"Light On" is the first official single to be released from American Idol season 7 winner David Cook's major label debut studio album: David Cook.

Song information

"Light On" was co-written by Soundgarden and Audioslave front man Chris Cornell, as well as famed producer/songwriter Brian Howes. The song was produced by Grammy winning producer Rob Cavallo, who has produced hits for Green Day and Kid Rock.

Release

The song's lyrics were posted on Cook's official website on September 22, 2008. "Light On" officially debuted on AOL Music's PopEater section on September 23, 2008. It became available for radio airplay later on the 23rd, but will officially go for adds on Mainstream Top 40, AC, and Rock radio on October 13, 2008. It was released iTunes and Amazon on September 30, 2008.

Reception

Reception of "Light On" has been generally mixed.

Billboard's Chuck Taylor gave a very favorable review saying "melodically, there's no question that this bullet is heading right for the brain, where the only thing stickier than the chorus is Cook's appreciably sweaty performance." He predicted success for Cook, stating "Like Chris Daughtry before him, here's an Idol who is bound for true rock cred", summing it up with ""Light On" is right on."

Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times gave a decent review, predicting chart success by saying the song was "sure to be inescapable this holiday season." He called it "full-on, cellphone-waving arena rock schmaltz, with husky, slow-moving guitars and a wallop of meaninglessly earnest vocals."

Michael Slezak of Entertainment Weekly also gave a mostly good review, saying Cook "is poised to be part of a balanced, mainstream rock diet alongside artists like 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and Staind." He also called the song catchy saying, "After two listens, the "Light On" chorus got caught in my head like butter in the crannies of an English muffin." Though unimpressed with the song's lyrics, claiming they "feel more like a logjam of carefully focus-grouped words than anything deeply meaningful", he concluded however that "the bottom line is: "Light On" is probably going to be a major hit."

Ken Barnes of USA Today however was unimpressed with the single, despite being a fervent supporter of Cook on American Idol. Barnes called the song "Daughtry lite" as well as "a paint-by-numbers rock-ballad tune." Los Angeles Times writer Ann Powers also appeared unimpressed with the single, referring to it as a "banger in the worst sense of the word."

Music video

The music video for "Light On" was shot on October 21 and 22 at L.A. Valley's College Football Stadium with Wayne Isham as the director. The video was debuted on November 3 shortly after midnight. The video is a performance video of Cook singing on a stage in the football stadium, and also features a plot of a teenage boy working at a diner. A teenage girl, portrayed by Mika Boorem, walks into the diner and he watches her, becoming jealous when her boyfriend comes to the diner. Near the end, the girl fights with her boyfriend in his car and gets out of it, but he drives away and leaves her stranded there, late at night. The boy from the diner shows up on his bike and gives her a ride home on the handlebars of the bike.