Review Roundup: Selena Gomez and the Scene

Lately I’ve been in a hardcore Tween Girl Music phase, listening to Miley and Miranda and Demi and Selena and every other tween starlet with an album (so, like, all of them). That’s nearly two dozen albums and EPs (girls be recordin’, yo!), and obviously I’m not about to write a full review for all of them, because that would require, like, updating this blog regularly and stuff. PASS.

Instead I thought I’d feature each starlet’s musical career one at a time, with mini-reviews of each of her albums. First up: Selena. Excuse me, Selena Gomez and the Scene.

(Side note: Do you think the Scene feels bad that no one cares about them? Like, at all?)

Selena’s interesting because she’s had one of the most successful musical careers, despite having one of the weakest voices. (Oh boy, here come the angry comments.) But it’s true! She has a very limited range, and a rather squeaky voice that can take on at best a soulful sob but at worst – and more frequently – a rather whiny quality.

And yet she totally has the best music! Her singles are all incredibly catchy, and for the most part she’s very good at picking music that works for her voice. She’s got great music videos, and she’s one of the few tween stars I’ve actually heard on the radio. Like, the real radio, not Radio Disney. Crazy!

Let’s break it down:

Kiss and Tell (2009)

This is the most “rock” of Selena’s albums (which is still not very rock, but that’s okay). Becky pointed out that a lot of the songs sound a bit like the band Letters to Cleo, and now I can’t unhear it, especially on the title song, “Crush” (which is FANTASTIC) and “As a Blonde.” Other songs are dancier and make good use of Selena’s girlish and heavily-digitized voice, like “Naturally,” “I Promise You,” and my personal favorite, “I Don’t Miss You At All.” It’s on the more “mature” or ballad-y songs like “I Got U” and “The Way I Loved You” that the inherent limits of Selena’s voice are revealed. But for the most part it’s a very enjoyable, fun little album, and even the few stinkers aren’t that stinky.

A Year Without Rain (2010)

Like Miley, Demi, and Emily Osment, Selena’s sophomore effort – an EP this time – winds up being more dancepop than rock. Again, there’s some really solid singles (“Round and Round” and “A Year Without Rain”) and some terrifically bouncy dance songs (“Sick of You” and “Summer’s Not Hot,” the latter of which takes the idea of dancepop to 11). The cheesy ballads need to stop, but I was rather impressed with “Rock God,” which sounds like it was initially written for Miley – it’s a growly, sexy song and Selena acquits herself respectably enough (though I’d still like to hear Miley’s version). Basically, it’s more inoffensive bubblegum, and if there’s one thing that should be clear about my musical tastes by now, it’s that I like inoffensive bubblegum.

(I’m actually not sure what offensive bubblegum would be, but leave that aside for now.)

When the Sun Goes Down (2011)

So here’s the thing about following the musical careers of young performers who are encouraged to record albums by megalith corporations that want to make money off of them, whether they can sing or not: they get better. Their voices and the songs they’re given may start out pretty mediocre, but by and large, the more they record, the better they get.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that When the Sun Goes Down is absolutely delightful. I can’t think of another album that’s made me clap with glee while listening to it. Selena especially shines on the two sassiest, most disdainful songs on the album, “That’s More Like It” and “Bang Bang Bang”; she’s just so good at playing mean! On the other hand, “Who Says” manages to be one of the very few tween “message” songs that isn’t unbearably cheesy, just earnest and lovely. Others are endearingly silly, like “Outlaw” (“I’m from the Lone Star State/ I’m ready to bring you in”) and “Whiplash,” where Selena affects a British accent for no discernible reason whatsoever. Her voice, too, is stronger (though she sounds weirdly like Katy Perry at times, especially on “We Own the Night”). I’ve come to expect pretty good music with pretty good singing from Selena. She’s exceeded my expectations doubly here, and I couldn’t be happier.

P.S. How great is that album cover?!

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