Miley Cyrus - Bangerz

It's almost like I don't need to write an introduction. 2013 has spawned so much discussion - most of it negative and catty - about Miss Cyrus that I'm tempted to just gloss over the album and pretend she doesn't exist. The solid nature of We Can't Stop and Wrecking Ball - the songs, that is, not the videos (and I thought we stopped being "shocked" by music videos when Madonna appeared) - made me change my mind. I'm quite comfortable in saying they are excellently crafted pop songs, and she does have a history of it (even if her input is incredibly minimal).

What has changed, though, is obvious; the shackles were loosely shaken off in 2009 with the release of the eyebrow-raising Can't be Tamed, and it's frankly bizarre that people are acting as if the whole Hannah Montana character has only just been put to bed. But the drastic change of appearance, costume and the addition of 2013's most bothersome quirk - the stuck-out tongue - has made Bangerz all the more a rebirth.

For all of the mayhem going on around this album, Bangerz opens with the slow-paced, roomy ballad 'Adore You'. Penned by Stacy Barthe (whose biggest hit, really, is Rihanna's Cheers (Drink to That)), it should warn you that the track's sentimental and pleasant at best - never really giving Cyrus a chance to unleash any wowing vocals, and not a memorable tune either. It's not helped by the colossally catchy 'We Can't Stop', the first of seven (!) Mike WiLL Made It productions. The track bounces along as an unstoppable series of hooks, odd cultural references (molly, La Di Da Di) and stupid/witty* lyrics ("we run things, things don't run we", "everyone in line for the bathroom, trynna get a line in the bathroom") and the end result is one of 2013's finest party anthems. At her best, she can't help but command us to stop caring and let go: take the latin-guitar and line-dancing stomp of '4x4', on paper a terrible idea (right down to the Nelly feature) but in practice an oddly raucous number that references her own recent form ("I'm a female rebel, can't you tell?" and makes fun of its craziness ("driving so fast, about to piss on myself").

It's a collaboration that works, and Bangerz is severely lacking on that front. From the hideous reworking of Ben E. King's Stand by Me 'My Darlin' with Future (we don't need another reminder of that song's excellence after Sean Kingston) to the perpetually baffling Big Sean (HOW does he have a career?) on the nonsensical 'Love Money Party', she stumbles around trying to do too much and it's a bit embarrassing. And then there's another frustratingly obvious sample on the Britney Spears-featured 'SMS (BANGERZ)' [Salt-n-Pepa's Push It], a track so lacking in self awareness ("I be strutting my stuff!") that it's impossible to listen to even just the once. Spears is her usual robotic, soulless self. Nothing to be seen here.

With all of the party buzz going on, 'Wrecking Ball' comes as a cleansing tour de force. A lavish production that recalls Heart and Bonnie Tyler power ballads, it showcases Cyrus' considerable voice and hammers (sorry) in all sorts of self-doubt, weakness and vulnerability into the record. Indeed, at her sweetest, Cyrus remains a likeable person and a fine protagonist in the ongoing Miley story: 'Maybe You're Right' uses storytelling as a metaphor for closing the book on a relationship (all the while making knowing nods to the listener - "you may think I'm crazy" is the prelude to the title), as does the confused, pained 'Drive', and even on the campy, menacing 'FU' she plays the part of woman scorned well ("You ain't even worth this rhyme/ and I don't, I don't give a flying"). It's just a shame, really, that she peppers these moments of raw emotion inbetween the meaningless crap like will.i.am.'s 'Do Your Thang' and the oddly chirpy thirst-for-sex moment '#Getitright'

One of the most tiresome complaints I've read probably hundreds of times this year is from people who miss "the old Miley" or, more confusingly, "the real Miley". Give a country a child star and it's as if they think they have a say in how she grows up. It's understandable, then, that this rebel yell happened: the last line of the album is "I've turned into someone else". Next time, let's hope there's less attention placed on making us drop our monocles and more on making us drop our asses. Also, as good as some of his production is, could Mike Will Made It POSSIBLY just tone down the self-promotion shit at the start of every song? Thanks.

Rating: 6/10
Highlights: Wrecking Ball; We Can't Stop; 4x4; FU; Maybe You're Right
Avoid: My Darlin'; SMS (BANGERZ); Love Money Party; Do My Thang

Artwork Watch:The store front for a greek-owned, undecorated-since-1987 chippy.
Up next: Grouplove  

*delete where appropriate