Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson (CD, Nov-2004, RCA)

Album Features
UPC:	828766449129
Artist:	Kelly Clarkson
Format:	CD
Release Year:	2004
Record Label:	RCA
Genre:	Rock & Pop, Teen Pop

Track Listing
1. Breakaway
2. Since U Been Gone
3. Behind These Hazel Eyes
4. Because of You
5. Gone
6. Addicted
7. Where Is Your Heart
8. Walk Away
9. You Found Me
10. I Hate Myself for Losing You
11. Hear Me
12. Beautiful Disaster - (live)

Details
Producer:	Raine Maida, Chantal Kreviazuk, Clive Davis, Kara DioGuardi, Clif Magness, John Shanks, Max Martin, Ben Moody, Lukasz Gottwald, David Hodges
Distributor:	BMG (distributor)
Recording Type:	Studio
Recording Mode:	Stereo
SPAR Code:	n/a

Album Notes
Personnel: Kelly Clarkson (vocals); Kelly Clarkson; Max Martin , Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald (various instruments); John Shanks (guitar, keyboards, bass guitar); Clif Magness (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, bass guitar, programming); Jason Halbert (piano); Marty O'Brien (bass guitar); Randy Cooke, Randy Cook, Mark Colbert, Kenny Aronoff (drums); Jason Lader (programming); Ben Moody, Raine Maida, Phil X. (guitar); David Hodges (piano, programming); Josh Freese, Shawn Pelton, Jeff Rothschild, Olle Dahlstedt (drums).Audio Mixers: John Shanks; Jeff Rothschild; Serban Ghenea; Brad Gilderman.Recording information: Blue Iron Gate Studio, Santa Monica, CA; Decibel studios, Stockholm, Sweden; Dr. Luke's New York, New York, NY; Dr. Luke's, New York, NY; Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Maratone Studios, Stockholm, Sweden; NRG Recording, North Hollywood, CA; Westlake Audio, CA; Whitecoat Sound, Malibu, CA; Whitecoat Souns, Malibu, CA.Photographers: James White ; Tony Duran .Kelly Clarkson was the first American Idol winner and the first vocalist to achieve success, but her 2003 debut, Thankful, didn't completely define her outside of the parameters of the show. While the dance-pop and adult contemporary ballads on that record were fresher than the music on AmIdol, Clarkson still hadn't escaped the show's shadow entirely: since it was a hit so close to her time on TV, it was easy to pigeonhole her as simply a creation of television, not a popular singer in her own right. So, her second album, Breakaway, released late in 2004, was a pivotal moment for her, a chance to prove that she was not a one-hit wonder, a chance to prove that she could have a real, vibrant career. Happily, Breakaway delivers on that promise. This time around, the dance-pop elements have been almost entirely stripped away, and the record instead is a rock-influenced, MOR pop affair, not entirely dissimilar to Ashlee Simpson's Autobiography, only a little bit smoother and not as heavy on guitars. Since Clarkson is a better singer than Simpson -- not only does she possess more chops, but she has more on-record charisma -- she can sell the material even when the slow tempos in the middle of record drag its momentum; she prevents the songs from sounding too samey. While there may be one too many ballads here, they often are very good and sometimes are excellent, like the light, layered, yearning title tune. Clarkson may be a fine ballad singer, but what gives Breakaway its spine are the driving, anthemic pop tunes like "Since U Been Gone," "Walk Away," and "You Found Me." These are the numbers that sound simultaneously mainstream and youthful, which is a hard trick to pull off, and they are the tracks that illustrate that Kelly Clarkson is a rare thing in the 2000s: a pop singer who's neither hip nor square, just solidly and enjoyably in the mainstream. After a bunch of rather blah mainstream pop albums, including a glut of half-baked AmIdol projects, this is a nice, low-key relief.

Editorial Reviews
3 stars out of 5 - [The] style works for Clarkson: She comes off more Avril than Ashlee...
Rolling Stone