Pretty lightweight stuff, but most of these songs celebrate romantic love in healthy ways. Hicks offers a woman comfort, company and trust on “The Right Place.” He’s also willing to take a chance on love (“Just to Feel That Way,” “Give Me Tonight”), credits a lady with making him feel complete (“Places I’ve Been,” “Dream Myself Awake”) and seems prepared to make a long-term commitment to the right person (“The Deal,” “The Maze”). “Heaven Knows” and the bouncy, Billy Joel-inspired “The Runaround” are breakup songs that never turn bitter, despite the fact that Hicks went to great lengths to do right by the women leaving him. The Motown-flavored “Gonna Move” chronicles a boy’s frustrations on the road to finding his song and pursuing his passion.
A few ambiguously suggestive lines in the “Do me wrong/Do me right/Do me any way you want tonight” vein. The singer admits to being a love-’em-and-leave-’em deceiver on “Wherever I Lay My Hat.”
Where Chris Daughtry’s modern rock style skews toward teens, Hicks’ alternately playful, yearning rock-‘n’-soul sound will have Idol-wild parents tapping their feet. Minor issues, but relatively solid.
