There truly may be a thousand different ways to say “I love you,” but Clay Aiken can just stop at the first one – there really is no need for the next 999.

American Idol Season Two runner up Aiken is back with his long-awaited sophomore release, A Thousand Different Ways. As you can imagine, the theme of this album is love. It features 10 remakes of album covers from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s – all ballads handpicked for the project by Aiken.

It begins with a breathy, heartfelt rendition of Richard Marx’s 1989 Grammy nominated “Right Here Waiting,” which is sure to get the hearts of Aiken fans nostalgically pumping as he belts out the ever-famous “Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you.”

But even for the sappiest of ballad lovers, over 128 minutes of pure sentiment may have some fans go from holding their beating hearts to clutching their convulsing stomachs.

In 14 tracks, Aiken keeps it personal with covers such as “Without You” and “Every Time You Go Away.” True to the album title, each rendition touches all types of love from friendship, to courtship to unconditional love and devotion.

Eventually, Aiken may need to trade in the bouts of emotion and sincerity for a little more originality and innovation. An artist always takes a risk when remaking a well-known song, especially a ballad. In this case, Aiken just happens to take 10 of those risks – and fails a little.

Perusing through the album, Aiken’s A Thousand Different Ways may leave listeners thinking “Oh! I Love that song!” but still preferring to hear the original version. Yes, we know Aiken can sing, but then again, so could Bing Crosby, Paul Young and every other artist whose song he remade. His album shows no lack of talent, but no style or creativity.

Aiken did attempt to put his own spin on a few tracks, such as Harry Nilsson’s “Without You,” which he sings in slower, more laid-back tempo than the original. His aim is to come across as sultry and seductive, but he really just sounds sleepy.

Along with the redone, the album features four original songs by Aiken, but even those have us longing for something fresh.

A Thousand Different Ways just does not have the same “Claymation” and flair that “Measure of a Man” had back in 2004.

When Aiken belted out “I wish I could be a fly on your wall/ Are you really alone?” on “Measure of a Man,” it kind of freaked people out in an invasive, stalker kind of way, but it at least kept our attention. This album just leaves us bored.

In summary, Aiken’s vocal talents are not really what is on trial here. It’s his originality. A Thousand Different Ways is really just an emotional jumble of oldies. We’ve heard them all before and, frankly, we liked them better the first time around.

Contact reporter Shauna Stuart at diversions@dbk.umd.edu.