TheBaubShow
The sun has come out just in time for our long journey to Anaheim to see @davidarchie and friends!

2010 in Review: The year’s best Idol albums
by Mark Franklin on Dec 29, 2010 in 2010 in Review, Featured Articles

This wasn’t the kindest of years to American Idol in terms of CD sales.

The three albums that hung around on the Billboard 200 the longest — Carrie Underwood’s “Play On,” Daughtry’s “Leave This Town,” and Adam Lambert’s “For Your Entertainment” — were all holdovers from 2009.

The only 2010 Idol release to make a significant dent in the charts: season four winner Fantasia’s third album.

But that doesn’t mean former Idol contestants didn’t release good music in 2010. Here are my picks for the five best albums.

Coming tomorrow: The top 10 songs of 2010. Followed, on Friday, by the top videos of 2010.

So keep checking back.

And if you want a look at my grades for all Idol albums from 2010, and most from past years, go here and check out a new section of Idol Chatter.

Now, my top five albums …

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Bo Bice’s “3″1.

The album was supposed to be called “Different Shades of Blue.” Two months before it’s release, Bo shortened it to “3.” After all, it’s his third album. And Bo’s wife had just delivered the couple’s third son. Regardless of the title, it’s Bo’s best yet by far, with a nice helping of southern rock that was sorely lacking in his post-Idol debut and more country than fans might expect. Bottom line: It works, from start to finish. The song that was supposed to be the title track is great; so is the album-closing “You Take Yourself with You.”

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Crystal Bowersox’s “Farmer’s Daughter”

The reviews have been mixed. In my mind, it’s the best debut yet from an Idol finalist. And proof that an Idol finalist doesn’t have to sacrifice his or her identity when releasing a first album in conjunction with 19 Entertainment. In fact, many of the songs on this CD were written by Crystal before Idol, including “Holy Toledo,” “Speak Now” and the magnificent title track, “Farmer’s Daughter.” Crystal’s emotions come through strongest when she’s singing about trials she’s faced in the past, but this is far from a one-trick album. An example: “Mason,” a song written post-Idol with her husband, Brian Walker.

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Fantasia’s “Back To Me”

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart. It’s already produced two R&B hits singles (“Bittersweet” and “I’m Doin’ Me”). I like the playful dance tune “Falling in Love Tonight” better than either of those songs. I hate that Fantasia has a reality show. One episode was more than enough for me. But it’s tough to argue with an album that has been one of the most successful among Idols in sales and chart performance. Plus, it landed a Grammy nomination for Idol’s season three winner. And no one can argue with that voice.

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4. We Are the Fallen, “Tear the World Down”

The album spent just three weeks on the Billboard 200, which means it’s vastly underappreciated in my mind. For those who forgot — or never knew — We Are the Fallen is three-fifths former members of Evanescence, plus bass guitarist Marty O’Brien, plus former season seven Idol Carly Smithson. And Carly never sounded this good on Idol, belting out the rockers (“Bury Me Alive”) and the power ballads (“Sleep Well, My Angel”) with equal aplomb. Another highlight: “Paradigm.” So, who’s the little dark-haired girl standing amid all the destruction on the album cover?

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5. David Archuleta: “The Other Side of Down”

This was the toughest pick on the list. Should the honor go to Jason Castro’s hit-and-miss debut because of a few golden moments or to David’s second album for being solid from beginning to end. In the end, I chose David. Jason’s album relied on golden moments from Idol to make it more palatable; David put out a better sophomore album than his debut. He had a hand in writing more of the material, too, with credits on 10 of the 12 songs. And it’s just so darn upbeat and … well, David being David. It’s just a shame the sales numbers for the album haven’t been more upbeat to this point.

16 songs (setlist already posted above) plus an encore – CRUSH

He sounded so good – I know I sound like a broken record – but he is simply AMAZING.

I wonder if he will still come back… Nah, the peeps didn’t ask for more. Well after 17 songs I think they should have gotten their fill right? In Manila he sang 3 songs and we were over the moon! LOL

Am nOT forgetting missy!:)

Too bad rascal wasn’t able to see MoTab -- that would have been the ambiance he was aiming for when they were planning for a fan initiated archie get together, right?

Brighlight’s brief recap:

Just got back from the Grove in Anaheim. David was in awesome form tonight. What a long set he sang! My 23 year old son is home from college on break and I ‘dragged’ him to the show. He had a great time. Some observations from my son: “He’s the best singer I’ve ever heard live.” “He really feels the music. I teared up a few times.” “That song ‘Angels’ was unbelievable!” “I’d love to hear him do an acoustic set.” “I’d go again.”

Oddly enough, I bumped into some friends that I haven’t seen in several years. So funny to see them there. She is also a singer. Gotta say, David is a singer’s singer.

ArchAngel1307 meets David

Oh QuiteBlanc -- thank you very much for your comment. Am glad you like the way we chronicle David’s appearances & performances. I have said it before -- one of the things I like about TDC when I was still new then was its structure. It makes access to anythingDavid quite easy and intuitive. We should thank Marlie & Rascal for that.

Me? Am just gung-ho about finding anythingDavid and I do have the time-zone advantage. Well most of the time cos am still kicking myself for missing the live broadcast of the Holiday Parade over at WFAA, so I failed to secure an HQ version (at the very least) of his performance broadcasted on TV.

Also, thank you for sharing your Anaheim experience & your file. HOWEVER, I think you have to re-send the link. When I click it, am being directed to my own mediafire folder. You need to send the sharing or download link of the file itself by
1. Clicking SHARE (that’s actually the link you sent)
2. When you click SHARE, a sort of pull down menu appears
3. Look for the SHARING LINK phrase
4. Beside the SHARING LINK, a “copy link” button appears, click on that
5. Paste the link on TDC

Am giddy to hear what you have recorded

QB -- am listening to Angels right now! Your recording is great! David sounds so great! LOL, am all about exclamation points now. recording

If Angel is any indication, the the rest of your recordings should be perfect

Have you uploaded them to YT? If not, I can upload them to my YT, with all due credit to you of course. I will look for the approp pix Let me know

More new pix from Anthology FB

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=489391547507&set=a.489390577507.272253.59345637507&pid=5766155&id=59345637507#!/photo.php?fbid=489390592507&set=a.489390577507.272253.59345637507&pid=5766128&id=59345637507

HV -- it is such a pleasure to hear from you. Glad to know that you saw him perform during the holidays. He looked so good on TV! — hooked my laptop to my wide screen -- HA!

Guys, we have the complete setlist of the Anaheim show, thanks to QB and Butterflygirl1987. Scroll up to check ‘em all up