What are the critics saying about Lauren Alaina’s debut album, Wildflower, out everywhere today? Reviews are mixed as they typically are for Idol debuts, but most reviewers see promise in the young singer. Read a roundup of reviews below.
Lauren Alaina’s ‘Wildflower’: A track-by-track review – Lauren tries to find her footing on Wildflower. She uses some songs to define herself, others to define her dreams for the future and the memories of her past that she wants to carry with her. She sings about mothers and grandmothers and friends and boys. And while Wildflower may not match the great country and pop teen acts with its insights into the teen psyche, Lauren probably will find a lot of young girls who can relate to its songs. Idol Chatter
Album Review: ‘American Idol’ Lauren Alaina blooms on ‘Wildflower’ with help from Carrie Underwood – One week after “American Idol” season 10 winner Scotty McCreery dropped his debut, runner-up Lauren Alaina follows with her major label bow. Will “Wildflower” debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 like McCreery’s “Clear As Day?” Chances are good it will not, not because it isn’t as good an effort — in fact, we think it’s much stronger than “Clear As Day, which we reviewed here—but because Oct. 11 is a bigger release day with new albums also coming from Evanescence, Martina McBride and Joe Jonas, among others. Hit Fix
Review | Lauren Alaina, Wildflower – Start sweating, Carrie Underwood: With the debut of Lauren Alaina’s starmaking CD, American Idol at last has a finalist as good as its top alum. The season 10 runner-up’s powerhouse vocals — showcased on heartfelt coming-of-age tales (the Underwood-copenned “Eighteen Inches”) and feisty Southern-fried anthems (“Georgia Peaches”) — establish the 16-year-old as a major one to watch on the country scene. – US
Music Review – Wildflower – At least his Idol rival Lauren Alaina acts her age. On Wildflower, she captures the restless spirit of small-town girls who get grounded for French-kissing the boy next door; you can hear her rebel fire in the barn-burning fiddles on ”Georgia Peaches.” Just try to ignore the fact that on ”The Locket, ” a sonic version of the Ryan Gosling weepie The Notebook, she recalls a romance that began ”back in ’41.” Kids — they grow up so fast! – EW
Lauren Alaina – ‘Wildflower’ Cut-by-Cut – The American Idol television series is not a process for the faint of hear to go through. It literally is a condensed version of what it’s like to go through the stages in one’s music career. With that process behind her, 16 year old Lauren Alaina recently discussed with us the process that went into making her debut album. “Wildflower is the perfect name for my first album, ” she says. “I would consider myself a wildflower because wildflowers are sweet, but then they have a little bit of spunk to them – they are ‘wildflowers, ’” she says. “I like to have a lot of fun and I’m really sassy. – Roughstock
‘Idol’ Singers’ Morning-After Moment – Scotty McCreery started out the most recent season of “American Idol” as a scrawny stick with a deep and hollow voice and an Alfred E. Neuman grin. By the time the show ended, he’d become a Nashville slickster would-be, with exaggerated gestures and bulging swagger. Lauren Alaina arrived at the show a savant, a flexible singer with preternatural confidence and a gift for interpretation. But with each week, she seemed to grow younger and younger, losing the boom in her voice, her confidence, her grip on the show’s narrative. – New York Times
GAC Album Review: Lauren Alaina’s Wildflower – With immediacy and energy on the opening track “Georgia Peaches, ” Lauren Alaina makes it clear that she has studied her country well. Way beyond the city lines, lies a cowboy’s paradise/ honeysuckle on the vine, growing up on Southern time, she sings proudly of her country upbringing. After a quick fiddle hook, she’s giving shout-outs to fellow peach state heroes Alan Jackson and Jason Aldean. – GAC
Lauren Alaina, ‘Wildflower’ – Album Review – Lauren Alaina is at her best on ‘Wildflower’ when she’s selling teenage stories of love, loss and freedom. The 16-year-old did a nice job of finding believable songs for her debut album, but only found one that sticks to the ribs like a home-cooked southern supper. – Taste of Country
Review: Lauren Alaina packs a punch on debut CD – Lauren Alaina, this year’s “American Idol” runner-up, opens her debut album with a country-rock stomper, “Georgia Peaches.” The song establishes that this 16-year-old from the Peach State may come across as sweet and delicate, but vocally, she packs a punch. Preternaturally confident, she sounds best on the most playful tunes, including a jaunty summertime ode (“Tupelo”), a challenge to a suitor (“I’m Not One Of Them”) and a backwoods romp reminiscent of Gretchen Wilson (“One Of Those Boys”). – Huffington Post
