Breakaway; Kelly Clarkson

Breakaway is the name of the most successful and most selling Idol album to date! Clarkson took a very different direction as compared to her debut effort, Thankful, this time around. Edging away from her mixture of pop and R&B, Clarkson made an effort to sound original and ventured into a fusion of pop music and rock. It was definitely one of her best decisions to date. The album earned numerous praise from critics, two Grammy awards and a whole new much wider fan base.

Clarkson worked with Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald, Mathew Gerrard, David Hodges, Kara Dioguardi, Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk while in production of the album. She also sat down with the Canadian singer, song-writer Avril Lavigne who wrote the starting track of the album, which also happens to share it's name with the title of the record. The tracklisting is as follows;

1. 
   
   
   Breakaway
   
   
   
   
2. 
   
   
   Since U Been Gone
   
   
   
   
3. 
   
   
   Behind These Hazel Eyes
   
   
   
   
4. 
   
   
   Because of You
   
   
   
   
5. 
   
   
   Gone
   
   
   
   
6. 
   
   
   Addicted
   
   
   
   
7. 
   
   
   Where Is Your Heart
   
   
   
   
8. 
   
   
   Walk Away
   
   
   
   
9. 
   
   
   You Found Me
   
   
   
   
10. 
    
    
    I Hate Myself for Loosing You
    
    
    
    
11. 
    
    
    Hear Me
    
    
    
    
12. 
    
    
    Beautiful Disaster ( Live )
    
    
    
    
13. 
    
    
    Miss Independent ( Bonus )
    
    
    
    
14. 
    
    
    Low ( Bonus )
    
    
    
    

It's really hard to pick a favorite among them and seriously I don't have a favorite either. All the tracks are extremely amazing and there is no way you can get tired of listening to them. It's been four years since it's release and this is another album that is still going strong on my personal charts. As I said earlier, it is the most successful Idol album to date.

'Breakaway', 'Where Is Your Heart' and 'Hear Me' display the softer side of Clarkson as she croons and falsettoes her way through these tracks. I love the piano work in 'Where Is Your Heart', it's so soothing and that is a mark of a Chantal Kreviazuk composition. It's absolutely breath-taking. Clarkson's vocals and harmonizing also shine during 'Breakaway', the song was featured in the OST of Princess Diaries 2; The Royal Engagement which was released about 6 months before the album's release.

Another ballad that is worth mentioning is 'Because Of You', the reason I took it to a seperate paragraph is that there is just something so surreal about this track. It is crazy awesome! Absolutely amazing! Highly captivating! One of the best songs ever by Clarkson in my humble opinion, I've also put down a LIVE! version of it on my blog previously. You can check that out here.

'Since U Been Gone', 'Behind These Hazel Eyes', 'Gone', 'Addicted', 'Walk Away', 'You Found Me' and 'I Hate Myself for Loosing You' are the songs with the rocker chick vibe to them. 'Since U Been Gone' won the Grammy award for "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". Along with 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' and 'You Found Me' it is a mix of pop and rock. 'Addicted' is a soulful rock track and is in no way any less awesome than the rest of the songs. Songs like 'Gone', 'Walk Away' and 'I Hate Myself for Loosing You' are completely hard-core rock tracks, where you find Clarkson bringing everything she has on to the place. And believe me, you will be more than just satisfied.

The last three tracks off the record include a LIVE! version of 'Beautiful Disaster' from her previous album Thankful. The other two tracks are also from the same album, and are featured as they seem to hold a glimmer of the same technique as that employed in the rock tracks of the record.

This album is most definitely one of the keeps. Do check it out!

Copyright © Saad Khan 2009 (Karachi, Pakistan; saadkhalidkhan@gmail.com)