Miley Cyrus - “Endless Summer Vacation” Album Review
Miley Cyrus, a strong, talented, and well rounded artist, keeps pushing her limits, which was definitely shown in her most recent album: “Endless Summer Vacation.” While everyone waits for summer, Cyrus teases her audience with 13 songs that are perfect for a beach day.
Compared to her other recent releases, “Endless Summer Vacation” is a pop styled, emotional album that exposes Miley Cyrus’s vulnerable side. Although each song is a hit or miss; Cyrus attempted to prove to her 80+ million Spotify listeners that she is capable of more than rock, but maybe she’s not.
The album was full of techno beats, catchy choruses and amazing vocals. There is no denying that Miley Cyrus has a voice of an angel and effortlessly and impressively talented, but this album did not showcase her best ideas. Her voice and talent cannot be showcased with a mediocre foundation.
The lyrics were nothing special, and sometimes seemed dumb. “Island” was filled with meaningless, cheesy lyrics shown by her chorus: “Am I stranded on an island? Or have I landed in paradise?”
On the other hand, some songs were full of meaning. For example, “Thousand Miles,” a song dedicated to Cyrus’ younger sister, Noah Cyrus, brought emotion, nostalgia and a sense of real love through the lyrics. She sings for her sister, “I’m out of my mind, but still, I’m holding on like a rolling stone a thousand miles for anywhere.”
“Endless Summer Vacation” was full of songs purposefully made for radio, which contrasts Cyrus’ past albums where it seemed like she finally found her voice with rock influenced music.
Besides the disappointment in genre, the album included songs from Cyrus that her audience isn’t used to hearing. “Jaded,” “You,” “Wildcard,” and “Wonder Woman” shared her belting out in emotion and shared her vulnerability. Additionally, she shared an almost modern take on emotion while including different and unique beats in songs like “Handstand,” “Violet Chemistry,” and “Muddy Feet.”
This new Miley Cyrus album is similar to Lady Gaga’s album, “Joanne,” with vibe, meaning and sound. After building their careers on being strong, independent, and trend-setter artists, they finally release an album where they are unedited in spirit, but Cyrus just missed the mark.
Maybe, this album is just one of those albums that needs to be listened to many times to be appreciated, but who has time for that? Usually, listeners want to fall in-love instantly and because of the bias people have already for Miley Cyrus, this album is going to seem better than it actually is. But, the biggest disappointment might be how Cyrus failed to include one full-on raspy, grunge, rock song.
Although Cyrus showed her versatility with everything music related in this album, including vocal range, stylist choices, genre, vulnerability, and instruments behind her voice, the album “Endless Summer Vacation” isn’t Cyrus’ best album, and hopefully not her last.
Rating: 7/10
Reviewer’s Favorite Songs: “Wildcard,” “Jaded,” “You”
Reviewer’s Least Favorite Songs: “River,” “Muddy Feet”
Natalie Simone is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email nvs5790@psu.edu.
