Bo Bice - '3'

For his latest release, “American Idol’s” fourth-season runner-up sings with the platitudes one would expect.

Bice has already picked his image: the trippy ’70s wardrobe, long hair and a country-rock sound that’s radio ready and perfect for filling radio airtime between commercials. Bice’s look is there, his sound is there, but the music is about as memorable as day-old coffee.

The album doesn’t start off well. Tell me if you’ve heard this before: “Don’t know how the bills will get paid/Hard to make it by on minimum wage/nobody I know has it made in the shade.” Considering he was dumped from RCA after releasing a hit album produced by Clive Davis, such feelings are understandable.

And if the music smacks of being largely Nashville retreads, at least they’re as easy to swallow as a cold beer on a hot day. Credit should go to Bice’s co-producer, D. Scott Miller, despite the fact that the music, like Bice’s image, is merely a repeat of what has come before.

Considering the quality of his voice, that’s a shame.

– Larry Printz, The Pilot

Buy "3" in CD format

Buy "3" in MP3 format (Links go to Amazon.com)

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