Free Wired

a) New Music! (well…since the last time I bought an album a couple of weeks ago )

b) It’s a really fun album.

I’m writing this after reading (a few) one-star reviews on iTunes criticizing the partying and star-status subject matter that dominates the album.  And I’m saying “Isn’t that some of the best parts of the album?”

Free Wired is filled with catchy beats and hooks, and how could it not be fun if you get away with Snoop Dogg spelling “condo” in a song and phrases like “You ain’t a dime, you’s a silva dolla”  (If I Was You (OMG) feat. Snoop Dogg – essentially the album’s obligatory spelling song).

Prior to the album launching and with Like a G6 all the rage (as it still is), a friend of mine stated joking:

really a g6? c’mon what happened to music 4 the people?

to which I replied

I’m fly like a g6. I’m the people! :-p

…and that’s kind of my point when people are complaining about music not being “real” because the subject matter is about other people having fun and living large.  Those haters completely miss the point.  The best songs are the ones that people can associate with personally – realistically or imaginatively.  Who wouldn’t want to be fly “Like a G6″ (whatever that means) or for at least a 3-minute duration be the person who is at the VIP table in “Girls on the Dance Floor” or if you’re a girl, have a guy tell you that you take his breath away (Fighting For Air).

So with this entry, I’m saying bask in fun music folks.  Free Wired is fun!  Live life up in song because let’s face it, we’re in a recession.  But do me a favor and leave some counterbalancing room for some Bach (like the festival concert I’ll be singing in )

-cct

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