Miley Cyrus - Breakout

'Breakout' is the first album by Miley Cyrus that has nothing to do with her TV show alter ego Hannah Montana. Although Miley says it's aimed at an older audience, there's an absolute teen angst feel that will no doubt appeal to young fans of the 15 year old.

The first song is the title track 'Breakout', which starts with an intro almost identical and maybe ripped off Savage Garden's 'Affirmation'. The song includes lyrics such as "Stuck in school, so lame!" so is certainly directed at the younger fans - this isn't a problem though, because Miley Cyrus is bound to have millions of admirers from her children's TV show.

The part that really spoils the album is that all of the songs seem to be trying to copy others. Most of the tracks sound like a poor man's version of Hilary Duff's first two albums 'Metamorphosis' and 'Hilary Duff'. As an admitted fan of cheesy pop this wouldn't be a problem, only a lot of the songs are so boring you want to skip them anyway.

Miley Cyrus can sing, but her voice has a distinctive Southern American twang which can sometimes grate on your ears. However there are some songs that save it, such as 'The Driveway' which, although annoying at first can grow on you, and 'Fly On The Wall', which I can see doing quite well if released as a single.

I actually quite like her cover of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun', maybe it's because it's a familiar song, maybe it's because I hate Cyndi Lauper's voice, but it's fun and catchy as always! Miley sounds like she's trying to be rocky while singing this track which is cute, (patronising I know!)

'Breakout' is not an awful album and young girls will love it, but for an older audience it doesn't really work. Even fans of poppy singers might find it a chore to listen to. But if you give it a chance, just don't expect it'll be anything special and you won't be disappointed. Anyway, I'm off to wear out my 8th copy...