Josh Groban : Closer

Thanks to a fortuitous intersection of talent and fate, 22-year-old Josh Groban hasn't finished his senior year in performing arts school but has already released his sophomore effort on a major major label. Fans of the young vocal phenom's debut will find much to enthrall them here, even if it nudges the singer closer to the center of producer/mentor David Foster's MOR pop sensibilities. Eschewing much of its predecessors more overt classic-lite pretensions and pop-rock covers for a slate of dramatic, Eurocentric ballads that serve as a showcase for the singer's inviting baritone, Groban shrewdly positions himself as the American alternative to the Bocelli-Watson crossover axis. 'Caruso' may find the singer falling short of its operatic inspiration, but 'Oceano' and 'My Confession' quickly showcase the singer's true dramatic range (which seems to all but yearn for a bona fide Broadway musical challenge), while a vocal take of Bacalov's graceful 'Il Postino' theme uses classical virtuoso Joshua Bell's violin flourishes to good effect. A special edition of Closer includes two new tracks, the EPK and exclusive footage of 'the making of' the album.