Kelly Clarkson’s new album has been subject to more delays than the NBA season. But apparently the perpetual tweaking was a matter of fine-tuning, not desperation, since “Stronger” lives up to its title -- trumping not just the current pop-diva competition but all of Clarkson’s previous albums, too.
Whether the general public has been waiting on tenterhooks for the record remains to be seen, since the lead single, “Mr. Know It All,” peaked at No. 18 in its debut week. But there are six, seven, maybe eight tracks here better than that okay opener waiting to break away and get a shot at commandeering the radio. As a succession of potential smashes, “Stronger” feels like tuning in to an expertly programmed all-Kelly/all-the-time hits station.
That’s giving a lot of inherent credit to the revolving door of writer-producers responsible for the parade of hooks, almost all of them new to Clarkson’s team. (No Dr. Luke this time; no Ryan Tedder.) Still, no one’s likely to tag “Stronger” as “a producers’ album” when it manages to be such a master class in great pop singing.
Also read: Kelly Clarkson Live: Watch Her 'Ellen' Performance [Video]
Part of greatness is restraint, and what a pleasure it is hearing Clarkson hold herself back here, if that doesn’t sound too counterintuitive. There’s hardly a showboat-y moment in an hour’s worth of lead vocals here. At times, in her lowest range, she even sounds like a dead ringer for Rihanna -- which is hardly the highest compliment you could pay a singer of Clarkson’s range, but it does give her a starting point from which to graduate to the kind of wailing fans are waiting for.
If it’s balladic Kelly that thrills you, you may need to hold out for some future project Clarkson is destined to record her middle age, since only two out of the 13 tracks on the standard edition fall outrightly into that category. “Stronger” is for fans who prefer fun Kelly, or angry Kelly… which have come to be pretty much the same thing, come to think of it.
For someone who still enjoys an image as America’s duly elected sweetheart, Clarkson gets a lot of mileage out of righteous rage. The pissy post-breakup rejoinders begin with “Mr. Know It All” and rarely let up, least of all with the likely second single, “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger),” a soon-to-break-out dance track in which Clarkson all but declares that “I, the Nietzschean superman, will survive.”
(Never mind how tired that tune’s titular phrase is. For a laugh, look up the YouTube video in which some wag mashed together a medley of 30 different songs that already borrowed “That which does not kill me makes me stronger” as a lyrical hook. Compared to this, Britney’s “Hold It Against Me” is based on an original thought.)
“Stronger” really does get stronger as it goes along.
