Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Kelly Clarkson
“All I Ever Wanted”

1. My Life Would Suck Without You
2. I Do Not Hook Up
3. Cry
4. Don’t Let Me Stop You
5. All I Ever Wanted
6. Already Gone
7. If I Can’t Have You
8. Save You
9. Whyyawannabringmedown
10. Long Shot
11. Impossible
12. Ready
13. I Want You
14. If No One Will Listen
15. Tip of My Tongue (bonus track)
16. The Day We Fell Apart (bonus track)

One look at the cover of “All I Ever Wanted” tells the story.

Gone is angst-ridden rocker Kelly, the solemn gal decked out in a blood red gown on the cover of the 2007 album “My December.”

Back for another go round on “All I Ever Wanted” is pop princess Kelly. The relationships in her songs might still be far from perfect. But, hey, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a lot of fun singing about them.

Is the change for better or worse?

Commercially, it’s sure to be far better. The first single off the new album, “My Life Would Suck Without You,” has already outperformed anything off “My December.” And the CD is literally dripping with sugary sweet followup hits — the title track, “If I Can’t Have You” and “Long Shot” are among the best.

Artistically, it’s just a shame they couldn’t find room on the album for a couple of songs stripped to the bone — like “Sober” and “Can I Have a Kiss” off “My December” — songs that told us this gee-shucks girl-next-door had come a long way since winning the season one Idol crown. “Cry” would have been a good candidate for such a treatment.

Instead, we get “I Want You” and wonder why Kelly is singing such pop candy seven years after winning Idol. A minute later, you’re bobbing your head to the beat. And that pretty much answers the question.

The deluxe version of “All I Ever Wanted” features two bonus songs — “Tip of My Tongue” and “The Day We Fell Apart” — that could be featured tracks on an album by a lesser Idol. The former sounds like a made-to-order dance hit.

As for the bonus DVD, we get 18 minutes of footage, including the “My Life Would Suck Without You” video, a short feature on the making of the video (where we learn that there wasn’t a fish in the fish bowl Kelly hurls out the window) and a feature on the making of the album (where Kelly does talk a little about the transformation between albums).

“The album packaging, I was very clear. I wanted it to be bright and very fun and just kind of funky,” Kelly says.

“My friends always tell me I wear a lot of black, and I’m always really dark. I don’t know why that is because I’m actually a very bubbly person. I wanted to go bright.”

Mission accomplished, Kelly, in photos and music.

The reviews:

Houston Chronicle: 3.5 stars

Newsday: Gives Kelly an A

Boston Herald: Gives Kelly a B

San Francisco Chronicle: Gives Kelly wild applause

Orlando Sentinel: Gives Kelly 4 out of 5