Bangerz is a collection of bog standard teen fodder pop tunes backed up with a touch of country and the requisite ‘urban’ edge that apparently passes as ‘rebellious’ in the mind of teeny bopping white middle Americans. There are actually a couple of half decent cuts on here (‘#GETITRIGHT’ and ‘On My Own’ a particular highlights), but they are the exception rather than the rule, which isn’t great on what seems like a fairly lengthy album. The production is as slick as you would expect, but leaves you feeling cold. There is no dynamic range present at all, with the whole album thrust at you in a consistent and relentless barrage that exemplifies the audiophile argument against the so called ‘loudness wars’. The songs attempt to invoke a sense of rebellion, especially lyrically, but this kind of manufactured anarchy falls flat. This is in part due to the inherent insincerity of dealing with such themes in such a mainstream pop record, but also due to the overwhelming sense that Cyrus is being heavily exploited by almost everyone surrounding her, who are all trying to bleed as much money from her as they can, before they can move on to their next trussed up cash cow, and almost inevitably dump her ravaged carcass into the nearest rehab facility.
Review requested by James, one of our loyal readers.
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