http://guides.clickthecity.com/music/?p=2223
posted on Wednesday October 17, 2007
You may not win all the time, but then there’s always two sides to a coin. And the flipside may sometimes be better.
This, Elliott Yamin is fast discovering, a year after he fell a few notches short of making it to the top of American Idol. He did not even have time to brood about his finalist status, though. Not when the hard-to-please Simon Cowell himself called Yamin “potentially the best male vocalist in the history of American Idol.”
Not when Paula Abdul called Yamin “one funky white boy” and Randy Jackson described Yamin as “the bomb.” And especially not when his self-titled debut album (released by MCA Music) is so well-received it has, in Yamin’s own words, allowed him to “reach such a vast audience.”
That vast audience includes the Philippines, where the album’s carrier single, Wait For You has climbed the number one spot on top stations like Magic 89.9, RX 93.1, Wave 89.1, Hit FM 99.5 and max 103.5.
Yamin also entered Billboard charts at #3, making him the highest new artist debut on an independent label in soundscan history. The CD also debuted at *1 on the Billboard independent charts and #2 on Billboard R `n B charts.
Yamin always knew new something great was waiting for him at the end of the rainbow.
“I never regretted the outcome of American Idol,” he looks back.
And why not? Opportunity is now knocking on his door.
“I’m enjoying life these days and staying real busy,” he goes on.
After his series of mall shows in Manila, Yamin will return to the US and embark on another road tour for his album.
The secret could lie in two things: the fact that Yamin made the CD with only music lover in mind, and his complete control over every track in each of the 11 tracks.
Yamin’s gift for songwriting came out in the plaintive Trainwreck, a breakup song reminiscent of the artist’s own bitter brush with heartache. Take My Breath Away and You Are the One wrenches at the heart. I’m the Man and Find a Way flow with hat-in-hand grace (and, in the latter’s case, a scat worthy of a jazz stage).
The hits Wait For You and Movin’ On immortalizes Yamin’s gift of music.
“What the music business needs is good soulful music. I give the people what they want,” he relates.
To do that, he assumed complete control over the CD. Yamin recorded it for three months on his own label, refusing to compromise his craft in the altar of other company’s music tastes.
The result is a creative freedom to do what he deems best, to chart his own destiny in the recording business.
“We’ve done it really unconventional,” Yamin admits. “But we did it right. We’ve been proven right.”
For this, he has as much as himself and his musical influences – Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Johnny Hathway – to thank. After all, the guy who has never received formal music training and only relied on the karaoke to hone his skills, is moving up.
Yes, talent will always out. In Yamin’s case, it has carried him all the way to the top of charts. It has also affirmed his high expectations of himself. Now, those high expectations are bearing fruit.
Subject: Elliott Yamin Outdoes Himself 
October 21st 2007, 8:04 pm
Good article although the author made a mistake. It is Donny not Johnny Hathaway. I do agree however that Elliott was very smart going independent as he will garner more success and money without being under a major label's control. Just love his self-titled cd and now love his Christmas one which I just got. 
