RSSReturn of the Review: Miranda Cosgrove ‘Oh Oh’!
Apr 27
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Why does every tween television star need to have a pop album in her wake? (Okay, I knew the answer before I asked the question. It’s cross marketing). So how does a producer like Dr. Luke, who co-wrote and produced Miranda Cosgrove’s new single Kissin’ U, decide which “artist” to give it to?
That’s not a rhetorical question. While nothing on Cosgrove’s new album is really bad, there’s nothing that distinguishes it from Hilary Duff’s So Yesterday or Keke Palmer’s Keep It Movin’. Any number of artists have come and gone on the same wavelength, from Duff to Miley Cyrus (both Disney Channel alum), to the queen Britney herself. Wouldn’t you sell your soul to have Britney Spears record your track BAM instead of settling for Miranda Cosgrove? At least you know Britney would never tarnish your craftsmanship by singing it live.
Today Miranda Cosgrove, actress and star of iCarly on Nickelodeon, releases her pop debut Sparks Fly. The eight track album is a perfectly serviceable pop record. BAM is a fun and freaky dance groove, suggestive and at the same time perfectly tween-safe. Disgusting is amusing, anchored by the sentiment “it’s disgusting how I love you.” And so it goes for a short while until the song Oh Oh in which the train falls off the tracks. All in good fun, I’m sure, but this moment is the only spark of personality on Sparks Fly. And sadly, I’m not sure it was intended that way (or whose personality it really represents, Cosgrove’s or the song’s writers?) Daydream, the album’s closing track, channels a lot of Avril Lavigne (she wrote it) but you won’t mind that either.
So while it’s good, it’s not clear that it’s anything more than a chance to cross market Cosgrove for that inevitable day when she’s too old for Nickelodeon. Sparks Fly won’t get you out of your seat to dance, but you will bob your head along to every song. Maybe you will even wish you had purchased the deluxe edition for the bonus tracks. All the while you’re listening, you’ll be wondering, couldn’t they have gotten someone else to record these songs?
The answer is definitely yes.
