5 star music, 4 star lyrics. Amazing album!!!
This album was definitely worth the wait, and the hard work that Gavin DeGraw put into production. The vocals are once again amazing. This album has less piano than the last one, but the variety of instruments is more vast. I recommend buying it because the music is really great. The lyrics for some songs are a little more "juvenile" than his last album, but I won't hold that against him.

musical, strong hooks
Gavin DeGraw's second album is more richly produced than his previous effort. It definitely leans more to the rock side of pop than the piano man sound. That said, musically, it is incredibly strong with each song having a strong and memorable hook. I challenge you to listen to this album and not have the songs come back to haunt you days later (listen to the entire song, not just the samples here on Amazon!). The hooks are simply amazing. The negative reviews here seem to be more about the album not being Chariott II than about the new album. I thought the hallmark of an artist is that he experiments and evolves to new things as he explores his vision and talent? I, for one, love the album and am happy to go along for the ride this album offers. From Gavin's catchy pop ballads (I Have You To Thank, Young Love) to his powerfully sentimental love songs (We Belong Together) and catchy pop anthems (In Love With A Girl, Medicate the Kids, Relative), every song on the disc is worth the money and has grown on me with repeated listening. Very highly recommended.

A big disappointment.
I loved Gavin's first CD, Chariot. I have liked all the songs he has contibuted to various soundtracks. I have seen him in concert many times, and he always does a wonderful live performance. I have waited for many years for him to put out a new CD. I got it for my birthday, and boy was I disappointed. There were a few good songs. I felt that the CD was trying to be something completely different from his previous CD. Many of these songs were too political. I, personally, don't want to listen to a song about giving kids mood-altering drugs. I would have liked to have seen a CD with beautiful and catchy songs like Chariot. I'm just glad that my sister bought it for me, and I didn't pay for it myself. Plus, can anyone tell me what a "cop-stop" is?

Big disappointment.
I've anxiously awaited the release of Gavin's followup to Chariot, which is still to this day one of my favorite albums of all time. Admittedly, I've always liked the "Stripped" version of Chariot the most. So when I heard this over-mixed pop sounding album for the first time I was very disappointed.

There are only a couple of songs on this album that are worth a second play. Most of the lyrics are corny and vanilla. The musical sound is way too bubble gum pop for his soulful voice. It's almost as if he was writing to sell albums to teenage girls. I've listened to the album a handful of times hoping it will grow on me, but to no avail.

After being such a huge fan of Gavin's debut album I'm probably harder with this review since I had high expectations. I miss his killer combination of a soulful voice and equally soul filled lyrics.

Sounds like Chariot B-Sides
"Chariot B-Sides" would have been a better title for this album, because if we are being honest there's not a single song on here outside of "In Love With A Girl"(which is basically a rip-off of "I Don't Want To Be" from Chariot) and "Relative"(my favorite song on the album) that would have been strong enough to have made the cut for Chariot. I absolutely loved Chariot and have been anxiously waiting for this release, but this is mediocre and definitely doesn't deserve the current 4 1/2 star rating it has on here.
This album lacks a lot of what made Chariot, in my opinion, one of the best pop-rock albums of the past decade. I don't hear as much sincerity from Gavin and a lot of time it just sounds like he's trying way too hard to make something with weak music and weak lyrics. It's almost as if Gavin didn't have strong enough material for a release but his record company was pushing this out the door. "Wait a minute sister, I know I ain't your mister". WHAT? And this is track #2? Come on Gavin..
I would be humming the songs from Chariot after every listen, but with this disc I've probably listened to it 5 times through so far and there's very little that's memorable here. That may be because I've not given it enough time, but there's nothing much catching my attention outside of the two songs I mentioned earlier to make me want to listen more. It may be unfair to compare this to an album as stellar as Chariot, but if you look at it another way and if this was the debut album from Gavin, I wouldn't have given this more than 2 listens. If I am comparing this to Chariot, this is a 2-star album, but to be fair, I rated this album on it's own merit and it's mediocre so 3 stars it is.