See DCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s album, all songs are good, but it doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have true potential radio hits, so ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s selling good but not great.

I sort of see what you’re saying, although I think Lie can be such a hit. To me, there’s a lot of bipolarity in Cook’s album, and it’s amazing to me that the finished product came out as well as it did, considering this point.

It seems to me that what they did for most of the songs was take poppy melodies and then apply one, two, or three or more coats of grunge– depending on the track– to create the final version of the song. Rob Cavallo talked about how his intent was to “split the difference” between who DC was an artist and what his Idol fans may have been accustomed to, and I see the hallmarks of that all over the record.

There’s also it seems to me a distinct effort to be “UnDaughtry”on the album. Ironically, that effort was all for naught, because most reviewers just lumped him in with Daughtry and other similar bands anyway.

I think a lot of best-selling albums are like Daughtry’s, a couple of really good songs, the rest not-so-good. I think David Cook should make sure that his next album will have at least one really outstanding song that can work as a single, and that is what will sell his album.

You can’t disregard the importance of singles. They’re what the world gets to hear and that’s what’s going to determine, for the most part, how many people choose to purchase the album to hear more. I do think RCA has chosen the weakest songs on the album as singles for DC, but again that’s just my opinion. I think despite that issue, the album has been selling very well and I’m satisfied with that.

I mean, some perspective is in order. Daughtry has the best selling album on the current BB 200. Comparing anyone else to him, even Taylor Swift, will make their numbers seem lackluster.

Released 2 1/2 years ago. I know that his AI appearance gave the album a bump, but ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been selling several thousand a week, consistently, nevertheless. Pretty amazing.

Yes, it’s impressive. The key today is to make a record with 2 or 3 potential radio hits and the rest of the songs don’t matter, the album is gonna sell well. I think this apply to Daughty’s debut album, it only has 2 or 3 hits and the others are so average, and despite that see the sales.

See DC’s album, all songs are good, but it doesn’t have true potential radio hits, so it’s selling good but not great.

Still hoping that as soon as CBTM concludes its rise on HAC and commences its fall that they will put out Lie. I think that could reinvigorate this era and not only regenerate but sustain momentum for sales of the record.

I seem to remember some à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“expertà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  from USA Today predicting the album will possibly hit Gold.

I haven’t read that, but I would think that might have more to do with someone getting piqued that their favorite didn’t win rather than a real prediction. I don’t think anyone who knows anything about how well idol winner’s first album can sell and how well David Cook’s songs sold on iTunes straight after winning the title would say that. Perhaps Idol album sales may never again reach the giddy heights of Carrie Underwood, but to think that David Cook’s first album would sell worse than Taylor Hicks’ poorly received and poorly promoted album is just unreasonable.

I thought last year that David Cook might sell somewhere in the region of 1.5-2 million

You were way more optimistic than me. I wasn’t sure he’d make it to Platinum before the album came out. I seem to remember some “expert” from USA Today predicting the album will possibly hit Gold. Ah, good times.

Is double platinum not possible now?

I think unless David gets a CHR hit, Double Platinum isn’t in the cards. I can see him making it to 1.5M over the next year with mostly HAC airplay, and that’s very impressive in today’s climate, as far as album sales go.

The Kingsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ drummer might have a beef with that. Unless MWK is actually kind of like a Destinyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Child where they keep kicking mebers out of the group and replacing them with new ones!

Josh Center the drummer? Never quite sure who the other members of Midwest Kings were, but I think there might have been a few changes in personnel. Perhaps Midwest Kings is not a good idea, I have observed while watching some of the YouTube videos of David Cook touring band that Andy Skib doesn’t look all that happy in the band, I think he would have preferred to be in his own band singing lead. If there is any member of the band who is likely to leave it’s him.

But back to the numbers, I thought last year that David Cook might sell somewhere in the region of 1.5-2 million, and it looks to me now that it is more likely to be near the lower end. Is double platinum not possible now?

I think it’s impossible for a second Idol album to sell more than the first. I know Kelly is the exception but look at her album sales since. It’s just a natural progression combined with declining sales.

IF Daughtry sells 1/3 of his first album, he’ll still have one of the top albums of the year. In terms of Elliott, without a radio hit and no national TV promo, those aren’t actually terrible numbers.

On the other hand, I can’t see how he’ll sustain his sales without a radio hit and some national TV exposure. FFL has been locked in #58 on the CHR chart for what feels like and may be months.

It reminds me of Archie’s 2nd single that did a similiar stall in the 40s somewhere. Usually when songs don’t get adds, they’re pretty much done. So CBTM which should do fine elsewhere is probably finished on Top 40. On the other hand, I expect Daughtry’s to race up that chart fairly easily. If it doesn’t, radio has really, really changed.

Or David Cook and the Midwest Kings (if he wants to emphasize the role of other band members)?

The Kings’ drummer might have a beef with that. Unless MWK is actually kind of like a Destiny’s Child where they keep kicking mebers out of the group and replacing them with new ones!

But, your sentence that I quoted caused another thought to occur to me. While it’s fairly apparent that David Cook is not going to have a Daughtry-like debut in terms of sales, it is interesting that the other members of his band are starting to get a bit of attention themselves. Their names are starting to appear in concert reviews, blogs etc. For all the press that the “other” members of Daughtry receive, Chris might as well be performing with session musicians.

Yeah, but weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re talking huge numbers, so half would still be impressive.

Well yeah, of course. I have no doubt Daughtry will sell ridiculous numbers of his 2nd album, I’m just saying that expecting anyone to outsell their debut with the follow-up is usually recipe for disappointment. It’s always good to take into account current market trends, and the whole market is trending down. This week did see the lowest selling #1 debut ever, after all.

Changing a recognisable name to one completely uncognisable is one bad move.

Unless you’re Prince, and then it’s just a marketing ploy…oh nevermind, the completely unrecognizable is key here.