may not have groundbreaking lyrics, but who cares? Ruben sounds good on them and that's all that matters. I recommend this album. I suspect the reason for all these negative reviews may be Clay fans who have too much time on their hands and want to waste their time giving Ruben's album a lower score. That's their problem. As for the people who did listen to the CD and still didn't like it, that's their opinion and I respect that. Not everyone likes everything. Speaking as someone who liked it and did listen to it, I suggest checking it out.

Ruben is just "ok":
I like Ruben's voice a lot but I do have to say that some songs just aren't that great, he also seems to sound just a little bit cocky and Im sure that the people behind his cd are responsible for that, you know how they do it, they say jump, you say how high right? well, there are a lot of songs I love, and there are lot of songs I dislike, so I personally have to give it an avg rating.. can't wait for Ruben to put out another cd or his Christmas cd. Looking forward to hearing something new...

Ruben Studdard fails to impress me.:
Ruben Studdard's debut album is the worst album from contestant in American Idol. His vocal ablity stands far below from Kelly's and Clay's. Sure he has a warm and souful voice, but a lot of the other finalist from AI did as well. I think the Idol winner should have a big voice that stands out and he does not. His album is one dimentional, all songs are R & B and nothing else. I doubt that he will have a long lasting career. Sure a lot of people bought his album but they did not know how it was going to be before they bought it. And I doubt they will buy his next album for it is only his personality and his calories and fat that carried him this far.

Pleased:
Unlike all the other comments made by others. I think that the CD is in very good taste. It is good finally to hear someone sing a song or songs with meaning for a change. Some would think that because Ruben is a young person that he should sing or rap about gang life, being a playa, or being gangster. That is what sets him apart from the rest. Ruben will be around for the long haul because he has true talent. We are missing talent in today's music world. Ruben is a part of our rebuilding in the music world. Ruben is the American Idol not Clay and that happened for a reason! The current CD is nice. It identifies with who Ruben really is. I like it a lot and I'm looking forward to hearing from Ruben more in the near future.

• Sorry 2004
• No Ruben
• How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
• Take The Shot
• What Is Sexy (feat. Fat Joe)
• What If
• Superstar
• Can I Get Your Attention (feat. Pretty Tony)
• For All We Know
• Play Our Song
• Don’t Quit On Me
• After The Candles Burn
• Flying Without Wings (Bonus Track)
• We Have Not Forgotten (feat. Fred Hammond) (Bonus Track)