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Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Thankful’ – A Full Reviewby David Bloomberg -- 04/22/2003
View Printable version of this article Kelly Clarkson’s first CD, Thankful, came out a week ago. At the time, I wrote about my first impressions and promised a full review later. Well, I’ve been listening to the CD whenever possible for the entire week now, so it’s time for some further thoughts. Kelly has been quoted as saying that she wanted to name this album, “Pigeonhole This,” but was overruled. While it’s probably good that her management wouldn’t allow that name to go forward, the fact is that it describes the album quite well. On American Idol, she got something of a reputation for singing ballads. This album proves – in case there was any doubt – that Kelly Clarkson can sing anything and make it sound good. Getting to my thoughts, some of the first impressions I had have proven themselves correct or even strengthened while others have changed a bit upon multiple listenings. We’ll go through track by track again and then take a look at my overall ranking of them. “The Trouble With Love Is” – We begin with one of the songs Kelly co-wrote and I wish there were some way we could find out just how much of these she actually wrote. Ah well. Anyway, I said previously that this is a powerful ballad that shows off her voice. I still agree with my assessment, but after multiple listenings I’m not as enamored of it as I was originally. It’s still good, so it may simply be that ballads tend to wear on me quickly. “Miss Independent” – This up-tempo song, the first single, only gets better upon hearing it each new time. It makes you want to sing and dance along. (OK, so this can be a problem while listening at work.) What more can you ask for? “Low” – As I said in my first review, “Low” has strong vocals and good slower rock type music. Another song that only gets better the more times you listen to it. You can really feel the depth of emotion in Kelly’s voice. However, I have to change my earlier recommendation that this should be the second single – instead, I think it should be the third. You’ll see in a bit what I think should now be second. “Some Kind of Miracle” – At the time I wrote of my first impressions, I said this was the weakest song on the album. That feeling has grown stronger. I now find myself simply hitting the “skip” button on my CD player when I get to this one, so I can move on to ones I like better. I know Diane Warren, writer of this song, is supposed to be a great songwriter who creates hits out of thin air, but in my opinion, it didn’t happen with this one. In forcing myself to listen to it again specifically for this review, I feel like Simon (or was it Randy?) did when he once told Kelly that he didn’t like the song, but she took it and made it better. Kelly’s voice makes it worth listening to once in a while, but the overall song just bores me. “What’s Up Lonely” – A slower, R&B type song. Kind of mellow, it’s not one of my favorites on the song, but it’s still pretty good. My feelings on it have pretty well stayed the same. “Just Missed the Train” – I didn’t have much to say about this one in my first article. It’s another song in the “slow but rocking” category. I definitely find myself tapping along to it and enjoying the way Kelly uses her voice here. “Beautiful Disaster” – A good follow-up to “Just Missed the Train,” it’s a little faster and keeps the listener tapping along. As I listen, it occurs to me just how, well, professional Kelly sounds. It’s like she’s been putting out albums for years. “You Thought Wrong” – OK, if you were still wondering what song I think should be released as the second single, this is it. I had a high opinion of it right off the bat, and that feeling has only gotten stronger. In fact, I suspect the only reason this wasn’t released first is that they wanted to feature Kelly alone in her first single, which is understandable. The vocals of Kelly and Tamyra interweave perfectly. “Thankful” – More understated than most songs on the album, but that makes it that much better in this case. One of the songs I find going through my head routinely. Kelly’s voice comes through in earnest. You can honestly believe that she is as “Thankful” as she says. “Anytime” – The strongest ballad on the album and the one I continue to look forward to the most. As I said earlier (and have noted in other articles), I’m not a huge ballad fan in general, so the fact that I still enjoy this one really says something about it. “A Moment Like This (New Mix)” – OK, even now I have no idea what the “new mix” of this song has changed. And even though I asked for e-mails from people who figured out what I couldn’t, I got nothing. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to have the song on the album, but this makes three CDs for it (the CD-single and the original “best of” AI CD were the first two). “Before Your Love (New Mix)” – Same thing as above. I got one e-mail on the new mix aspect here agreeing with me that there is a different “you” in the closing “before your love.” That’s it. Since every week I rank the performances of American Idol 2, I think it’s only appropriate to do the same for the album. I am not including the remixes because I’ve heard those so many times that it’s hard to judge them against the new songs; plus, they weren’t really part of the same process that resulted in this album. Here are my rankings:
Kelly apparently turns 21 this Thursday, so join me in wishing her a Happy Birthday! If you haven’t already purchased Thankful, make sure to do so now – for 29% off from Amazon.com – by clicking below. And don’t forget that the American Idol 2 love songs album is due out in a week:  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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