Ryan Malcolm will always be known as the guy who became famous by winning a talent contest. He might never be regarded as a real artist by his peers and his worthiness of notoriety might never be acknowledged by his toughest critics. But all that was clear even before the Kingston-native won Canadian Idol. What wasn’t clear was how good his album would be. Believe it or not, “Home” is enjoyable, and very well put together.

“Home” is an album full of radio-friendly, catchy chorus-driven pop songs. “Star of All the Planets” will stick in your head for a long time, or at least until you listen to the next song and the song after that?

Idol runner-up Gary Beals joins Malcolm on the “Don’t Dream It’s Over” cover, where they create admirable harmonies. Their rendition is not an instant classic, but at least they didn’t butcher it.

His greatest strength is singing on pop-rock tunes, but there are far too many ballads that are unconvincing like “Your Heart Will Know.” And only the word “awkward” can be said about “Good Girls.”

4*






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