Track review: Kris Allen's "No Boundaries"

In what was the most predictably unexpected underdog win on ‘American Idol,’ Kris Allen, the soft-spoken Arkansas native, claimed the title in the series’ eighth season. What was a little more predictable, however, was just how awful his coronation song would turn out to be.

Written by ‘Idol’ judge Kara DioGuardi and Cathy Dennis, “No Boundaries” includes the cheesiest, most unoriginal lyrics since “Inside Your Heaven” (“with every step you climb another mountain / every breath is harder to believe”). What makes things worse for Allen is the fact that high expectations were set when it was revealed that DioGuardi, who is a veteran songwriter in her own right, would be co-penning the song.

But when brushing the song aside and examining Allen’s job vocals-wise, things begin to look brighter. His mellow style is a solid fit for this upbeat positive song, and he handles the amateur lyrics like they were the first ones he ever sang, which almost makes “Boundaries” sound passable.

Still, the song is just too poorly written to result in a masterpiece for Allen, and he will have to weather this hurricane before he can put out some serious music. Still, Kris Allen earns an A for effort on “No Boundaries” and shows promise of a healthy career ahead of him.

"No Boundaries" can now be purchased on iTunes. If you're not quite up to shelling out the $1.29 required for the single (or the $16.00 for Kris' iTunes pass), you can stream the single over on AOL's PopEater blog.