[MILEY CYRUS] “PLASTIC HEARTS” FULL ALBUM REVIEW

On November 27th, Miley Cyrus released her anticipated album, “Plastic Hearts.” Shifting her sound to rock, this album ties together the best parts of a Cyrus record and then throws glitter on it. With shocking lyrics, fast guitars and legends jumping on the tracks- this is a collaboration with some heavyweight. Coming in hot with, “WTF Do I Know,” the first track is loud and proud. Fulfilling her prophecy, she walks the walk, talks the talk and backs it up by coming into herself as the rock star she was born to be.

After the first track gives the listener a taste of the attitude this record possesses, the title track flows naturally. Entitled, “Plastic Hearts,” the song sends you into her world where she pulls all-nighters. The record comes down with one of her best ballads, “Angels Like You.” With the devil also on her shoulder, the album is polarizing. While some songs make the listener want to dance all night, the main theme of this album screams heartache and loss. Recently divorced, Miley processes her split from Liam Hemsworth and then sh*ts all over him. Hopefully, Liam isn’t into rock, because Miley is on a roll (For those of you who understand the Ashley O reference, we are one now). 

The next track is the second single off the project, “Prisoner” featuring Dua Lipa and the music video is complete with cherries and lesbians. Take that Disney Channel! 

WATCH THE “PRISONER” VIDEO HERE:

Miley gives the gays what they need and delivers one of the best lyrics on the project, “hard to forget you when your love is the loudest.” Certainly hard to follow up, “Gimme What I Want” manages to pull it off. The 80s influence is heard throughout the chorus and acts as a solid anthem. And if you needed more convincing why this album debuted at the #1 spot on Billboard for best rock record, Billy Idol jumps on the track for “Night Crawling.” As the best track on the album, she chases the high and achieves hit after hit. 

LISTEN TO “Night Crawling” featuring Billy Idol HERE:

Then it transitions into the first single off the record, “Midnight Sky” and we already know her very well. There is no secret that Mark Ronson worked on this project because he always takes old sounds and makes them new again. The second half of the album is more low tempo as it brings us to her second ballad, “High” then followed by “Hate Me.” 

Joan Jett comes roaring in on the next track, “Bad Karma.” With moaning to match, the sound is rock and roll energy. Collaborating with legends on this one, Miley has evolved into one herself. The next track is a heart-wrenching ballad, “Never Be Me.” Debatably the best song on the album, she exclaims, 

“But if you’re looking for stable, that’ll never be me

If you’re looking for faithful, that’ll never be me

If you’re looking for someone to be all that you need

That’ll never be me”

LISTEN TO “Never Be Me” HERE:

With powerful lyrics, she sings with her heart on her sleeve. Bearing herself on these records, her vulnerabilities turn into songs that sound timeless. Giving herself to her music, she loses herself in her battle between being heartless and too heartfelt.   

The album closes out with a self-reflective track, “Golden G String.” Turning to her past, she explains how dressing provocatively was her way of owning her power. Standing in her truth resulted in a lot of backlash from the media as they tried to demonize her. As a strong woman, Miley knows how to make a statement- even if the purpose is just to get people talking. This leaves us with a message: Miley Cyrus is here and she is free to hold space as an authentic rockstar.

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[THE MILEY RABBIT HOLE] BACKYARD SESSIONS FULL REVIEW

Miley Cyrus is back in a backyard! Take that Disney Channel! Once again gracing the MTV stage, Miley has given us the gift of her unplugged music. Stepping away from her original work, she has given us covers for, “Communication” by The Cardigans, “Sweet Jane” by the Cowboy Junkies and “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam. Some might even say that her cover is better than the original, but maybe I have rose-colored glasses from being a die-hard fan since Hannah Montana. 

LISTEN TO HER COVERS HERE:

With her iconic mullet, she sways with grace as the music moves her. Aging like fine wine, Miley has finally come into her own and owns her chaotic energy, where in the past she was criticized for it. Being a trailblazer, she has created the culture she was once judged for. As she takes the stage, she owns the title of being a living legend as she introduces some of her favorite songs in a melodic fashion. Singing straight from her soul, her music is deep and passionate with some of her best vocals to date. Not to mention her set at the Whiskey a Go Go. 

LISTEN TO HER COVER OF “ZOMBIE” HERE:

She is promoting her new rock record with these classic covers, and it is certainly working. Due to come out November 27th, her new album is entitled Plastic Hearts. If it is anything like these covers, we are guaranteed to lose our hair to the new record she has been working on for two years. Arriving at just the right time, we will be head banging to these covers to prepare ourselves for the new Queen of Rock- Hannah Montana.

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Miley Cyrus’ “Week Without You” Sets the Bar High for Her New Album, “Younger Now”

With Miley Cyrus’ new album, “Younger Now” debuting tomorrow, September 19th 2017, I thought I would write a review on her album release promotion. Her lead single “Malibu” dropped May 11th, 2017- and basically made everyone’s day. The song was summer at heart and made everyone happy to see Miley in such a good place. Even though it was entirely different from “Bangerz” which was released October 4th 2013, and very very different from her creative project and fan dedicated, “Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz” which was released on, August 30th, 2015– her new era has only brought more joy. Whenever Miley Cyrus goes through a phase of self-expression it is always over the top and very experimental but she tones it down for her recent tracks on “Younger Now.” But even though you might not have liked how she acted publically when she was promoting “Bangerz” no one could dismiss the fact that her music has always been phenomenal. “Wrecking Ball” was a lyrical masterpiece over a soaring musical track that has almost a billion views on YouTube. Her album “Dead Petz” might have silly lyrics, like in “Pablow the Blowfish” where she gets teary-eyed over her dead fish, but she still has a distinct vision, including standout tracks like, “Karen Don’t be Sad,” “The Floyd Song (Sunrise)” and “1 Sun.” Even if some of the public made fun of her antics, no one was making fun of her voice, musical range, and songwriting ability.

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The promotion for this album was incredible. By releasing “Malibu” in May it made everyone excited for the summer. It really did seem like love was in the air, and that carried with the listeners. I don’t know about you, but I think Miley Cyrus contributed to my amazing mood all throughout May. She didn’t release an album date for a while, but this made the publicity for the song even rise. During the time of the ManChester shooting at Ariana Grande’s concert, Miley released the song, “Inspired”- a hippy love child of a song which preaches about love and not war. Miley is using her voice for good and to send a message of peace in such a chaotic time in history, and not only is she singing about it, she feels it too.

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On “Younger Now” we get a look into who Miley Cyrus has grown into, and no one is complaining. Although tracks like “Malibu” and “Younger Now” don’t have the crazy element like we are used to, they make up for it by just being plain fun, and also extremely well done. Her recent release is entitled, “Week Without You” and it blew me away. The soft sway of the song with a simple chorus coupled with powerful vocals and amazing lyrical content had my jaw dropped. She sings, “If I spent a week without you, Bet you’d wonder what I’d do, I think that I’d start goin’ out, Get caught kissin’ other dudes, And it seems you just want to bring me down, down, With your bad attitude (bad attitude), When you know I’m not one to keep dealin’ with the shit, That you put me through.” It doesn’t sound quite pop but it also doesn’t sound quite country. I would say that there are definitely Amy Winehouse influences in the song. In “Week Without You” you can actually feel how much she doesn’t care about her love interest since it is messing with her vibe, which she holds very true to her heart. This song marks the beginning of an era. Miley Cyrus is not a one trick pony and can do any genre of music due to her musical range.

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Since she was doing something so entirely different with her sound and look, people are willing to click and check it out, and it did deliver. The second single “Younger Now” really gives an actual look at what the album will contain. The music video is a beautiful tribute to Elvis and has really creative elements to it with the addition of the older people dressing up and going out. Also at the end, the choreography was really well done and almost seemed childish with a grown-up spin. And if you thought that there wouldn’t be a Miley Cyrus music video without her grabbing her boobs- you were also wrong. Miley Cyrus is truly taking back pop music and all artists should be scared because this album will cement her name as an icon- as if she already wasn’t.

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