Baptized

by Daughtry

Overview

Fun does not seem to come easily to Chris Daughtry, the leader and namesake of DAUGHTRY. Even when he was the leading rocker on American Idol at the peak of its popularity, he never seemed to enjoy being on the big stage and that sourness carried over to his professional career, when he consciously chose to brood instead of party. This served him well for a while, but eventually the specter of middle age loomed, both in his personal life and in his career, as he started to stare down the horizon of a decade in the biz. Faced with slightly diminishing returns -- 2011's Break the Spell was the first DAUGHTRY record to not go platinum, or to spawn a Top 20 single -- Chris Daughtry decided to look on the bright side of life for Baptized, his fourth album as the frontman of DAUGHTRY. Baptized seems like a standard-issue post-grunge title -- the kind of heavily weighted one-word nonsense that suggests big, serious things -- but the album itself is by no means a neo-grunge throwback. Daughtry is quite conscious of what year it is, so he's happy to alternate between super-stylized soft rock sculpted on a computer -- anytime there is a power ballad, which is often, the precision is exact -- and rousing neo-roots stomps that bring to mind the insistence of the Lumineers. Folk-rock may be the fashion but Daughtry's blood flows from arena rock, resulting in such ungodly hybrids as "Long Live Rock & Roll," a song overstuffed with puns set to a big-footed stomp. Here, Daughtry forces himself to smile, just like he does in the video for the album's first single, "Waiting for Superman," and even if he never winds up with something that approaches levity, the proceedings are certainly lighter than anything he's attempted. This does make a notable difference. Perhaps DAUGHTRY are a shade more anonymous -- they're not distinguished by the love of post-grunge that made them heavier than their peers throughout their career -- but they benefit from being a shade more nimble, ready to thread now sounds into a sensibility stuck in the past. It helps that Daughtry never seems to recognize when he's getting silly: surely, that pun-ridden "Long Live Rock & Roll" qualifies, but the "boom boom boom boom boom boom boom" chorus of "Battleships" does as well, as does almost every cut here. Perhaps it's easy to laugh, but that ignores a crucial factor: Daughtry has never allowed DAUGHTRY to be silly before this record. This relative lightness makes a big difference -- it also helps that the music itself is relatively nimble -- and, ultimately, this turns Baptized into the best album he or his band has made. He's updated his sound just enough to stay relevant but, more importantly, he doesn't get in the way of a good tune. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/19/2013
Label:	Bmg / Sony Music
UPC:	0889854371821

Tracks

1. Baptized
2. Waiting for Superman
3. Battleships
4. I'll Fight
5. Wild Heart
6. Long Live Rock and Roll
7. The World We Knew
8. High Above the Ground
9. Broken Arrows
10. Witness
11. Traitor
12. 18 Years

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Daughtry   Primary Artist
John August   Vocals (Background)
Scott "the Ninja" Stevens   Guitar,Vocals (Background)
Luigi Mazzocchi   Violin
Jennie Lorenzo   Celli
Robin Diaz   Drums
Chris Daughtry   Guitar,Vocals,Tambourine
Eliza Cho   Violin
Jake Sinclair   Bass,Drums,Guitar,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Glenn Fischbach   Celli
Brian Craddock   Guitar
Davis Barnett   Viola
Charles Parker   Violin
Brandon Paddock   Bass,Guitar (Electric)
Rock Mafia   Vocals (Background)
Johnny Blk   Vocals (Background)
Jonathan Kim   Viola
Elvio Fernandes   Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Josh Steely   Guitar,Mandolin
Josh Paul   Bass
Daniel Damico   Guitar (Acoustic)
John Keefe   Drums
Larry Gold   String Conductor
Victor Indrizzo   Drums,Percussion
Olga Konopelsky   Violin
Emma Kimmrow   Violin
Dayna Anderson   Violin
Tim James   Mandolin
Tim Pierce   Bass,Guitar
Chuck Harmony   Piano
Charles Parker, Jr.   Violin
Martin Johnson   Bass,Piano,Ukulele,Mandolin,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric),Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Scott Stevens   Composer
James Krausse   Mixing Assistant
John August   Digital Editing
Chris Bernard   Digital Editing,Drum Technician
DreZa   Producer
Speed Ninja   Engineer
Smh   Engineer
Scott "the Ninja" Stevens   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Drum Programming,Synthesizer Programming
Michael Muller   Band Photo,Band Photo
Mike Busbee   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Sam Hollander   Composer
Toby Gad   Composer,Musician,Producer,Programming
Robin Diaz   Group Member
Chris Daughtry   Mixing,Composer,Group Member
Aaron Dudley   Additional Production
Steve Shebby   Engineer,Programming
Jake Sinclair   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
David Schuler   Additional Production
Alice Butts   Design
Christopher Hunte   Production Coordination
Michelle Holme   Art Direction
John Alicastro   Programming
Brian Craddock   Group Member
Rani Hancock   A&R
Brandon Paddock   Engineer,Programming,Additional Production
Rock Mafia   Producer
Johnny Blk   Musician,Producer,Additional Production
Karl Petersen   Assistant
John Lardieri   Composer
MdL   Producer
Elvio Fernandes   Composer,Engineer,Musician,Producer,Group Member
Justin Hergett   Mixing Assistant
Josh Steely   Group Member
Erwin Gorostiza   Creative Director
Jasper James   Photography
Josh Paul   Group Member
Chris Feldmann   Art Direction
Marcus Johnson   Assistant Engineer
Adam Comstock   Engineer
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Tony Maserati   Mixing
Kyle Moorman   Engineer,Programming,Additional Production
Chris Gehringer   Mastering
Larry Gold   String Arrangements
Jeff Chestek   String Engineer
John Hanes   Mixing Engineer
Kara DioGuardi   Composer
Claude Kelly   Composer,Producer
Onree Gill   Producer
Steve Hammons   Engineer
Mike Piazza   Engineer
Antonio Armato   Composer
Micahel Lauri   Programming
Mark Holeman   Drum Engineering,Drum Programming,Synthesizer Programming
Kayla Lee   Production Coordination
Jose Enrique Montes Hernandez   Photography
Tim James   Composer
Gersh   Drum Technician
Martin Johnson   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation