I was worried about this album, since this girl can sing, but the fear was overproduction. Well there is some over Overproduction here, but her vocals almost make u forget it, and her work on the ballads, this lady at this point is where i wish Mariah could take a ballad again, and the reason. Well the albums finest cut and hopefully a second single if their smart would be "Ordinary World" which is Katharine and Walter Afanasieff, thats right, the real mastermind behind Mariah Carey surfaces on this album. Katharine McPhee to me easily is clearly marketed as the next Mariah Carey, unlike other vocalists like Christina,Beyonce and Jessica Simpson, who all have good voices but oversing, Katharine seems to already know her place and what to do with her voice, it almost seems effortless with her. Further ballads on this CD are also strong "Home" and "Better off Alone" and for the more upbeat tunes, "Love Story" and "Open Toes" seem like easy singles and videos at this point. The current single "OVer it" is pretty good, and Sounds WAY better live with a band which is how i first heard it, overall to me a pretty good first album from her, I hope they lean more towards her ballads because it would be a shame to just waste the voice. Katharine also co-penned 4 tracks which is impressive, since American Idol singers dont usually get that option.

Also on a totally different note, PICK UP the new Harry Connick CD "Oh my Nola" which features his take on some "New Orleans" type standards but with a Funk type feel and also 5 new songs penned by Harry featuring his full band, with a mix of Funk and Swing.

I heard samples and it sounded like just about everything else. I did hear Howard play a good deal of the first single later though, and I kind of like that.