Ashley Tisdale's Guilty Pleasure

Ashley Tisdale’s Guilty Pleasure is not quite a guilty pleasure.  Just as with Unlove You from her previous album (Headstrong), the only real ballad Me Without You lends me to like her ballad choice, but wish it were sung by someone else.  I’m also not sure about the songs “Delete You” and “Hair” (“I like what you do to my hair…”) as I find them failed attempts at writing songs about something not often sung about (Hair: liking how a love interest messes with one’s hair) or taking advantage of present-day terms (Delete You) in hopes that it will be catchy (they’re not). “How Do You Love Someone” also lacks a certain amount of authenticity reflected less by Tisdale’s execution of the song but more so by her mainstream persona.  The song calls to lessons never provided by parental figures and Ms. Tisdale’s Disney-fied image doesn’t quite fit the mold.

However, when not delving too deep, Guilty Pleasure has a number of well produced catchy songs that make the album fairly enjoyable.  Aside from the above, other songs are fairly well done pop numbers.  My favorite tracks are actually the ones that open the album: Acting Out, It’s Alright, It’s Ok, and Masquerade.  It’s Alright, It’s Ok and its titled chorus will get in your head and Masquerade is a bit Pat Benatar-inspired in its beat.

Stars: 3 1/2