Posted: Monday 17th November 2008

Miley Cyrus is known to millions of tweens all over the world as Hannah Montana. Over the last year or so, Cyrus has started to develop her image and introduce fans to the real her. The past year has been full of controversy for Cyrus after she posed provocatively for a magazine photoshoot despite only being 15 years old. Her squeaky clean image was further dented when she started to date a man a few years her senior and the gossip rags started to circulate false stories that Cyrus was pregnant. Despite the rough ride from her critics, Cyrus is still a huge star and she seems to be even more successful now than she was before the scandals kicked off. Determined to refocus her audience on her career rather than her off-screen antics, Cyrus released her new album Breakout earlier this year.

Breakout is an attempt to allow Cyrus to grow up in the eyes of her fans. As long as she’s Hannah Montana, there’s a limit to how grown-up Cyrus can be away from her alter-ego but Breakout does a good job of solidifying her as a bona-fide popstar. The 12 tracks seamlessly combine rock and pop with a healthy does of Avril Lavigne-esque angst. Current single 7 Things is the type of song Avril would have released around the Let Go era. Opening with a deceptive, calm intro and verse the song bursts into a frenzy of guitar riffs and shouty vocals before claming back down for the next verse. You can imagine teen girls and boys dancing around to this in their bedroom, hairbrush in hand wishing they too were rocking out.

Cyrus is cleverer than she’s given credit for. Breakout evolves her sound but in a way that keeps her current fans interested whilst attracting new fans. She’s not trying to sound older than her years but she never comes off patronising to her younger fans either. The production on the record has its eye firmly on the mainstream and commercial pop stations but as far as teen pop goes this is pretty first-rate stuff. The Driveway is a faux-rock number with a killer chorus, Wake Up America encourages young people to care for their country and These Four Walls shows that Cyrus has a voice behind all of that first-class production.

The only real mis-step here is the rocked-up cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. It’s unnecessary but then having said that Cyrus’ fans will probably have never heard the original track. It’s presence on Breakout doesn’t ruin the record as thankfully there are gems here such as the title track Breakout and the punchy, crunchy Full Circle.

Breakout is a better record than it should be. We expect Disney stars to overload the cheese with little substance but Miley Cyrus is an exception. She’ll have a career long after Hannah Montana and we predict that she’ll enjoy even more success as she gets older. Breakout is a record that will appeal to Cyrus’ fanbase and their parents.