Maps of Music

Stronger (2011)

Where the lyrics of Stronger take you, and where it was really made.

Fifty to seventy demo songs leaked online in July 2011, yet the album still came out in the autumn of that year.

Key places

Chalice Recording Studios, Los Angeles (2011)

Recording site Chalice Recording — Some recording sessions for Stronger took place at this Los Angeles studio while Clarkson was on the international leg of her All I Ever Wanted Tour. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Smoakstack Studios, Nashville (2011)

Recording site Nashville — Some recording sessions for Stronger took place in Nashville, Tennessee, at Smoakstack Studios; the pin is set at the city center. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Fifth studio album by American singer Kelly Clarkson
• Released October 21, 2011 by RCA Records
• Thirteen tracks; Clarkson worked with several new producers and with Howard Benson, who had also worked with her on All I Ever Wanted (2009)
• Sonic aim: sound unlike her earlier albums, with vocals recorded as heard in live sets and as little auto-tune as possible
• Mainly pop rock, with R&B and country influences from earlier work and recently developed dance-pop themes
• Lyrics explore heartbreak, vengeance, forgiveness and empowerment through metaphors about relationships

Background

• Writing began in November 2009 while touring for All I Ever Wanted
• The original plan was a late 2010 release; the date was pushed back several times
• Clarkson took a six-month break from her music career in 2010
• Her label felt the same way about wanting something different from the album

Recording

• Recording finished in February 2011
• Some sessions took place at Chalice Recording Studios in Los Angeles, and at Smoakstack and Starstruck Studios in Nashville
• Sessions were held in several places while Clarkson was on the international leg of her tour
• Jason Halbert, her musical director, also added new material

Cover

• On September 7, 2011, RCA released the album cover and moved the American release date to October 24, 2011

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born Kelly Brianne Clarkson on April 24, 1982, in Fort Worth, Texas, and raised in Burleson, Texas.
• Won the first season of American Idol in 2002 and signed with RCA Records.
• Debut single "A Moment Like This" became the best-selling single of 2002 in the United States.
• Debut album Thankful (2003) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• Breakaway (2004) became her most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.
• Singles "Since U Been Gone" and "Because of You" achieved major chart success; "Because of You" became her biggest single worldwide.
• Stronger (2011) won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2013 ceremony.
• Wrapped in Red (2013) became the best-selling holiday album of the year.
• Signed with Atlantic Records in 2015 and released Meaning of Life (2017), When Christmas Comes Around... (2021), and Chemistry (2023).
• Coached The Voice for multiple seasons and hosted The Kelly Clarkson Show from 2019.
• Has sold over 82 million records worldwide and received three Grammy Awards.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Spin: Mikael Wood wrote that Clarkson delivers 'Einstein' with a country singer's earthy conviction
• Entertainment Weekly: Melissa Maerz called it Clarkson's 'older-better-tougher-smarter album'
• The Washington Post: Allison Stewart called it a good album by a great vocalist
• The New York Times: Jon Caramanica said Clarkson was turning into the Mary J. Blige of pop
• Slant Magazine: Jonathan Keefe found the performances more lived-in than on her earlier efforts, excluding the electronic manipulation on 'Mr. Know It All'
• Rolling Stone: Jody Rosen gave a mixed review, calling Clarkson a slightly wearying one-note artist while praising her voice
• The A.V. Club: criticized the heavily produced electro-sheen as more manufactured than magical
• Sputnikmusic: ambivalent toward the attempt at a deeper purpose
• The Independent: Andy Gill found no development in her singing and panned the music

Reappraisal

• Metacritic: average score 62 based on 11 reviews
• AllMusic: Stephen Thomas Erlewine credited the success entirely to Clarkson and called it her best album since Breakaway (2004)

Records

• UK Albums Chart: debut at number five with 29,233 copies in the first week
• ARIA Charts: debut at number three in Australia
• Billboard 200: debut at number two with 163,000 copies, her second number-two debut after My December (2007)
• Fifth consecutive album to debut in the top three
• United States: platinum (RIAA) as of September 2012, denoting one million shipped copies
• United Kingdom: over 200,000 copies sold
• 55th Grammy Awards: won Best Pop Vocal Album; nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year
• New Zealand: sixth place on the charts
• Netherlands: sixteenth place; Ireland: eighth place

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's first single, 'Mr. Know It All', premiered in a live webcast on Clarkson's website on August 30, 2011.
• The Japanese iTunes Store briefly sold the entire album by mistake on October 15, 2011 before snippet previews replaced it that day.
• Between 50 and 70 demo songs leaked online on July 11, 2011, and RCA quickly issued warnings to infringing websites.
• Clarkson called Stronger the best album she had made to record, saying everything was fluid and everyone agreed on it.
• Clarkson was announced on March 4, 2010 for the revived Lilith Fair, but she later cancelled her appearance, saying she would focus on recording instead.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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