Kelly Clarkson: Piece By Piece | Album Review
Since the release of her last record, Kelly Clarkson‘s personal life has done a complete 180º turn around with the marriage to her manager’s son, Brandon Blackstock, the birth of her first daughter River Rose and a continued battle of public scrutiny about her weight. Though she has never been one to flaunt her personal life through the tabloids and often ignores stories of her weight, Clarkson instead shifts focus on her music and her voice. The voice that won her the title of America’s first Idol in 2002, a bundle of Grammy Awards and countless radio hits.
On Tuesday, the singer will deliver her seventh studio album Piece By Piece, which has been noted as the singer’s most personal to date. The record includes tracks penned by top songwriters such as Sia and Kara DioGuardi, an appearance by John Legend on the Tokkio Hotel cover “Run Run Run” and the return of producer/writer Greg Kurstin, the man behind Clarkson’s massive single “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).” With power house collaborators contributing to her seventh effort – the first since her Christmas album Wrapped In Red – Piece By Piece has the ingredients for another successful effort from “Miss Independent.”
Notably missing on Piece By Piece are the anthemic breakup songs that the singer is so famously known for delivering. Perhaps the absence of Max Martin is responsible, or maybe it’s just a woman-in-love’s decision to move beyond the formula that made her pop music royalty. Instead, creating a sound more fitting for a new mom. Still present on the album though, is Kelly’s unmatched vocal ability and raw delivery of lyrics. On the album’s title track, a heart-wrenching retelling of a woman abandoned by her father, Clarkson delivers the lines so emotionally that it’s hard not to draw comparisons to her Breakaway hit “Because Of You.” A song with similar content.
Standout tracks on the album include the Sia-penned “Invincible” and “Let Your Tears Fall,” “I Had A Dream” and the appropriately titled “Nostalgic,” which reminds listeners that Clarkson delivered 80’s inspired pop hooks long before Taylor Swift dropped 1989. The sassy bonus track “Second Wind” highlights the angsty American Idol winner that publicly turned her back on the series and perhaps offers some insight into why. “Why do we build up all these Idols just to watch them fall/ You’re wearing the crown, toast of the town and then no one takes your call,” she sings before the chorus reminds us why she reigns supreme among the group of reality show winners. And on the standard edition’s final track “Good Goes The Bye”, Clarkson gives me life with the album’s most compelling and memorable moment.
Pick up Piece By Piece on iTunes this Tuesday (March 3rd) or pre-order the album now to get the record’s first single “Heartbeat Song.”
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Corey Groves
I just wanted to say that I love Kelly Clarkson’s music with all my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life listening to it because her music has been the best thing that has ever happened to me ever since she became the first winner on the first season of the T. V. show, “American Idol” back in 2002 and that was the year that I graduated from High School. I would be lost if she ever decides to stop making music because making music is what she lives for. Kelly is one of the most popular and one of the most successful music artists in the music industry and of this generation who has a lot of fans all over the world who really enjoys listening to her music and who really enjoys going to her concerts, and I’m also one of them who was born and raised over here in the United States of America. I have all of her previous albums and I bought the deluxe edition of her, “Piece By Piece” album at Target when it was released on March 3, 2015. I was very disappointed when I found out that the album only sold 83,000 copies on the first week that was released over here in the United States of America and that it wasn’t certified as Platinum just like all of her previous albums were because in my personal opinion, I think that it is the best Pop albums of 2015. The album should’ve been certified as Platinum and it should’ve sold 1,000,000 copies when it was released on the first week over here in the United States of America. I like Kelly and John Legend’s version of the song, “Run Run Run” a lot better than Tokio Hotel’s version because they put a lot of emotions into it when they were singing it as a duet. She has a lot of creativity when it comes to her own music because she takes it into a different level by adding a perfect mixture of Country, Dance, Pop, R & B, Rock, and Soul to it and not a lot of music artists can really do that when it comes to their own music. I have a lot of respect for her as a music artist and as a songwriter because not only that she doesn’t sing and write about doing drugs and having sex, also because she show her nude body in any of her music videos. I also have a lot of respect for her as a human being because not only that she is so down to earth when it comes to meeting and talking to her fans, also because she doesn’t care about what other people think of her. I wish that I was married to Kelly because in my personal opinion, I think that she looks a lot more prettier than my wife, Ashley does and she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body just like my wife does. I regret marrying Ashley at the age of 21 because it was the most biggest mistake that I have ever made in my life. If Kelly wasn’t married to Brandon Blackstock and if she didn’t have a child with him, I would divorce my wife in a heartbeat and marry her. Her name would be, Kelly Brianne Clarkson-Groves instead of Kelly Brianne Clarkson-Blackstock. I will always guard and protect her heart from all of those haters out there because she is a perfect role model to all of her fans out there. I will always be one of her most biggest fans because her music inspires me so much. Her singing voice is a special gift from God and nobody can take that away from her. End of story.
Chris Vetrano
I love Kelly too — she’s one of the most talented vocalists of our time! I hope she knocks ’em dead on the Piece By Piece tour this summer — maybe album sales will increase once she releases another single? “Invincible” was probably not the right choice, but the album is a winner! Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, Corey! Best wishes!
V for Vetrano
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