Inside the world of insane outfits, massive tongue showing and the overuse of the word “twerk,” Miley Cyrus is trying hard to convince the world that she is an artist and no longer Hannah Montana. She has unveiled her new love for R&B and rap on this album, and as someone that does not listen to R&B or rap and is over Cyrus’ crazy antics, I think this album is successful and surprisingly relatable.
“Adore You” is a catchy yet calming song. Listing “Adore You” as the first track was genius because it is able to show both the star’s undeniable talent and emotional side right off the bat. The song itself has a strong rhythm with the help of a lot of bass and strong beats. Specifically, the bass of the song helps calm the listener enough to focus on the words. The fading of her voice adds a lot of emotion to the track as well. This is one of the few tracks on this album that’s relatable, especially to those that are currently in love.
One thing that shows Cyrus’ stardom is the help of so many stars that are featured on, or helped produced the album. People such as Ludacris, Nelly and Britney Spears come out to join Cyrus on her crazy ride. Some of these stars’ contributions are great, while others are there solely for their name. Nelly’s rap skills on “4×4” helped Miley show her Southern Roots. The song itself has a very fast beat that helps the singer literally translate the lyrics “Round and round and away we go,” that layer the production. Overall, the song shows the star’s ability to incorporate diverse instrumentals into her work with its accompaniment of the Spanish guitar.
A lot of her album is new, but there are times where she incorporates nostalgia into her new hits and it catches the listener’s attention. Her second track “SMS” featuring Britney Spears, was very reminiscent of “Push It,” by Salt ‘n Pepa, with the catchy and fast beats shown in the beginning of the track.
It’s then followed by a lot of bass and fades. The song itself is very hard to follow, which causes the lack of enjoyment. The most apparent use of a classic song is in “My Darlin,” featuring Future. But, instead of Future making the song better, he makes it extremely annoying. Cyrus’ singing ability is once again shown with her singing of bars from Ben E. King’s classic song “Stand By Me.” But Future ruins it with his overuse of auto-tune and unnecessary crooning.
There are songs that are heart-wrenching, which allows the listener to take a look into her relationship with Liam Hemsworth, from the very beginning to the very end.
Then there are tracks that make you want to get up and start a party. Being very skeptical at first, I can honestly say that Cyrus has an album to which everyone should listen. It shows exactly who she is: someone that is willing to do anything to show us that she’s no longer a little girl, but a woman having the time of her life.
