In 1996 Matchbox 20 released their debut album. Since then front man Rob Thomas has branched out with a successful solo career. His first solo effort was “Something To Be,” in 2005. Thomas demonstrated his ability to masterfully write and sing great pop style music. The record was a smash success and became a platinum best seller. After cutting another album with Matchbox 20, Rob Thomas now offers up his second solo project.

The album is titled “Cradlesong.” If you haven’t heard of it yet, you’ll soon be listening to its singles on the radio. There’s a familiar quality and sound to the album that should please long time fans. Second albums are notorious for being albums of new creative directions for artists. That really isn’t the case here. What we get is a nice pop album that’s often reminiscent of 80’s music.

The album never gets into edgy territory. It’s filled with radio friendly music. Thomas retains his up tempo and positive style of music, with a few exceptions for some less positive lyrics. These mostly deal with love issues and dysfunctional relationships. The production quality and performances here are all top notch.

There’s a nice variety of ballads and acoustic tunes with a lot of emotion in them. A good example of this is the song with the same title as the album itself. “Her Diamonds,” is a single that will likely get the most radio play rotation. It’s destined to be one of the more popular tracks on the album. It’s certainly one of the most memorable.

The first single “Her Diamonds,” is one of the best songs on the album. You’re sure to hear this tune on your favorite pop radio station. This is an easy album to recommend to fans of Rob Thomas and music fans in general. It’s hard to say if it will attain the success of Thomas’ previous work, but it definitely is a worthy successor.