Rex Goudie — Under The Lights

Maybe Melissa O'Neil and Rex Goudie should have released a double album together. The Canadian Idol prom queen and king are on the same label, share the same songwriters and the 12 formulaic pop-rock songs on both of their debuts are pretty much carbon copies of each other. Former mechanic Goudie gets the slightly better songs and tries to get some grease and dirt on them, but the slick production still makes this a pop record, sonically similar to those by Lifehouse, Switchfoot and Bryan Adams. Still, the gentler songs rule here. Country numbers "One True Summer Night" and the Brad Paisley cover, "Whiskey Lullaby," (a duet with O'Neil) are crossover dreams, comfortable enough for fans of CI and CMT.

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