Stronger (Kelly Clarkson album)
Stronger is the fifth studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released on October 21, 2011, by RCA Records. The thirteen-song track-list features Clarkson collaborating with various new producers as well as with Howard Benson, whom she collaborated with on her previous album, All I Ever Wanted (2009). Wanting to stray away sonically from her previous albums, Clarkson's main objective was to record her vocal performances as it is heard in her live sets, and used as little auto-tune processing as possible. The album also marked the first release by Clarkson that did not cause a conflict with RCA; her previous records, most notably My December (2007), were released amidst conflict and controversy.
Stronger
October 21, 2011
2010–11
Chalice Recording, Los Angeles, California; Smoakstack, Nashville, Tennessee; Starstruck, Nashville, Tennessee.
- 47:25 (Standard)
- 61:45 (Deluxe)
Clarkson began writing new material for the album in November 2009 while touring and finished recording in February 2011. Despite its original intent to be released in late 2010, the release date of the album was pushed back several times. The record is predominantly a pop rock album, with several music critics noting the predominant R&B and country influences Clarkson explored in Thankful (2003) and All I Ever Wanted, as well as dance-pop themes which she had recently developed. The album's lyrical content mainly explores themes about heartbreak, vengeance, forgiveness and empowerment through metaphors about Clarkson's relationships around people.
Upon its release, Stronger received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised Clarkson's vocal performance, but noted its lack of progression, unlike her previous albums. In the United States, Stronger debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and became her first record to be certified platinum in five years by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) since My December. Internationally, it debuted within the top-ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Stronger received four nominations at the 55th Grammy Awards: It won Best Pop Vocal Album and was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)".[2]
The album produced three singles. "Mr. Know It All" topped the charts in Australia and South Korea and attained top-ten positions in four countries, including the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" became the album's most successful release and Clarkson's most successful single overall. It topped the charts in the United States, Poland, Denmark, and Slovakia and attained top-ten positions in over twenty countries around the world. The final single, "Dark Side", was released to moderate success, attaining top-ten positions in three countries. Clarkson promoted Stronger in two concert tours, the Stronger Tour and the 2012 Summer Tour with American alternative rock band, The Fray.
Background[edit]
During an interview with MTV News in November 2009, Clarkson stated that while performing on the All I Ever Wanted Tour, she would also be in the process of writing new material for her fifth studio album, which she hoped for a late 2010 release.[3] Later, during an interview with Chart Show TV, Clarkson revealed that she wanted to do something different for the album. Her label felt the same way.[4] On March 4, 2010, Clarkson was announced to perform on the revived Lilith Fair music festival. However, low ticket sales and scheduling conflicts led Clarkson and Norah Jones to cancel their upcoming performances. Clarkson remarked she would focus on recording for her upcoming album instead.[5][6] Clarkson took a six-month break from her music career in 2010. Clarkson, who had a hectic schedule following the release of her second album Breakaway, admitted that her music career had a bad effect on her health, saying "Because my career went from zero to 100, there was no 'growing'. I learnt well under pressure, but, like, four years passed by and I hit rock bottom, Breakaway just exploded everywhere. Everyone was making a lot of money, so everyone was pushing the train. That's when it finally all caught up with me. I came down with 'walking pneumonia' for the second time in a year. My body was physically giving up. I took six months off and went home. I love working, but at the end of the day you've got to take care of yourself."[7][8]
Collaborations and recording[edit]
Clarkson began collaborating with Howard Benson and Claude Kelly, both of whom also produced songs from her previous album All I Ever Wanted.[17] Jason Halbert, her musical director and her co-writer during the sessions for My December, also added new material for the new album.[13] Clarkson also announced that she worked with several other musicians such as Toby Gad, Greg Kurstin, Josh Abraham, Steve Jordan and Darkchild.[18][19][20][21] Bonnie McKee revealed in an interview that she also contributed with Clarkson for the album, stating "I did a bunch of work with Kelly Clarkson last summer, it’s looking like that will make the album. She really has an incredible voice and I’m excited to see what happens, I have high expectations for that album!"[22]
Recording sessions for Stronger took place at various recording studios around the world while Clarkson was on the international leg of her All I Ever Wanted Tour. Some recording sessions took place at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, and at Smoakstack and Starstruck Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.[23][24] In August 2010, Clarkson recorded a song with country singer Jason Aldean entitled "Don't You Wanna Stay" for his fourth studio album, My Kinda Party.[25] The song was released as a single in November 2010 and was later included in the deluxe versions of Stronger as a bonus track.[23] In February 2011, Clarkson announced that she would record the final song for the album, "Mr. Know It All", on February 25, 2011.[26] Clarkson also revealed that she recorded two duet songs for the album, saying "There are actually two duets on the new record and I have at some point sang with both of these artists before but not on record." One of the duets, titled "One More Yesterday", which Clarkson confirmed was featuring fellow Idol-alumnus Chris Daughtry, did not manage to make the final track list. The song was written by Daughtry, Richard Marx and Jason Wade, but Clarkson decided not to include it feeling that it might not be suitable for the album's direction. The second duet, "The Sun Will Rise", which appears on the deluxe edition of the album, was revealed to be a duet with American songwriter Kara DioGuardi.[27] The Smoakstack Sessions, Clarkson debuted extended play, was released as a companion EP to the record, and was made available exclusively through her official online music store.[28]
Title and concept[edit]
Clarkson revealed that the album's title would be Stronger. She described it as "very much about strength and empowerment, so Stronger felt like the perfect title. Plus that song is just a gold mine — it's a little bit pop, a little bit pop-rock, a little bit urban, a little bit dance, and it ties everything in. And everybody loves that message, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' It's a perfect representation of my life."[18]
During Clarkson's live web cast on August 30, 2011 she stated what made her title the album Stronger was "mainly because the entire album is very much about empowerment and just strength overall and I love singing songs like that... That was kind of the theme -strength- so we named it Stronger." She also named it Stronger because it comes from a lyric from one of her favorite tracks on the album, initially called "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)". "It just kind of encompasses the whole theme for the album", Clarkson commented.[29]
Composition[edit]
Music and themes[edit]
Clarkson co-wrote seven tracks from the album, and collaborated with other artists such as Ester Dean and Bonnie McKee for the first time.[18] Clarkson stated that the new music will be different from her previous albums, describing it as "like Garbage-meets-pop-meets-Muse."[3] Claude Kelly remarked that the songs he wrote "were in true Kelly Clarkson form; singer records that showcase her voice, but also show her edge and her attitude and her personality." He also explained that "[It's] always up-tempo for me when it comes to Kelly. I like to hear her in kick-butt mode. She has an edge to her voice that you want to hear her sing high and get in your face".[17] Darkchild then remarked that he and Lauren Christy wrote a song "that's just crazy pop-rock", and "The first person who came into my head to do it was Kelly Clarkson."[20] Clarkson stated that the album ended up going in a different direction than what they were originally going for.[30]
In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Clarkson stated that she and her producers strove to record her voice in the album as it is heard at live performances, with as little auto-tune processing as possible,[31][32] saying "What separates this album are the vocals. They sound richer and fuller, and, for the first time, how I sound when I’m performing live. The producers I worked with just let me sing and be me."[18] Clarkson remarked that "It was a lot of soulful stuff. You know what I'm saying? Like, Radiohead is alternative, but they're very soulful. And Sheryl Crow, very soulful singer-songwriter. So it's all very soulful, rhythmic pop rock."[33] Shortly after the final track listing was revealed, MTV observed that the word "you" featured prominently in the songs' titles. Clarkson asserted "They're all different 'you's'. There's no common, like, it wasn't like one, I didn't have a bad breakup or anything, it wasn't like that. No, I just think life is about relationships, so I always write about all these different ones going on in my life and I don't really have a filter. So it's usually very [straightforward]."[33]
Song structure and lyrical content[edit]
The opening track and lead single, "Mr. Know It All," features a steady four-four stomp, synthetic strings and drum-machine loops,[34] with Clarkson's vocals being deemed as "raw". It talks about a deceptive, arrogant man,[35] with Rolling Stone remarking that "Clarkson sasses a controlling man with double-entendres that up her R&B appeal."[36] The second track, "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)", was described as a "chilly" electropop and "glitter-disco" song,[34][37][38] about encouraging personal reinvention.[39] Clarkson herself compared it to her 2004 hit single "Since U Been Gone".[33] The third, "Dark Side", is a mid-tempo track about a longing to be loved and accepted unconditionally, while "Honestly" longs for the truth, even when it's hard.[35] Clarkson wrote "You Love Me" following an incident that she thought would break her, which she described as the most hurt she has ever been in her life, and while writing about it she was able to get it out of her system.[18][33] It has Clarkson laying her anger at her emotional abuser's feet and features heavy guitar in its chorus.[39][40]
"Einstein" was defined as a "bratty kiss-off", on which "she does the math for a no-good boyfriend."[37] The line, "I may not be Einstein, but I know dumb plus dumb equals you", was largely criticized by music critics.[34][39][41] "Standing in Front of You" was considered a "poetic ballad about imploring a gun-shy guy to take the plunge and commit."[35][41] The eighth track, the pop punk "I Forgive You",[42] talks about forgiveness and was seen as "a heartfelt postscript to the guy who left her in 'Since U Been Gone'."[35][37][43] "Hello" is an uptempo "rugged" track that "finds its groove in the chorus [and] handclaps on the bridge."[39] "The War Is Over" was considered a "post-breakup song"[35] with "pummeling" drums,[39] while "Let Me Down" has Clarkson being "'dumb enough to linger' with a bad boy."[39] "You Can't Win", a punch-guitar song,[37] "reflects on the reality that there are always going to be critics, no matter what you say or do. It strives to encourage 'the one who doesn't quite fit in' not to internalize criticism too deeply."[35] The closing track on the standard edition, "Breaking Your Own Heart," was named an "acoustic country" song.[39][41][44]
Commercial performance[edit]
On its first week of release in the United Kingdom, Stronger sold 29,233 copies, enough for it to debut at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart, the album's release also helped lead single "Mr Know It All" ascend from six to four, with 53,307 in sales, becoming her second highest charting single there ahead of "Since U Been Gone" and behind "My Life Would Suck Without You."[84] In Australia, the album debuted at number three in the ARIA Charts, which was lower than All I Ever Wanted but higher than My December.[107] In the United States, the album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart with 163,000 copies sold, making it the second time Clarkson debuted at the second spot on the chart, the first being My December in 2007. It also became her fifth consecutive album to debut in the top three.[108][109] Although Stronger became Clarkson's lowest first-week total after All I Ever Wanted, which debuted with 255,000 copies in 2009; week-to-week commercial performance of Stronger was better than its predecessor. Billboard editor Keith Caulfield predicted that Stronger would surpass All I Ever Wanted and My December in sales.[110] As of September 2012, the album has been certified platinum in the United States, denoting shipments of one million copies[111] and sold over 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom, becoming her second most successful album there after Breakaway, which sold over 1,500,000 copies. As of September 2017, Stronger has sold 1,129,000 copies in the United States.[112]
Upon the release of Stronger, the song "I Forgive You" debuted and peaked at number 48 on South Korea's Gaon Chart,[86] and on the International Gaon Chart it debuted and peaked at number one. Other songs debuted on the same chart as follows: "You Love Me" (#46), "Hello" (#47), "Dark Side" (#48), "Breaking Your Own Heart" (#49), "Standing in Front of You" (#50), "Honestly" (#51), "Einstein" (#53), "Let Me Down" (#61), "You Can't Win" (#63) and "The War Is Over" (#65).[86]
Notes
Track details[edit]
Why Don't You Try[edit]
In 2009, Eric Hutchinson opened for Kelly Clarkson in selected dates in her All I Ever Wanted Tour, where he debuted a new song, "Why Don't You Try", originally intended for his fourth studio album.[115] Clarkson recalled upon hearing the song:
In February 2011, Clarkson recorded the song with Steve Jordan in New York.[116][117] The recording sessions featured prominent session musicians—including Pino Palladino on bass, Hugh McCracken on guitar, Ivan Neville on piano, and Jordan on Drums. All of them had previously collaborated with Jordan, primarily Palladino—who, like Jordan, is also a member of the musical ensemble John Mayer Trio. It is also one of the last recordings in which McCracken appeared before he died in 2013.[118] "Why Don't You Try" is a R&B ballad,[119][120] it was the first announced track for her fifth studio album, Stronger, which was ultimately released in October 2011.[121] Brian Masfield of USA Today wrote that "Why Don't You Try" "lets Kelly unleash her inner Aretha."[119] Clarkson performed "Why Don't You Try" during Muhammad Ali's "Celebrity Fight Night" charity event in Phoenix, Arizona on March 19, 2011.[122] A live version of the song also appears on her second extended play, iTunes Session, which was released in December 2011.[123]
Vocals
Musicians
Production
Imagery