How I Feel

Song: How I Feel
Artist: Kelly Clarkson
Album: My December



So much has been made of Kelly's fight with her record label over the content of "My December" (read about it here and here)it's hard not to listen to it with all these questions... Is it "pop" enough? Is it depressing? Is it a sad documentation of a a young artist losing it in the face of great success? Is there anything as good as "Since You've Been Gone???"

After being able to listen to "My December" I've decided that the whole thing stinks of a media stunt. The facts are "My December" sounds less like a musical jump than that of from "Thankful" to the blockbuster "Breakaway." It sounds like a Kelly Clarkson record... it just might be what most pop records aren't... cohesive. Kelly has made her first "album," and yet it contains a good amount of possible hit singles.

At this point, I am so suspect of the media, the press, and how they are trying to sell records I am trying to throw out everything I "know" about the record and just listen. So while I immediate had thoughts about Kelly taking the reigns of her career, getting a piece of the songwriting pie, etc. etc. what I really keep thinking about is how much I've grown to LIKE Kelly. "Since You've Been Gone" was one of those hits that come along once in a lifetime and actually, I can't think of another major pop hit that was still accceptable by the hipsters. And while lead single "Never Again" has "stalled" at radio (meaning it isn't "Since You've Been Gone II") it's not a bad song, and like most re-treads just doesn't have what "Gone" did. Oh well.

I say let the music speak for itself. I dig the straight up dirty rock of third track "Hole," and the New Wave kick of "How I Feel." Actually, as I skip through the songs to pick a favorite I am finding it tough going. "My December" is a solid pop-rock record and do NOT listen to those ridiculous Evanescence comparisons... "My December" the album isn't manufactured drama, even if this "feud" is.

Enjoy.

Never Again