Donny Osmond - The Donny Osmond Album & To You with Love, Donny (2008)

Packaged together here as part of the 7Ts label's series of Osbros two-fers, Donny Osmond's first two albums were all but recorded by default; even as he recorded his "Sweet and Innocent" contribution to the main band's Osmonds album, Donny did little more than dream that he might one day be unleashed across a long-player of his own. The success of that one song turned those dreams into reality, and The Donny Osmond Album was the result, a collection of songs geared almost single-mindedly to pushing the same teenybop buttons as "Sweet and Innocent" -- and to keep on pushing them across his sophomore set. These albums can be judged upon nothing more than the quality of the songs. If you enjoy the barely pubescent Donald's voice on one song, you will probably admire it on the rest, and it would not be cruel to suggest that he had nothing more to do with the creation of these records than turning up at the studio to sing what he was told. A total of 20 songs drift firmly around the axis laid down by "Sweet and Innocent" and the chart-topping "Go Away Little Girl," with a sweet cover of the Monkees' "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You" (from To You with Love, Donny) and a couple of Everly Brothers songs about as adventurous as things get. For the rest, orchestras float, lush strings flow, and little Donny sings like an angel.