CD Review – ‘My Best Days’ – Danny Gokey

14 years ago Liv Carter 4

‘My Best Days’ – Danny Gokey (RCA, 2010)

Having never seen a single minute of ‘American Idol’, I was unfamiliar with Danny Gokey until debut single ‘My Best Days Are Ahead of Me’ was released. If his label reps ever wondered how his music would have been received without reality TV, here’s their chance.

When it was announced that Danny was recording a country album, more than a few people were surprised and wondered if it would suit him. Not to worry. ‘My Best Days’ has very little to do with the genre. A few lines of banjo or steel do not a country album make. What Danny has delivered, however, is a very solid Christian pop album.

The title track jumps feet first into the future, learning from and smiling at past mistakes. Its energy is carried through most of the disc not necessarily in tempo but definitely in optimism. The album talks about life and faith in a personal way. But it is ‘this is what I believe and here’s why’ rather than a preachy ‘this is what you should believe’. The two more spiritual tracks are ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘It’s Only’. The former describes holding on to faith without clear proof. The latter, co-written by Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood of Lady A fame and Tom Douglas, has nice, spiritually conscious lyrics but is let down by its piano and strings production; a problem I have noticed before in Kelley/Haywood co-writes.

It’s difficult to single out stand-out tracks but, for me, the duo ‘Life On Ya’, the closest thing to a country song here, and lovesong ‘Crazy Not To’ are likely to rack up a few more plays than the others.  
 
The album closes with the defiant ‘I Will Not Say Goodbye’, a outright refusal to let go of a past love – ‘If I can keep on holding on/maybe I can keep my heart/from knowing that you’re gone’    

Like his female counterpart, Carrie Underwood, Danny can sing and he likes to show off his vocal power. As with Carrie, this display of strength sometimes means a loss in emotion. But ‘My Best Days’ has enough left for me to connect with and makes for a strong debut.       

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Liv Carter

Liv Carter

Liv is a career coach for creatives, and the people who work with them.
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
Liv Carter

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