This isn’t going to be as long a review as normal, for the simple reason people by now know what to expect from a Hannah Montana soundtrack. One distinction has to be made though, Miley Cyrus may play Hannah Montana, she isn’t Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana 3 (what an original name) should be judged on its own as far as things like lyrics and pure music are concerned seeing she has no involvement writing it. She however does sing the songs, so that can be judged. She really isn’t anything like Hannah Montana if you think about it, on the show songs are handed to her which is also the case on this album. In real life however Miley is a heavily involved writer.
There is one thing you can never accuse Hannah Montana music of, it’s never pretentious. The lyrics what they are, there isn’t really a hidden meaning behind them. Seeing the main target is kids that wouldn’t be the best way to go about it anyway. Thirteen songs on the album are Hannah Montana while one is by Mitchel Musso (a song that was featured on the show and it sounded better on the show). Two of the Hannah Montana songs are duets, one with David Archuleta and one with Corbin Blue. Neither can really be counted as solo versions of the songs exist as well (the Corbin Blue one even on the first Hannah Montana soundtrack).
Two songs are recycled from Hannah Montana The Movie Soundtrack, Let’s Do This and Let’s Get Crazy. Most of the songs on the album are somewhat along the lines of those songs as in style, just rather generic pop but that is what people expect from a Hannah Montana soundtrack. Though some of them have a bit of a country touch added to them at times. So is there anything that stands out? Of course there is, in a negative way Ice Cream Freeze (Let’s Chill) stands out. They might as well have called it Hoedown Throwdown Mk. II.
What is noticeable though is that some of the songs seem to make use of Miley’s expanded vocal range, you wouldn’t have found songs like Mixed Up, Every Part of Me, Don’t Wanna Be Torn or Just a Girl (which is even an outright balad, which you wouldn’t expect on here) on the original soundtrack. For the simple reason that Miley wouldn’t have been able to sing it yet. Those would also be the highlights of the soundtrack and are also songs that might appeal to a crowd older, than what people generally think of as the Hannah Montana crowd. Though it’s not a secret that there is a quite a large group of people who aren’t tweens who like and watch the show. So these people also get something for their money.
So how to rate the soundtrack? It is tricky, as things like target market also have to be taken into account. The thing with Hannah Montana is that it has gotten to a point where you start to think “it’s another Hannah Montana soundtrack”. You just don’t expect anything really new from it, though there are a few pleasant surprises on it to be fair. Another good thing is that Walt Disney Records seems to be reducing the editing on Miley’s voice, so she doesn’t sound as much as a chipmunk as she has done in the past on certain tracks.
That some of the tracks are outright “lazy” is something that isn’t a good thing though, there is no need to recycle songs from the movie soundtrack or even from season one, even if they were featured on the show. Even with those songs subtracted there have been far shorter albums though, so in the end it’s still a three out of five (though barely). The soundtrack just does what you expect from it, that’s the best way to describe it.
Tags: Miley Cyrus
