About.com's Awesome "Without You" Review

About.com has posted an awesome review of Clay's new single "Without You". This follows another rave review of ATDW from Shipwreck Island Studios earlier today. About.com's pop music columnist Bob Lamb writes (bolding and colouring is mine):

Clay Aiken - Without You
From Bill Lamb,
Your Guide to Top 40 / Pop

Guide Rating 4/5

The Bottom Line
Simply said, Clay Aiken's "Without You" is a triumphant return. While it would be easy to think that Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey had wrung all the possibilities from this pop chestnut, there are some fine elements here and a bravura vocal performance.

Pros
* The beauty and clarity of Clay Aiken's voice
* Very nicely propulsive instrumental arrangement
* The emotion is restored to this classic song

Cons
* Please, enunciate - We can do without "Without 'ooo"

Description
* Simple piano-focused intro
* Instantly recognizable vocals
* Impeccable pop arrangement with welcome percussive elements missing in previous arrangements

Guide Review - Clay Aiken - Without You
If you are unfamiliar with the song "Without You," you have not been listening to pop radio for the past 35 years. The song, written by Badfinger's Pete Ham and Tom Evans, first appeared as a Badfinger album cut on No Dice released in 1970. Idiosyncratic pop singer Harry Nilsson released a version of the song in 1971 featuring the signature piano intro that would be the standard for future recordings of "Without You." The song became a #1 hit for Nilsson and the biggest pop hit of his career. Mariah Carey took the song back into the pop charts in 1994 with a surprisingly plastic sounding interpretation.

Clay Aiken has chosen the instantly familiar tune as the lead-in for his first proper studio album in 3 years. I count myself as one of the skeptics when I first heard this would be the opening single, but "Without You" is a good choice and will tremendously please his many devoted fans while quite possibly gaining a few new converts.

The pure beauty in Aiken's voice is abundantly showcased here, and the arrangement gives a contemporary twist on the song. The mix is pleasantly propulsive and percussive which will sound great on pop radio. Mainstream pop radio should give this track a chance. It's popularity may surprise more than a few radio programmers.

AMEN! I'm sure all of us agree with this fantastic review - You can rate "Without You" yourself... click here to rate!

Technorati tags: Clay Aiken, A Thousand Different Ways, American Idol, Invisible