Kelly Clarkson - Greatest Hits Era (Nov. 19)

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

From Idol Chatter

Kelly Clarkson, Catch My Breath (87,000, debut, 87,000)
Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (13,000, +4%, 3.838 million)
Kelly Clarkson, Dark Side (10,000, -4%, 594,000)
Jason Aldean/Kelly Clarkson, Don't You Wanna Stay (5,000, +13%, 2.188 million)

Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (3,000, +3%, 946,000) (#145 BB200)

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

After seeing DS's underperformance and CMB reluctance to take off, does anyone else regret their decision not to release IFY, TWIO or YCW?

[Spidey]

Oct 24, 2012 14:03:19 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

After seeing DS's underperformance and CMB reluctance to take off, does anyone else regret their decision not to release IFY, TWIO or YCW?

"I Forgive You" should've been a single, or "You Can't Win"/"Let Me Down". Releasing "Dark Side" in the summer was just beyond stupid.

[Love Plastic Love]

I don't get why they have radio friendly made to be radio hit songs on her cd and then don't release them. IFY was basically made to smash, but they went with Dark Side in the summer. If I Can't Have You was made to smash, but they go with All I Ever Wanted. I wonder if they felt so burned by IDNHU that it is taking them multiple eras to realize that sometimes you really do just need to release your upbeat banging radio friendly pop songs?
Like, why even bother recording radio bait if you are just going to let it sit on your cd?

[franklin]

The Stronger Era ended so weird though. Remember back when Darchild's wife tweeted that I Forgive You was the third single? I wish they stuck with that instead of going with Dark Side and the greatest hits. It just went against everything this era was going to be. Like they said they wanted this era to have longevity, specially choosing MKIA as the lead single. I hate how her last two eras just fizzled out after big success :(

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Oct 24, 2012 14:31:59 GMT -5 franklin said:

The Stronger Era ended so weird though. Remember back when Darchild's wife tweeted that I Forgive You was the third single? I wish they stuck with that instead of going with Dark Side and the greatest hits. It just went against everything this era was going to be. Like they said they wanted this era to have longevity, specially choosing MKIA as the lead single. I hate how her last two eras just fizzled out after big success :(

She said "a single" never the third single. But Kelly talked so much about TWIO and IFY possibly becoming singles too :'(

[Jay]

I don't think Kelly ever mentioned TWIO becoming a single or has she really? :o

I remember over the summer during Duets she told a fan that it was between IFY or YLM as single #4. And now that I think about it, it doesn't make sense that she would say that if a GH album was planned this whole time.

[karatekid]

TWIO would've smashed in the winter time. One of my favorite slow songs from her and lyrically would've killed it. People would've related to it. It could have been like Someone Like You for her, not as massive but I think it would've done really really well... I still am gonna hope CMB will take off slow and then shoot up the charts, but I hate that it is taking this along to get started already...

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Oct 24, 2012 15:06:59 GMT -5 Jay said:

I don't think Kelly ever mentioned TWIO becoming a single or has she really? :o

I never saw the video myself, but I remember people saying that during the Brazil show she said "this isn't a single yet" right before she started playing TWIO.

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Oct 24, 2012 12:01:21 GMT -5 Focus said:

Billy Kidd
@billykidd925

Billy Kidd, Assistant Program director and afternoon DJ at WBEE in Rochester NY. Tech nerd. Social Media animal. News junkie. Loves me some Jesus too.

Rochester NY · www.wbee.com/pages/4313995.php#billy

Billy Kidd ‏@billykidd925
Just heard the next kelly🌷💞_clarkson single featuring @vincegill GOIN' OLD SCHOOL! Think Barbara Mandrell. #DaddyLikey #Can'tWaitToPlayIt

[circadian]

Oct 24, 2012 15:18:30 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

Oct 24, 2012 12:01:21 GMT -5 Focus said:

Billy Kidd
@billykidd925

Billy Kidd, Assistant Program director and afternoon DJ at WBEE in Rochester NY. Tech nerd. Social Media animal. News junkie. Loves me some Jesus too.

Rochester NY · www.wbee.com/pages/4313995.php#billy

Billy Kidd ‏@billykidd925
Just heard the next kelly🌷💞_clarkson single featuring @vincegill GOIN' OLD SCHOOL! Think Barbara Mandrell. #DaddyLikey #Can'tWaitToPlayIt

So I'm thinking something along the lines of Lady Antebellum's 'Just a Kiss' but with of a higher tempo?

[Get Your Life.]

Looks like i'll be tuning into the CMAs!

[bigb0882]

Put the album on iTunes with samples, please!!! At least we only have to wait a week to hear the country song. I still haven't listened to People Like Us demo and it has been HARD with people saying how good it sounds.

[Jack]

Oct 24, 2012 14:03:19 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

After seeing DS's underperformance and CMB reluctance to take off, does anyone else regret their decision not to release IFY, TWIO or YCW?

Kind of.

I always maintained that the third single should have been Hello, Alone or I Forgive You. I still feel that way.

1. Mr Know It All
2. Stronger
3. Hello
4. The War Is Over
5. Dark Side

Save Alone for the Greatest Hits and launch it with that.

That's my view of how it should have gone.

[bigb0882]

I absolutely love TWIO but if radio didn't latch onto DS and if (a big if) they don't latch onto CMB then what makes anyone think that TWIO would be a good single choice? If CMB goes no where then it is pretty clear that Pop radio is only here for anthemic Kelly singles and nothing more. It was bound to happen sooner or later but I thought she had a while longer before Pop radio turned their back on her. That is OK if it happens because AC/HAC will continue to support Kelly for a long time and allow her to release even better music plus I hope it means Kelly can venture into country more often.

[dbhmr]

Usually one of Pulse's most precious commodities, hindsight, leaves me with a pretty clear idea of how Kelly's eras should have gone. But Stronger continues to stump me (maybe RCA was feeling similarly and that's why they forged ahead with the GH...). Not only do I see no real reason that Dark Side shouldn't have done really well, looking at the way Mr. Know It All, Dark Side, and Catch My Breath have performed (though it is very premature to write off CMB, it still shows a certain hesitancy from Pop radio that has plagued Kelly since My December, save for the two insta-smashes MLWSWY and Stronger), I don't really feel confident in what they could have done. Stronger, the single, is the only surefire mega-hit on the album, and I really feel after that it is a guessing game. And though I really like Mr. Know It All and feel it definitely did its job for the era, You Can't Win really feels like a first single or nothing type of a song, and I don't think it would have done any worse (though I don't think it would have done leagues better, particularly where MKIA succeeded so much, in the Hot AC and AC genres).

So, I think I would have released Mr. Know It All, but then done countdown singles with some of the iffy-er tracks to see what performed better. The three countdown singles would have been You Can't Win, Hello, and Dark Side. But since I can't really play that game of how those would have done, I think the safest bet would have been to stick to their original plan: era longevity.

1. Mr. Know It All
2. Stronger
3. I Forgive You
4. Let Me Down (keep big-chorus Kelly coming through the fall, though I don't think this is the second-coming of SUBG-level success of some here)
5. Dark Side (this gives them the opportunity to send this out before the end of the year if LMD stalls, or wait until January if LMD does well)

If they wanted to send out "You Love Me" at the end while they prepared for the GH album, that would push the GH album back closer to Q4 and get Kelly's favorite song out there. Single #4 could easily be replaced with Hello had it done well as a countdown single. You Can't Win feels funny coming after "winning" with Stronger, so success sort of eradicates the song's necessity and bite to me. I think "The War Is Over" would have really struggled, as good as it is, and Kelly hasn't touched "Alone" with a ten-foot pole since the start of the era so I don't see that happening, either.

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

^ I actually don't think it has anything to do with radio shunning Kelly.

"Dark Side"s performance is a bit mind boggling, especially on HAC, but then again there was no promo for it and the music video came out about a year before the single was released. (that's an intentional exageration, jsyk)

CMB still has room to grow and if it doesn't, I never thought it was particularly catchy anyway. "Wordy" and "un-melodic" are still the best descriptors for the song.

Basically, I don't think they're blacklisting Kelly at all. I just think she needs to make better pop music if she's gonna choose to continue her pop career.

[kylecburke]

Well The Song enters Hot 100 at #54
2002- A Moment Like this (#1 for 2 weeks)
2003- Miss Independent (#9)
2003- Low (#58)
2004- Breakaway (#6)
2005- Since You Been Gone (#2)
2005- Hazel Eyes (#6)
2005- Because of You (#7)
2006- Walk Away (#12)
2007- Never Again (#8)
2007- Because of you with Reba (#50)
2007- Up to the Mountain (#56)
2009- My Life would suck (#1 for 2 weeks)
2009- I Do not hook up (#20)
2009- Already Gone (#13)
2010- All I Ever wanted (#96)
2011- Don't you wanna stay (#31)
2011- Mr Know it all (#10)
2011- Ill be home for Christmas (#93)
2012- Stronger (#1 for 3 weeks)
2012- Dark Side (#42)
2012- Catch My Breath (#54)

Also becomes her 16th out of 17 singles to reach Top 25 in Canada. Debuting at #25. Only Dark Side missed (#26)
#1- A Moment Like This, Since You Been Gone (???this true??), My Life would Suck without you
#2- Low, Because Of You
#3- Breakaway, Stronger
#4- Behind these Hazel Eyes, Walk Away
#6- Miss Independent
#8- Never Again
#11- Mr Know it all
#13- I do not hook up
#15- Already Gone
#25- Trouble with Love is, Catch My Breath
#26- Dark Side

[Jack]

Oct 24, 2012 17:33:56 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

Basically, I don't think they're blacklisting Kelly at all. I just think she needs to make better pop music if she's gonna choose to continue her pop career.

And here, I think, is the crux.

She either needs to heat it up, or get out of the kitchen, so to speak. Bring hard, fast, catchy, bold pop music...and not just cute, breezy, this'll do if radio is feeling nice stuff. She needs to go HARD, and get in the game. Or get out of it.

[dbhmr]

Oct 24, 2012 17:33:56 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

^ I actually don't think it has anything to do with radio shunning Kelly.

"Dark Side"s performance is a bit mind boggling, especially on HAC, but then again there was no promo for it and the music video came out about a year before the single was released. (that's an intentional exageration, jsyk)

CMB still has room to grow and if it doesn't, I never thought it was particularly catchy anyway. "Wordy" and "un-melodic" are still the best descriptors for the song.

Basically, I don't think they're blacklisting Kelly at all. I just think she needs to make better pop music if she's gonna choose to continue her pop career.

I don't entirely disagree. But I think the alleged lack of hook in Mr. Know It All, Dark Side, and Catch My Breath is greatly exaggerated; still, I think it's a bit of both. While Kelly has written strong, catchy choruses that have that easy, big melody CHR so favors (Because of You, Already Gone, Get Up, Behind These Hazel Eyes), those are more the exception to the rule. But I don't think a song that lacks that makes it a worse song (in response to your idea that she needs to write "better" pop music). I don't think the idea of Pop music = catchy music, it means the genre of Pop, and I think Kelly has and can write a lot of songs of merit that may not have the same Katy Perry earworm chorus to them.

And at this point in her career, I'm not sure how much I care anymore. I obviously love seeing her top the charts and experiencing success, but after 10 years and a very robust GH album, I'm ready for her to challenge herself, find a new comfort zone, bring the exploration with her vocals that she does on tour to record, and express herself with where she's at right now. If that doesn't yield any top 10 hits on Pop, so be it, as long as the music is there (whether it be pop/rock, more R&B, soul, country, etc.). I think we've known for a while that Kelly isn't in the business of trying to keep up with Madonna's number of Hot 100 top 10 hits, so if we are going to always judge her music against its performance on CHR, it's not going to hold up for long.

[Get Your Life.]

US digital sales: My Life Would Suck Without You 2,668,000 & Since U Been Gone 2,518,000; Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) 3,865,000.

[ificanthaveyou]

Its funny that two of her biggest songs are Max Martin and Dr. Luke productions. I wish she would give them another chance. She makes magic with them.

[Keelzit]

Stronger crossing the 4 million mark by the end of the year is a huge thing for Kelly. She should stick to that kind of songs, no one can do them as good as her. It's where all her strength is at.

[dbhmr]

Oct 24, 2012 17:43:18 GMT -5 Jack said:

Oct 24, 2012 17:33:56 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

Basically, I don't think they're blacklisting Kelly at all. I just think she needs to make better pop music if she's gonna choose to continue her pop career.

And here, I think, is the crux.

She either needs to heat it up, or get out of the kitchen, so to speak. Bring hard, fast, catchy, bold pop music...and not just cute, breezy, this'll do if radio is feeling nice stuff. She needs to go HARD, and get in the game. Or get out of it.

Maybe this is it, and maybe it isn't so dramatic. She said she wanted to write a song about her ten years in the business, and they did--and they wrapped it in as warm and catchy production as they could, but it could very well be RCA's gift to Kelly (especially if they are trying to keep her post-contract), and Kelly's little gift to herself. A very personal, upbeat, happy song that marks where she has come. And then she's ready to nail it again with "People Like Us," which--even in a songwriter's demo--sounds like radio bait. Maybe "Catch My Breath" is just that--a lead single for a GH album because Kelly wanted to kick it off with a song that meant something to her (she has mentioned the label had to convince her of it, maybe getting to get this song out was what sealed the deal, or something). She could be just as eager to get going but wanted to get this off her chest, so to speak.

But who knows. I still wouldn't be entirely shocked if her next big interview after "People Like Us" falls off the charts is that she is closing the chapter on her pop-centric career and actively crossing over to country. I don't think she'll ever abandon the freedom pop music provides, but I could see her doing more of the Home/Up To The Mountain/I Know You Won't type folk/rock/soul/country (which sounds like a ridiculous mash of genres, but I feel like her live performances more or less center on that mix).

Either way, I want her to move forward--either more aggressively tapping into what makes Pop music tick, or decidedly moving into a new style for her (which may not exclude Pop radio, but won't exactly be created with it in mind).

[Focus]

Microsoft Store ‏@microsoftstore
Get ready! kelly🌷💞_Clarkson will perform a free concert on 11/3 to celebrate our grand opening at @shopcortemadera. on.fb.me/M6dmUe

[Deleted]

Romantical? Really, Kid?

Oct 24, 2012 14:03:19 GMT -5 Peaches. [Ch, r. is] said:

After seeing DS's underperformance and CMB reluctance to take off, does anyone else regret their decision not to release IFY, TWIO or YCW?

Just a little bit, but not really. I do wish they would have at least given Stronger a fourth single, and after more thought than it probably deserves, I think DS would have done well if it had been a fall single following LMD/IFY in the summer. I adore Hello but I'm still uncertain as to how it would have performed. It's just so HAC, I don't know how pop would have responded to it. LMD and IFY were never guaranteed either but aside from WDKY those were the two safest songs left.

Anyway, if CMB doesn't do well then I'm with Danny on this one - it would seem clear that CHR has just decided that they only want a very specific sound from Kelly, and I'm not here for her being pigeonholed. So from that perspective I don't regret them not releasing IFY because it would have just reaffirmed this and I would have been frustrated. I'd much rather her say 'screw it' and just make what she wants if it comes to that...as pointed out, she still has HAC and AC very much on her side, and that is where she's been transitioning for a while anyway. She doesn't really have much left to prove to anyone - not to radio, not to the media, not to fans, not even to herself. Unless that is what she wants, of course.

There is the middle ground where she does have that one radio-bait song per album; this wouldn't bother me, but I think some fans would find that equally frustrating for the same reasons they're annoyed with the way Stronger ended. The people who are here for a consistent string of hits wouldn't be satisfied with this strategy.
---
And on a side note, I do agree with LPL that I don't understand why they make obvious radio-bait songs and then don't release them. The AIEW even missed a Q4 release b/c they held it up to put IICHY on there...and then they didn't release it. So ridiculous. That would have been an amazing second single. I was never really here for IFY but I objectively get its appeal and had figured that if it wasn't single #3, it would be #4, so I'm surprised they didn't go for it.

[Get Your Life.]

US album sales: #145 kelly🌷💞_Clarkson, Stronger 3,000 (946,000)

[Jack]

I just think she could really go this female Bruno Mars route. Not just because I could see her killing a song like Locked Out Of Heaven, but he makes big, soulful, hooky songs with incredible vocals and massive melodies, that are bold enough but catchy too.

[bb]

I think there's a significant chance Kelly doesn't give a f*ck either way, ironically. Not to trivialize the really eloquent posts above that I personally agree with, but I think Kelly's days of yearning for top-of-the-world success have come and gone. She may still have some big hits and some great recognition but I don't think it's her priority anymore: and it shows in her material. Stronger is, as others have said, a primarily HAC album and aside from "Stronger" and two of the bonus tracks, it really didn't show a ton of potential for pop smashes. "Catch My Breath" also isn't radio-bait and I think, considering the fact it is very much a personal song done in the way that Kelly desired, we can see that she has a different aim.

I'm not predicting any sort of disenchantment with making pop music, because I do think she loves the style and knows it is her original home, but I would not be shocked if within a few years we notice her material taking a turn for the more stylistic and personal than the breakup anthems we know too well and love too much.

[Jack]

I would just give anything for her to sing a song like this:

www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/bruno-mars-young-wild-girls/1421406