Album Review: Miley Cyrus- Bangerz


So, in January, when I started this blog, had you come to me and told me that by October, I’d be writing a review of an album titled Bangerz by Miley Cyrus, I would have said, “Person with knowledge of the future…YOU CRAZY!”

But hey, here it is; it’s October, and I’m sitting on the floor of my living room (where I do all of my best writing), watching my companion rabbits do the various things they do, writing a review of an album titled Bangerz by Miley Cyrus.

By now, at this point in 2013, Cyrus is probably less known for her actual music, and more known for her persona. Sometime back she got a super short haircut, started wearing less and less clothing, invented “twerking,” and mimed butt rape with Beetlejuice Robin Thicke, and then caught a lot of flack for doing it.

Ok so the part about inventing “twerking” is a joke. Much like the joke about Al Gore inventing the Internet. He didn’t do that. And Miley Cyrus sure as shit did not invent the AFRICAN DERIVED dance style known as “twerking,” which according to Gore’s invention the Internet, maybe have risen out of New Orleans in the early 90s, and gaining some mainstream notoriety as far back as 2000, with the song “Whistle While You Twurk” by Atlanta’s Ying Yang Twins.

Miley Cyrus, aside from being the daughter of country music one-hit wonder Billy Ray Cyrus, rose to fame over half a decade ago as the star of the Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana,” a show that ended only two years ago. Which puts quite a few things into perspective, as far as Cyrus’s meteoric ascent into her new role as an “adult” pop star.

First thing’s first—Bangerz should have probably been named Balladz instead (full disclosure, I used this joke on Twitter already.) Overseen by executive producer Mike Will Made It, of the thirteen tracks on the album, the powerful ballads—the hot topic single “Wrecking Ball,” the surprisingly heartfelt “My Darlin’,” and the opening track “Adore You,” are all shockingly impressive.

“Adore You” borders on sappy—“When you say you love me, know I love you more…I adore you” she belts out on the refrain. It’s also an interesting choice for an opening song, considering what Bangerz is, for the most part, bookended with—the impressive, emotional break-up song “Maybe You’re Right,” which while a little more uptempo, is mos def not a “banger.” It’s also probably one of the best songs on the album.

Serving as somewhat of an intro track, “Adore You” segues (strangely) into the album’s first single, “We Can’t Stop.” Another track that is not exactly a “banger,” it’s a mid-tempo, slow motion party jam about taking ecstasy Molly, owning the night, not being able to stop, doing what you want, and also twerking. 

Things get kind of awful for a moment—there’s the faux-electro-twang of “4 x 4,” a song that features a cringe worthy lyric—“Drivin’ so fast ‘bout to piss on myself.” Prior to this, is the Britney Spears co-signed “SMS (Bangerz)” I was sure that the SMS they were talking about was “short message service,” but I think it actually means “strut my stuff.” It’s also horrible. Proving that Cyrus maybe should stay away from “bangerz” and realize her strength is in slower, more emotional ballads and jamz.

Auto-tuned into oblivion, rapper Future shows up for a duet on the “Stand By Me”-borrowing “My Darlin’.” Beginning with “Adore You,” and ending with “Maybe You’re Right,” there are high-concept moments on Bangerz—yes I know that comes as shock since we’re talking about Miley Cyrus here. “My Darlin’” begins the descent of the love that Cyrus gushed about in the opening track—it’s an amazingly somber track, “What happened to that feeling? Will we ever get it back?” she asks in the second verse. It’s honest and real moments like this on Bangerz that make the album worth your time—even if the other half of it is insipid bullshit.


In an act of flawless sequencing, the emotionally manipulative roller coaster ride “Wrecking Ball” arrives next. Rarely is a pop song this heavy—and I feel like this is a fact that a lot of people are going to miss because of the accompanying video. You know the video: the one where Cyrus rides on top of an actual wrecking ball in the nude; the video where she is in her all-togethers, swinging a sledge hammer at concrete walls around her; the video where photographer/perv Terry Richardson films a close of her crying and singing and it’s a super uncomfortable and chilling moment.

The magnitude and sheer power of a song like “Wrecking Ball” is a triumph—and it’s arguably the most important song the album, as well as of Cyrus’s career to date. It’s an adult song—sung by a former teen star desperately trying to be seen as a bankable, legit adult artist.

After the halfway point, things take a bit of a turn—not a good turn, either. The double shot of “Love, Money, Party,” and “#GETITRIGHT” are like listening to nails on a chalkboard that’s entirely made out of nails on a chalkboard. It’s produced by Pharrell Williams, who has seen a late-career resurgence thanks to Daft Punk and Robin Thicke. It sounds like pretty much everything else Pharrell has ever produced for a pop star. Its sunny sounding guitar strums are monotonous, and lyrically, the faux-sexiness Cyrus is trying to exude falls pretty flat.

The other missteps include the horrendous “FU,” with its phony soul/women done wrong shtick, and yet another attempt at a light-hearted “banger”—“Do My Thang.”

As I mentioned earlier, bookending the loose idea of the beginning and end of a relationship, in the latter half of the record, “Drive,” is the second to last chapter. It’s not exactly a banger, not a ballad—somewhere in between that’s heavy on emotion, heavy on synthesizer buzz, and even heavier on beats.


The final chapter, and the album’s second to last track, “Maybe You’re Right” is sobering in its honesty and sheer emotion. This is where the love story ends—it’s hard not to see the person she’s singing about as her now former fiancé, actor Liam Hemsworth. Of any song on Bangerz, this song seriously gives me chills—ASMR, as Buzzfeed has been kind enough to explain. “You might think I’m crazy…maybe you’re right,” she says in the song, while Coldplay-esq “whoa-ohs” and triumphant drumming and mournful piano swirl around her. If the album peaks with “Wrecking Ball,” then “Maybe You’re Right,” is a near-perfect way to end the album.

Except it doesn’t end there. “If you’re looking for love, know that love don’t live here anymore,” is the opening line to the final song, “Someone Else.” It’s another blend of a ballad in content and a banger in arrangement. I suppose as a pop star, closing the album with something as real as “Maybe You’re Right” is frowned upon.

It’s not a terrible song—it’s sure a shit better than the album’s attempt at party songs, but from a structural standpoint, it does creates, unintentionally I’m sure, an anti-climax.

Bangerz is the kind of album that, perhaps like the artist that created it, it doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be. Half incredible pop ballads, half awful pop bullshit, a deeper look at the back and forth show the conflict within the artist formerly known as Hannah Montana, and the artist emerging as Miley Cyrus. From start to finish, the lack of cohesion is maddening, but stripping away the five power ballads and making a Balladz EP shows that when she wants to be, Cyrus can be a tremendous talent.



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