CD Review: Kelly Clarkson 'All I Ever Wanted'

Preston Jones - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Having fought and failed to break free from the bindings of pop stardom, Kelly Clarkson acquiesces to the relentless machinery on this, her fourth studio album.

So much backstage drama swirled about the release of 2007's My December that All I Ever Wanted, the follow-up, seems relatively benign by comparison. The hints of danger surrounding December -- Clarkson supposedly defying record label execs, taking risks with a proven formula and trying to give fans and critics alike a sense of a young woman struggling with her heart and head -- is totally absent on Wanted.

Shiny, sleek surface is all that remains. Bouncy, crowd-pleasing melodies, moments of startling power and funky defiance all play to the Fort Worth-born pop star's strengths, those of a genuine talent that is all but buried beneath Auto-Tune and Photoshop effects.

While Wanted is a fine assemblage of modern pop-rock that will doubtless find a comfortable home in heavy rotation, that grit is desperately missed. Cry, an early indicator that Clarkson has given over to the bombastic songwriters-for-hire that guided her first two records, surges and swoops but doesn't hit as hard as December's closer Irvine. The intent and style are there, but the feeling is MIA.

Lead single My Life Would Suck Without You is engaging, but can't help feeling like Since U Been Gone redux; its follow-up, the gleefully chaste I Do Not Hook Up (co-written by It Girl Katy Perry), brings Clarkson closer to the knowing-wink flirtiness evident on catalog cuts like Miss Independent. While frothy fun is well and good for top 40, Clarkson's appetite has always seemed satiated by the slightly darker fare, which is where the Spoon-biting title track and the Sarah McLachlan-flavored Already Gone come in.

But the splashes of pathos aren't enough to redeem Wanted, which just can't sustain the early momentum and becomes numbing by the final moments (although Ready, a re-worked version of a tune that leaked early in the recording process, pleases with its vaguely country-ish leanings).

Clarkson will inevitably begin the promotional rounds in the coming weeks, talking up Wanted's virtues and politely fielding questions about December's commercial misfire. Knowing that she's already booked on a brief summer tour of fairs -- what is she, Kellie Pickler? -- one can't help but suspect the label is pushing the reset button. Maybe that's reading too much into things, but given the relatively wintry reception afforded December, the forced spring of Wanted feels altogether put upon.

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