Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest newmusic reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to Battlefield, the second album by American Idol’s sixth-season champ Jordin Sparks:


• ”Battlefield actually contains enough 
potential hits to keep the singer in heavy 
rotation until well into Idol’s 10th season: The music-box piano on ‘No Parade’ breaks your heart even before she gets to the bruising chorus, while ‘Watch You Go’ recasts her as a fickle R&B temptress. Sparks even co-penned four tracks, including ‘Faith,’ the best AI anthem the show has never had. Kara DioGuardi, you’ve been warned.” [Michael Slezak, EW]


• ”But it’s a good sign that Ms. Sparks is becoming more compelling as she grows more conflicted. ‘Watch You Go,’ partly credited to T-Pain and Dr. Luke, allows her a rare moment of self-aware candor. ‘I’m seeing brake lights,’ goes the economical first line, and Ms. Sparks sings it evenly. She’s no less stoic or pained when she finally gets to the point: “I hate to see you leave/But I love to watch you go.’ ” [Nate Chinen, NYT]


• “A few ditties sound like Kelly Clarkson rejects, but Sparks’ effervescent voice sparkles on state-of-the-art pop concoctions such as ‘Watch You Go,’ ‘S.O.S. (Let the Music Play)’ (which samples ’80s disco queen Shannon) and the martial single from which Battlefield takes its title.” [John Soeder, Cleveland Plain Dealer]


• “Safe is only good in baseball, but in pop music it can be numbing, and such dull tunes like ‘No Parade’ or ‘Let It Rain’ find the singer trying to inject some life into music even she must realize is D.O.A. No one expects edginess, but a powerhouse voice like Sparks’s deserves something more to work with than these leftovers.” [Ken Capobianco, Boston Globe]