"Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson
“Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson (RCA)
Kelly Clarkson has earned the right to be disassociated from “American Idol.” The show’s first winner has put out consistently solid releases and established a strong identity — contrasting with the vast majority of former “Idol” contestants who haven’t made a name for themselves (and many of those who have).
That said, Clarkson is entrenched in traditional pop machinery: Her new “Stronger” was penned by an army of songwriters, and the arrangements are crisp and precise. Her new release is not innovative. Guitars are the dominant instrumentation. Verses are fairly subdued, and choruses blare. Sometimes the hooks are forced into the mix so blatantly that you can practically hear the studio stitching stretching at the seams.
And in an unintentional nod to convention, “Stronger” even pulls a late-album fade like so many other hit-oriented releases over the decades.
But Clarkson sells it. She takes all that is artificial and makes it sound organic. “Stronger” is angry and vindictive, and her gutsy vocals carry the relentless theme from one defiant anthem to the next, edging her near Adele’s level of soul. And of course, there’s just enough vulnerability to make the rage palatable.
“You like to bring me down, don’t you?” she accuses with trembling delivery on first cut “Mr. Know It All,” setting the tone for what’s to come.
A parade of potential singles follows, highlighted by the desperate “Dark Side” (where she begs, “Don’t give up on me”), the stark wails of “Honestly,” the melodic venom of “You Love Me” (“You just opened my eyes while breaking my heart”) and the languid sweetness of “Standing in Front of You,” where she balances her temperamental disposition with affecting tenderness, singing, “All that you’ve been missin’ is standing in front of you.”
This may be assembly-line pop, but at least Clarkson’s factory is making Mercedes.
Rating (five possible): 3-1/2
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Comments » 1
BigScaryAnimal writes:
I've heard this album (although I got bored in the middle of some of the ballads and skipped out), and I actually agree with your rating of 3 1/2 stars. In fact, I rated it just that on a music-review Web site.
However, I disagree on some of the particulars. Overall, the album is bit flat, stale, and disappointing IMO--there's no epic ballad like "Already Gone" or spunky grunge like "Hole" or heartbreaking rocker like "Behind These Hazel Eyes." Much of the material is beneath Clarkson, but it's really no worse than her last album. And she's still over-singing, unfortunately.
Nonetheless, to me about 4 tunes stand out. The two that I consider the best you didn't even mention. "Let Me Down" is fiery and insanely catchy pop, and the plucky title track (even with its cliched lyrics) is another potential hit. I can't believe they released the legally bland "Mr. Know It All" as the first single (one of her worst ever)--it certainly hasn't done very well on the charts. The next best songs IMO (which you did mention) are "Dark Side" (which unfortunately has cheery music that keeps the song from really *having* a dark side) and "Honestly." Other songs have their moments too, but I don't really think the boring "Standing in Front of You" is one of them.
Anyway, at least we both agree that the album is worth about 3 1/2 stars. :) I do think Kelly needs to learn a few new tricks, though, or she may fade away like Pat Benatar did.
Incidentally, the album has a score of 62 at Metacritic.
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