Kelly Clarkson's Stronger + Guetta's Nothing but the Beat

Kelly Clarkson’s Stronger (Only the leaked songs, for obvious reasons)

Mr. Know it All 3/5 I guess this was a decent choice for the first single given the other leaks’ levels of quality/catchiness. But while Kelly’s voice sounds nice it doesn’t dazzle. Perhaps the video/performances will change my mind. I do like it better than I did at first.

Stronger 5/5 Amazeballs. Seriously, needs to be single #2, needs to be a Since You Been Gone level smash.

Dark Side 3 The chorus is interesting sonically, but the verses are on the annoying side.

Einstein 3 The song is mostly nice, but it needs an explosive chorus to really hit hard, and the chorus is swallowed whole by the overly uttered original title which is…dumb. The lyrics are on the gimmicky side & could be saved by a well-crafted chorus, but no.

Standing in Front of You 1 Slow and annoying.

I Forgive You 3 The chorus is quite nice, but the song is quite repetitive in using it and there’s not much interesting outside of it.

Let Me Down 3 Strong chorus, but the rest is weak.

You Can’t Win 2 It sounds longer than it is because while occasionally catchy it can grate.

Breaking Your Own Heart 3 Pretty but kind of boring. I kind of want it to end before it does. Maybe an upbeat radio mix would help.

Don’t You Wanna Stay 3 Her voice is strong here. I’m glad she has a #1 country hit. Too bad about the dude on it. It sounds better live thanks to Kelly’s live vocals.

Don’t Be a Girl About It 1.5 What a stupid title. It doesn’t sound terrible but I don’t see a reason for it to be around either.

Hmm, she used to be my #1 artist; her now 3 consec albums being lame is making me pretty much over her. I still think the singles from Breakaway are great.

David Guetta’s Nothing But the Beat (Only the songs I at least kind of liked)

Night of Your Life feat Jennifer Hudson 3.5 While Hudson has a strong voice, you can’t exactly tell that from this song. She seems to have some weird random accent (British maybe) and she yells a lot. Still, the beat is great and the uttering of the title is as well.

Where Them Girls At feat Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj 3.5 The highlight of this song is Minaj’s usual nonsensical rapping. The rest of it is decent enough I suppose, though not as catchy and the message is a bit not to my taste.

Turn Me On feat Nicki Minaj 3.5 Is Dean singing on this or Minaj? Super Bass is Dean’s singing + Minaj’s rapping but that song doesn’t credit Dean. Anyway, the rapping part is dumb and even more nonsensical than Minaj usually is, and the verses are nice if unremarkable. The chorus is great though, probably tailor made for clubs/parties.

Titanium feat Sia 3.5 It’s certainly interesting and different from other songs on the radio, but the novelty wears off after awhile, and then it sounds somewhat annoying and the song aside from the vocals isn’t very original after all. It is catchy, and the contrast of Guetta & Sia probably could help this song be a big hit like how Pumped Up Kicks is huge thanks to a really relaxed happy beat coupled with lyrics that are…not.

Without You feat Usher 4.5 Ooh this is the best Usher song I’ve heard in years. He sounds soulful and the beat perfectly matches his vocals. I also like the lyrics quite a bit. Great choice for a single.