Plastic Hearts - Miley Cyrus: Review
is a singer, actress, former child star and one of the most talked about artists of the 2010's. Through the decade she transitioned from tame family friendly pop rock into the much more adult styles of her Bangerz era before releasing an experimental psych pop record with The Flaming Lips and closing the decade off returning to her country roots on Younger Now. The progression of her musical career has unfolded very much in the private eye with as much discussion surrounding how Miley was evolving as an artist as the actual music itself.
Review By Lav:
I consider myself a fan of Miley. She has maintained a rewarding career arc which so few child stars ever manage and her outspoken nature on social and music industry issues is always a refreshing break from some of her focus grouped contemporaries. Unfortunately most of my admiration for Miley has never actually come from her music. While she was moderately prolific in the 2000's I can't say there we're many highlights. While Bangerz and Younger Now aren't terrible albums more of their songs failed to stand out than succeeded, and while I think Miley And Her Dead Petz has a reputation far worse than the actual quality of the music on the record itself it is still a longwinded and inconsistent album though it may be my favorite of hers thus far. The last time I reviewed Miley's work was last year on the disastrously cringey yet overwhelmingly boring She Is Coming EP which didn't necessarily have me excited for Plastic Hearts. When I heard Miley was making a rock record pulling heavily from 80's aesthetic I was even more skeptical despite enjoying both the records singles. Ultimately a number of the issues I foresaw for the record are here in spades, but thankfully in between those moments Miley does pen some of the best songs of her career.
Lets talk about those two singles first because I enjoyed them both and they're among the records best tracks. Midnight Sky served as the lead single and is the best possible outcome I could have expected of Miley doing a rock record. It has one of the best hooks I've ever heard on a Miley song but the verses are no slouch either particularly with some great vocals on a soaring pre-chorus. I also enjoyed the Dua Lipa featuring track Prisoners which sees Miley trying to recoup some of the 80's nostalgia that Dua crafted so expertly on her album earlier this year. While Miley brings a bit more grit to the style the song is still a throwback at its core and presents yet another memorable hook.
The list of other good songs on the record gets started early with Plastic Hearts. Miley presents a solid vocal progression going from steady verses to triumphant and raspy on the hook. The whole song is delivered over what sounds like a Rolling Stones instrumental complete with yealpy callouts during the intro. Bad Karma is a dark and confident anthem which pulls a Joan Jett feature of all things but it works well. The song feels like a natural reflection of it's influences and has a killer final few minutes after a great energetic bridge. Never Be Me is the albums best ballad and one of its best tracks outright. The glittery instrumentation builds into an explosive drum line in the second half that enters the song at the perfect moment. It also features some of the most genuinely personal and vulnerable lyrics I've ever heard Miley deliver in a song which made it a treat to return to on repeat listens.
Some of the major flaws on this record tend to creep up on me rather than outright ruin songs, which means there's a lot of tracks I have mixed feelings about. WTF Do I Know is a tame rock opener with some slick riffs and snarly lead vocals. The track is tolerable but is never really leaves the realm of mainstream pop accessibility which starts to conflict with it's attempts at making genuine rock music. Angels Like You suffers from bad placing in the tracklist and would have been much better in the second half but I certainly don't hate the song. I think the twangy electric guitars sound great and Miley delivers the effective level of emotion the songwriting commands. While many of these songs dip into the realm of corniness this track does it in a way that actually feels reflective of the era it's influenced by.
Night Crawling sounds like a blended up mixture of 10 different 80's one hit wonder songs all wrapped into one but rather than naming them all I think I'll just say I think the song is decent. Billy Idol goes from goth on the verses to ramping it up big time for a great second hook, while it's certainly derivative I find myself enjoying it regardless. Hate Me is pretty good from a lyrical standpoint where Miley addresses much of the controversy she has been known to stir up throughout her career, as well as how the people around her have perceived her through it all. The only issue is it feels like a really watered down radio pop song she would have released 10 years ago in terms of both songwriting and vocal performance which makes it stand out in a really weird way on this record.
Gimmie What I Want for some reason has an instrumental that sounds distractingly like Nine Inch Nails' Closer. Unfortunately that is pretty much the only notable thing about the track because the hook sounds like a weaker version of something from Future Nostalgia and the whole song is littered with questionable lyricism. High is definitely the worst ballad of the bunch with an instrumental that is fake stripped back. While it's sonically simple the instrumentation is mixed really predominantly almost to the point where it's distracting. The hook is also a total dud and the songs cheery sentimentality makes it a difficult listen. The closing track Golden G String is another song I was disappointed by mainly because it is such a weird choice to end the record off on. The song goes for a glistening triumphant instrumental but misses badly on the payoff instead opting to spend the records final moments on a tediously drawn out fade that is totally anti-climactic.
Plastic Hearts isn't a disaster by any means and it features a couple of my favorite Miley songs to date. Unfortunately the little things that these tracks routinely miss start to add up over time and the result is a set of very mixed tracks. Despite it's inconsistency it does manage to maintain a mostly coherent sound in the ever important time of pop star eras, although with how many of her contemporaries like Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Rina Sawayama and Jessie Ware have taken on pop nostalgia this year I can't help but imagine a version of this record that is much much better. 5.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
I really like Miley's album cover and her overall aesthetic choices that have been made promoting this album. I love the 80's vibes that have been coming out of pop music recently and this cover emulates the sound of the record. The complete color block of pink is striking and the portrait is very detailed without being lost in the saturation. The vertical text is also well designed and I think it compliments the image very well. I'm not super happy with the composition and this year we've seen a lot of right/left sidebar titles but it is still successful. 8/10
For more pop check out my review of Ariana Grande's Positions here
