Monday, June 30, 2008

ALBUM REVIEW: Vanessa Hudgens' "Identified"


Vanessa Hudgens' first album, V, didn't too well. Selling merely 34,000 copies and only reaching the 24th spot on the Top 200. Two years later she releases a second effort called Identified. The 19-year-old High School Musical star's claim to fame may be pop music, but on this record she attempts a mix of Pop, R&B, and Soul. The results are not exactly praiseworthy.

I found it hard to sit through the first single off the album, "Sneakernight," where she tried her best to relate to her fans by deeming girl's night out a night to be comfortable sans heels. Perhaps she was aiming for what Lil Mama succeeded at with "Lipgloss." Good thing she scored a collaboration with the budding rapper/R&B singer, since "Amazed" is one of the best tracks on the record. It's a nice summer song for a backyard BBQ. Listen:


"Identified," the title track, has an 80s Madonna back beat that aint half bad for a club single.


"First Bad Habit" works as a dance love song, and her best ballads are "Don't Leave" and "Vulnerable" (Japanese edition). Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good. Other tracks that should've been scrapped--besides her first single--are "Hook it up," a trivial track featuring Rock Mafia that wastes a great dance beat, "Party on the Moon," where she actually utters the words "Beam me up Scotty," and "Gone with the wind," which has her best vocals, but was killed by the chorus.

All in all, she did a better job on her sophomore album, but I'd hold out for the third before buying the whole thing on iTunes--stick to the recommended downloads.


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