This is tough for me to admit, but after my first time through the new album from Kelly Clarkson, I wasn’t sure it was all I ever wanted. (I know, I couldn’t quite believe it myself. Blasphemy!)

If you’ve read this blog before today, you know how much I heart pop music. I live for big choruses and hooks that linger in my head for days. But my musical tastes are broader than that, which is why I could also appreciate the darker tones of Clarkson’s My December. Sure, the set wasn’t an instant get, but taken only at face value, it was unfairly maligned. Give its gothic songs a chance to marinate, and My December grows on you like musical kudzu.

So after finishing my first listen to All I Ever Wanted, I had to consciously revert to a pre-My December mindset and hit play again. This new batch of songs has been selected, produced, and mixed with the mainstream in mind, so musically it’s all over the map. It’s better to approach All I Ever Wanted not as an album in the traditional (outdated?) sense, but as a future hits collection transported to the present by a Lost-like skip in the space-time continuum.

In that respect, All I Ever Wanted succeeds in spades. Clarkson begins the 14-song set with the brilliant one-two pop punch of hit single “My Life Would Suck Without You” (already a #1 hit) and “I Do Not Hook Up” (written by Katy Perry and Kara DioGuardi). Then comes the country-tinged heartbreak of “Cry,” a great big overblown ballad (in the best way), and “Don’t Let Me Stop You,” a rocking kiss-off track, both of which bring out the belter in Clarkson (again, in the best way).

On the title track, “All I Ever Wanted,” Clarkson returns to the love-gone-wrong catharsis of My December. But here the heavy has been leavened by a catchy bass hook stolen from Spoon’s “I Turn My Camera On.” Such blatant thievery aside, my real quibble with the song is that it doesn’t have a satisfactory finish. Otherwise, it’s a major highlight, so no wonder it gives Clarkson’s fourth full-length its name.

Speaking of recycling, “Already Gone” sounds like a kissing cousin to Beyonce’s “Halo.” This one’s a view from the tarnished side of love, and it turns out songrwriter du jour Ryan Tedder had a hand in both tunes. One of four he co-wrote with Clarkson, “Already Gone” is followed by another from their new partnership, the amped-up “If I Can’t Have You.” I hear snatches of Garbage in this synth-and-drum-loops track, but “Eurythmics meets the Killers,” as Clarkson has described the tune, not so much.

Another Tedder ballad, “Save You,” follows, written with Aimée Proal for her defunct band, Gone ‘Til November. “Save You” starts off promising enough, but once the military drums kick in, with the soaring guitars, the staggered background vocals, and the Mozart-inspired breakdown, well… this many-layered cake very nearly topples over.

Switching genres once more, “Whyyouwannabringmedown” aims to be punk by way of Pat Benatar. Clarkson gives it her best shot, but frankly, the frantic tune just isn’t that good, whether or not her aim is true.

Katy Perry pops up again, with a co-writing credit on “Long Shot” (which, along with “I Do Not Hook Up,” are taken from unreleased album Perry cut for Columbia). It’s another winner, but boy, are those verses a clunky, tough slog. They seem so out of place next to hooky-as-hell chorus, which is what puts this one over the top. Just try to get it out of your head.

Tedder and Clarkson team up for “Impossible,” which puts an “Umbrella”-like high hat through its paces. The song’s not terrible — it will stick with you, because Clarkson knows how to sell it — but I’m beginning to think it’s nearly impossible for Tedder to turn out something that’s wholly unique.

“Ready,” written by Clarkson and two members of her touring band, is a bouncy, sun-splashed trifle with opening keyboards that recall The Beach Boys. But it’s “I Want You” that takes honors as my oddball favorite on All I Ever Wanted, and fittingly, it’s track number 13. Written by Clarkson and the Caesars’ Joakim Ahlund, “I Want You” is a ’60s-style throwback in the tradition of Madonna’s “True Blue.” And boy, that sounds a lot like Duffy doing the yeah-yeah-yeah backing vocals toward the end. Hear here:

All I Ever Wanted officially closes out with “If No One Will Listen,” a ballad written by Keri Noble for her 2004 album, Fearless. Clarkson produced the stripped-down track herself, and not surprisingly, it’s a strong showcase for her voice that does without much studio twiddling.

Oh, but we’re not done yet. Being the Kelly Clarkson fan that I am, I opted for the Deluxe Version of All I Ever Wanted, which tacks on two more tracks. The first is another from Team Tedder/Clarkson. “Tip Of My Tongue,” co-opts “Hollaback Girl”-ish drums, a repetitive guitar phrase reminiscent of “Edge Of Seventeen,” and climax of “In The Air Tonight,” with a repeat performance of the same screaming synth line from the earlier “Impossible.” I’m not surprised that the jarring “Tip” didn’t make the final 14.

“The Day We Fell Apart,” however, should have made the cut. Another page pulled from the Book of Garbage, this one’s a damn good rip. I imagine Shirley Manson and the boys from Madison, WI, will be sincerely flattered that Clarkson is so closely following their wicked ways.

Jam-packed with four-star songs, and only a minor misstep or three (none particularly egregious) among the rest, All I Ever Wanted is a solid fourth chapter in the continuing story of America’s favorite Idol. Sure, other singers lean on the pop machine to churn out chart-toppers, but there’s nothing cookie-cutter about Ms. Kelly Clarkson. It’s still early in her career, but she’s already proved there’s some “there” there, and here her undeniable talent is what ultimately makes this genre-hopping collection so successful.

Purchase Kelly Clarkson – All I Ever Wanted (Deluxe Edition) via iTunes, Amazon, Amazon MP3.