2005 Nashville Star Champion Erika Jo - CD Review

Links to Erika Jo's MP3 Clips of Music Featured always follow reviews as do price comparison links and other links to Country Music and other areas in Rikks Revues. Enjoy and check out other Country Music CD Reviews @ Rikks Revues!

Buy Erika Jo's debut CD @ Amazon.com $12.99 (USD)

Erika Jo Eponymous Debut CD Review

Buddy Jewell's debut CD in 2003 debuted at #1, as did Miranda Lambert's Kerosene earlier this year. Erika Jo may not have achieved that, however the 2005 Season 3 Nashville Star winner did have the highest charting Country Music debut, coming in at the #5 spot it's first week beating out Country Music veteran Dwight Yoakam's newest release Blame The Vain. Erika Jo also came onto the all genre billboard album sales chart at #27, the third highest debut in her first week of release. It seems Universal South may have a new star on their hands, and all this coming from winning Nashville Star, there was very little other truly noticeable promotion for Erika Jo's CD, Universal South would do well to really get behind and heavily promote Erika Jo.

Flirting with the singles charts for her first single "I Break Things" having the most points to find itself atop the Radio and Records New and Active Chart, passing  Jo Dee Messina and 2005 Nashville Star judge Phil Vassar's new singles. This is all good news for the recent high school graduate, but do the numbers hold up? , is the music as good as the hype? Well let's take a look and see what could make or break the new Country Music DIVA-in-the-making. The first thing that can usually break a reality-show winner is the fact they have to rush to get their first CD to the public.

Erika Jo's 11 track CD is a good first offering. The sound is solid, and her vocals for the most part are spot-on, she could easily fit in between any of today's Country Music stars on radio without sounding the least bit out of place. There was a time on Nashville Star it seemed like Erika Jo was the front-runner and then she seemed to stay at the same level without growth, actually taking steps backwards at times rather than progression, Erika Jo did prove one thing, she had strong vocals through most of  the show's run. The singer's debut CD is a tight and aurally pleasing representation of the young lady's talent. There are no original tracks on the CD, but it seems the execs at Universal South knew what they were doing while picking the songs for Erika Jo's debut.

The CD opens with the first single, "I Break Things" is one of those radio friendly, near formulated track, but things pick up from here. Though the CD may have been rushed through the production process, Erika Jo proves she can hold her own, maybe even more so for that simple fact. Tracks like "Go", "Strong Tonight", and "They Say Love Is Blind" could all make find their way to the Country Music charts, with  "Strong Tonight" having the potential to be one of Summer 2005's bigger hits. Vocally one of the better moments on Erika Jo's disc is her rendition of Jessi Colter's early '70s hit "I'm Not Lisa". In total their are no ineffectual tracks of the 11. So, Erika Jo, though you may have lost me at times through the end of Nashville Star, I am humbled and I want to thank you for proving me wrong.

  ( 5 Stars out of 6 )

Buy Erika Jo - Erika Jo @ CD Universe - $10.39 (USD)

Buy Erika Jo's debut CD @ Amazon.com $12.99 (USD)

To listen to MP3 clips click play or text link! 1. I Break Things 2. Who You Are 3. There Are No Accidents 4. Go 5. Strong Tonight 6. Good Day for Goodbye 7. Wish You Back To Me 8. They Say Love is Blind 9. Going Til Your Gone 10. Love Is 11. I’m Not Lisa

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