Reuben Studdard Releases 'Soulful'

In other words, most of Soulful consists of cuts that are about the feel of the production, from the shiny surfaces to the languid late-night beats, and not on songs that have strong, memorable verses and choruses.

This works to the album's favor, at least as a piece of cohesive product, since it maintains a steady groove and feel from beginning to end. While Ruben won accolades for his voice, Soulful works best as a whole package, with the voice and production blending into one, providing appealing, professional, accomplished romantic mood music.

Soulful is the 2003 debut album from second-season American Idol winner Ruben Studdard.

The album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200 U.S. album chart selling over 400,000 copies in its first week, and has since been certified a platinum record. In the U.S. the album has sold an estimated 1,779,000.