Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Amanda Overmyer
“Solidify”

1. Fail to Compromise
2. Love Me Like You Want
3. Hole in the Wall
4. Play On
5. Call Your Mama
6. Fight Like a Son
7. Lay It Down
8. Varmint Rifle
9. Iroquois Lane
10. A Long Time
11. Let’s Take It Outside
12. Pray

I wasn’t exactly an Amanda Overmyer fan when she was a finalist on season seven of American Idol. I figured the show had a greater purpose than finding America a Janis Joplin impersonator.

So when I first heard Amanda had released an independent CD on her own label … well, I didn’t rush right to her Web site and start downloading music.

But this weekend rolled around and I needed to feature something in CD Spotlight. No new Idol albums have been released. And, heck, I reviewed Sanjaya Malakar’s “Dancing to the Music in My Head.” How much worse could an Amanda Overmyer CD be?

Bottom line: I decided to bite the bullet.

Amanda bit back.

Seriously, Solidify is a solid rock album, much better than I expected, easily one of my favorites among the Idol-linked CDs I’ve listened to recently.

Amanda kicks things off with the hard-charging “Fail To Compromise,” and the guitars keep wailing, the drums keep pounding and Amanda keeps growling through the most part of 11 more songs, all written and arranged by Ms. Overmyer.

The highlights: “Varmint Rifle,” with its final line “I’m gonna shoot you,” which is a whole lot more playful than it reads; the cleverly-crafted “Hole in the Wall;” and my personal favorite, “Iroquois Lane.”

The songs are genuine and gritty, almost certainly not the type of music Amanda would have wound up recording had she won Idol and been forced to release a first album under the tutelage of 19 Entertainment.

You can listen to six of the songs free on Amanda’s MySpace page. You owe it to yourself to check them out. The album is now also available through CD Baby and iTunes.

The lowlights on the CD: There aren’t many. I don’t care for “Let’s Take It Outside.” On the other hand, I bet it’s a heck of a crowd-pleaser played live.

Which makes me think back to Amanda’s days on Idol. Remember when Simon suggested she sing a ballad as a change of pace?

Amanda’s response: “Ballads are boring … I figure I have a minute and a half to show America what they would see if they came to my show and bought tickets to see me … I want them to say, ‘That chick looks like fun. I want to go to that show.’”

On “Solidify,” Amanda has about 47 minutes to win over an audience.

Mission accomplished, Amanda.