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Her voice, at times raspy, at times beautifully sultry, is a potent reminder of why America embraced her.
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Thankful is everything an American Idol viewer would expect from a debut album: the musical drama of Meat Loaf, Celine Dion, and the crew from Titanic, the R&B pyrotechnics of Whitney Houston, the (sub)urban melodrama of Mariah Carey and lots and lots of vocal gymnastics. That it all sounds like it came from a can is beside the point.
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A sharp, versatile modern pop record, showcasing her voice, to be sure, but being much better than expectations, much better than the scores of flop diva records that cluttered the pop landscape in late 2002.
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Her high notes are sweet and pillowy, her growl is bone-shaking and sexy, and her midrange is amazingly confident for a pop posy whose career is tied for eternity to the whims of her American Idol overlords.
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There is an army of producers, songwriters and guests that make Thankful's mom-approved hip-hop beats and love songs feel as contrived as Clarkson's perfectly placed highlights.
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Despite Clarkson's sublime vocal talents, excessive gloss at times overwhelms the quirky charm and personality she displayed on Idol.
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Q MagazineThis debut has her trilling like Mariah Carey on fluffy R&B tunes. [Oct 2003, p.103]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 58 out of 110
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Mixed: 10 out of 110
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Negative: 42 out of 110
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AndyHJan 8, 2006
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JasonCNov 5, 2006
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JDSep 2, 2005