Kelly Clarkson-"Greatest Hits, Chapter 1" Review

 

 

Remember when Kelly Clarkson won American Idol? Neither do I, since she is the only artist besides Carrie Underwood to make a name for herself without the help from the show. True, that’s the way she get recognized, but it was completely up to Kelly herself to make her a star in her own right.

 
Kelly started with the early 2000s generic pop, with a debut album whose title was also as obvious and generic as they come. So to make herself more than an ordinary pop-tart, she quickly reworked her sound to just comfortable fit into the mainstream, and the result was one of pop’s definitive albums “Breakaway”. After the title track’s debut, Kelly started to crank out the hits with no effort. The ultimate break-up anthem “Since U Been Gone”, and the very personal and quite frankly heartbreaking ballad “Because of You”, all made their way to the top of the charts. But even with all of that success, it wasn’t enough for Kelly to accept a pop-py sound, so she dyed her hair dark brown, added the steel guitars and pounding drums and created “My December”, which was at best a flop. It generated the top 10 “Never Again” but it didn’t even get a glimpse of the same success as its predecessor did. But she was quick to atone for this disaster with “All I Ever Wanted” in 2009 which brought her back to her pop/rock and big choruses. It generated the record breaking “My Life Would Suck Without You” which jumped from 97-1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it became her second number one single (her first being “A Moment Like This” which she sang as her finale song on AmIdol). But fame was fleeting for that album as well, it only generated one top ten as well as 2 more top twenty hits. So she ducked under the radar to keep finding inspiration. In 2011, she turned to light rock and country influences with “Stronger” which was her best album since her 2004 blockbuster. Its two singles “Mr. Know It All” and “What Doesn’t Kill You” both reached the top 10, the latter becoming her third number one.

In just ten years, Kelly has already made a career path that could warrant “Greatest Hits, Chapter 1” to be her final compilation. Unlike her pop peers, it seems that Kelly has actually taken a journey and has discovered her own musical nirvana in the process. She has a voice like no other in 2012, and this compilation not only hits the marks it should, it is by far the best of all the numerous compilations that have been put into stores. All of the mentioned hits are here – her new material is very strong – every song works together and compliments Kelly’s considerable skills. From 2002 to now, what has kept Kelly at the top of the AmIdol pack is her humanity, and if this really is only the first chapter, then she will definitely have more compilations to come, even if hard-core fans will have to fabricate a reason to add a compilation to their collections.

 Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Since U Been Gone                2. My Life Would Suck Without You
3. Miss Independent                     4. What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)
5. Behind These Hazel Eyes      6. Because of You        7. Never Again
8. Already Gone                            9. Mr. Know It All       10. Breakaway
11. Don’t You Wanna Stay?       12. Walk Away             13. Catch My Breath
14. People Like Us                      15. Don’t Rush             16. A Moment Like This
17. I’ll Be Home For Christmas