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Track Listings

Disc: 1

1	A Minute (Intro)
2	Love So Soft
3	Heat
4	Meaning of Life
5	Move You
6	Whole Lotta Woman
7	Medicine

Disc: 2

1	Cruel
2	Didn't I
3	Would You Call That Love
4	I Don't Think About You
5	Slow Dance
6	Don't You Pretend
7	Go High

Editorial Reviews

Vinyl LP pressing including digital download. 2017 release from the American Idol vocalist. Meaning Of Life is the album Kelly Clarkson was destined to make with Atlantic Records, a collection of smart and sensual soul-inspired pop that immediately belongs among the legendary label's classic canon. For her eighth studio album - and follow-up to 2015's chart-topping Piece By Piece - Clarkson united a stellar team of top songwriters and producers to collaborate on her Atlantic debut, among them past collaborators Jason Halbert, Jesse Shatkin and Grammy Award-winning Producer of the Year Greg Kurstin as well as first time collaborators Mick Schultz, The Monarch and Nick Ruth among others. Some of the songs on the album are "Whole Lotta Woman" "Medicine" "I Don't Think About You" "Slow Dance" "Go High" "Would You Call That Love" "Love So Soft" "Move You" and more.

Product details

Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.36 x 12.28 x 0.39 inches; 12.2 ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Atlantic
Item model number ‏ : ‎ 563941-1
Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2017
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2017
Label ‏ : ‎ Atlantic
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075F97YDT
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #135,515 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #3,939 in Dance Pop (CDs & Vinyl)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 1,551 ratings

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Beatlenik

America's First "Idol" Finally Does Become MISS INDEPENDENT!

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2017

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Kelly Clarkson won American Idol by delivering powerhouse vocals on mainly a soul tour de force. Winning the contest she was forced into "an arranged marriage" with the always contentious RCA CEO Clive Davis. Davis called the shots and Kelly made albums that were designed for her in a pop mainstream. It wasn't really the music she was yearning to make. 15 years after releasing a MISS INDEPENDENT which was anything but, Kelly is finally free to breath her own air with her newly signed contract at Atlantic, the progressive label that stabled real "independence" back when it allowed artists like Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and Yes to call their own shots and be as creative as freedom allowed.

THE MEANING OF LIFE is the album Kelly says she's been wanting to make since she was in junior high school! While working at RCA as an Idol, requirements ended up being something that "sometimes worked out and sometimes resulted in the hardest experiences of my life", it obviously gave Kelly a respect for artistry and possibly has helped her focus on what kind of artist she can really be. THE MEANING OF LIFE is one of the best albums I have heard by a contemporary artist in a long time. Love So Soft and Move You were tasty teases of what was to come, released as singles they immediately invoke a blue-eyed soul power that hasn't been matched since Dusty Springfield's Memphis Sessions resulted in her own pinnacle of achievement. THE MEANING OF LIFE is immense, intense, introspective, and individually personal, all while consistently raising the hairs on goosebumps. Kelly Clarkson has definitely come into her own. In her recent interviews she said “This isn’t a record I could have made at the age of 20," ...[it's a] "grown-ass woman’s record.” "This is a record you make when you’ve lived.”

Well, the listening is finished and going on the second run through, it is clearly evident that Kelly has indeed accomplished what she set out to do. Until this album, my favorite album of hers was the fun and powerful WRAPPED IN RED album, her wildly successful and rollicking Christmas treat from a few years back, otherwise she has been keenly interesting but not enough to keep me purchasing her albums. After her recent live dates on the Today show, that changed. And I am happy to say this wonderful album is all it was promised and cracked up to be! It has a lot of punch, tons of soul, a good dash of R&B and a sprinkling of urban pop, just enough to make it both current and retro enough to liven up the boomer's musical desires.

Musical Highlights:
Heat is everything implied by the title, wow!
Whole Lotta Woman props Kelly up in front of Earth Wind & Fire's wind, and she kills on this one, stand back and watch her belt it as big as Texas
Medicine let's Kelly invoke her inner Whitney while maintaining a modern approach.
I Don't Think About You can be interpreted two ways, as a romance in the ditch break-up song, or probably more true to life, Kelly's Sayonara Baby to RCA and Davis, this isn't a sad break-up song, it growls with underlying relief and provides a showstopper vehicle for her vocal range.
Slow Dance is intense, burning, and features one hot searing guitar solo; this song and the fiery Heat might be the two best cookers on this album!
Go High ends the album on Kelly's invocation of Michelle Obama, inspired by “When they go low, we go high”.

When this finishes you realize that Kelly Clarkson has actually redefined and updated the modern R&B sound, because this album draws from the wellspring of classic soul while sewing it together with the freshest sounding urban pop thread and cutting it with Nashville scissors. Kelly has created an album using the finest elements of The Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos; she has created a lifetime in one album, a howling and scorching I Will Not Go Quietly testament to her talent. This is sure to be considered her masterpiece or magnum opus in due time. Listen and enjoy the goosebumps!

18 people found this helpful

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Evelyn Redd

Cd

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2024

Verified Purchase

Good cd if you like Kelly Clarkson . Worth the money

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024

gift

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

EPIC! She said this is the record she's waited all these years to make. The wait is over and we are very, very lucky. This is retro-neo pop, soul, dance, and everything else in the mix, but totally relevant today. Love the lyrics , music (horns too!), vocals- those vocals SOARRRRRR! People gonna be wishing they had this at the beach or by the pool this past summer. I think they'll still be listening to it next summer. Only suggestion: wish 'Move Me' were longer with a second go round of that soaring verse and vocals. BEST vocalist on the planet! And, I'm a fan that doesn't listen to tons of pop, but a great record is just that, great. Kelly loves a lot of artists that I do like Patty Griffin, Ryan Adams, etc... Love her covers. She needs to cover 'Ain't No Little Girl' by Kasey Chambers. I think she could do what Whitney did with Dolly's 'I Will Always Love You' with that song. No kidding. It is a POWER song. Her voice on that song would equal MEGA hit.

7 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Definitely Worth a Listen or Two....Or More!!!

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

Wow! I pre-ordered it (which has never worked out for me) and have not stopped listening since. The more I listen to it, the better it seems to get. Even songs I did not care for at first, like Move You, I now am enjoying it just as much as all else. This is my first Clarkson album, outside her greatest hits and from the reviews this is quite a departure. I am glad it is a departure, it is a really good album!! There really is not a clunker in the bunch and the only one that comes close is "Go High", but I don't lean towards message songs. The more you listen, songs like "Medicine", "Would You Call That Love" and "Meaning of Life" will sound better and better. I am not sure what other Kelly Clarkson albums were like, but this one is a real winner! I would highly recommend!!

One person found this helpful

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commorancy

Strong release for Kelly, but different from her most recent

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2017

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This is a good release, but it is far from perfect. Let me start with auto-tune. This is the first release I've actually noticed auto-tune being used in any substantial way. Yes, she's still able to sing quite well, but (and there is always a but), her voice has changed. Pregnancy has a way of doing that. This is a well documented change for female singers. Her voice has deepened and gotten a bit raspy and even a touch hoarse, even when you hear her speak.

Advice to Ms. Clarkson, please take care of your voice. It is what keeps you relevant in music. The voice doesn't recover nearly as fast not only after a pregnancy, but also with age. You have to give your voice time to recover from long stretches of tour singing. In fact, the hoarseness I hear on some of the tracks here concern me enough to suggest you see a throat specialist and make sure there's nothing out of the ordinary going on.

There were a few tracks on this release where I didn't recognize her voice. As for the songwriting choices, they are most definitely strong with southern attitude, but they remind me of a combination of southern rock and modern pop. A few of the songs on Meaning of Life are reminiscent of those on Thankful, but with southern rock leanings. With this release, she has abandoned her synth pop sound in exchange for a more cohesive 'band' sound. It's not that southern rock is a bad choice, it's just not in the same genre as her previous releases. Though, knowing that she lives in Texas, it was entirely expected to see her release an album with southern leanings to help her rope in her southern fans. Well, here it is.

With all of that said, I can't give this album more than 4 stars... in part because of her hoarseness and vocal cracks (Meaning of Life and Whole Lotta Woman songs in particular), in part due to the genre change and in part due to the use of auto-tune. If she still possessed her pristine Thankful just-out-of-idol voice, the use of auto-tune may not have been needed. I'm happy for Kelly that she now has a family, but as a female singer, you have to be willing to accept the vocal changes that come from that choice. Meaning of Life spotlights that life choice, for better or worse.

One person found this helpful

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Jime Gregory Contreras

excellent cd

Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

excellent cd

Lourrany

Sensacional

Reviewed in Brazil on December 5, 2020

Verified Purchase

Amei a produção do CD, um Álbum que superou minhas expectativas! O que não gostei foi a forma que ele chegou com a capa rachada no meio. Não sei se foi descuido da Amazon ou da transportadora, só não solicitei a troca porque poderia vir do mesmo jeito ou pior.