dd I do love Thankful and love the highs it has, but overall you can definitely hear the disjointed-ness that resulted from her having to fight for what she wanted, and the label forcing what they wanted on her. The songs she loved and wanted on there are serves (although I think they'd sound much better now with her current vocals), but there are definitely some snoozefests on there, you can tell they were trying to make her a Celine Dion balladeer. Also, the way her voice was produced was kinda messy, you can hear the unnecessary autotune on some songs like Some Kind of Miracle. Piece By Piece definitely has some meh songs and I get why some people don't love it, but I think it's pretty underrated. The personality/soul/conviction in her voice is better captured on it, and it's more cohesive overall.
If Kelly hadn't taken advice from an actual toddler and had put Nostalgic out as the lead single, I'm sure Piece by Piece would have been far better received. Not to get into the whole imaginary tracklist thing nn but Piece by Piece could have been a great 10 track album.
Kelly thought her contract was up because she thought Wrapped In Red counted as her last album owed to the label so that wasn’t a great start to Piece by Piece because she went a bit autopilot. She wasn’t inspired at all and pretty much said that was why she got so many songs submitted in interviews. She checked out after the first single. Invincible was a terrible second single. Then the UK tour was cancelled. Piece by Piece becoming a surprise hit after the Idol performance is probably the only thing that saved the era from being written off as a complete flop. I blame RCA for all that. Surely the Christmas album should’ve counted towards her contract. They must’ve screwed her a bit there.
One thing I don't understand about Piece by Piece is how she seemed to mess up even the good songs she was receiving. Compare the version of Second Wind on Maren's album which is so warm and soulful to Kelly's which sounds like an unfinished demo. Then there was the demo of Good Goes the Bye which was more acoustic and seemed to suit Kelly a lot more than the overproduced synth-y version that ended up on the album. Nostalgic should've been the lead single, but I also don't necessarily care that it wasn't because Heartbeat Song really was the best indicator of what was to come on that album.
Honestly, I feel like after My December she resigned to putting out these middling synth pop album tracks just to get through the record label album deal. I feel like the label were trying to force Dr. Luke songs and as a compromise she just had to slap this soulless pop production on all the tracks, to fulfill her 'pop album' obligation. The album versions of Ready and Piece by Piece say a lot ddddd
I LOVE the album version of Piece by Piece - the Idol version is also great but IF she ever sings it again (especially on a UK TOUR.. hint hint Kelly!) Then I'm going to need the band version
She said herself that Piece By Piece is sonically the way it is to be a bridge between her pop/rock sound and what she knew she wanted Meaning of Life to be. Remember, she had recorded the title track during the Piece By Piece sessions. She also has said repeatedly that her relationship with RCA in her final years there was fine.
I like her version of Second Wind! Maren's works better, but I like the optioned up vocal choices she makes.
I liked Piece By Piece at the time and there’s still a lot of tracks I’ll listen to on it but as an album it’s overstuffed. It could have made a nice 12 track album. And Bad Reputation is probably one of the worst songs she’s recorded. It’s just noise and her voice is really unpleasant on it.
I actually love the album version of Good Goes the Bye. The album as a whole does have a pretty cohesive sound, which I appreciate! On that topic, I love this medley she did on the Meaning of Life tour:
Janet Jackson is on the show next Tuesday, and Kelly is covering What Have You Done For Me Lately. Kelly is likely going to be a nervous wreck, she's a huge Janet stan. I'm so ready.
