Critical Reception
The song received generally positive reviews. Billboard labelled it "a propulsive blast of rock-tinged pop" and stated that "the countdown to No. 1 begins." About.com's Bill Lamb named it "pop perfection that could easily end up one of the biggest hits of the year." Rolling Stone called the song "fantastic — the early favorite for single of the year." and "straight-up pop cascades into an avalanche of synths and a steady beat," mentioning that it "has all the characteristics of a surefire radio hit." TIME also listed "My Life Would Suck Without You" as number one in their top ten songs of 2009. Brian Mansfield from USA Today stated that there were "disco rhythms and lots of synth-dance-pop layers over the top, but the guitar pattern... keeps it from sounding too artificial"; eventually stating that he was "liking it". The Los Angeles Times said the song "zooms forward from its guitar-plucky intro toward a cymbal-crashing climax without ever slowing down", commenting that the song would be "huge"; however, it also stated that the song had "empty calories delivered within those compressed, subtly Auto-Tuned vocals high-fructose beats." Nick Levine of Digital Spy rated the song four out of five stars, commenting "It's as original as shoving a slither of cheese between two slices of bread and calling it lunch, and the lyrics are a bit juvenile for the 26-year-old Clarkson, but these quibbles melt away when the heroically catchy chorus arrives. Best of all, you come away thinking that no-one else could have sung that heroically catchy chorus quite as well as Kelly Clarkson." Rhiannon Haller of Michigan Daily gave the same rating, praising it as "pure, radio-pop goodness that’s bound to become the guilty pleasure of many." On March 5, 2013 Billboard ranked the song #8 in its list of Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time.
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