Miley Cyrus released her fourth studio album, “Bangerz,” Tuesday to a slew of positive reviews from various media outlets.
I would be lying if I were to say I?never watched an episode of “Hannah Montana.” I would also be lying if I were to say I didn’t watch the show every week while it was on air.
I never really considered myself a fan of Miley Cyrus, but I also never disliked her. In fact, I always seemed to have an admiration for Miley without actually fawning over her.
When she first started acting out, I was just as shocked as the next person, but I’ve grown to admire her confidence in who she is and what she wants to do.
When looking back over the course of the past few years, you can tell she was trying to break out of her Disney Channel shell. First, it was the June 2008 cover of “Vanity Fair” where she appeared partially nude at the young age of 15. Then she was dancing on an ice cream cart strip pole at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards show. It was downhill from there.
With her new album, “Bangerz,” in stores now, it’s safe to say she has definitely broken away from her squeaky-clean Disney counterpart.
Many people criticize Miley for not having a good voice. While I agree that her voice is certainly different, it’s not horrible. If you have not already, take a look at The Backyard Sessions on YouTube where she sang covers of songs from “Jolene” to “Lilac Wine.”
When Miley puts her voice to the test, something really special can emerge. Sometimes, however, she just doesn’t know how to use it to its full potential – something understandable, considering how young she is.
Throughout the course of this album, there are parts where Miley is very in tune with her voice and other times have me questioning what she was even thinking.
The album itself has no flow to it. Each track is completely different from the last.
The album starts off with this slow and sultry song (“Adore You”) about finding the one you love and how, when you find that person, your life completely changes.
The song, good in itself, gave a false start to the album. This song and “Wrecking Ball,” another soulful song on the album, made me think that Miley found her way and really listened to what her voice was and was not capable of.
As soon as I made it to the second track, I realized that was not the case.
The second track, “We Can’t Stop,” which most of us have heard by this point (hello MTV Video Music Award performance),?is a pop song that is about living your life and not letting others influence you otherwise.
The upbeat song reminds you of something that would be played at a big, drunken, college party – one that you wished you could attend.
After hearing that track and the next, “SMS (Bangerz),” which features another former teen pop star gone cuckoo and now sane, Britney Spears, I started to get the feeling this album would be more pop than soulful.
But then I got to the fourth track, “4X4.” The song has a country hoedown vibe and features rapper Nelly. The song is catchy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not weird. It reminds me of her “Hoedown Throwdown” song as Hannah Montana, then Nelly comes in and it reminds me of “Ride Wit Me.”
The entire album seems to follow this format – a song where she raps then a song that nearly brings you to tears followed by a song that you just want to blast the whole way through.
I am pleasantly surprised with the artists she worked with on this album. Everyone from Britney to Big Sean to Future were all featured on “Bangerz.”
Miley really had a lot to say and she did a good job of conveying it through a few of the songs such as “FU,” “#GETITRIGHT,” “My Darlin’” and “Drive.”
She and ex-fiance Liam Hemsworth went through a drawn-out breakup this year, which can’t be easy on the girl. As a listener, you can tell she put everything she had into this album.
“Bangerz” could have made a great concept album, but alas, that is not the case. She could have taken what she experienced and what she has gone through in the last year and made a great piece of art.
While the album is great, it seems to be lacking the fine tuning it needs to make the album a masterpiece.
Story by Savannah Sawyer, Features Editor