Break the Cycle

Audio Mixer: Mick Guzauski.
On the cover of his debut full-length, Break the Cycle, Cory Lamb's Christian name is printed much bigger than his family name, a signal that he wants to be thought of as "Cory" in the same way that pop music fans think of "Britney" or "Justin" or any of the winners and also-rans on American Idol. Lamb's music is heavily produced Top 40 pop, with producer Andy Duncan creating 360-degree, heavily electronic tracks over which the singer emotes through an Auto-Tune machine and other processing. The results are bombastic whether the song is a stomping rocker like "Superman" or a melodramatic piano-based ballad such as "Storm." Lamb has been categorized as a CCM artist, and he may be, if on the outer ridge of the genre in which the religious element is soft-pedaled to the point of only being implied. He frequently refers to praying in the lyrics, and he sings of his desire for "something to believe in" and "Something More," as a song title has it. But it could be just romantic love or some vague personal aspiration he's longing for. The point is that he's longing, which should be enough for the implied audience of female teens only too ready to call him "Cory," if he can only connect with them. ~ William Ruhlmann