Thankful
| Kelly Clarkson
Thankful
Thankful is the debut studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson, released in the United States by RCA Recordson April 15, 2003. "Miss Independent" was its first single, followed by "Low" and "The Trouble with Love Is". Initially, the album had been scheduled to be released in November 2002, however, Clarkson's demanding schedule and difficulty finding tracks that suited her taste and image forced the album to be delayed several times. By the time the album was released, over six months had elapsed since "A Moment Like This" had reached number one.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
Her high notes are sweet and pillowy, her growl is bone-shaking and sexy, and her midrange is amazingly confident for a pop posy whose career is tied for eternity to the whims of her American Idol overlords. Thankful is testament to marketable young ladies with more talent than artistic freedom.
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Slant Magazine
The biggest liability of becoming the “American Idol” is evident on winner Kelly Clarkson’s debut album, Thankful. These young singers are just that: singers. Primped, posed and positioned with a bevy of top-line producers and songwriters, Clarkson has been stripped of the process of experimentation and discovery that a true developing artist must endure.
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ALL MUSIC
Originally, this album was going to come out mere months after the end of the original American Idol, but it was delayed for a variety of reasons, including Clarkson's taxing schedule and difficulty in cobbling together workable material. Ultimately, the decision to delay the record paid off, because Thankful is a sharp, versatile modern pop record, showcasing her voice, to be sure, but being much better than expectations, much better than the scores of flop diva records that cluttered the pop landscape in late 2002.
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The Guardian
You bet she's thankful. After being turned down by every American record label for sounding "too black", this (white) former waitress won the American version of Pop Idol - which somehow doesn't carry the career-nobbling stigma it does here - and has sold nearly 2m albums. While you might be loth to trust the judgment of the 7 million Americans who voted for her, she is really good, and not just by the subterranean standard of British reality TV.
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Sputnik Music
There is no question in Clarkson's talents. Her voice is simply one the most powerful in all of pop music today, but that means nothing if the music she implements it in is utterly worthless. Luckily, on her debut Thankful, while not breaking any new ground, it manages to lay the foundation of what could be quite an interesting career.
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TEEN INK
Kelly Clarkson, the first winner of "American Idol," sings her heart out on this amazing album, which includes the hit "A Moment Like This" and "Miss Independent" (written with Christina Aguilera).
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IDOLATOR
Thankful, executive-produced by RCA head honcho — and future book bully — Clive Davis, was thrown together fairly quickly to capitalize on the popularity of Idol. There were delays to find suitable material, and the haste is reflected by the album’s lack of direction. Instead of developing a cohesive sound, they tried a bit of everything to see what stuck. This includes ballads of every conceivable variety (pop, rock and blues) and, oddly, mid-tempo R&B numbers. The former hold up considerably better than the latter.
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Plugged In
Thousands of fame-seekers (some more talented than others) competed for a lone recording contract during American Idol’s first season. Trilling Texan Kelly Clarkson was the survivor. Musically similar to Christina Aguilera, 21-year-old Clarkson boasts a soulful pop groove with safe lyrics unlikely to generate criticism from anyone—except maybe Simon. A solid debut.
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Snippets
Despite the fact that she seems to struggle with whether she wants to be a R&B, pop, rock, or gospel singer, it’s still a pretty solid debut effort.
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