Re: Kelly Clarkson
If I were smart, I'd just let it it go. But, as I pointed out in the IQ thread, I'm not smart. So, here it is - an apologia.
First off, let me state that if you love the music, then yes - by all means, buy the album! I'd never tell people not to enjoy a song. Don't let nobody pick your fun, sang the Cars back in 1982, and it's still good advice now.
I've never been a Kelly Clarkson fan, per se. I've enjoyed a couple of her songs, but nothing more. I don't watch American Idol, I don't listen to her albums over and over, nothing like that. But, as it turns out, I AM somewhat of a fan of another artist - Kenna - who's having some similar issues with HIS latest album. Kenna's attempting to branch out from the more pop-oriented material of his previous album, trying to move forward into different realms. And I'm all for that. But my complaint about Kenna's new album is the same as my issue with Kelly's new album - I find the new stuff uncompelling.
Kenna's "real" fans have given me plenty of grief over this. The most common accusation is that I want Kenna to be stuck in some sort of time warp, to constantly churn out carbon copies of his last album over and over, to never evolve. In short, Lex don't realize that Kenna's moved on to bigger and better things.
The thing is, though, Lex do understand. I'm extremely happy the Beatles moved beyond "Please Please Me". I'm stoked that Little Stevie Wonder wasn't stuck doing novelty songs the rest of his life. And I'm well-aware that Radiohead had to move beyond Pablo Honey. But in all of those cases, the new stuff was at least as compelling as the old - in fact, it was generally more so. The new Kenna material is different. That's cool. But, in my eyes, it's insufficient. Just because something's different doesn't automatically make it better. So it's different - but is it good?
When I put a CD in my CD player for the first time, I try to approach it with a clean slate. I try not to bring assumptions or expectations to the table. What I'm asking of a new CD is simple - "interest me." "Give me something to make me want to put you BACK in later on." Because I've got thousands of CDs. I don't need another cluttering my rack if I'm not going to be compelled to put it back on.
Kelly Clarkson wants to move away from what she feels is the stultifying "AmIdol" mold. And I can totally appreciate that. She got into a feud with Clive Davis over it, and I'm totally in favor of that. (Clive is both an utter asshole AND an industry genius...but he's been wrong about stuff before.) But when I put the CD in and listened...enh. I understand what she's trying to do, but I wish she'd found a more interesting way to do it. She kinda sounds like Evanescence here and there, which is fine, and I didn't think it was BAD. It just wasn't compelling - nothing stuck. And I don't need another enh-OK CD on my rack.
Do I trust music critics? Certainly not single-y. I've certainly read lousy reviews for some of my favorite albums, and it made me wonder what they heck the critic might have been smoking. But I tend to trust music critics as a group, at least more so than I trust fans. Because fans tend to let their love for their favorite artist color their impressions too much. Fans tend to be far too eager to not only give their artist every benefit of the doubt, but to believe the press releases that get issued along with them. My friend is a Yes fan, and he greets every album they put out with the belief that they have, once again, put out an amazing work of art that demands to be listened to incessantly.
But I don't feel that way. About anybody. I CAN'T feel that way. Every single one of my favorite artists of all time have put out what I feel are some crappy albums (anyone want my copy of Prince's New Power Soul?). Why is that? Is it because I'm not a big enough fan? Actually, no - I think it's because I'm a music fan first and foremost. I'd rather hear a great song by anybody than a bad song by Prince.
Again, though, if you like it, buy it. I've been a Gary Numan fan for 25 years, and the awful reviews he's gotten could fill a library. And in many cases, I could understand what the reviewers were saying - the songs were interchangeable, or the music was too calculated, or he didn't have anything new to say. And yet, many times, even after agreeing with those sentiments, I still liked the album. Maybe those albums really do suck. It just means I own and listen to a suck-y album. I'm cool with that.
Lex
