Review Summary: Fallenmania, part 2
I never said Fallenmania would only be about metal, or about bad albums. Today, we are looking at the best album by American Idol’s most talented winner, and some of Ben Moody’s best work as a behind the scenes songwriter.
It’s called “Breakaway” because of its title track, but also because it’s all about Kelly Clarkson breaking away from her role as her label’s puppet. She did that with a much more personal and rock-oriented album, that she wrote with the help of some of the best pop/rock producers of the 2000s. It may be just simple mainstream rock, but it’s obviously very well-written, and feels fresh and creative.
I mean, it’s an album that contains the soaring, hopeful power ballad “Breakaway” and the heart-breaking ballad “Because of You”. Or the laid-back pop/rock of “You Found Me”, the frantic “Since U Been Gone”, the heavy guitars and melancholy of “Behind These Hazel Eyes”. Or the dramatic strings of “Addicted”. You get my point about the album being diverse, with never a dull moment. The singles are great, but the other songs are just as good, and definitely don’t feel like album fillers.
They’re musically solid, but Kelly’s powerful voice and personal lyrics make them truly memorable. For example, listen how well she portrays a small-town girl dreaming of more in the title track, or a woman absolutely crushed by a break-up, who refuses to let anyone see her cry, in “Behind These Hazel Eyes”, or, on the saddest, most personal track, “Because of You”, a woman calling out her abusive father who ruined her ability to love and trust anyone, even herself. This is where she proves that she’s not just a good singer who found some great producers, she’s a great songwriter in her own right.
Of course, few songs can compare to the emotionally crushing confession of “Because of You”, but Kelly can express “softer” emotions just as convincingly, like on “You Found Me”, where she’s happy to have found a good relationship, and on “Since U Been Gone”, where she’s glad to just be done with a bad relationship. There are other songs with a similar topic, like “Gone” and “Walk Away”, but “Since” might be the best of them, with its powerful vocals and fast, almost new wave-inspired riff. But the other two are also fun, with some pretty good riffs.
The music on this album is also really good. The instrumental for “Hazel Eyes” is my favorite, with its very heavy riff and dramatic tone. It wasn’t written by Ben Moody, but his songwriting style is all over this song. Same with the passionate piano ballad “Where is Your Heart”. He did write “Because of You”, and “Addicted”, a desperate song with powerful vocals and great violins over heavy guitars. Other songs are less dark, but they sound truly fun and upbeat. The title track in particular, a cover of an unreleased Avril Lavigne song, always puts me in a good mood, with its uplifting “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly” chorus. Really, it’s a very well-made album, full of great vocals and sharp songwriting touches.
To me, in terms of vocals, lyrics and instrumentation, it’s one of the best efforts for everyone involved. It established Kelly Clarkson as not just a good singer who found some great producers, but also a talented artist in her own right. It’s a very good piece of 2000s pop/rock, the best-case scenario for an Avril Lavigne meets Evanescence type of album. I included it in the Fallenmania series to show how many different things can be done with a Fallen-inspired sound, and how it can be really great sometimes. I also enjoyed reviewing a different genre for the first time. I'd say that just like “Fallen”, “Breakaway” turned out to be lightening in a bottle. Ben Moody never did anything as good afterwards, aside from his solo albums. As for Kelly, she went for a darker sound on her still very divisive follow-up “My December”, but it was such a flop that she had to go back to a blander pop sound. And I'm not even talking about all the controversies around some of the producers of the album. But regardless of how things turned out, “Breakaway” will always have a place in my heart.
