Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Ruben Studdard
Love Is

1. Together
2. More Than Words
3. Song for Her
4. How You Make Me Feel
5. Don’t Make ‘Em
Like U No More
6. I Can’t Help It
7. Just Because
8. My Love is a Rock
9. The Long and Winding Road
10. For the Good Times
11. We’ve Got Love (That’s Enough)
12. Footprints in the Sand

Season two American Idol winner Ruben Studdard returned to the music charts two weeks ago with his fourth album, “Love Is.”

It’s a simple title for a simple concept. Ruben explained when I interviewed him prior to his appearance in York with the cast of “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

“Ever since I’ve been on American Idol people have always said they really enjoy the way I sing love songs,” he said. “So this album is called ‘Love Is,’ and it’s just an album of great love songs.”

The result: Ruben fans will probably find the CD an enjoyable way to pass an hour. But I’m not sure it will restore him to platinum-selling status (his debut album, “Soulful,” went platinum in 2004) or earn him a new record deal with a major label.

“Love Is” debuted at number five on Billboard’s Independent albums chart and number eight on the R&B album chart. This week, it headed in the wrong direction, checking in at 13 and 21, respectively.

The CD is a mix of original songs and covers. Some of the covers — “More Than Words” and a horrid version of “For the Good Times” — will leave you yearning for the more popular versions.

Among the originals, lead-in single “Together,” “How You Make Me Feel” and “My Love is a Rock” are certainly worth a listen. You can listen to “Together” and “Song for Her” free on Ruben’s MySpace page.

Want bonus tracks? Ruben has plenty. Different bonus tracks in fact, for four versions of his album, as follows: Amazon (”Wet Pillow”), iTunes (”Love’s in the Balance,” “Celebrate Me Home,” “Happy Fellin’s), Target (”Someday We’ll be Free,” “It’s Your Love”) and Wal-Mart (”Heaven,” “One Day I’ll Fly Away”).

Fortunately, I picked up my copy of “Love Is” at Target, because Ruben’s version of the country hit “It’s Your Love” (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill) is one of the album’s highlights.

By the way, Ruben fans, you can catch him live June 12 in Washington, D.C., at Zanzibar on the Waterfront. Advance tickets are $25. Here’s a link to more information.

Meanwhile, here are two other reviews of “Love Is:”

Entertainment Weekly: Gives Ruben at B+.

AllMusic.com: Gives Ruben 3 stars out of 5.