"Bangerz" a Mash of Confused Ideas

“Bangerz” is what everyone has been waiting for after the chaos of Miley Cyrus’s recent media blitz. Her now-infamous twerk heard ’round the world caused so much backlash it sprung an anti-backlash movement in the New York Times, of all places. Talk about coming out with a bang(erz).

This is Cyrus’ 10th album, including the six she produced as her childhood alter ego Hannah Montana. Cyrus embraces her new status as a bad girl on the album and flaunts her persona as a sex-kitten gangster, sacrificing lyrics and melodies in favor of cheap and awkward sex-talk.

On “Bangerz,” Cyrus tries so hard to break out of her Hannah Montana persona that she’s all shock and no substance. By now, everyone knows Miley Cyrus is all grown up. Unfortunately, as her new album “Bangerz” shows, growing up doesn’t mean maturing.

“We Can’t Stop,” the first single off “Bangerz,” is probably the best pop anthem on the album. Here, Cyrus finds a balance between her many personalities as a piano deemphasizes the drum machine and Cyrus herself allows a little Hannah Montana simplicity: “La-da-di-da-di / We like to party.” The song feels self-aware in its lack of depth and works where many of the other songs fail. On some of her more overtly sexual songs, that simplicity attempts to pass as sophistication. Cyrus’s most overtly sexual song, “#GETITRIGHT,” sounds like it was written by a 13-year-old trying to mirror R-rated movies (she rhymes “sexy, sexy” with “flexy, flexy”).

After being called out for her hip-hop influence, Cyrus was quoted as saying she wasn’t trying to be the “white Nicki Minaj” or even to rap. Unfortunately, she doesn’t follow that promise on “Bangerz.” “Love Money Party,” one of the songs that relies heavily on Cyrus’ rapping, focuses on the glory and uselessness of those three words and little else. The faux-exotic synths and tinny drums play up her lack of experience and lend the song the same childish feel that derails her attempts at erotica. The song features Big Sean, and he overshadows her in every possible way, leaving you wishing yet again that she was belting and he was rapping on his own.

The catchy songs on the album, too, have painfully simple lyrics. “FU (feat. French Montana)” is a catchy, kiss-off ballad that has a cute enough premise for a pop song, but suffers from shallow lyrics, such as “Only two, two letters for you / One of them’s F and other one is U / SMH I’ll press the send on you”. Lyrics of that caliber are par for the course on “Bangerz.” The beautiful and raw “My Darlin’” which samples “Stand By Me,” is ruined by the chorus of “We gon’ make a movie and it’s gon’ be in 3D, a 3D.”

The tragedy of the album is that Cyrus really can sing. She’s left teasers across the internet of backyard sessions that show off how wonderful her voice can really be (please look up her rendition of “Lonesome When You Go,” as a favor to yourself).Instead of allowing that voice to come through, Cyrus relies on imitating the greats before her. Cyrus is Amy Winehouse at one moment, Nicki Minaj at another, Rihanna in one place; Mariah Carey comes in, as does Ke$ha; she’s even reaching to her Miranda Lambert roots for a track or two. Britney even makes an actual appearance on “SMS (Bangerz).”

One of the most satisfying songs on “Bangerz” is “4x4,” which reaches back to Cyrus’s Nashville roots to excellent results. The song was also the least cluttered by producers and writers and was almost entirely done by Cyrus and Pharrell. In Nelly, a rapper familiar with country, Cyrus finally finds a fitting complement to her vocals.

Considering her new “fearless” image, “Bangerz” is surprisingly guarded. The best songs on the album are the few where Cyrus sings on her own and takes on any kind of emotional range. “Maybe You’re Right,” isn’t about sex or anger or “struttin’ her stuff,” it’s about being called crazy by someone you love and worrying they’re on to something. “Bangerz” needed more of this fearlessness and less of her near-childish need to be seen as more of a sex symbol “artist” than as a promising singer entering a new phase.

As a pop album, “Bangerz” delivers on the basics: a few hit singles, a few club hits, a few ballads. Cyrus will be able to squeeze more success from it if she chooses to. It seems somewhat more likely, though, and somewhat disappointing that Cyrus’s fame will continue to grow for reasons other than her voice.

For the time being, it seems like not much can stop Miley. However, hopefully her next album will focus more on coming into her own instead of trying so hard to seem like a “grown up.”

—Staff writer Amy Friedman can be reached at aqfriedman@gmail.com.