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Daughtry went into his first meeting with Clive Davis, who runs BMG Music Label Group and oversees the label side of the Idol franchise, determined to get his way. And after performing an original tune in the mogul's office — the power ballad ''Home'' — he did. ''He was the first Idol that I'd ever met who had material that he had written,'' Davis says. ''That was compelling.''
Though Daughtry talks a lot about breaking the mold, the 12-song CD is as calculated as a Britney Spears album. A savvy rock producer (Howard Benson) was hired, along with proven songwriters like former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody and hitmaker Dr. Luke, who helped pen Kelly Clarkson's ''Since U Been Gone.'' (Daughtry contributed three wholly original compositions, and co-wrote most of the disc.) The Nickelback-esque sound was created by seasoned players, and auditions in Hollywood last fall found the appropriately pierced and mohawked sidemen now known as just...Daughtry. (His old band, Absent Element, were invited to audition, but didn't make the cut.) Still, he insists that this ''isn't the Chris Daughtry Show. It's a band.'' That statement didn't stop guitarist Jeremy Brady from quitting in the first week of the tour because, he says, ''it doesn't fulfill me the way I thought it would.''
He's not the only one with ambivalent feelings. Daughtry himself admits that being away from home has brought stress to his marriage. ''I'm not there to help her with anything. I'm not there if she needs me,'' he says. The commitment that brings him far more anxiety, however, is the one he made to Idol. ''It can be frustrating,'' Daughtry says. He pauses, leans forward, places his elbows on his knees, and seems to think very carefully about what he's going to say. ''Well...I'm the one that decided to go on the show, so you can't be too upset about it...'' He trails off. He continues. ''I think that every artist wants to break away from [Idol]. You can't force it, though. You can't say, 'Don't call me Chris from American Idol.' That's going to have to happen on its own.''
It hasn't happened yet. A sold-out midweek show at Los Angeles' El Rey is filled with moms in bedazzled peasant shirts and clumps of kids sipping Shirley Temples. When the compact, muscular singer bounds on stage wearing his standard uniform — dark T-shirt, flared jeans, and wallet chain — the room erupts in shrieks. A woman screams repeatedly, ''You're so hot, Chris!'' The balcony is filled with chattering VIPs. Well, Idol VIPs: 19 Entertainment head Simon Fuller and Daughtry's season 5 cohorts Kellie Pickler and Ace Young. It should be a triumphant coronation of a rock star, but during the entire 50-minute set, Daughtry doesn't smile once.
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