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Mar 2, 2015Only the didactic, Jessie J-esque I Had a Dream mars an album loaded with laser-guided, heartfelt pop.
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Mar 3, 2015Clarkson can, of course, sell all of this and sounds great doing it. But the cumulative effect of all that bigness can be wearing by album’s end.
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Mar 2, 2015When Clarkson forges a real emotional connection--like on the raw, personal title track, another standout vocal showcase--the album transcends the hammier, more hackneyed moments in between.
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Mar 2, 2015Each time she’s up to bat on Piece By Piece, she gets on base, sometimes even knocking it out of the park.
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Mar 5, 2015Take You High, Dance With Me and Nostalgic find her ceding the floor to a few grating drops, builds and chopped-up vocal samples as well as some trendy 80s synth rhythms. Those diversions aside, this is another Kelly Clarkson album that's all about maximizing her big steamroller of a voice.
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Mar 3, 2015The OG American Idol manages to pull off that clock reversal, flooring her DeLorean back to the Eighties on her seventh studio album.
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Mar 2, 2015These cuts ["Let Your Tears Fall," "Good Goes the Bye," and "Nostalgic"], along with the title track, manage to strike the right balance of Kelly's indomitable character and fresh electronic beats but overall Piece by Piece sounds a shade too desperate, which means it winds up having the opposite effect than intended: instead of sounding like a new start, Clarkson sounds a little bit behind the times.
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Mar 2, 2015Every song aims for the monumental, a strategy that’s competitive for radio play but wearying over the course of a whole album.
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Feb 27, 2015Clarkson has been mining this territory since before Swift even landed her first record deal, and songs that should ostensibly inspire nostalgia (like the pointedly titled aerobics workout "Nostalgic") instead feel like they just rolled off a conveyor belt.
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Feb 27, 2015Her Mariah-like ability to deliver songs with maximum melismatic drama shows itself less often this time around, but when she does let loose, it’s a reminder that her amiable, Texas-girl exterior encases one of pop’s most forceful voices.
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Mar 3, 2015Piece By Piece sounds energized during these looser moments; it’s hard to shake the feeling the album would’ve been far better had it taken a few more risks.
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Mar 3, 2015Piece By Piece piles on the gloss and glop. It’s a fat sounding recording that fights with, rather than enhances, Clarkson’s to-the-rafters vocals.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 84 out of 160
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Mixed: 20 out of 160
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Negative: 56 out of 160
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Sep 9, 2017
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Mar 8, 2015
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Mar 4, 2015