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A First Look at Kelly Clarkson’s New Albumby David Bloomberg -- 04/15/2003
View Printable version of this article The wait for Kelly Clarkson’s first full CD has been entirely too long. So I’m not going to make you wait any further for a first look at it. I’ll probably do a full review later (and there may be others doing full reviews here as well), but for now, I have listened to each song twice on the CD and here are my first impressions: “The Trouble With Love Is” – The album starts off with the type of song we’re used to hearing from Kelly. This is a powerful ballad that shows off her voice. A good start. Cut to “Miss Independent,” a song that we are definitely not used to hearing from her. But, damn, it’s good! And I’m glad – I said before that I’d like to hear something other than pre-packaged ballads, and this definitely fits the bill. Luckily, nobody came to my cubicle at work while I was listening, or they’d have seen me chair-dancing. (It probably wouldn’t have been a pretty sight.) “Low” – Strong vocals, good backing music. It’s kind of a slow rocking song, and Kelly shows her ability to convey powerful emotions with her voice. I would recommend this as the second single, if anybody from the production company is reading. “Some Kind of Miracle” – Another ballad, but not as strong as others we’ve heard her sing. In fact, I would probably rank this as the worst song on the album, which is rather surprising considering it was written by “hitmaker” Dianne Warren. I don’t particularly care for the backing music at all. Mind you, her worst song is still better than most other songs out there today, as her voice carries the day, but I already find myself wanting to skip ahead on the CD to the better ones. “What’s Up Lonely” – This song has a kind of R&B feel to it. Not the best song on the album, but pretty decent. It’s not one that I really find myself getting into, but it plays nicely in the background as I’m doing something else. “Just Missed the Train” – Good music, good voice. Another song with a nice rocking, though slow, sound. “Beautiful Disaster” – Another good one. Not much else to say about it right now. I can only say “good voice” so many times.” “You Thought Wrong” – This is the song that features Tamyra Gray along with Kelly. Another song that’s damn good. If “Low” isn’t the next single, this should be. It’s another rocking song like “Miss Independent,” and shows a side of both Kelly and Tamyra that we hadn’t been used to. Their voices work well together. And, yes, I was chair dancing again. “Thankful” – This song has a nice little guitar background with a few other instruments, which allows Kelly to feature her voice more prominently. “Anytime” – Closing out the new songs with another ballad, this one provides more power. It’s a strong number and a good way to end. Much better than “Some Kind of Miracle.” Probably the best of the ballads. “A Moment Like This (New Mix)” – Frankly, I hate remixes. Why take a song that I have grown to enjoy and mess it all up? But when I heard this “new mix,” I couldn’t actually tell that it was a new mix at all. Wait, on a second listen, I hear some very slight changes in the background music, but I’m not even sure that’s really a change or just something I hadn’t noticed because it’s so quiet. And maybe there is a small change in the way Kelly is singing, like they took it out of a different “take.” Now I’m just looking for stuff and don’t know for sure. I’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison or something. If you figure out what the “new mix” is, please let me know. “Before Your Love (New Mix)” – Same thing as above. On first listen, the only thing I noticed that was different was a different “you” in the closing “before your love” – and frankly, I don’t like even that small change! Even on the second listen, that was the only difference I caught. Again, let me know if you heard something else. If you haven’t already ordered or purchased it, make sure to do so now – for 29% off from Amazon.com by clicking below. And don’t forget that the American Idol 2 CD-single of “God Bless the U.S.A.” came out today as well. You can get that for just $2.98!
David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of the RealityNewsOnline articles about this show, check out the American Idol page. For more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot! View Printable version of this article
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