| Ew |
 Oh, to be the most famous teenager in the world — a queen even among Biebers, and the lesser (but still fluorescent) lights of the kiddie-aimed cosmos. So it is that Miley Cyrus' growing pains, her ''Don't call me Hannah Montana!'' cris de coeur, are not recorded in a padlocked diary or a social-media status update, but writ across an entire album. On a label owned by Disney Inc., no less.
It's hard not to read an indictment of her time with the House the Mouse Built in many of Can't Be Tamed's defiant lyrics, from the girl-on-the-verge title track to thumping album opener ''Liberty Walk'' (''Free yourself, slam the door/Not a prisoner anymore'') and downright mutinous ''Robot'' (''Stand here, sell this, and hit your mark/…I would scream but I'm just this hollow shell''). This shell, of course, still has some of the best songwriting and production talent that money can buy: seasoned pros who bring sometimes too much studio-buffed luster to already solid songs like ''Forgiveness and Love,'' a sweet, breezy soft-rock redux; the driving, Roxette-esque ''Two More Lonely People''; and fragile piano plea ''Stay.'' Elsewhere, ''Permanent December'' flaunts Cyrus in full-on Ke$ha mode, all Auto-Tune and talk-rap sass, while the soaring, organ-soaked power ballad ''My Heart Beats for Love,'' a song she seems aching to rip into with real force, easily trumps her pale, pasteurized take on Poison's 1988 hair-metal nugget ''Every Rose Has Its Thorn.'' Despite her best rebellious efforts, Miley's just not (yet) that thorny a girl. B–...full text |
|
| Allmusic |
| Miley Cyrus' Time of Our Lives EP spawned the carefree mega-hit “Party in the U.S.A.,” but on her second album, she does just about everything she can to distance herself from that look and sound to announce that she has grown up. On Can’t Be Tamed’s cover, she’s clad in black from her heavily lined eyes to the tips of her toes, sporting pale skin and chestnut hair several shades darker than Hannah Montana blonde. The album’s sound is several shades darker too, but within reason; while none of these songs sounds like it belongs on one of her alter ego’s albums, Can’t Be Tamed was released by Hollywood Records, Disney’s more mature imprint. So while “Liberty Walk”'s bold synths and beats and rapped verses sound edgier than any of Cyrus' previous work, upbeat lyrics like “Don’t live a lie/This is your life” keep the song Radio Disney-friendly. She also tries this dancefloor-ready sound out for size on “Who Owns My Heart,” the stomping title track, and “Permanent December,” which apes the Auto-Tuned rapping of Kesha's “Tik Tok” minus that song’s mindless fun, which is actually a recurring problem on Can’t Be Tamed: too often, Cyrus equates grown-up with joyless, and songs like “Scars” reach for an emotional depth that isn’t there. Though pop was Cyrus' bread and butter during her Hannah years, the album’s synth-dominated tunes don’t jell with her voice; she sounds more natural and more grown-up on the songs that straddle rock and country, including the revved-up cover of Poison's “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and the anthemic “Two More Lonely People,” which makes the most of her voice and appeal as they are. Even occasionally overwrought ballads like “Stay” and “Take Me Along” are a more organic fit for the singer she has been and could become. At times Can’t Be Tamed feels perfunctory, getting the job of showing Cyrus is growing up without making her too mature for her still-young fan base and little else. She’s taken another step away from Hannah here, but there should be room for fun even in more adult musical territory....full text |
|
| Rollingstone |
| Four years into her career, Miley Cyrus is, like other bubblegum idols before her, getting cranky about her image. In "Robot," the booming dance-pop opus near the end of her third album, Cyrus cries, "I'm not your robot/Stop telling me I'm part of the big machine." But Cyrus is indeed part of a big machine – and is better for it. Tamed was mostly cooked up by the pros who helped make Cyrus a Disney princess. It's a Top 40 record of a high order, packed with electro-pop hooks and big Kelly Clarkson-style shout-along choruses. Cyrus' 17-year-old ire – however genuine it is – just adds spice....full text |
|
Send "Miley Cyrus " Ringtones to your Cell 
