CD review – Hannah Montana

Artist: Hannah Montana 2
Album: Non-Stop Dance Party
Release Date: 2008
Age Range: 10 - 15
Genre: Pop
Rating: 1 2 3 4 5

Comments: This is a sugary, poppy dance mix aimed at younger teenage or tween girls. Miley Cyprus sings, in her role as Hannah Montana, about best friends, being a rock star, and her old blue jeans. One great thing about this mix is that the tracks blend together (hence the "Non-stop" of the title) so that I can imagine a bunch of girls dancing around to the disc without stopping, at a sleepover party or something like that. There are a few vocal sound effects that get inserted seemingly at random which is a bit distracting. Overall the disc is an electro-pop marathon.

Boys don't get mentioned much; "In One in a Million" Miley could be singing about a great friend or a sweet boy. Although Miley has a voice older than her years as well as her target age group, her subject matter is age-appropriate, which is refreshing. The lyrics are positive, about trusting yourself, appreciating your friends, and making the most of life. There is some encouragement for doing what you want, which could be misconstrued as permission to do whatever you want, but generally the whole disc sounds really positive. It might not be my music of choice, but Hannah Montana is a massive entertainment phenomenon and really important for youth services librarians to be familiar with, I think!

Listened: 11 January, 9 February

CD Review: Fall Out Boy

Artist: Fall Out Boy
Album: Infinity on High
Release Date: February 2007
Age Range: 10 - 18
Genre: Rock/Pop/Emo
Rating: 1 2 3 4 5

Comments: This is a band I've heard about in the news especially with singer/lyricist Pete Wentz having a baby with another pop singer, Ashlee Simpson in the last year. When I took this album out from the library, I thought that I might be familiar with one or two tracks. Track seven is called 'Thnks fr th Mmrs', and I've definitely heard it on the radio. As a whole the album is very much a pop album, though with less emphasis on electronic beats or digital manipulation than a lot of pop music seems to be these days. The four members of the band have a fairly unremarkable rock/pop sound, with occasional interesting lyrics that make me wonder if teenagers understand the references. One example is track 14, called 'I've Got All This Ringing in My Ears and None on My Fingers.' The first line of the song is, "You're a canary, I'm a coal mine", and I wonder if today's teenagers will follow this reference. Track eight is called, 'Don't you know who I think I am?' and has possibly the creepiest line I picked out: "We only want to sing you to sleep". The way this line is sung is not creepy, however, but kind of sweet, so the delivery is good. The CD ends with a computerized voice saying "Now press repeat", which I thought was a fun touch.

Listened: 10 January