Here’s the deal: I’m not buying Kelly Clarkson’s Greatest Hits record. I’m not buying it because I have all these tracks. I’m the dedgum Clarksonian Institute. You need a Kelly Clarkson track, I’ve got it. Or I can get it. A performer of Kelly Clarkson’s quality doesn’t need half-committed fans. Don’t expect to find Christmas-andEaster-only Kelly Clarkson devotees in the Still household. We’re year round Kellebrities.
Kelly Clarkson’s new Greatest Hits single, “Catch My Breath”, fits the sound of Clarkson’s most recent studio release, Stronger. Where Breakaway and All I Ever Wanted showcased guitar driven pop-rock, Stronger strips the guitars back, amps the synth, and even swells with straight-up Nashville country sensibilities. “Catch My Breath”, a memoir-ish look back at Clarkson’s career from American Idol forward, solidifies the sheer electro-pop new direction of Clarkson’s music, while also featuring some of Clarkson’s most personal lyrics – and strongest studio performance – since Breakaway’s “Because of You” and “Hear Me”. Likewise, Clarkson’s duet with Vince Gill (which features very little Vince Gill), “Don’t Rush”, is a straight early 80’s country-pop standard that oddly puts me in mind of the Kenny Rogers / Dolly Parton radio hit, “Islands In The Stream.” The happy-sappy chorus and swimmy guitars, chopped by an elevator-y muzak style bridge, makes me think that Kelly Clarkson is having fun here, recording an ode to childhood radio nostalgia. Whatever the case, “Don’t Rush” is a far better country track than Stronger’s “Don’t You Wanna Stay” duet with Jason Aldean: the only Kelly Clarkson track I skip everytime it circles around.
Clarkson’s previously unreleased “People Like Us” begins with a spoken-word, Pat Benatar “Love Is A Battlefield” or Lady Gaga “Born This Way” style admonition of diversity and tolerance. Honestly, the vocal bit feels trite and silly but does not manage to steal the track’s overall effect. “People Like Us”, ripe with Britney and Rihanna club-heavy dance beats, is easily Clarkson’s strongest pop-rock radio single option since All I Ever Wanted’s “I Don’t Hook Up”.
While Kelly Clarkson appears, in her song choices and writing, as well as interviews and Tweets, to be moving in a more country focused direction, I’m stoked to hear “People Like Us.” I’m also loving the live version of “Miss Independent” on the deluxe release of the Greatest Hits record, which vividly illustrates the progress of Clarkson’s voice and style since her American Idol days. Also, I can’t get enough of Clarkson’s Alanis Morisette cover, “That I Would Be Good” (available on Clarkson’s Smoakstack Sessions Vol. 2). These newly available tracks prove that Kelly Clarkson is a powerhouse rock vocalist, a la – dare I say – Aretha Franklin. And while I’ll always prefer this rockier side of Kelly Clarkson to her country influences, I’ll follow Kelly Clarkson wherever she goes. If she really wanted to go country, I wish she’d have included her cover of Patti Griffins’ “Up To The Mountain” and her “Because of You” duet with Reba McEntire on her Greatest Hits, both performances proving she can hold her own alongside her successors and heroines. I mean, dang it, Atarimatt was right: that woman must have sold her soul somewhere to be so good. Either that or she’s one of the few with enough to shine through.
