My December (Deluxe Version)

iTunes Review

My December picks up where Breakaway left off, further proving that Kelly Clarkson is more comfortable being the take-charge frontwoman of a screaming rock band than she is with the crooning R&B of American Idol. “Never Again,” “One Minute,” and “Don’t Waste Your Time” make you want to jump in the driver’s seat and crank the radio to top volume. Rather than look to the clichéd influences of American Idol, Clarkson takes her inspiration from rock hits from the recent past. “Hole” has a careening stomp that lets her imagine she's fronting Nirvana, while the martial, horn-inflected beat of “Yeah” shares something with Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer.” Even as she continues to rock out, the album shows huge growth in her songwriting. Clarkson has stated that My December was influenced by Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, and tracks like “Sober” and “Haunted” delve into the pain and discontent that most pop stars avoid like the plague. Her label initially refused to release the album because they deemed it “too negative,” but Clarkson stuck by her guns, thereby affirming the candor and self-assurance that sparks so many of these songs.