I'm Thankful I Won't Have To Listen To This Schmaltz The Rest Of My Life!

The Good: Moments of voice
The Bad: Erratic musical presentation, Canned lyrics, Boring and generic, REPETITIVE!
The Basics: Saved from the bottom rung only by the moments where Clarkson's voice comes through strong, Thankful is a disappointment.


The last few months, I've been opening up and exploring more musical artists and performers than I've previously been. This led me, with suspicion and low expectations in my mind to Kelly Clarkson's album Breakaway (reviewed here!), which I was surprised to find I enjoyed. Usually, I try to take artists in order of their works, so I felt I ought to find a copy of Kelly Clarkson's debut and give it a spin.

Ugh. Thankful, Kelly Clarkson's American Idol prize recording is a twelve-track festival of schmaltz. I've long argued that Kelly Clarkson is, by definition, the best American Idol will ever produce. Why? Anyone who had both the talent and the ambition to truly be a recording star would have been on the first season of American Idol. A truly ambitious and qualitatively great artist or performer would not wait to see if the show was going to be a hit before auditioning, they would fight to get on the show and win. To wit, none of the other American Idol winners or performers have had the commercial success of Clarkson (Clay Aiken has come the closest and he wasn't even the "winner" of his season). So, for example, in the satire American Dreamz (reviewed here!), it made sense that the "Idol" parody would be one of Clarkson and the viewer assumes that she is a big enough person to take it.

Schmaltz, then, for those not familiar with the terms, is a derogatory for overly melodramatic, sugary emotionalism that is designed - usually - to get the listener to weep or look off into the distance with longing for a past better than the moment. It's cheap, obvious emotionalism that feels like it is trying to harken to something within the listener. Much of Thankful - the album - is schmaltzy; sadly sung songs that try to elicit an emotional reaction. They frequently are over-the-top in the attempt containing the Streisand-like warbles in the high vocal range that attempt to showcase a quality voice and bring a tear to the listener's eye.

The problem is Thankful is too erratic in its presentation and content to even be completely schmaltzy. Instead, it's a disappointing collection of singles that sounds more like it was tossed together by someone who had virtually no idea of how to assemble an album.

Before one simply rejects this critique, it's important to note that this is not a criticism of Kelly Clarkson. As Clarkson prepares to release her third album (rumored to be her vision, one that was fought for), it's worth noting that Thankful is minimally Kelly Clarkson. Of the twelve tracks, Clarkson co-wrote only four. She plays no instruments, she was not involved (at least not credited) with any of the production. At best, she provided some of the backing vocals to her own primary vocals.

On Thankful, Kelly Clarkson shows up, is photographed for the liner notes and sings. Largely, this album is Kelly Clarkson, performer, as opposed to any genuine sense of Kelly Clarkson, musical artist. Frankly, the world does not need another performer.

Clocking in at roughly just under forty-six minutes, Thankful, then becomes a quest for Kelly Clarkson to find her own voice and place. Sadly, the album is assembled in such a way that she fails completely. Instead, track by track, Clarkson struggles to find a voice and ends up mimicking other, established artists. "Anytime" has Clarkson as Celine Dion, "Beautiful Disaster" and "The Trouble With Love Is" could have easily come from Mariah Carey and "Miss Independent" sounds more like co-author Christina Aquilera's performances.

The point here is that the album is erratic as far as the sound and presentations Clarkson makes, resulting in a number of derivative performances that fail to capitalize on any innate talent Clarkson may have. Often the vocals of Clarkson are overproduced and mixed so as to be virtually indistinguishable from the backing music. So, for example, on "Miss Independent," Clarkson's foray into the upper ranges of her vocal abilities with volume are mixed with production elements of guitars (I would have sworn synths, but they're not credited) so they are blended and her voice is actually lost.

As for the lyrics, they range from canned to utterly phony. Take, for example, Clarkson's schmaltzy debut single "A Moment Like This," which she performed after winning the first American Idol. In it, she sings about how ". . . Some people wait a lifetime / For a moment like this . . .I can't believe it's happening to me . . ." ("A Moment Like This"). It's never good when an artist lies to her fans. Clarkson, of course spent a great deal of time working for this goal. She might have been surprised, but as this was a goal of hers, she must have had some idea of what it was she was working for and envisioned it. But, oh yea, Clarkson did not write that. She just performed it.

Most of the songs have predictable rhyme schemes that do not challenge the expectations of what is coming next, nor do they impress the listener with any idea of sophistication. Take, for example, "Low," with its lines like "It's cool you didn't want me / Sometimes you can't go back / Why'd you have to go and make a mess like that / I just have to say, before I let go / Have you ever been low . . ." The lines are uninspired and they don't so much say anything with poetics and grace as they simply set up the next rhyme. She (or writer Jimmy Harry) rhymes "low/so," "go/low," "regret/that," etc. and the whole song feels canned.

And then there's the repetition. I swear if this album used each refrain only once it would be less than half an hour long. "Low," because I'm on it at the moment, repeats its refrain at least five times and it doesn't get better with repeated listens. The thing is, virtually all of the songs keep repeating themselves over and over again and the album wears thin quite quickly.

Beyond that, the musical presentations are dull and more sloppy than diverse. On Sophie B. Hawkins's album Timbre (reviewed here!), Hawkins presents a number of musical styles and forms. The album is assembled in such a way that the feeling of the entire work is that Hawkins is an artist who is able to spread out, experiment and create something that is truly diverse and clever. On Thankful, Clarkson's management seems to have less finesse and style and the album erratically puts pure pop-dance track ("Miss Independent") before a string of vocally-powered slow ballads. I understand the desire to break up the long procession of orchestra-backed pieces, but the album poorly arranges the tracks and the entire middle is one dull, gelatinous pop presentation that does not stick with the listener.

The music is universally unimpressive. "What's Up Lonely" sounds like a Top 40 produced hit, down to the fact that listening to it, it sounds like the track is using a drum machine (the drums on this track are, indeed, programmed). It has a generic, overproduced sound that carries equal weight with Clarkson's voice and the overwhelming backing vocals. Every time Clarkson sings how she is ". . . tired of singing this same, sad song" ("What's Up Lonely"), I sit up and yell "We're tired of hearing it!" This song has more of an R&B feel to it and again, the impression is less that Clarkson is a diverse artist and more that her producers didn't know what to stick her with and took the shotgun approach.

Overwhelmingly, sloppy arrangement or not, Clarkson's Thankful is assembled in such a way that emphasizes her pop performance abilities. The album goes from pop ballad to pop-dance, ballad, ballad, r&b ballad (sounds similar), pop-rock track, ballad, etc. While the album is dominated by guitars and keyboards, there is nothing distinct in any of the songs for their music. They sound - often - like programmed, prefab instruments that are not distinctive or in any way impressive or unique.

And I've yet to figure out why the last two tracks, "A Moment Like This" and "Before Your Love" are considered "bonus tracks." They are both listed as new mixes, but I've not found any copies of this album that lack those tracks and, frankly, the album would be so short without them that it would not be worth it. As it is, it's not worth it even with them. I look forward to Clarkson's next album and the idea of her coming into her own as an artist. On Thankful, she illustrates that she can be a useful tool to those who know how to control pop culture.

Even the best track, "Beautiful Disaster" is repetitive, but it's lightyears ahead of the dull pop of "You Thought Wrong."

For other female musical artists, please visit my reviews of:
Loose - Nelly Furtado
Girls & Boys - Ingrid Michaelson
Glowstars - Heather Nova

3/10

For other music reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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American Performer Kelly Clarkson Succeeds With The Breakaway

The Good: Good voice, Some decent music and production, Some decent lyrics
The Bad: Some forgettable tracks, Moments of schmaltz
The Basics: A solid and satisfying vocally-driven pop-rock album by one of the truly talented performers in the United States today.


I've never seen American Idol, mostly because I despise the whole reality t.v. movement (as any writer with self respect ought to!) and because for the most part I saw American Idol as redundant. American Idol seeks to showcase young talent and get it recording contracts based on the will of the american people (mostly that key teen c.d. buying demographic from 12 - 19). Outside the inherent problem of wooing producers and record labels (which I understand is what cuts down the career of 99.9% of the legitimate artists in the world before they may begin), the public already fulfills the function of American Idol whenever it buys compact discs. It's the reason that Madonna continues to sell albums and Michael Jackson does not. It's the reason there are musical movements - this year boy bands, this year solo young women, etc. - and why Heather Nova no longer releases albums in the U.S.; the music industry is heavily market-driven. Even without watching American Idol, it was obvious even to me why - when it came time to parody the phenomenon - writer-director Paul Weitz would model his contestant for American Dreamz (reviewed here!) after Clarkson.

Kelly Clarkson has talent. It's hard to deny that, even for one who despises pop-music and mainstream culture. She has the ability to sing and, as she proves on Breakaway, she has the ability to write (or co-write) as well. Breakaway marks Clarkson's step out of the spotlight she bought with American Idol. With five radio/charting singles, Breakaway is an impressive endeavor.

Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway is a twelve-track pop-rock album that wisely showcases the voice of Clarkson front and center. Clarkson is on the border between performer and musical artist. Clarkson is credited as co-writer of six of the twelve tracks and to her credit, three of the five singles released off the album ("Behind These Hazel Eyes," "Because Of You," and "Walk Away") were co-written by her. This suggests that Clarkson is succeeding, at least in part, on the basis of her own creative vision.

The extent of that, however, is subject to debate. Clarkson does not play any instruments on Breakaway and while there are strong implications that she is integral to the writing (i.e. she has hazel eyes, so it seems likely she had a lot to do with the poetics of "Behind These Hazel Eyes") of the lyrics, there's nothing to indicate how much influence she had in writing the music she sings. Indeed, since I first heard "Because Of You," the music sounded familiar. It's not credited to a previously released song, but it is clearly derivative of a previous pop-rock song (this has been bugging me for months).

Regardless, Clarkson and her co-writers are able lyricists. Clarkson is able to express her emotions well with such lines as ". . . Now all that's left of me / Is what I pretend to be / So together but so broken up inside / Cause I can't breathe / No I can't sleep / I'm barely hanging on . . ." ("Behind These Hazel Eyes"). Even the non-radio tracks have something to say and they do it well. "Where Is Your Heart" poignantly addresses desire with the questions, ". . . Is it so hard to give me what I need / I want your heart to bleed / And that's all I'm asking for / Where is your heart?"

Conversely, it did not at all surprise me to find in the liner notes that Clarkson's hit song Breakaway was co-written by Avril Lavigne (I suppose the lines "Trying hard to reach out / But when I tried to speak out . . ." should have been a flare). But that brings us to Clarkson's real talent. She can sing. Unlike Lavigne, who has worked for years to appeal to a young, angry, poser-punk crowd, Clarkson has harnessed a down-home good girl image based on a projected level of emotional honesty that resonates with her listeners. Her prime method for doing this has been through singing vocally-strong ballads that illustrate range and voice.

Kelly Clarkson pulls off Breakaway, which sounds very much like an Avril Lavigne song because of her vocal range. It comes naturally to Clarkson and the lyrics are not as rebellious and in-your-face as Lavigne's usual fare, making it more convincing from Clarkson. Clarkson's range is impressive and well-presented on Breakaway (the album). Despite the irritatingly derivative sound of "Because Of You," Clarkson's vocal range is impressive and makes the song a legitimate hit.

For the most part, Clarkson's voice is not overwhelmed by production elements or music that is backing her voice. The album's producer Clive Davis is attentive to keeping Clarkson's talents front and center. I was surprised at how like Evanescence Clarkson's song "Addicted" is and I have to admit to being impressed with the size of the sound of it.

Still, this is in many ways the typical pop-rock album. The songs deal almost universally with love or the dissolution of relationships. It is emotionally-driven poetry that generally appeals to fans of mainstream Top 40 music. In short, there are moments where it is overly emotive, intending to tug the heartstrings of the listener and in that way it's easy to see why it has such strong teen appeal.

My final recommendation for this is based on the fact that Clarkson's talent is well-presented, well-used and she offers a somewhat smarter brand of pop music than the usual mainstream blah. At some point, Kelly Clarkson will release a Greatest Hits album and if she's honest about it, five tracks from Breakaway will be on it. At that time, this album might become irrelevant as the best tracks ARE the five that were on the radio. Still, the album is generally satisfying and complete, with little track to track quality difference.

No one's more surprised than me.

The best track is the ballad "Behind These Hazel Eyes" (despite the weird video for it!), the weakest track is "You Found Me," which left almost no impression.

For other works by American Idol performers, check out my reviews of:
My December - Kelly Clarkson
Daughtry - Daughtry
Katherine McPhee - Katherine McPhee

6/10

Check out how this album stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Music Review Index Page for a listing from best to worst!

© 2013, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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My December: Kelly Clarkson's Mediocre Mix Of Decent Pop Ballads And Louder Straightforward Rock Tracks.

The Good: Moments of voice, Moments of music, Moments of lyrics/themes
The Bad: Many of the tunes are very safe and familiar, Somewhat generic pop sound, Often overproduced
The Basics: With Kelly Clarkson's My December, we have an album one suspects the best tracks from which will eventually end up on a "best of" album, negating interest in this one.


Six years ago if someone had told me that I would have listened to all of the first American Idol winner's subsequent compact discs, I would have told them they were crazy. I have a well-documented disdain for reality television shows and I don't believe I've even ever sat through an episode of American Idol. And yet, I seem to have heard all of Kelly Clarkson's albums now that I have My December in my c.d. player for the seventh time this week. My only American Idol note is that Clarkson seems to be pretty intent on proving my original thesis: that whomever won the first American Idol competition would have the greatest success because that person was most driven to risk everything on the untested idea as opposed to simply following a trend.

My December represents Kelly Clarkson's growth into a well-rounded musical artist who is essentially forced to fight for her own musical vision. With fourteen tracks (including the hidden one attached to the final song) clocking in at just over fifty-one minutes, My December represents a work that is very purely the endeavor of Kelly Clarkson. In addition to taking a co-executive producer position on the album, Clarkson sings all the songs, all of which were co-written by Clarkson. While Clarkson does not play a single instrument on the album, her writing and producing credits imply that the album released carried content she was generally happy with.

As a musical artist separate from the whole reality television experience, Kelly Clarkson is most marketable for her voice. Clarkson has a great voice in the alto range and she gets a little huskier with the force of her presentation on several songs on My December. As well, she goes higher on several songs, like the end of "Maybe," lending a sweet sound to the vocals of "Be Still" and "Sober." When her voice is within her range and utilized well, Clarkson has a decent voice and one that is one that is a clear instrument.

The problem is that Clarkson seems far too willing to be derivative vocally on this album. Every time I hear her track "How I Feel," I swear I am listening to a track by Pink! Having suffered through the angsty You Can't Take Me Home this is not something I am eager to hear. Yet, vocally, Clarkson seems to determined to capture the anger and intensity of the pop/hip-hop artist. Similarly, she bears a vocal resemblance to the pop stylings of Shania Twain's pop works on moments of "Can I Have A Kiss." It's strange to hear Clarkson be vocally derivative as she usually presents such a straightforward - if blandly overproduced - presentation.

And on My December there is less vocal production than on some of Clarkson's prior endeavors, which is a good thing. On tracks like "Irvine" Clarkson's voice radiates with a clarity and an undeniable inherent quality that makes it easy to believe that she could well endure in the marketplace because of her innate talent. She overcomes all of her instrumental accompaniment on the song and it is a beautiful thing to hear a young, fresh voice presenting itself naturally.

Unfortunately for Clarkson, it is only on the very quiet tracks that her voice is able to resonate and radiate with the clarity and evidence of talent. Half the album - at least - has louder tracks with Clarkson belting out lyrics to angry guitars ("Never Again" and "Don't Waste Your Time"), being dominated by drums ("Hole") and subsumed by the production elements ("Yeah"). In many ways the rock tracks are noisy and typical of what we expect from a very generic and bland pop-rock experience. The guitar riff repeated ad nauseam through "Yeah" and drown with the same sounds as the brass is chaotic.

In this fashion, My December gets off to a bad start. The pounding drums and loud guitars of "Never Again" easily overcome most of Clarkson's voice and instantly establish a sound that is both unpleasant and familiar. When it is not loud, thrashing and banging, "Never Again" is rather bland pop-rock performing. The bass and drums sound programmed (they aren't) because they present such a regular, straightforward and utterly unimaginative tune.

At least "Never Again" has a tune. "One Minute" is an unpleasant, barely musical collection of keyboards, bass, drums and a guitar all competing to drown out Clarkson's bleating. The net effect is a track that is confused and so busy that it loses any sense of message. Instead, it is a wall of sound that drags the listener through a musically murky territory and deposits them in a place where they are left unsure of what they might have actually heard.

Far more troubling than any musical chaos on My December is the repetitive quality to some of the slower songs. "Sober" and "Be Still" have almost the same melody and feel to them. In addition, the final hidden track has a similar acoustic sound to it as "Be Still," making all three tracks sound so similar as to be bothersome. "Be Still" opens with a programming progression and guitars that is instantly evocative of something by John Mayer. That kind of non-threatening pop music has a generic sound to it and that is not what I tend to look for from what I listen to.

Fortunately, there are some surprises for the listener and most of them come in the lyrics to the songs, which might indicate that Clarkson has a talent for co-writing songs for herself. Among these is the pleasant surprise of hearing a teen-pop artist singing, "Three months and I'm still sober / Picked all my weeds but kept the flowers / But I know it's never really over / And I don't know / I could crash and burn but maybe / At the end of this road I might catch a glimpse of me" ("Sober"). Yes, an artist singing about not solving breakup problems with drugs and alcohol. As stale as it is to say, I think that's cool and it promotes a positive attitude. Clarkson actually says something positive with the song: no matter how bad it is, it's possible to get through it all.

Lyrically, Clarkson seems to get more intimate with her haunting spirit on "Irvine," the sense of betrayal of standing by one who does not appreciate her efforts ("Judas"), and the desire to make a life for herself with someone new ("Be Still"). She illustrates surprising spite to open the album, singing "I hope the ring you gave to her turns her finger green / I hope when you're in bed with her, you think of me / I would never wish bad things but I don't wish you well" ("Never Again") and that is an interesting choice. Despite the musical presentation of that, the lyrics are intriguing.

The only problem is that on some of the tracks Clarkson gets a bit repetitive and in the most obvious ways. On "Don't Waste Your Time," she mortgages a sense of meaning and layering the song with a catchy hook. She repeats - over and over again - "it's over" and the title on "Don't Waste Your Time" that the more clever lines, like ". . . my friend / Friend, what does that even mean / I don't want your hand / You'll only pull me down." It seems like Clarkson has a much more firm grasp on writing and themes, even if she drowns them with some of her repetitions of refrains.

My December is a youthful exploration of the emotions of a woman who has been hurt before but does not want to continue being in pain and thematically, the album is fairly interesting. Her musical expression consists of pleading for fair consideration and real love, but a refusal to open up to the same one who has hurt her in the past. That makes for an interesting album and one that is certainly worthy of a listen.

Unfortunately, it's not quite enough to recommend this average musical album. While there are moments, My December did not hold up over multiple listens (as I finish this review, I'm in the ninth listen to the album. The impression one gets from My December is that Kelly Clarkson has talent but she is unsure how to apply it to get the best out of it. She might have a voice, but she does not always use it well; she has lyrics that are good, but not great and appeal mostly to the mid-teen c.d. buying crowd. And as someone looking for pop-rock music to have some distinction, this is too disappointing.

The best track is "Sober," the low point is the overproduced and atonal "One Minute."

For other strong female vocalists, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Promised Land - Dar Williams
My Love: Ultimate Essential Collection - Celine Dion
21 - Adele

5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my Music Index Page!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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