Earlier today Ron posted his unpopular/embarrassing music take, admitting that Nick Jonas has some really catchy jams.

Now it’s Shawn’s turn to let out his musical guilty pleasure.

I don’t know what to say.

I know all the words, passionately, to Measure of a Man; American Idol’s Season Two true winner runner-up Clay Aiken’s debut album.

And I personally believe it is a phenomenal album with a lot of depth and character.

Uh, where do I start?

I grew up listening I three albums, we’ll say: Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf, Come On Over by Shania Twain, and yes, Measure of a Man by Clay Aiken. I don’t know, ask my mom. She was the one who drove me to my catechism classes on Tuesday nights playing these albums.

Anyway, let’s get to the meat of this dissection.

He’s catchy, he’s talented, and even for pop music, there is some complexity in the songs. They don’t play or grow stale like a myriad of pop songs.

In fact, the song When You Say You Love Me I have to play twice when I binge the album, just because of how impressive the vocal dynamics are. Especially in the second verse, when he does a half-step down in the middle of a line. It’s so flawlessly done.
The first five songs are especially powerful as songs about finding and falling in love, while becoming comfortable with yourself and finding the strength to pursue love. I think that’s more of the general theme of the album, which may be cliche,  but is done so well.

No More Sad Songs really stands out as a powerful piano power-ballad. It definitely stands apart, emotionally speaking, on this album. I remember this song blowing my mind when I was younger, just with how overcoming it was.

It’s just a powerfully, well-written and performed album by an incredibly talented singer. I never listened to or pursued additional Aiken album’s after MoaM, but will religiously jam his debut masterpiece. When I see him on The Office or Scrubs, I definitely get excited, and I was a fan of him running for N.C. Congress, though.

So, yeah. Highly recommend at least tasting this album, even if it’s out of your genre-sphere. This is far from my usual, too