My December
| Kelly Clarkson
My December
My December is the third studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson. The album was released on June 22, 2007, throughout most of Europe on June 23, 2007, in Australia and Venezuela, on June 25, 2007, in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Poland and Mexico and on June 26, 2007, in North America. Clarkson confirmed the name of the album in her journal on her fanclub website on February 27, 2007.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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SLANT Magazine
Though My December cuts much of the adult contemporary-style balladry that marred her first two releases (but also displayed more than just her shouting vocal range), the album still finds Clarkson further exploring different facets of her voice, which is capable of much more than just cookie-cutter pop/rock: she injects a little funk swagger into the brassy “Yeah” and offers up some acoustic soul on the hidden track “Chivas.”
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BBC
My December catches Kelly in independent mode. While her previous success may have had something to do with pop supreme songwriters Max Martin and Dr Luke's winning hooks, this time round each song on the album has been co-written by Kelly herself and other independent songwriters.
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Rolling Stone
Kelly Clarkson has said she wants My December to be like Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, because it’s daring, uncommercial,uncompromising . . . .
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The Guardian
Kelly Clarkson has made enough of a career for herself - her last album sold 11m worldwide - that she no longer needs the prefix "American Idol winner". This has given her the authority to dictate the shape of her third album, and she has opted for rock. That's not rock as in "ROCK", obviously, but the wipe-clean kind that begs your pardon for making noise.
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sputnik music
Sadly, even a spectacular failure would have been interesting. My December has some great vocal performances but little else.
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music OMH
In a strange way My December could be viewed as Kelly Clarkson’s debut release. She has co-written all the songs and every one of the lyrics are from her pen. She has chosen who to compose with, who will produce the record and the content of the songs. It’s her attempt to break away from the role as a record company puppet and become an artist. These are her nightmares, this is very much her pain that’s pouring out of the speaker amps
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Washington Post
First came Clarkson's feud with her label chief, Clive Davis, over the direction of her new album, "My December." Davis wanted the Texas balladeer to work, as before, with hired hitmakers on polished, radio-friendly songs; Clarkson opted instead to record a highly personal breakup album, showcasing her own songwriting on darker, edgier rock-oriented fare.
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SPIN
With this collection of frosty kiss-offs (“Never Again”), snarling disco rock (“1 Minute”), and unusually subdued ballads (“Irvine”), she cements her place as the pop figurehead for the overlooked and underappreciated teenage girl in all of us.
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MTV News
. . . December is without a doubt Kelly Clarkson's vision. It's the sound of a pop princess breaking her crown and not being afraid to tell the world exactly how that feels. It is not a metal album or some kind of freak-folk/downbeat-techno mash-up.
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Entertainment
Recent management changes and her canceled tour have furthered the assumption that December must be a train wreck. It’s not. There’s real artistry blossoming on this, the boldest and best effort ever by an Idol star.
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ALL MUSIC
Even if it's not heavy on strong songs, it ironically is the most sonically unified record Kelly has made to date: it follows through on Clarkson's vision of being a modern rocker, cutting away all the stultifying adult contemporary and replacing it with emotional acoustic ballads but relying on surging rockers.
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HYBRID MAGAZINE
Kelly Clarkson's third major label release My December is her best offering so far.
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Common Sense Media
MY DECEMBER is Kelly Clarkson's third album since winning votes and hearts on American Idol, and she makes it painfully clear that she's all grown up.
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The Seattle Times
It’s not the actual content of “My December,” Kelly Clarkson’s just-released third album, that currently makes it unlistenable. I’m not saying that it’s a bad album — it’s a solid, heartfelt, occasionally beautiful exercise in mainstream modern rock, and most reviews are confirming that. “My December” is unlistenable in the sense that nobody can really hear it. Sometimes this happens to a work of art: The din around it from a controversy renders the thing itself mute.
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Snippets
All in all, Clarkson’s album isn’t as much of a disappointment that the media portrayed it to be. Like I said before, it’s not the same kind of material that fans have come to expect from Kelly Clarkson, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. My December definitely has its low points, but its highs are some of Clarkson’s best songs, and I’ll be looking forward to seeing how she’ll continue to mature as an artist and songwriter in the future.
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OH NO THEY DIDN'T
"My December" is all about Clarkson's voice — and not only the succulent, slightly dark timbre of her alto, or her ability to nail those shirt-ripping high notes that say "freedom" in rock 'n' roll speak. The lyrics, many inspired by a bout of despair Clarkson suffered at the height of her newfound fame, are genuinely heart-baring.
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IGN
To put things in the simplistic terms possible, Clarkson's third base hit is good, but not great.
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VULTURE
Subsequent works, such as her 2007 album My December, bravely pushed her sound into darker, more guitar-based territory, at some cost to her chart traction.
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Greatreporter
Some artists go through the transitionary process too fast, others get it spot-on. Kelly Clarkson manages the latter with her third album, My December...
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Revolvy
It's an amazing record from beginning to end. I see Kelly as a songwriter who's going to have a 30-year career.
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