From twerking half-naked at the VMAs to riding fully naked on construction equipment, Miley Cyrus has been a very busy girl. But “Hannah Montana” and her ever-flashing tongue have done more than just violate foam fingers.
“Bangerz,” the former Disney star’s fourth studio album, was released worldwide Tuesday, more than three years after her last album “Can’t Be Tamed.”
The album is confusing to place music-wise, keeping in line with her recent life decisions. Some songs on the album seem full of distasteful club music, while others are heartfelt confessions of the human experience.
“#GETITRIGHT,” the eighth song on the album, begins as a playful song with a repeated guitar melody and whistling. Then she sings the words, “I feel a surge coming over me/ I feel it all around my thighs,” and I couldn’t help but feel I shouldn’t have expected anything different.
“Do My Thang,” track 11 on the album, takes the distasteful cake in being the most colorful lyrics-wise, as we hear in verse two with, “Bang b—-/ You think I’m strange b—-/ It’s bananas like a f—ing ‘rangatang b—-.“
“Maybe You’re Right,” track 12 on the album, picks up where sixth track, “Wrecking Ball,” left off. Written in part by Cyrus, the song plays out as an honest confession. In a display of dirty laundry, Cyrus admits certain aspects of her life that are a distraction to being in a relationship, but that she in turn has been hurt by her lover. Cyrus shows us she is not just an artist who licks everything in sight, but is a person who has emotions and experiences.
The album also features other artists such as pop princess Britney Spears, hip-hop’s Nelly and rappers Big Sean, French Montana and Future. While this is an interesting tribe of artists, the inclusion of them on the album seems out of place in instances.
“FU,” track 10 on the album, starts as a modernized blues ballad. Cyrus’ vocals are strong and powerful as she sings about the displeasure of a past love. This is disrupted with French Montana’s rap, which was slurred and interrupts the flow of the jazzy beat of the music.
“Bangerz” is a surprising restart to Cyrus’ music career after all of the media backlash for her VMA performance and even the music video for “Wrecking Ball,” but with songs that add fuel to the fire of her persona, it’ll be a long way until we focus on the music itself rather than the obscenities.
Grade: C
