Review: Kelly Clarkson Provides a Master Class in Pop Singing in 'Stronger'

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. The rocker “Einstein” sounds like it might’ve been written for Pink, though it probably wasn’t, since Clarkson gets a co-writing credit. Against guitar squalls and live drums, she does the romantic math (“Our love divided by the square root of pride… It was heavy when I finally figured it out”) and concludes that “dumb plus dumb equals you,” a formula that will surely help kids get interested in arithmetic this fall.

Two albums ago, on the underrated “My December,” Clarkson seemed to be indulging an Amy Lee complex, and it returns with a brilliant vengeance on the hyper-dramatic “Honestly,” a far better Evanescence song than anything on the new Evanescence album.

“Dark Side” cleverly reinforces the idea that Miss American Idol has a shadow side with a spooky music-box melody that cuts in every time the big beat and goth histrionics briefly cut out. By contrast, “I Forgive You” sounds like nothing but power-pop fun, even though its Cars-style rock riffage and synth gurgles lead into a surprisingly cathartic expression of absolution.

The best is saved for almost last: “You Can’t Win,” another guitar-driven barnstormer, benefits from a series of exceedingly sharp verses that prove why modern life is just like Vietnam: “If you’re thin/Poor little walking disease/If you’re not/They’re screaming disease,” goes one couplet, and the woman knows whereof she speaks. “If you dump, so ungrateful/And if you’re happy, why so selfish?/You can’t win…”

Oh, but she can. “Stronger” has its cake and eats it, too -- by marrying pure ear-candy arrangements to Clarkson’s flawless, effortlessly fluid soul-rock vocals, and by embedding vividly conjured emotions in up-tempo tunes that never get too bogged down in their own seriousness. Thanks to records like this, ten years later, she’s still the only Idol that matters.

Kelly Clarkson, Janelle Monae and Others Release Song in Support of Michelle Obama’s Education Initiative

Michelle Obama has received some major celebrity support for her education initiative dedicated to supporting the education of girls worldwide.

"Called This Is For My Girls, the song will be performed live at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music, film and tech festival in Texas on Wednesday as Obama pushes her Let Girls Learn campaign,” said The Straits Times.

Obama announced her Let Girls Learn initiative in March 2015 and proceeds from the new single will go to the campaign, which Obama said is in the “action” phase.

Written by Oscar-nominated songwriter Diane Warren, the single is intended to be an anthem fro the 62 million girls in need of education worldwide.

Clarkson and Monae aren’t the only powerful female singers to lend their vocals to the song.

"Along with Rowland, Missy Elliott, Zendaya, Janelle Monae, Lea Michele, Kelly Clarkson, Jadagrace, and Beyoncé protégées Chloe & Halle lend vocals to “This Is for My Girls,” which was released on iTunes today,” said UpTownMagazine

Kelly Clarkson Won't Be Fat Shamed, Tells British Twitter Troll "I'm Awesome"

You can't put this girl down!
Kelly Clarkson had an amazing comeback for the British TV personality who called her fat in a series of unpleasant tweets — "Say what you will, I'm awesome!"

Clarkson, who gave birth to her first child River Rose in June last year, appeared on the British TV programme The Graham Norton Show in February, and renowned criticizer (and also the so-called Most Hated Woman in Britain) Katie Hopkins decided she had the right to comment on the singer's appearance.

"Jesus, what happened to Kelly Clarkson? Did she eat all of her backing singers? Happily I have wide-screen. #grahamnorton," she tweeted. But even when an army of followers snapped back with an explanation that the former American Idol winner had only recently given birth, Hopkins continued her abuse.

"Look chubsters, Kelly Clarkson had a baby a year ago. That is no longer baby weight. That is carrot cake weight. Get over yourselves," the sharp-tongued reality TV star continued.
Happily, Clarkson has the confidence and grace to let the nasty comments flow right over her, and had the best comeback imaginable for Hopkins when asked by Heat magazine how the comments had affected her.

"She's tweeted something nasty about me? That's because she doesn't know me. I'm awesome! It doesn't bother me. It's a free world. Say what you will," sunny Clarkson retaliated.
"I've just never cared what people think," she continued. "It's more if I'm happy and I'm confident and feeling good, that's always been my thing. And more so now, since having a family — I don't seek out any other acceptance."