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This Issue 02/15/2007

Also in this issue

• Give me 5
• Reno 911 Extended Interview
• Waning moon?
• Vandalism Slideshow

ashley tisdale

Headstrong

Call it post-pop. In a world where we readily accept a Paris Hilton solo album, it is no longer a matter of a celeb dropping an LP and getting ignored. Instead, we look to these songs to fuel high school dances and TRL number one selections. Fuck, call it Paris-pop.

In any case, the story behind twenty-one-year-old actress Ashley Tisdale's debut album Headstrong is pretty much standard fare pop-star bio: discovered at a young age in a New Jersey mall, moved to teenage Disney stardom and now, post-High School Musical fame, we get the album.

Headstrong clearly has the monetary resources of Warner Bros. behind it: expensive production, delicately penned lyrics and studio magic assisting Tisdale's hollow vocals. The goal is not to traverse new musical territory, but the album does in spades. Headstrong is the full realization of Paris-pop. It is a gaudy affair that makes no qualms in its attempt to string hit after hit for the pop charts. Sorry bloggers, Lily Allen's witty and informed lyrics are not the future of pop-music; nay, it is Tisdale - a meta-star filling several streams of entertainment with her presence - that will continue to dominate the popscape. Guilty pleasure be damned, this album is terrible, but probably better for it.