Ashley Tisdale’s sophomore album, Guilty Pleasure, was an attempt at maturity for the Disney Channel star, yet, the end product was more guilt stricken than pleasurable. Her sound definitely got darker – as did her hair color – however, the album needs work overall.
Tisdale’s tone certainly needs better breath support as her softer introductions sound mediocre. In her mid-20s, Tisdale’s chosen topics for song lyrics are also a little questionable, but in her defense, she is trying to relate to 12-year-olds so sugarcoating everything may be necessary. The pop sound is just a little too sweet at times that it makes some songs sound almost less sincere. “It’s Alright, It’s OK,” a track featured on MTV as well as shows like “The Hills,” has a fun, upbeat, almost giddy melody that may leave listeners confused once they realize the song is actually about a breakup.
“Blame It On the Beat,” which sounds like it was influenced by Lady Gaga or the recent Britney Spears album, fits a girls’ night out theme with the lyrics, “Screaming to my girls ‘yeah let’s just get wild’/Let’s set off a chain reaction/Forgive me I can’t stop dancing.” Another song that fits the album title is “Hair,” featuring an upbeat sound and the suggestive lyrics, “when you run your fingers through my hair in the morning,” which could be a little above the heads of the young Disney Channel audience that predominantly make up her fans.
Breaking away from her carefree, fun songs, Tisdale features a darker, more serious tone in “How Do You Love Someone.” The song still has a pop feel to it, however, it is more relatable with lyrics talking about how someone’s life growing up influences the decisions they make later on. It is definitely one of Tisdale’s more prominent tracks on the album and could potentially be a single due to a fuller tone and great harmonizing chords in the chorus.
Another dark song on the album combines suggestive lyrics like “Here’s my formal invitation, let’s go masquerading” and attitude with Tisdale’s older version of relationship ballads. Regardless of whether Tisdale intended for “masquerading” to be an innuendo or not, her lyrics definitely became raunchier. Tisdale will unquestionably surprise audiences on that factor alone. It makes a few of the songs definitely a guilty pleasure, which fits the title perfectly.
The more mature relationship themes come out in songs like “Me Without You.” With lyrics like, “When I’m my own worst enemy/You make me feel beautiful/when I have nothing left to prove,” the song definitely fits more with an older audience.
Ashley Tisdale’s sound definitely “grew up” some with Guilty Pleasure, but, unfortunately, it is still in a pubescent stage. Her reliance on bubblegum pop melodies keeps her back, because most of those songs are less than mediocre with lyrics that are made of fluff. While this could be a result of Tisdale transitioning back and forth between a rock sound and a pop sound when she is known as a pop artist, it makes some songs enjoyable while others ruin the album.
2 stars out of 5
