Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted

All I Ever Wanted is the fourth album by the original American Idol. It's a fun box of chewable pop confectionary, 16 super sweet tracks each with a little twist in taste. First single "My Life Would Suck without You" has already jumped to the number one spot on the Billboard charts. With Katy '"I Kissed a Girl" Perry on board for her second single "I Do Not Hook Up", Kelly is also in playfully experimental pop territory. Not only is this single going to chart well, it's sure to be the chick anthem for the coming months.

While Kelly entered the industry through the bubblegum pop door of a talent contest, over the past few years she's turned into the disobedient child of the ubiquitous parent who made her. She actually had the nerve to fire Idols creator Simon Fuller as her manager, accusing him of not being focused on her career after her first album, Thankful didn't do as well as she'd hoped.

The gutsy 26-year-old Texan stays with the pop rock/soul rock style that's sold her millions of albums, and injects as much of herself into her music as is humanly possible. "All I Ever Wanted" is fun, flirty, and full of life. Even soulful rock ballads such as "Cry" and "No One Will Listen" are delivered with just the right air of sassy pop spunk.

"Already Gone" sounds like it was inspired by 80s Sinead O' Connor and "Whyyawannabringmedown" is very high amped 90s chick rock, while "Long Shot" and "I Want You" are a step to the side for Kelly. Clearly she's finally coming into her own and feeling confident enough to experiment while enjoying making music. As the unfashionably simple album title and unpretentiously glam sleeve artwork show, Kelly has hopped off that deeply contemplative pop/rock bandwagon for good old fashioned fun.