"On My Way Here" Lands at AOL's Full CD Listening Party

The wait is over! Claymates, AOL Full CD Listen Party has the new CD in its entirety for you to listen and enjoy ahead of tomorrow's release.

Make sure you head out to the stores to pick up copies of OMWH. You can also purchase it through online vendors such as Amazon MP3 and iTunes to show your support for Clay.

In OMWH news today:

• Charlotte Observer had 5 questions for Clay, as part of Clay's big media interview tour for the new disc:

  Why the five-year wait between your last album of original material? "We had label folks who had certain ideas. They wanted to do the Christmas album, then the cover album, and had certain marketing ideas."
  
  What makes this album special? "It's something I've been wanting to do for five years, and that makes it plenty special. There's a song on it called `On My Way Here.' We found that song, and the lyrics just really struck me. We already had songs chosen, but we scrapped them because we loved this song. The lyrics are really kind of powerful and almost personal."
  
  Would you perform on Broadway again? "I've had a great time. Would I seek it out again? I don't know. I loved the atmosphere and it's a nice little community the show is a part of."

• Idolator - Clay not looking to be "Justin Timberlake" on new album -

  "I'm not trying to be Justin Timberlake. Thank God we have him, but I'm not him. ... I'm not gonna bring anybody's sexy back." Oh, Clay. Even as you try to erase what fan base you have left with ever more horrifying haircuts, I'm sure there are a few people left who like to imagine the possibility of you showing up in their room wearing nothing but pointy shoes and a Keebler elf cap. Aiken's new album, On My Way Here, comes out tomorrow and its chock-full of power ballads and powerless ballads that describe the struggle that is La Vida Clay. The struggle of a man who went from heartthrob David Cassidy to seething, diva-esque "fine, Broadway it is" David Cassidy In less than a decade.
  

• The Associated Press issued a wire story about the new album -

  Clay Aiken is realistic about his niche in the musical landscape.
  
  "I'm not cool, you know what I mean? I'm not gonna lie," the good-humored singer told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "I'm not trying to be Justin Timberlake. Thank God we have him, but I'm not him. ... I'm not gonna bring anybody's sexy back."
  
  Aiken embraces his pop-lite sensibility in "On My Way Here," his first album of all-new material in more than four years.
  
  The 29-year-old "American Idol" alum — he placed second to Ruben Studdard in the Fox show's second season — was the first non-winner to release a successful album, "Measure of a Man," which went double platinum in 2003. He followed that up with two cover albums: "Merry Christmas With Love" and "A Thousand Different Ways."
  
  The North Carolina native has racked up more life experience since his "Idol" days, and felt a deep, personal connection to the songs on the disc.
  

• Merrillville Post-Tribune - time to "Play with Clay" -

  Merrillville's favorite "Idol" (er, runner-up) has a new album dropping tomorrow.
  "On My Way Here" is his first all-original album since 2003. Now to people who don't like/care about Clay Aiken, this isn't such a big deal. But for those very vocal Claymates - and yes, there are loads of you out there - this is a pretty huge deal.
  
  I can't underestimate the power of Clay Aiken. My fiancée herself is a Claymate of sorts, and we've been to a pair of his Christmas shows. Those fans, man, they are crazy about the guy. And by the way, if you type in Merrillville in the YouTube search engine, (or click here) what types of videos will pop up the most? Clay Aiken fan videos, made by Claymates catching him at the Star Plaza Theatre.
  
  So yeah, don't mess with those people. They are a force, I tell you what.

• LiveDaily - new in music this week:

  Clay Aiken [ tickets ]
  "On My Way Here"
  (RCA)
  
  The "American Idol" star, who finished second to Ruben Studdard during the reality show's second season, releases his first album of original material since 2003's "Measure of a Man."
  
  Aiken's last two efforts were a holiday offering (2004's "Merry Christmas with Love") and an all-covers record (2006's "A Thousand Different Ways," which featured the singer's renditions of Top 40 ballads). Most recently, Aiken has been performing nightly on Broadway in Monty Python's "Spamalot."

• Newsday's review of OMWH ... not too great:

  Clay Aiken has always seemed like the most bewildered of the " American Idol" graduates -- his insta-fame cut with a bit of what-just-happened? caution, his music a hit-or-miss split between what he wants and what he's supposed to want.
  
  Five years later, on his second full album of originals, "On My Way Here" (RCA/19), Aiken is starting to figure it out.
  
  He is at his best when he wraps his big voice around big ballads, usually ones with big messages attached. He maximizes the drama on "As Long as We're Here" to poignant effect, with booming phrases that would make Celine Dion proud, followed by vulnerable questioning that emo leading men would secretly admire. He undersells "Something About Us" like it was a classic Johnny Mathis ballad and fills "The Real Me" with a quavering uncertainty that makes it work.
  
  Aiken turns the title track, written by the omnipresent Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, into one of those ballads that could have been written anytime in the past 30 years or, probably, in the next 30. But when he tries his hand at songs that sound timelier -- the poppy "Falling," a clone of his hit "Invisible," or the Pink-ish "Ashes" -- he starts to lose it.
  
  As much as his record company would want him to be, Aiken isn't a crossover pop star. He's a male Celine Dion, a nerdier Michael Bublé, a new-millennium Barry Manilow, and there's nothing wrong with that. The sooner he embraces that, the better his albums will sound. With "On the Way Here," he's not quite there.

• redOrbit via Raleigh News & Observer - Aiken is on his way to a new CD -

  For a man who loves to brag on his hometown, Clay Aiken has barely seen Raleigh in recent months.
  
  Since the beginning of the year, the former "American Idol" contestant, pop hitmaker and Broadway star has spent exactly one night in his own bed. It was a couple of weeks ago, when he flew down from New York on his day off, just to see home for one evening.
  
  So after he finishes promotional duties for his new album, "On My Way Here," which comes out Tuesday, Aiken, 29, plans to spend the summer in the Triangle. Touring will have to wait.
  
  "I'm going to enjoy the backyard a little bit," he says on the phone from New York.
  
  The last few months have been extremely busy for Aiken, as he just finished a 15-week run in the role of Sir Robin in Broadway's "Spamalot." He spent his days in the studio working on the album and his evenings at the theater.
  
  "On My Way Here" is Aiken's first album of original material since 2003's "Measure of a Man." It's also the first album in which his label, RCA, gave him control over which songs to sing.
  
  [...]
  
  The album features eclectic sounds, he said, from pop to a bit of R&B, as well as a couple of songs with big string parts, which he called "almost orchestral."

• Voice of America News -

  NEW ALBUM RELEASES
  
  New albums scheduled for release on May 6 include: "Gavin DeGraw" by Gavin DeGraw, "Home Before Dark" by Neil Diamond, "On My Way Here" by Clay Aiken