triple threat: “Kelly Clarkson – All I Ever Wanted” Album Review
After having shunned by having full creative control of her 3rd album, ‘My December‘ (a minor hit, the CD went single platinum, phew!!!), Kelly Clarkson is back on full force with her fourth studio album, ‘All That I Ever Wanted‘. Released on 6th March 2009 in Australia and Germany, and on the 9th 10th and 13th, in the UK, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Italy respectively.
dirrtysean: Although i L-O-V-E Kelly but this album to me is tooo mainstream and i feel like she’s trying too hard. It’s too poppish rock for my taste. She’s just like another Avril Lavigne. Maybe i prefer those dark rock tracks like “Never Again” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes“. The Kelly Clarkson i learn to like and love can’t be seen on this album. But in comparison with “My December” i think this album definitely tops it. But the track “Sober” from that album tops every single track in “All I Ever Wanted“.
Everybody’s raving on how good is Cry, but I like “Already Gone” even better. “Already Gone” writted by OneRepublic‘s Ryan Tedder. He also wrote other tracks like “If I Can’t Give You“, “Save You“, “Impossible“. If you hear properly, you’ll probably hear him sing the background vocals. But If I Can’t Give You sounds like Miley Cyrus‘ Fly On The Wall. The beat sounds 90% same!!!!
American Idol‘s Kara DioGuardi together with Katy Perry wrote “I Do Not Hook Up“. Probably Katy Perry leftovers…
I thought Dr Luke and Max Martin will have more important roles in her album but they only wrote/produced her lead single – My life Would Suck Without You. Yes! It’s a mouthful just to say out her single name.
Overall i like all Ryan Tedder productions more than the others. He did 4 tracks (and 1 bonus track).
airotcivqueen: Honestly, I only like these few songs out of the whole album of 14 songs Which puts it to 7/14 tracks (without counting bonus tracks), thus, I probably would not buy this album.
Pardon me,I am not a KC hater, she’s had amazing songs before, that we can all totally relate to, or would already have the tune in our heads after hearing it countless of times over the years, some so catchy, you instantly can sing along to once you hear the intro, but this album doesn’t stand out very much, But I will not deny that Kelly has a great voice, she just needs to work on more stand out tracks, and as you can see, she has been singing a lot of her old songs in her recent performances, and not much of the current album, as yet.
airotcivqueen‘s fave tracks
My Life Would Suck Without You: We have all heard this track, it has a very similar feel to all her old songs
I Do Not Hook Up: A jumpy track
Cry: A rather sad and emotional track as the title states, but nice though
Already Gone: Another emotional one, which I kind of like as well
airotcivqueen also listed “Long Shot”, “If No one Will Listen”, “Don’t Let Me Stop You” as okay tracks.
rickified: First impressions, surprisingly that I could listen to this album once through without skipping a track. Kudos for her. It’s abit too mainstream, very safe I dare say. Given Kelly’s excellent vocal prowess, she could be a successor to Pat Benatar (whom she’s compared to at times). It seems that this album is made to pacify the mainstream people and her record company (I sense a multi-platinum record yet again with tons of ka-ching). Nevertheless, I could digest the album easily, aint an easy feat since I’m could be quite harsh.
Lead single ‘My Life Would Suck Without You‘ sets the tone of the album, which is filled mostly with uptempo, high-NRG tracks. The tunes mirrors too much on ‘Since You Been Gone‘. The ‘tried-and-tested-confirm-success-formula’ is being applied to the next few tracks, the first 5 to be exact, with ‘Cry’ being the lone exception of the pack. My sixth sense tells me that ‘Cry’ would most probably be the 3rd single off the album (with the 2nd confirmed on ‘I Do Not Hook Up‘).
Maybe the first few tracks is to build the momentum towards mid-album, which is the highlight of the entire CD (holds my fav tracks consecutively).
rickified‘s fave tracks
Already Gone: The ‘Goose-pimples’ song of the album. Intro sounds abit like Beyonce’s ‘Halo’. Cause it’s co-written by Kelly with Ryan Tedder. I could really ‘feel’ this song. Triggers the Emo button in me. Deserves to be a single. My fave Power-ballad so far this year.
If I Can’t Have You: Even thought it’s abit too ‘Fly on the Wall’ sounding, it’s way better than that annoying Cyrus, and I can groove to the beat. Disco-rock tune I must say. It’s remix-ready too. Could be a club hit.
Save You: The verses sounds abit like Britney’s Quicksand (Bonus track off ‘Circus’). And the chorus, it’s similiar to ‘Sober’, from Kelly’s ‘My December’ album. A good thing though. ‘My December’ is so damn underated.
Whyyawannabringmedown: First thought that crosses my mind, sounds like Paramore’s ‘Misery Buisness’. Aint half bad. It’s Kelly with the punk attitude. =)
Long Shot: I could imagine a MV (Music Video) for this song. Single-worthy. Katy Perry is one of the writers for this song.
rickified feels that the album cools down towards the end. With the next few tracks being alright only. Not really filler material, but aint single material either. ‘If No One Will Listen‘ closes the album with a quiet note. Quite a number of peeps like it, but I think compared to ‘Beacause of You‘, it’s miles away. The 3 bonus tracks are just icing on the cake. Nothing to be excited about. Fits well with the album. Nobody would complain having extra tracks to listen to if it sounds acceptable rite. =)
Rating dirrtysean: airotcivqueen: rickified:
Final Verdict airotcivqueen: This album, apart from “My Life Would Suck Without You” and maybe “I Do Not Hook Up” does not have that “OH IT’S KELLY!!” feel I get whenever I hear her songs. Anyway, we’ll see how she progresses in the next few years, you go girl!
rickified: As I said, this album is too safe for my liking. But a good record I admit. This album lacks a strong ballad like ‘Because of You’, which most people could relate to. This album proves that Kelly is here to stay and she’s has one of the best voices in the music industry now, along with CA. =) Awaiting for a breakthrough for her next album.
dirrtysean: I still love Kelly Clarkson no matter what. In time this album may grow on me. After listening for around 4-5 times, it still hasnt.