Artist: Ashley Tisdale
Album: Guilty Pleasure
Style: Pop/Rock
Reviewers Rating: C-

In the extremely popular High School Musical, Ashley Tisdale played the mischevious, lively and funny Sharpay Evans. She was amazing at her role, maybe because she was a little older than the others, and was much more self aware. With the release of her second album, Guilty Pleasure, the 23-year-old Ashley is attempting to sell the teen crowd the proposition that she’s ‘grown up’.

Disney’s tendency for producing tons of ‘talent’ for the teens has become legendary, with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers being plastered basically everywhere in the world! And every so often some talent breaks through and something amazing and unique is created. But, no matter how charming and mischievous Tisdale was as Sharpay, none of that transfers to Guilty Pleasure. Instead she has sung maladroit songs rubbish attempts at sexuality and very little imagination!

It’s intriging to see that Ashley’s attempts to be grown up is less like a young women growing into her own skin and more like a teenager trying to impress people. It is very disappointing. Guilty Pleasure was written by professionals with no input from Tisdale. Ashley’s band comes out with a lame power pop, complete with wilted guitar progression and sweeping strings for her more emotional numbers. It completely lacks creativeness and is actually rather boring!

The lyrical contents are pretty bleak and the tunes cover the routine breakups-to-makeups area of modern pop music. Tisdale should make up her mind as in ‘Masquerade’ she says “I can be anything you want me to” but insists that she “has to be what she is underneath” in ‘Overrated’. Her everyday, bland vocals do little to communicate any actual importance!

So overall, although some of her songs are okay, Ashley Tisdale’s new album is rubbish and uninspired! This reviewer gives the album a C-!