Miley associate should stick to acting

Ashley Jones, Senior Staff Writer
Published On: 06/ 9/2009

Maybe you know him from “Hannah Montana.” Of course, you don’t watch that show, right? Or maybe you just know him as the kid with the weird hair. But whatever you know him as, Mitchel Musso is attempting to become a part of the big kids’ music scene. His debut album “Mitchel Musso,” will tell if he’s striking the right note- or is just plain off-key.
The first track, “Hey,” introduces Musso as a typical nasally-voiced teen singer with a good backup band.

Musso fails to impress with “Speed Dial” and “Us Against the World,” both seemingly forgettable songs (the latter is a bit more interesting than the former, but in the grand scheme, both are largely not impressive).

However, he brings a little surprise to the listener with “Do It Up.” In this track, Musso ditches the nasal-filled vocals and attempts a deeper, raspier sound.

But, like most things on this album, Musso dove back into the undesirable with lyrics like “she’s my one desire” and “shout shout shout it from the rooftops” in (what else?) “Shout It.”

The title of “Welcome to Hollywood” promises a social commentary, but unfortunately, the commentary is stale and almost nonexistent. With the repeated verse, “you only think about you,” the message is one that is well known but not elaborated on by Musso.

If you cringe at the sound of a piano intro on an album that is not, by any means, a musical masterpiece, then skip “(You Didn’t Have To) Walk Away.” A typical “I’m missing you” ballad sung as theatrically ( but not Broadway quality theatrics, folks) as possible, with a strangely tone-deaf chorus. Perhaps auto-tune should be brought be brought out for special occasions such as these…

“I die a little every time I think about you” is probably the quintessential teen angst lyric, and Musso delivers it with excruciating fake-agony in “Get Out.”

The auto-tune, which was absent earlier, is brought out in “How to Lose a Girl,” another cliché-filled teen anthem. Musso then turns the teen angst up another notch when he sings about wanting to be in the “in crowd” in- you guessed it- “The In Crowd.”

The last two tracks, “Odd Man Out” and “Movin’ In” didn’t achieve greatness, either, proving that Musso should probably stick to his day job. Or, better yet, attend college.

Singing isn’t for just anybody…maybe if he donned a blond wig he would be more successful.

Hey, it worked for Miley...

Email: ashj813@msn.com