One of the songs of the EP didn’t make it to the album but seven others were added. As for the themes of the album, they’re more of the same though that isn’t really surprising, the EP really should be seen as a preview of the album. So for the most part I’m going to refer back to the earlier review for that aspect.

So what are the best songs on there? I’d say Miss Nothing, Just Tonight and strangely enough the slower Nothing Left to Lose. Despite my reservations certain content in those songs. They’re just pleasant to listen to, mainly the last two. One thing I have to point out though is that I’m never that impressed with Taylor’s vocals, I’d call them sufficient and well suited for the music but she’ll never stand out as a vocalist.

I can’t say that I’m very fond of My Medicine (the reasons for that are known), Since You’re Gone, Factory Girl and the title track Light Me Up. They sound a bit generic to me as far as rock songs are concerned, that’s probably my main problem with the whole thing. The songs aren’t exactly spectacular and if you were to hear it on the radio and not know it, you wouldn’t go “wow, who is that?”. It would just slip by in the background.

So here is my problem with this whole Taylor Momsen and her music thing. The impression I get from listening to this album is that we’re dealing with someone who’s so desperately trying to be different from the current pop mainstream that she goes overboard and loses perspective. What have a lot of rock bands in the past made songs about? Sex, drugs, alcohol and who knows what. So what does Taylor do? She makes songs about that.

Sorry but I’m not buying it, I can honestly only give this a three point rating (at the lower end of the three point ratings). First because the EP made me hopeful for something better, most of the highlights are on there. In general however I just feel that for this type of music it’s rather generic and because of the themes of her songs she just loses point. Though I will say this, when Taylor comes out and states that she is a drug addict and alcoholic then I will post a correction of a lot of what I have said here and increase the rating of the album. To sum it up in one line I’d say that through the Pretty Reckless, Taylor Momsen trying so hard to be outside of the mainstream that she’s gone a bit generic.

So is it a good album to buy? It is yes, just could have been better.

There is no real way around it, Taylor and Miley don’t exactly wear a lot on stage. So yes, they are trying to be sexy. To what level and why they do it is something only they can truly answer, doesn’t mean we can’t make an eduction guess from observations. As it seems to me, Taylor Momsen is mainly trying to shock people, it’s not so much about being sexy but more about what will get people to criticize her more. That is what she seems to want and it’s working, people are talking about it.

Miley isn’t that way I think. Yes of course she’s also trying to be sexy but as I’ve stated before I think it’s more a case of her being a bit too confident about her body at times. I don’t think it is something that is actually thought out by image people, mainly because of her casual outfits. At the moment she is in Detroit and there are no paparazzi around, however when there are fan pictures around the internet she dresses exactly the same way as she does in Los Angeles. If it was all an image issue she wouldn’t need to be doing that there, so to me that theory is debunked.

Now lets focus on the people who are thought of as their opposites; Selena Gomez leading the way (just the most obvious and convenient example at the moment). People seem to think that she’s not trying to be sexy at all, others are even saying that she should try to be more sexy. Really? When someone wears strapless dresses that also happen to be rather short that’s not sexy? Of course it’s sexy but in a different way but saying that she’s not going for a sexy image is a lie if you ask me. Just ask David Letterman who was sneaking peeks at her cleavage.

Of course you don’t see her bra peeking out when she’s wearing low cut tops on other occasions, like we can always see Miley’s bra. Come to think of it, the choice in underwear is probably more of a factor there than the choice in tops (unless we’re speaking right out see through). When you look in the right places on the internet you will see that there are more than enough people who think Selena’s way of dressing is sexy. As far as performance outfits are concerned; Selena has yet to show what she will do once she starts touring. Who knows what she will come up with. So she’s not trying to be sexy? No, just in a less obvious way.

The thing about what people wear at events is that pretty much every teen star is wearing a short low cut dress and wearing high heels. No, it’s not the same as wearing next to nothing on stage but it’s a sexy style nonetheless. Just a style that has been fully integrated into red carpet culture so no one is going to have a problem with. On a red carpet it’s accepted that you see more leg and cleavage than fabric.

Being sexy is part of show business, that includes teen stars. How many bad looking people are there in Hollywood really? Fact is that the bulk of celebrities are good looking in one way or another. Sex sells and pretty much everyone is taking part in it but can you blame them? I think that if there were more girls in the world who look like these celebrities, more would be dressing that way and “making use of their body” so to say. There will always be people who use their body more than others, it has always been that way. Some people just get a bit too close to what is generally accepted by people.

No, I’m not trying to defend Taylor or Miley here, people can make their own judgment about whether what they dress age appropriately. However when people make that judgement they shouldn’t forget to keep a little perspective, there is more than one way of being sexy. People call other teen stars classy; classy perhaps but still proud of their bodies and going for a sexy look. If you ask me, people saying that Taylor and Miley are the only ones going sexy have it wrong. They are just the more obvious examples. Being sexy is just a part of Hollywood.

With Taylor Momsen a lot of people accuse her of trying too hard to get a bad image, I personally don’t think like that when listening to an album like this, I go in it with an open mind. Seeing there are only four songs you can draw certain conclusions quite quickly though. Music wise I actually do like it, while it’s not really groundbreaking rock music it’s still decent. I especially like Goin’ Down actually, nice and fast paced.

There however is more to a song than just the music, the lyrics are also a part of it all. The themes of the lyrics are a lot darker than you get from every other teen star really, in three of the four songs that isn’t a problem of me. Then there however is the song My Medicine……

While I know that lyrics full of symbolism, that song pretty much confirms everything people tend to say about her, that she seems to be trying too hard. Sorry Taylor, I don’t believe that you’re on drugs, an alcoholic or what not, so why are you singing about it? I don’t think those lyrics can be explained by symbolism, unless I missed something major. Also proved by the fact that the track starts with her lighting a cigarette which all in all is completely unnecessary. I get the live a certain image thing but this is overdoing it.

So what to listen to on this album? I’d say Make Me Wanna Die and Goin’ Down, Zombie is nothing special and My Medicine is just nonsense. I still give it a three out of five for a decent first attempt (two would be just a bit too low) despite the fact that My Medicine bugs me a lot. Would I advise people to buy it? I’d wait for the full album.

The list is based on who we think is the starlet in Hollywood that had the most development in her career. We also look at what projects they have ahead of them and if those will help them to improve their careers.

10.Shailene Woodley; after a very short stint on the OC in 2004 all Shailene did was guest star on TV shows and do a couple of TV movies. Her career wasn’t going anywhere fast but that changed this year. With the ABC Family show The Secret Life Of the American Teenager she put herself on the map. Though that’s also where she lacks a bit; right now it’s still the only project on her horizon.

9.Taylor Momsen; her main fame is for Gossip Girl of course besides that she hasn’t actually done that much in the past year. Not that much planned for next year either, her main rise in fame this year is due to media attention. Nothing really shocking or negative just attention and that counts for something too. People need to know your name before they can consider you for something.

8.America Ferrera; was ranked a lot higher last year but The Sisterhood Of the Traveling Pants 2 didn’t do too well at the box office. That combined with the Ugly Betty buzz going down a bit she still is well on her way in her career but just not moving as fast as last year.

7.Blake Lively; her being ranked seventh is more or less a combination of numbers eight and nine. She was also in the Sisterhood Of the Traveling Pants 2 and is of course on Gossip Girl. Just like her co-star Taylor she got quite a bit of media attention in the past year and she has some other stuff coming out next year as well.

6.Selena Gomez; often referred to as the next Miley Cyrus in the past year which is just unfair to her. She’s working on her own career with Wizards of Waverly Place still going strong and she starred in the straight to DVD Another Cinderella Story (though it’s not exactly a masterpiece in movie making to say it nicely). Next year we’ll also see an album from her with her new band, she’s already in the studio busy recording. Thing is that she doesn’t quite have a band yet which makes you wonder.

5.Demi Lovato; the other next Mile Cyrus and best friend of Selena Gomez. In the past year she of course had some success with Camp Rock and she had her first album Don’t Forget. Though the success of both album and movie probably weren’t as high as some people might have hoped there’s still a lot to come. Next year we’ll see her in her own Disney Channel show called Sonny with a Chance.

4.Amanda Seyfried; after Mean Girls she dropped off the radar a bit but she came back with a blast by starring in Mamma Mia. She would have been ranked higher if there was a lot to come next year but sadly for her, her major projects are scheduled for 2010.

3.Emily Osment; she’s climbing the career ladder in the wake of Miley Cyrus on Hannah Montana but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any assets herself. This year she had the straight to DVD movie Soccer Mom and in a couple of weeks the Disney Channel movie Dadnapped. Next year we’ll still see her in the Hannah Montana and in the Hannah Montana Movie of course which should get her plenty of attention. She’s also busy writing songs so is there a record deal on the horizon?

2.Ellen Page; she’s still ranked second though there were higher hopes for her this year. She of course got the Oscar nomination for her role as Juno but her only major release of this year, Smart People, didn’t quite live up to its promise and didn’t do too well at the box office. She has plenty of projects coming out next year though, including Drew Barrymore’s directing debut Whip It! The biggest project of course would be Jane Eyre but nothing is really known about that project yet.

1.Miley Cyrus; are you as shocked as we are? Yes we are crowd followers in this case by putting Miley Cyrus on top of our list just like everyone else. It’s hard not to put her on top though. Hannah Montana is still going strong despite it being one of the shows hit hardest by the WGA strike. She had her record breaking concert tour, the 3D movie recording also smashed several box office records and even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. On a side note she also had her third number one album on the Billboard Charts within two years. The Times even calls her the biggest-ever teen star. Next year she also has some things going on with of course Hannah Montana continuing and the movie coming out on top of that. The start of next year will also see the third Hannah Montana soundtrack, she has a biography coming out and Nicholas Sparks is writing a novel for her seeing she’s going to star in the movie base on it. The term unstoppable comes to mind when talking about Miley seeing that’s probably only half of what we’ll see from.

Jailbait: a girl under the age of consent with whom sexual intercourse is unlawful and constitutes statutory rape.

So who’s worth it going to jail for? Here’s our top ten.

10. Miranda Cosgrove: She’s got a nice pair of legs on her but there’s not much else to her. Who knows, she’s only fifteen so who knows what the next couple of years will bring.

9. Emma Roberts: Another nice pair of legs and a cute smile. But she turns eighteen in February so she has no longevity on the list. So just being patient would remove the risks of jailtime.

8. Sofia Vassilieva: People might wonder why she is on this list; she’s not really a starlet that gets a lot of attention except for positive critical reviews. However she did a movie where she had to shave her head; no hair whatsoever. Makes you wonder, did she limit it to her head? It gets the imagination going.

7. AnnaSophia Robb: She’s a cute girl, no way around it. That combined with her latest movie where she smokes in a seductive way earns her a spot in our top ten.

6. Ali Lohan: Her boobs are big enough to spark a plastic surgery rumor and she’s only fourteen years old. That combined with her revealing way of dressing on her show Living Lohan shows a lot of promise for the future; especially seeing she already auditioned for a porn producer.

5. Dakota Fanning: Has been out of the picture for a while, she did a rape movie which didn’t get as much attention as she wanted. Now she’s coming back with a vengeance, in Push she’ll be wearing short skirts. What gets her up to number five however is that she joined her high schools cheerleading squad. Who hasn’t had fantasies about high school cheerleaders?

4. Emily Osment: She doesn’t get the attention she deserves, over the past year she has developed quite a bit in her bust area which sparks some interest from people. She gets a lot of screentime as well and seeing the new season of Hannah Montana promises to be more grown up we should be seeing some nicer outfits. The Hannah Montana movie will probably do the same.

3. Selena Gomez: Hot latina; that’s as much as you can say about her really. So why bother wasting words on it.

2. Miley Cyrus: with the leaked pictures of the past year a lot of the mystery has been taken away which is a pity. She still has an amazing pair of legs and is starting to develop in other areas and she’s only fifteen; she’ll be a forced to be reckoned with. Though a year ago she was dressing more revealing; she’s toned down a bit which is a pity and cost her the top spot.

1. Taylor Momsen: Hot leggy blonde; what else do you want? A seductive look in her eyes with dark eyeliner to increase the effect. Short dresses with straps almost sliding of her shoulders and that at an age of barely fifteen and that while she doesn’t even look her age, what else could you want? There’s just no one out there that can beat her right now.

And now seriously; do you really think we’re going to rank teen celebrities on how hot they are? Of course not but the problem is that a lot of people do, these girls are no wear the legal age and adult people wish they could be in their pants. I’ve pointed out before that some of these girls are dressing above their age. It’s mainly the media and the people that are sexualizing them though, it’s a normal fact that teenagers like to dress up sexy at some point. The thing with these Hollywood girls is just that when you have professionally style hair and make up; they don’t exactly look their age. Just show a person who doesn’t know Taylor Momsen a pic of her at an official event. Just see how many people will guess that she’s only fifteen years old.

There are image forums around the internet where pictures of celebrities are shared. Last year these forums had rules that stated that pictures of celebrities under the age of fourteen weren’t allowed. Then however Miley Cyrus came along and she wore short dresses a couple of times and got some attention. After the comments got out of hand and were far too inappropriate at least two of the bigger image forums actually changed their rules to no pictures of celebrities under the age of sixteen.

Then there is the pedobear thing. Most people won’t have heard about it probably but it’s a growing thing around the internet. When something is considered sexy and the person it is about is a minor the pedo bear is pulled into it. Though I have to admit that the pedobear thing is mostly used in good fun; nothing bad is meant by it. It does show a general tendency to sexualize minors though.

It’s just something that’s in our society though; it’s not like it can be changed though it might just be a phase. The image forums changing their rules is only a stopgap measure anyway; Miley turns sixteen in a month.