KevinKDC Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 (edited) #1 Top album Sales #6 BB 200 53K debut Grammy nominated for pop vocal album No music videos Lack of promo due to writer strike least successful KC album Only KC album to not have at least a platinum hit or/and a Hot 100 hit Edited June 23 by KevinKDC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walk_Away21 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I just can't get into her albums after My December. She has some singles after that I love, but it doesn't hit the same for some reason. :/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skwonderfactory Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Her second best album after Meaning of Life and a very solid effort overall! I can not wait to see what's next for her. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afterglow Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinKDC Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 For me it is definitely not her best, maybe mid tier from her entire catalogue. There are great moments like skip this part, mine, magic, chemistry, goodbye and lighthouse, but the rest kind of felt flat. I feel like she held a lot back, which I can understand due it being the father of her children. But I would lie if I didn't want the raw transparency of emotions that My December had. This album could've easily become her best work to date, but it really fell flat and uninspired with certain tracks. I do love however how consistent the theme of the album was, how it told a story and how she reflected back to other songs she wrote about her relationship in the past. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladiator Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Overall, I thought, the album pales in comparison to the likes of Stronger, My December, Breakaway, and All I Ever Wanted and felt more like a cosplay record of someone imitating her. Especially if you throw in deluxe, whihc I thought added nothing to the album -- and actually took away some of the overall quality. From the album, I like the following: skip this part, mine, high road, me, magic, i hate love (which I kind of think should have been a bonus track because it is out of place). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Aurora Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Cute album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChooseyLover Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I didn't like it. I thought it was really boring, and I loved this woman's music to death at some point in my life. Can't pinpoint what it is about it that made it so hard to even listen twice, not sure if it was my lack of excitement or her artistic choices. All I Ever Wanted is the last Kelly album I was obsessed with and My December is her best album imo. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnAnti Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I will listen to it in 2nd year anniversary and give you my thoughts on the 3rd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymimi Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 still LOVE it , one of her most underrated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BornUnbroken Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 (edited) Meh, mostly disappointing. Sounds almost like a contractually obligated album she would've made under RCA. MOL was a solid and promising start to her relationship with Atlantic, so I don't know who approved the whole record and the rollout. There's nothing offensively bad about any of the songs, but half the record feels flat, uninspired, and stale. The production and at times really generic writing really bog the album down. "Rock Hudson" is the star of the album and it's where she excels the most - confessional specificity in her writing and her gorgeous belting. Can't blame her if she didn't want to go too deep into her emotions throughout the divorce process, but unfortunately the album suffers because of it. Edited June 23 by BornUnbroken 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator Legend E Posted June 23 ATRL Moderator Share Posted June 23 That's Right is an experimental masterpiece and Charli XCX wishes it was her song. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drownxngshadows Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 It's cute but coming from Meaning of Life it was a bit underwhelming. Meaning of Life really raised the bar for her imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ang Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 the my december love in here is EVERYTHING chemistry is still very meh to me but the back half of magic will always be that girl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellysclarkson Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I love it it genuinely feels like an album she had to make, specifically mineis such a career highlight, even if it wasn't a hit you could've been fooled if you went to any of the Vegas shows. It's succinct, and beautiful at points in its exploration of grief and loss - like on me and lighthouse. A genuine competitor for my favourite Kelly album against Meaning of Life and Breakaway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKKIMO92 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I'm more of a melody sensitive guy, so this is definitely not it. Meaning of life is cute tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rv1709 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 The highs of the album are some of the best work she's ever done (skip this part, magic, rock Hudson, lighthouse, chemistry) Some duds bring the album down. the fact that she was filtered in what she put out is respectful but also dilutes the album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelewlovebird Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I like it but don't love it like many of her previous albums. I feel like there's some songs that push her artistry forward and feel fresh in her catalogue and there's others that don't feel like they add much to the album, let alone her larger discography. My December is my favorite album of hers and I actually don't think this album needed to be a 2.0 of it, and while I appreciate Chemistry's approach on exploring the highs and lows, not every song landed for me. I do enjoy that the lyrics on several tracks are infused with her sense of humor though, they feel very "Kelly". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 (edited) One of my favorites from her and last year. There are a lot of great songs and it's a solid record overall. Down To You and Rock Hudson ended careers, I fear. Edited June 23 by Roberto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChooseyLover Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 4 hours ago, Drownxngshadows said: It's cute but coming from Meaning of Life it was a bit underwhelming. Meaning of Life really raised the bar for her imo Meaning of Life was her best 2010s album!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator Bloo Posted June 23 ATRL Moderator Share Posted June 23 It’s a cute album. I think it’s the album of hers that feels the most intentional as an album. The songs have a consistent theme with a set of motifs (e.g., the constant callbacks to water to describe the turbulence and calm of the divorce). Kelly’s never really done that before so it was nice to see her move in that direction. But, much of the album feels middling in terms of quality. Like many have said, the songwriting doesn’t feel very specific to avoid giving us details about her ex-husband (whom she is trying to spare for her children’s sake). But, there are some career highlights here. Magic, Chemistry, and Skip This Part go straight into the Kelly Clarkson canon as discography highlights. If she gets around to releasing another album, I’m excited to see what she comes up with next. Chemistry shows she still has promise but might need more artistic freedom to sing whatever without feeling respectably confined by needing to protect her children. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinKDC Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 7 minutes ago, Bloo said: It's a cute album. I think it's the album of hers that feels the most intentional as an album. The songs have a consistent theme with a set of motifs (e.g., the constant callbacks to water to describe the turbulence and calm of the divorce). Kelly's never really done that before so it was nice to see her move in that direction. But, much of the album feels middling in terms of quality. Like many have said, the songwriting doesn't feel very specific to avoid giving us details about her ex-husband (whom she is trying to spare for her children's sake). But, there are some career highlights here. Magic, Chemistry, and Skip This Part go straight into the Kelly Clarkson canon as discography highlights. If she gets around to releasing another album, I'm excited to see what she comes up with next. Chemistry shows she still has promise but might need more artistic freedom to sing whatever without feeling respectably confined by needing to protect her children. It is very ironic to me that she has strived so hard for creative freedom and the two studio albums released are MOL and Chemistry. The former has an impeccable sound and she never sounded better, but there was almost no personal emotional touch due to lack of songwriting on the record, while Chemistry is the second album she wrote the most on, but still lacked emotional debt due to filtering herself and restricting her creative writing in order to protect her children. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATRL Moderator feelslikeadream Posted June 23 ATRL Moderator Share Posted June 23 In her top 5 albums for sure. That's Right is the TikTok hit that got away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTF Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 An almost offensively mediocre album for the sole reason that it had everything going for it- narrative, vocal ability, musicality, inspiration- all let down by the stylistic choice of extremely bad songwriting, when this should have exceeded My December to become her true Butterfly/Ray of Light/The Velvet Rope moment. Her choice to dumb down the lyrics achieved the result it deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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