It gave 4,5/5 stars!

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

As everybody knows, Paris Hilton is famous simply for existing. Even before she was a household name the heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune was famous in certain circles, partially because of her pedigree, partially because she was at every exclusive party, partially because of her very name, an instantly memorable and malleable moniker that spawned T-shirts ("Paris Hilton Is Burning") and gossip websites alike (perezhilton, naturally). All this hipster activity was bound to spill over into the mainstream and it did in a spectacular fashion in 2003 when she and Nicole Richie -- her best friend for life circa 2003 -- starred in the reality series The Simple Life, which saw the two pampered socialites attempting to fit into the real world of Wal-Marts and roadhouse saloons. Just before the series hit the airwaves, a sex tape of Paris with her ex-boyfriend Rick Solomon was leaked to the internet and the resulting media hoopla of the show and the porn made Paris a bona fide celebrity. Pretty soon, she was everywhere and she began dabbling in almost every part of the entertainment industry, from film to fashion. What all these projects had in common is that they all featured Paris as Paris -- even when she was getting whacked in House of Wax, she wasn't really playing a character -- and in all of them her presence never matched her persona, which always was more compelling as seen through the prism of tabloids. She seemed destined to never deliver any project that would justify her fame, and it certainly seemed that the album that she spent two years recording would not be the project that would be a flat-out success -- that prolonged gestation for a pop album nearly guarantees trouble of some kind.

Amazingly, that long-to-materialize album (it's hard to call it highly anticipated) turns out to be shockingly good -- and not just according to a grading curve for actors-turned-singers. After all, Paris was never an actress to begin with; she was a media creation who peddled the same image to a number of different formats, and it just so happens that her sexy, spoiled, shallow act is perfectly suited for bubblegum pop. Of course, it helps that she has a crack team of professionals supporting her on Paris, chief among them songwriter Kara DioGuardi and producer/co-writer Scott Storch, who is name-dropped on the first song "Turn It Up," and leaves a heavy imprint on the rest of the record producing just over half of it and serving as one of the executive producers along with Tom Whalley and Paris herself. They come up with a sound that's casually modern and retro with enough heft in its rhythms to sound good at clubs, yet it's designed to be heard outdoors on the sunniest day of the summer. This is exceedingly light music, as sweet and bubbly as a wine spritzer, yet it isn't so frothy that it floats away. Like the best lightweight pop, Paris retains its sense of fun through repeated listens, long past the point that the novelty of Paris Hilton releasing a good album has worn off.

Make no mistake, Paris is a very good pop album, at times deliberately reminiscent of Blondie, Madonna, and Gwen Stefani, yet having its own distinct character -- namely, Paris' persona, which is shamelessly shallow and devoid of any depth. Where that might be irritating within a movie or within pop culture at large, when placed in a shiny, hooky dance-pop album it works splendidly, particularly because the songs are strong and Storch and company know how to keep things light -- and everybody involved knows that it's fun to play around with Paris' image, no matter if it's her murmuring "that's hot" at the beginning of the record or covering Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," or writing about her feud with Nicole Ritchie on the delightful "Jealousy." But for as much as Paris is about Paris, she doesn't necessarily stand out here; her voice -- which is almost certainly auto-tuned and tweaked by a computer, yet it's nevertheless appealing, more so than Britney Spears' often awkward squawk -- may blend into the production, yet that actually helps the recordings since it emphasizes the melodies above everything else. And there are some irresistible melodies here: the breezy "Stars Are Blind," the gilded rush of "I Want You" driven by a "Grease" sample, the sweet "Time After Time" rewrite "Heartbeat," and the great power pop of "Screwed," for starters.

Yes, there is no denying that this is a pure piece of product, but it is indeed pure as product. Paris makes no apologies for being mass-market pop, but everybody involved made sure that this was well-constructed mass-market pop. It may not bear the mark of an auteur the way Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics does, but it never feels tossed-off, and track-for-track it's more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too. It's easy to hate Paris Hilton -- lord knows that she and her friends like Brandon Davis are walking advertisements against the repeal of the estate tax -- but any pop fan who listens to Paris with an open mind will find that it's nothing but fun.

source: http://allmusic.com/cg/am...r6aw48n~T1
[Edited 8/25/06 11:20am]

Yes, fina and all. But does the world really need this pop garbage? The reviewer seems to say it's good throwaway pop junk. If you're going to buy pop junk, this is the best of the best? Is that what this reviewer is saying? The best of the bubblegum pop money can have made?

Nowhere do I read it's creative or even a good record for that matter...just that it fits with her personality...which is however you percieve her or how she seemingly "portrays" herself to be.

I use that site very often, daily even, to check out stuff, and I can mostly agreee with their reviews, but even they miss sometimes. Gave Bowie's Diamond Dogs 2 1/2 stars out of 5. WTF?

It just occured to me what happened here...

Diamond Dogs: 2.5 out of 5

Whateverit'scalled: 4.5 out of 5

calldapplwondery83 said:

this

is

blasphemy.

superspaceboy said:

the world doesn't really need "this pop" anything. but here we sit on Prince.org debating the minutiae of absolutely nothing, day in and day out. so what's your point?


if it's a good, fun pop album, so what?

at times deliberately reminiscent of Blondie

calldapplwondery83 said:

I can understand DD getting 2.5 stars and Paris getting 4.5

Paris make a a deliberately bubblegum pop album. it's 4.5 stars worth of bubblegum pop.

Bowie tried to make an artistic, experimental sound collage out of pop and rock songs. and while its great in parts, much of it is a mess and unappealing.

AnckSuNamun said:

Is it not possible for ANY music critic to NOT write this about this album? Yeah, yeah, we know. It sounds like The Tide is High and UB40.

I turned on the TV this morning and that was the first thing to come on. That damn song and video. Before I could run to change the channel, it was stuck in my head all day.

I just lost a whole lot of respect for allmusic.com

Tessa said:

You beat me to the punch, but that's ok. You said it more effectively than I would have anyway.

I'm perfectly willing to believe that Paris Hilton has made an album that's very good on its own terms, and I'm also sure the things it's successful at are things that I'm not interested in.
[Edited 8/25/06 16:00pm]

minneapolisgenius said:

You'll probably swear off T.V for the rest of your life after that

Is he getting payola now?

I think that reviewer are honestly getting paid to add stars to their ratings. In a review of Cassie's album, the writer spent most of the time saying she couldn't sing and had no idea what real R&B was yet she got 4 stars!

VinnyM27 said:

I think AMG is simply far too generous with their ratings in general. The site is riddled with examples of ordinary, run-of-the-mill records accorded 4-5 stars...and I'd also say that Erlewine is by far the worst offender. Not to be catty or anything, but I think he's a dreadful critic, and I think it's pretty safe to say that if his uncle hadn't founded the site none of us would be subjected to his writing.

well screw allmusic.com
paris hilton is a media leach, a very dangerous example to women everywhere.
a anoxeric disease that will destroy pop music altogether(thought its pretty decaying now).

Though I'm no fan of Paris Hilton by any means, I'm not surprised that reviews for her pop venture are positive. If a person has a virtual hit factory putting everything together and all they have to do is step in the booth and warble a bit, in today's culture, of course it's going to be hit-friendly. It's not as if she had to do much for it herself in this respect. A label saw a way to make money off of her based on the fact that she's already a cash cow entity of her own making, hired some hit makers, and she fit into the formula nicely, and now a lot of folks are gonna make some good dough and go home. I'm not buying the cd, so I don't care what AMG has to say...I just accept it as the nature of the music business and simply choose the artists (w/ my $$$) that I deem worthy

CinisterCee said:

Stephen Thomas Erlewine is drinking some BAD Kool-Aid!


I don't think allmusic.com can be brought like The Source (Benzino era).

After listening to most of the songs, Paris Hilton is playing the role of Britney Spears, like how Mariah Carey (Mimi) was playing the role of Beyonce.

THIS is the reason for Stephen Thomas Erlewine to give the album 4.5 stars.

BTW, this album is on Paris' own independent record label. So if you want to cry payola, then blame Paris for buying the Kool-Aid!

EDIT: I notice that Paris have some backing from the WB Music Group.
[Edited 8/25/06 20:40pm]

TonyVanDam said:

Fuck around and find out Paris Hilton gonna get 4 and a half mics!

Tessa said:

Ok, it's a subjective view of course anyway. To me, every song on that is damn near perfect. The title track, the Sweet Thing epic, Rebel Rebel, 1984, Big Brother... those are sadly overlooked (except for Rebel Rebel of course) rock classics.

Haters...


Can't separate the art from the artist can ya? Get over it.

Tessa said:

I wasn't dismissing the thread. I was merely commenting on the music scene as a whole. Now were getting sup-par music...i.e. bubble gum music that folks are saying...this is the best of that type of music. I dunno I am just tired of disposable music and music getting made with no itegrity, which seems to be the norm these days.

I also have deep disdain for Paris.

calldapplwondery83 said:

Rock & Roll With Me?

superspaceboy said:

Okay, I'll buy the latter as your reason for assuming the album is bad (after all it's the one 99% of people agree with) , because the first paragraph can't be true when you list people like Pet Shop Boys, Daft Punk, and Erasure in your favorites

Tessa said:

Nice one too, IMO. Great vocals. A little too much drama maybe.