Vanessa Hudgens - Identified

'Identified', the second album from Disney star Vanessa Hudgens, was released in the US last July. Why it's taken seven months for the UK to get the LP is a big question, but with High School Musical 3 released on DVD this week, Disney-offshoot Hollywood Records have decided now is a better time than ever to take the record overseas.

Much like the fun, uptempo HSM film series, 'Identified' is an uplifting good-time listen pretty much from start to finish (with a few token slowies included by default). As with label mate and former Disney actress Hilary Duff, Vanessa's solo career sees a focus on big hooks, slick production and an assortment of styles. Hudgens sings her way (more impressively than you think) through R&B, electropop and ballads.

The bleepy computer effects and cut-up vocals of the title track 'Identified', is a song that sounds like anything off Duff's dance-record 'Dignity'. Skip forward and we hear the handclaps and Aguilera-isms of 'Sneakernight', rapping (seriously) on 'Hook It Up', Auto-Tune vocals and synths on 'Party On The Moon' and 'Amazed'. Then in contradiction is final song 'Gone With The Wind', built of nothing more than pianos, a subtle jazz bass and hip-hop beats - Hudgens' soulful vocals show there is more to the 20-year-old than just camp pop for pre-teens.

If Vanessa was hoping to be 'Identified' as an individual, then she hasn't quite succeeded. Influences are frequent and recognisable, suggesting she has a long way to go before finding her "own voice". And at times, the singer's adult vocals far surpass her squeeky clean look, contrasting with the majority of the album. If Britney and Hilary before her shook off their good-girl image to great success, isn't it time she followed?