Before I dive into this, I must bestow major props, big style points, kudos, compliments and whatever other terms the thesaurus might dredge up to Taylor for a crowning achievement: He is the first Idol who did not include his Idol coronation song on the following album. I'm hopeful that decision illustrates the kind of mold-breaking potential that a lot of fans envisioned Taylor possessing. Plus it's always nice to reduce the cheese factor.

OK, on to the track-by-track examination:

• The Runaround: The vocal sounds good, as it does throughout the album -- the production brings out the warmth of his voice, and the soulful qualities are evident without -- at least most of the time -- Taylor sounding like an overcompensating white soul singer wannabe. It's a very enjoyable album from a vocal standpoint. Too bad about the song, though -- it reminded me of any number of unpleasant '70s soul/pop hybrids. He needs to dial back that Doobies influence; nothing good can come of it. Unimpressive opener.



• Dream Myself Awake: Much better, a strong song from Rob Thomas that sounds as if it were designed for Taylor. There's a trace of soul in the vocal, as there should be, but this is good modern pop -- and since Taylor's career options would be limited if he turned himself into a one-man soul revival, it's reassuring to hear how well he handles this type of tune.



• Heaven Knows: This is the one where they grafted the keyboard riff from Ray Charles' What'd I Say onto the musical skeleton of the Smokey Robinson-co-written Marvin Gaye hit Ain't That Peculiar and then wrote a new song on top of it. Well-intentioned tribute, certainly, but since the originals are such great songs, I would much rather have heard Taylor sing Ain't That Peculiar with the Charles riff melded in and not bother with the new song, of which the chorus in particular is a comparative letdown.



• Gonna Move: A bluesy song by Paul Pena (more famous for Steve Miller's Jet Airliner) and previously covered by blues singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi. One of Taylor's best vocals, and a showcase for his harmonica as well, this comes off as a solid Southern funk tune, vaguely reminiscent of Tony Joe White. It wears out its welcome around the 3:30 mark, but all in all a nice job.



• Wherever I Lay My Hat: Because I crave this song (both in the Marvin Gaye original and the Paul Young cover), I wanted this to be great. It's not, but it's very good, leaning toward the '80s-ish sound of the Young version, executed quite well, just lacking an indefinable touch of inspiration, maybe.



• Give Me Tonight: A Taylor co-write, this is one of the album's stronger tracks, a deft mixture of soul, funk and pop ingredients with an attractively jittery feel.



• Just to Feel That Way: Leans strongly to the pop side, and again I find myself gravitating toward it, very cool tune, sung skillfully.



• The Maze: Bit of a comedown from the last five songs, nothing really wrong with it but nothing particularly distinctive or interesting either, just an ordinary, forgettable pop tune.



• Places I've Been: Although Taylor did manage to lose the Idol cheese number, he could not escape the statutory requirement to include a Diane Warren song. His singing saves it from deluxe cheese platter status, but this ballad is an instant bringdown: lush, tedious, cliched, dull. Answer to the question "What song doesn't belong on the album?"



• Soul Thing: This is the remake from his earlier album, which I haven't heard but would like to someday. In any case, I hope to high heaven that it was better in the original version, because this rendition is ruined by the distracting background vocal bopping along in the background -- a terrible idea. The chorus reveals the ghost of a decent song (Taylor wrote it), but not in this version. (It's also the one song where he noticeably oversings, hamming it up to an irritating degree.)



• The Deal: Another original number, and thankfully much better, a convincing soul-styled tune sung admirably.



• The Right Place: This is the one written by Bryan Adams and his frequent partner Jim Vallance for Ray Charles, who never got a chance to record it (or reject it). The song was clearly tailored for Charles, as is this version, I guess you could say. Taylor pays homage to his idol, and it's a respectful -- and respectable -- performance.

Overall, I'm impressed. The important thing the album needed to establish was that Taylor was more than a talent-show novelty, and -- artistically -- it accomplishes that mission. He handles a variety of styles well and aside from the regrettable Warren ballad and the even more regrettable Soul Thing, everything is at least competent, with several high points that are much more than that.

I'd give it three stars, but whereas the three stars I rated Fantasia at would fall on the low side of the spectrum, this is a more solid rating (the difference, say, between a B- for Fantasia and a B for Taylor if we were giving out letter grades, which sometimes I wish we were).

Now to see how it performs on the sales chart ...