It’s hard to say anything new about Ashley Tisdale’s second full-length CD “Guilty Pleasure” because it brings nothing new to the table. Tisdale bops and harmonizes her way through 14 songs that sound like they’ve already been released by one (or any number) of her numerous female peers at some point earlier in the year. There are a few interesting points, but “Guilty Pleasure” turns out to be nothing special.
The first single, “It’s Alright, It’s OK,” is one of these high points. It starts off with slow vocals and a subtle backbeat that builds up into a club-worthy chorus with empowering lyrics about being “so much better without you.” Tisdale puts more force and emotion behind her vocals here than most other places on the record.
The electronica-driven “Hot Mess” is the next on the short list of good points about the record. Tisdale’s vocals are less powerful here, but the pace of the song and its catchy chorus carries it through to be a great number to dance to.
While “Guilty Pleasure” generally proves that Tisdale can pull off love songs well, she must be commended for the bouncy track, “Hair,” where she manages to tell someone how much she loves them by describing what they do to her hair and its styles. It’s not your everyday love song and the quasi-reggae beat of the music will catch many listeners.
And finally, “Crank It Up,” one of the two bonus tracks on the album, delivers club-pop that even Madonna would be proud of. The tune is more danceable than most might expect a 24 year-old Disney star to deliver.
The best way to sum up Tisdale’s second LP is to compare it to a Britney Spears release – if Britney didn’t always have something to prove with her music – therefore making Tisdale’s tunes better. “Guilty Pleasure” is too generic to qualify as essential listening, but there sure are worse musical paths Tisdale could choose to go down.
