Drops: Scott McCreery debut 'Clear as Day'

In five years, Scotty McCreery is going to be a huge country star. He has the right voice for it and the right temperament.

Right now, though, the 17-year-old "American Idol" winner still sounds like he's trying to catch up, like he's trying to grow into his role -- which he probably is.

His debut, "Clear as Day" (Mercury Nashville/19), is well-crafted and well-written by some of Nashville's best and brightest. The weak link in these songs is McCreery, which, to be fair, isn't unusual for the get-it-done-quick debuts of many "Idol" graduates.

In "Water Tower Town" -- which, at slightly above midtempo, is the fastest of the album's 12 tracks -- McCreery sounds like he's rushing to keep up with the tempo as he declares, "Nobody eats 'til you say, 'Amen' and everybody knows your mom and them." He handles Keith Urban's "Walk in the Country" a bit better, though he's clearly more at home with the ballads.

"Dirty Dishes" is a great song in the vein of Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers" that McCreery hammers home in a way that's sweet, if not entirely believable, something that becomes clear when he tackles "The Trouble With Girls," where he sounds genuinely befuddled by the opposite sex.

"Clear as Day," which is oddly named after his ballad where two teenagers die in a car accident, is a decent start for McCreery, but could've been so much more in more accomplished hands.

SCOTTY MCCREERY

'Clear as Day'

GRADE B-

BOTTOM LINE "Idol" winner still has a lot to learn