Kelly Clarkson Album: “Before Your Love/A Moment Like This”

Kelly Clarkson is an amazing talent. It really irritates me to hear people talking about her like she is just a product of television. This girl has a voice that rivals even Whitney and Mariah. I think it's great that she got this oppertunity, and got the exposure she might have had to work for years to get. America obviously knew she deserved it now. She can really belt 'em out. Both songs on this single are powerful ballads, which wouldn't have nearly the same impact if it wasn't for her strong and beautiful vocals. What I love about Kelly is that she can sing just as good live, if not better, then what's on this single. Most artists today, like Britney and Christina, can't sing nearly as good as what's on their albums, and lipsync most of the time. As Paula Abdul said, Kelly is the real deal. Even though she got her fame so fast, she certainly has the talent to back it up. She also seems like a very sweet and humble girl, who I think will always stay true to who she is, and not develop a 'diva' complex. I'm sure she's gonna have a long and happy career ahead of her.

For all of Kelly Clarkson's considerable talent, there's not much good to say about her first single. Not even Clarkson's powerful voice and natural charisma can save Z-grade material, and on this, her first release, that's precisely what she's been stuck with. Let's hope that when the time comes for her first album, "Before Your Love" and "A Moment Like This" are nowhere to be found.

Blame the top-drawer songwriters for phoning it in, blame the producers for agreeing to mass produce it, but "Before Your Love" and "A Moment Like This" are the lowest grade of pop rock material around. "Before Your Love" is marginally the better of the two. It manages to sound like filler material for a Jessica Simpson album; hardly high praise, but at least it's plausible that, outside of the craze of 'American Idol,' this song might have still seen wide release on an incredibly poor CD.

There's really no excuse for "A Moment Like This," which manages to sound virtually identical to "Before Your Love" while at the same time being even worse. Annoyingly repetitious and obviously plagarizing the basic refrain of Lonestar's "Already There," "A Moment Like This" is astoundingly terrible, enough so that it's hard to sit through it just one time. Repeat listenings do not improve the experience, instead making it almost excruciating.

Both songs are slow, generic ballads. Part of Clarkson's appeal was her ability to belt out power ballads while at the same time tossing strong sass into renditions of songs like "Respect." She should've been given greater variety in her material. Even if these songs were written before a winner was chosen (which was most likely the case), that's still no excuse. Did anyone want to hear Justin or Nikki or even Tamrya sing two indistinguishable ballads without ever once having them break out the funk?

Pass on Kelly Clarkson's first single, and wait for her to be given music worthy of her skills.

One shouldn't be fooled by the seeming cheesiness of the show. It accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do. It found a woman with a phenomenal voice who is sure to be America's newest chart topping success. Only a few of the other contestants on the show had what it took to be a popstar (namely Tamyra Gray and Christina Christian) but it came down to Justin and Kelly. The clear choice was the shy little girl with the powerhouse voice who can command 'Respect' like Aretha.

Now on to the songs themselves. 'A Moment Like This' is in fact a cheesy pop song. Why it was the one serviced to radio I will never know. The great thing about it is Kelly. She rises above the substandard material and delivers a fine performance. On the contrary to this, "Before Your Love" is a perfect record. It showcases both her voice and grade A material. In my opinion, that is the song that should have been serviced to radio. Though either song will prove to help Kelly achieve an iconic status.

In all, this cd single is a great buy. Look for Kelly Clarkson at the top of the Billboard charts. That's precisely where that woman belongs!

This single is amazing! It shows off her voice so much! I totally love it! I wish though that Kelly's album showed off her voice as much as this single dose! But Kelly Clarkson is one true Diva! I want her to win a grammy so bad! And she should have won that Grammy she was up for! Kelly Clarkson will always be a diva of American Idol, and beyond! I give her single 5 stars, and her album 5 stars!

I watched the show. I love the song. But I think that I like this CD because I like the journey that Kelly Clarkson took to get this single released. My girlfriend likes the song and we play it because it's a pop love song. Let's bring this whole American Idol thing back to reality. Kelly is a great person and I personally hope that she will endure in a very competitive music industry. Score one for the average young lady with a great singing voice. But I would wait until her full length CD comes out in time for Christmas, they will probably include these two songs on it. It also looks as if the American Idol greatest hits has these two songs on it, plus "Natural Woman" which Kelly just rocked during the show. Did I buy this CD? I sure did! Was it a waste of money? It sure was! Only because I'm also going to buy the Greatest Hits and Kelly's full length. Did FOX Network get me to buy into the hype? They sure did.