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Music Review:
Thankful, Kelly Clarkson
THANKFUL
1. The Trouble With Love Is
2. Miss Independent
3. Low
4. Some Kind Of Miracle
5. What's Up Lonely
6. Just Missed The Train
7. Beautiful Disaster
8. You Thought Wrong
9. Thankful
10. Anytime
11. A Moment Like This
12. Before Your Love
YOU WANTED TO KNOW
Through careful editing, we watched as Kelly Clarkson grew from a small-town gal to the first winner of American Idol. Seemingly overnight, she went from the girl next door to Miss Attitude, er, Independent. Gone was the goofy girl who went around saying "cool beans" and who frolicked in a tar pit with her friends. In her place, we got a woman with hair extensions and back up dancers. If this is the American dream, then Kelly Clarkson is the dream personified.
After all the hype of the first season of "American Idol," Miss Clarkson released two singles but no album. Was this a smart move? After all, the second season of "American Idol" just wrapped up. One year later, would the public still remember her, let alone love her? And would starring in a vehicle obviously designed to capitalize on the success of the television show backfire on her or make her star rise?
Unfortunately, here at Happygrrls, we don't have all the answers. But what we did learn, at least, was that Kelly Clarkson's debut, Thankful, is not exactly the best CD we've ever heard. If her CD was an earthquake, it would be the type that might stir you from your sleep, momentarily, before you black out again. And maybe the next day, some co-worker/family member/random person on the street might mention it, and then you'd think, "Ah, that's why I woke up, but I thought it was just the house settling so I went back to sleep," and they'd reply, "No, really, it was an earthquake. Some tree fifty miles from here lost a branch in the aftermath." And then you'd shake your head over the loss of the branch and move on.
As you can see, I'm trying my hardest to procrastinate over this review. It's not because I dread trash-talking Kelly Clarkson, or that I'm afraid to say I liked her CD. For what it's worth, I enjoyed Thankful way more than I imagined I would, but I've run out of synonyms for "average" and "eh."
What surprised me the most was the mix of genres - from R&B to pop to alternative to over saturated ballads - which really shouldn't come as a surprise, given the eclectic array of producers that slaved over the album. For her part, Kelly Clarkson slips effortlessly into each song. Unfortunately, her chameleon-like abilities give her a disadvantage, as she ends up sounding a bit like everyone else but herself.
The CD starts off with The Trouble With Love, a bluesy ballad reminiscent of Mariah Carey, circa "Vision of Love." It then moves on to "Miss Independent," which was co-penned by Christina Aguilera (it didn't make it on Aguilera's album because it was only half finished). On this track, Clarkson sounds exactly like - you guessed it - Aguilera. Which is not entirely her fault, seeing that the song sounds exactly like Aguilera's recent work, right down to the angry lyrics and heavy bass. At first I didn't like the song, especially after seeing the live performance on "American Idol," but it grew on me to become one of my favourite songs off the album.
If you're craving a ballad, Thankful has several from which you can choose. You can even get extra cheese if you'd like. In addition to "A Moment Like This" and Before Your Love, there's Some Kind of Miracle, Thankful and "Anytime" (although they're not nearly as saccharine as the former). Again, in Anytime Clarkson is dead-on as Mariah Carey. I'm not saying that she's trying to emulate Carey, but since she's practically gone from the spotlight, Clarkson could effortlessly slip into her place. A Moment Like This is a toned down, almost monotonic version of the original that she originally sang at the finals. Rumor was that the song was too high and hurt her vocals. Which is unfortunate, as the original had a little more soul than this version.
Beautiful Disaster is a sort of alternative poppy ditty that is by far the weakest track on the album. On it, she sings, "He drowns in his dreams/An exquisite extreme I know/He's as dumb as he seems/And more heaven than a heart could hold/And if I try to save him/My whole world could cave in/It just ain't right." This is the first song ever that actually made me confused. I'll give Clarkson credit for singing the song without bursting into tears.
Just Missed the Train is also a sappy alternative track, but I liked it, more so for the melody than for anything else. Clarkson sounds confident on this song, and she pulls off the tone very well. You Thought Wrong reunites her with her "American Idol" finalist, Tamyra Gray. The girls belt out declarations like "Tell me where where did you get the nerve to even think that you you could play me wrong" and "You thought we didn't know/You thought we were in the dark/But boy your covers blown/Cause we both know now." I had to listen to the song several times to figure out who was singing what, but the R&B song about a cheating man works. I said I wouldn't comment on the evil, vindicated laughing at the end of the song, but I lied. If that part was not needed on Monica and Brandy's The Boy is Mine, then it's not needed here.
The rest of the other tracks play like elevator music. You hear them, but really, they're just filler on the album.
Overall, the CD is what you'd expect from the winner of a television show. You can tell that Clarkson is attempting to assert her own independence from the Hollywood machinery, but falls a little short. Clarkson should count her blessings that, unlike some of the other acts out there, she can sing. Plus, she's got her health. Thankful is worth a listen, preferably for free at your local HMV on a lazy Sunday afternoon. ¤ C.Ho.
THANKFUL:
(out of 5)
