Album Review - All I Ever Wanted

Album Review - Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted


Kelly Clarkson's new album, All I Ever Wanted, may have been released back in March, but I only just got my hands on it. You'll just have to trust that I do more than blog, and wasn't able to get my hands on it.

Well, we can't talk about the new album without talking about the old albums, so we'll start there.
Let's forget about Thankful. Lord knows the rest of the world did. For all intents and purposes, Clarkson's career really took off with the success of Breakaway. A stellar album where every song could have been single, that album made everyone either respect or resent her. Since U Been Gone, originally slated to go to that kinderwhore Hillary Duff, became one of the biggest singles in the history of ever. Her following releases, Behind these Hazel Eyes, Because of You, and Walk Away all were beautiful gems.
Important Fact: Clarkson is only credited with partial writing credits for five songs from Breakaway.

Her next album, My December, was a huge source of controversy. While Clarkson was more or less in charge of the album, it failed to meet the standards set by Breakaway.
Important Fact: Kelly is credited with writing credits for every song on the album.

All I Ever Wanted is, so far, a huge success. I've listened to the entire album a few times, along with hearing the singles My Life Would Suck Without You and I Do Not Hook Up hundreds of time. This round, Clarkson has cut back on her writing and focused more on her performance. Collaborating with multiple producers and writers including Katy Perry and Ryan Tedder (of OneRepublic) has given this album farther opportunity for lyrical and aural perfection. Whether Clarkson is proud of this album or not is unknown, but I personally think she has every right to be. For starters, the tracks I Do Not Hook Up and Longshot were both originally written and recorded by Katy Perry back in 2004. I'm thrilled that Perry passed her reins; Clarkson's versions offer so much more in energy and vocal prowess than Katy Perry could ever muster up. Teaming up with Ryan Tedder for Already Gone gives the track a feel similar to that of OneRepublic's Say (All I Need), with the emotion and raw power that only KC could provide. The album just wouldn't be the same without bitter breakup songs such as If I Can't Have You or solid bonus tracks such as The Day We Fell Apart. It retains it's strength as a party album with tracks like Whyyawannabringmedown, but allows Kelly to truly show her range and power with rock-ballands like Cry and If No One Will Listen.
All in all, I'm more than proud of Kelly's progress with this album.
Important Fact: Clarkson is credited on writing only seven tracks on the album (including the bonus tracks.)

Long story short, I definitely recommend this album. Get in on it!

Kelly has put out two videos for it so far, My Life Would Suck Without You and I Do Not Hook Up. Both videos were quite interesting. In My Life, KC shows that she's a crazy instigator in a relationship, and in Hook Up, I'm reminded that Kelly still won't have sex with me even though I wait outside her house with nothing but high hopes and a smile even though I have a completely healthy, non-sexual obsession with Kelly Clarkson.