Avant - 'Avant'

Eight years and five albums deep into his career as a major-label recording artist, Avant's freshness have have finally gone past its expiration date. His self-titled fifth album, Avant, which came out in the U.S. on Dec. 9, 2008, is a relatively bland, watered-down album that's enjoyable, but only in a superficial way, not a particularly deep, meaningful, or lasting way. Not to suggest that Avant is simply going through the motions on this album, but on it, he sounds completely uninspired more than half the time. And that lack of passion has, unfortunately, led to some very generic and vanilla songs.

The perfect example of the vanilla tone of the album is Avant's cover of the Christopher Cross' hit "Sailing." Although the original is a staple of Easy Listening radio and has been a favorite of millions since it was released in 1980, it also is quite tame and maybe even a little boring by contemporary standards. And the fact that Avant's version is very true to the original speaks volumes about the sheer plainness of Avant.

The album's two saving graces are the first two singles, "When It Hurts" a tender, sensitive ballad about sticking with a relationship through the bad times; and "Break Ya Back (In a Good Way)," a sultry, mid-tempo track about sexual prowess. Although the two songs are completely opposite in tone and theme, they both manage to show that Avant hasn't completely lost his mojo. What he does seem to have lost though - hopefully just temporarily - is a feel for what people want from his music. His sensuality seems watered down and his romanticism is worn and tired. Thankfully, he remains a gentleman on his songs, just like he has his whole career, but the majority of the 11 songs on Avant reek of mediocrity. In a world where things move forward on a daily basis, Avant seems stuck in the early days of his career, which were about 10 years ago. But this isn't the late '90s or early 2000s, and on this album, Avant hasn't adjusted his music - even a little bit - to reflect the growth and evolution of the music industry and of his audience.

That's not to say the album is bad - it's expertly produced and well-sung - but it all sounds like the same ol' thing.