Daughtry is the debut studio album by American rock band Daughtry, released by RCA Records on November 21, 2006. The band is fronted by American Idol fifth season-finalist Chris Daughtry. The release is the fastest-selling debut rock album in SoundScan history, the best-selling album of 2007, according to Billboard, and the band's highest-selling record.

Background and production "Breakdown", as it appears on Daughtry, is actually a rewrite and combination of two songs previously recorded by Chris Daughtry's former alternative metal/hard rock band, Absent Element. The songs "Conviction" and "Break Down" appeared on the EP Uprooted, the only release by Absent Element, released on October 20, 2005.

Promotion and release

The first single released from the album is "It's Not Over", and fellow Idol contestant Ace Young, producer Gregg Wattenberg, and Course of Nature frontman Mark Wilkerson are credited as co-writers. On December 25, 2008, the song was nominated for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2007, WWE used "There and Back Again" as the theme song for their April pay-per-view Backlash event and "Feels Like Tonight" for their annual Tribute to the Troops special.

Singles

"It's Not Over" was released on November 21, 2006, the same day as the album, and proved to be a success, reaching the top five on multiple charts, including the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 4.

The second single, "Home", came out on April 10, 2007, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and made Daughtry the first debut album by an Idol contestant to contain two top-five Hot 100 singles. The third single, "What I Want", was released on April 23, and peaked at No. 6 on Mainstream Rock.

The fourth single, "Over You", was released to top 40 and Hot AC radio on July 24, 2007, and peaked in the top 20 of the Hot 100. The fourth single, "Crashed", came out on September 10, 2007.

The sixth single, "Feels Like Tonight", was released on January 8, 2008, and peaked at No. 25 on the Hot 100. The seventh and final single, "What About Now", came out on July 1, 2008.

Critical reception

Daughtry received mixed reviews from critics. While many reviewers felt that the album was generally pleasing and the first real "rock" album from American Idol alumni, others said it was unoriginal and too commercial. While Ken Barnes of USA Today conceded that Chris Daughtry has "strong pipes and palpable angst", overall he found the band "generic", calling them "FuelNickelStaindback".Barnes, Ken (November 20, 2006). "This week's reviews: Beatles, Snoop, Daughtry, RS Supernova, 2Pac, more" USAToday.com. Retrieved September 23, 2007 People magazine found the album "a solid if not spectacular effort that at the very least proves that Chris Daughtry is not just another Idol also-ran."Arnold, Chuck (December 4, 2006), "Chris Daughtry". People. 66 (23):45 Christian Hoard with Rolling Stone said that "[Chris] Daughtry gets points for not courting soccer moms, but just because he can howl like a motherfucker doesn't mean he's not a cheeseball".Hoard, Christian (December 14, 2006), "Daughtry". Rolling Stone. (1015):127 In a mixed review, Billboard said the album "is music tailor-made for ill-conceived radio formatting, music for consumers whose taste has already been well-established if not preprogrammed", then added, "But [Chris] Daughtry sure does sing his butt off".O., W. (November 25, 2006), "Daughtry". Billboard. 118 (47):51 Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic awarded the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a debut that's not only a lot more credible than any American Idol-affiliated rock album should be, but it's a lot easier to digest than most of its ilk".Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2006). [ "Review"] AllMusic.com. Retrieved September 13, 2007

The record won an American Music Awards in 2007 for Favorite Pop-Rock Album. It was nominated for four 2008 Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song for "It's Not Over", Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Home", and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "It's Not Over"; the album did not win any.

Commercial performance Competing with a flurry of releases during its opening week (Jay-Z, The Beatles, Johnny Cash, and others), Daughtry proved to be commercially viable. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200, behind Jay-Z's Kingdom Come. It sold approximately 304,000 copies in its first week.Katie Hasty, "Jay-Z Reclaims His 'Kingdom' With No. 1 Debut", Billboard.com, November 29, 2006.

The album reached number one on the Billboard 200, with 65,000 copies sold in its ninth week on the chart,Jonathan Cohen, "Daughtry Edges Out 'Dreamgirls' To Claim No. 1", Billboard.com, January 24, 2007. for the issue dated February 3, 2007, becoming the first album from an Idol alumnus to top the Billboard 200 since Ruben Studdard's Soulful in December 2003. The following week, the album fell to number three on the chart, but its sales increased to 80,000.Jonathan Cohen, "Pretty Ricky, Shins Grab Top Album Chart Spots", Billboard.com, January 31, 2007. The record remained at number three and sold nearly 80,000 copies in each of the subsequent three weeks.Jonathan Cohen, "Better 'Late' Than Never: Jones Debuts At No. 1", Billboard.com, February 7, 2007.Katie Hasty, "Fall Out Boy Hits 'High' Note With No. 1 Debut", Billboard.com, February 14, 2007. After this, sales increased to 102,000 copies, but the album dropped to number nine on the Billboard 200;"Norah Rebounds To No. 1 In Post-Grammy Week", Billboard.com, February 21, 2007. in the following week, the album climbed to number two on the Billboard 200 and sold 84,000 copies."Norah Stays Tight At No. 1 Amidst Slow Sales Week", Billboard.com, February 28, 2007. In the next week, its 15th on the chart, it climbed back to the number-one spot. It was then certified 2× Platinum on March 7, 2007. The album was released in the UK on August 20 and debuted at number 13.

For the chart week of June 30, 2007, the album was certified 3× Platinum. It stayed in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 27 of the first 28 weeks of its release.

The deluxe edition of the album was released on the chart week of September 9, 2008, and brought a 95% leap to the previous week.

Daughtry is the only debut album in the history of SoundScan to have stayed in the top 200 for 575 weeks. The record had sold 5,040,000 units in the US as of December 2015 and was certified 6× Platinum by the RIAA on September 17, 2019. It spent a total of 148 weeks in the top 40.

Track listing

Personnel Credits from album liner notes and AllMusic.

Daughtry Chris Daughtry – lead vocals

Session musicians

Phil X – lead and rhythm guitars Slash – lead guitar on "What I Want" Brent Smith – guitar on "There and Back Again" Paul Bushnell – bass Chris Chaney – bass on "What About Now" Josh Freese – drums Howard Benson – keyboards Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards on "What About Now" and "Feels Like Tonight" Samuel Formicola – viola Grace Oh – viola Dave Walther – viola Endre Granat – violin Victor Lawrence – violin Songa Lee – violin Cheryl Norman – violin Alyssa Park – violin Mike Robertson – violin Josefina Vergara – violin Jonathan Karoly – cello Jason Lippman – cello

Production

Keith Armstrong – assistant mix engineer Howard Benson – producer, programming Paul DeCarli – digital editing Simon Fuller – manager Pete Ganbarg – A&R Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki – assistant engineer Ted Jensen – mastering Deborah Lurie – string arrangements Nik Karpen – assistant mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge – mixing Sterling McIIwaine – manager Paul Pavao – assistant mix engineer Mike Plotnikoff – engineer, mixing Casey Stone – string engineer Marc VanGool – guitar technician

Images Frank Hawkins – art direction Frank W.3 Ockenfels – photography

Deluxe edition DVD Doug Armstrong – director (live songs) Rob Dipple – editor (interview) Scott Fritz – audio mixing and recording (live songs) Samantha Lecca – producer (interview) Shauna O'Brien – producer (live songs) Raj Ramnath – video editor (live songs) Red Rocks Casino and Resort (Las Vegas, Nevada) – recording location (live songs; recorded August 23, 2007)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2006–07) Peakposition Japanese Albums (Oricon) 106

Year-end charts Chart (2007) Position US Billboard 200 1 US Digital Albums (Billboard) 3 US Rock Albums (Billboard) 1 Chart (2008) Position US Billboard 200 33 US Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) 4 US Rock Albums (Billboard) 8 Chart (2009) Position US Billboard 200 130 US Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) 20 US Rock Albums (Billboard) 47 Chart (2010) Position US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard) 17

Decade-end charts Chart (2000–2009)Position US Billboard 200 Digit page 167 on the PDF archive.48

All-time charts Chart (All-time) Position US Billboard 200 27

Certifications and sales

Release history Region Date Label Format Catalog United States November 21, 2006 CD Philippines January 12, 2007 RCA CD Australia April 7, 2007 SBME CD Sweden June 6, 2007 RCA CD Brazil June 2007 BMI CD United Kingdom August 20, 2007 BMG CD United States September 9, 2008

Notes

References

External links