Album- Best of Hilary
Duff
Artist- Hilary Duff
Once upon a time, before Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez and
Demi Lovato, there was really only one major star of the Disney Channel music
scene: Hilary Duff. Catering to the fan base who loved her on the hit show
Lizzie McGuire, Duff produced standard teen pop music with a rock edge, and was
definitely one of the brightest teen stars during that time. However, after
growing up and changing her sound and image a bit to a more dance pop driven
sound, the singer suffered a slight decline in popularity, and seemingly
Hollywood Records weren’t really happy about this, as this greatest hits
collection transformed instead into her final album in her deal with Hollywood
Records. With the actress and singer reportedly gearing up for an album release
at some point in the future, I thought it would be cool to look back at the
singers work and see why she was the
Track 1- Reach Out
Going in a reverse chronological order, the greatest hit
starts with the newest song from the singer and the only single to be released
from this record. Reach Out was initially designed for a re-release of the
singers third studio album Dignity, and finds the singer teaming up with One
Republic frontman Ryan Tedder for dance pop jam that finds the singer firmly
leaving the Disney past behind her by showing her sensual side with sexualised
lyrics and what I would describe as a lustful vocal performance. The song plays
it safe vocally, showing off the delicacy of the singers voice nicely, although
at times the vocal layering and ad libs feel a little lacklustre and don’t
employ the right level of sensuality. Centred around a sample of the Depeche
Mode tune ‘Personal Jesus’, the song is all about Duff telling this guy how he
makes her feel great and a bit crazy, and she just wants him to reach out for
her and touch her. The verses are bland but the chorus has a bold quality that
makes the song catchy, and depending on what version you listen to, the track
is given some urban swag and a male perspective through the (uncredited) raps
of rapper Prophet. The snappy synth rhythms and hard dance floor edge is nice
but not enough to really excite you, and so although not a bad tune, it is not
difficult to see why the singers popularity may have wavered after her more
mature music.
3/5
Track 2- Holiday
The second of the two new tracks recorded for this set is
another team up with Tedder and also features a writing credit from Duffs
sister Haylie Duff. The song is a mid tempo electro/dance pop based tune that
finds the singer in a wistful state of mind. The lyrics of the song focus on
the singer missing this boy who has took a holiday from their relationship, and
she can’t understand why. The metaphorically based ideology of the tracks
lyrics are okay but are a bit annoyingly clichéd, but the chorus is helped by
the background vocals that make this a song that might sound good live. Once again
Tedders production is ok, with steady electronic beats that have a snappy
quality but also feel light and blend with the lyrical message, but at the end
of the day things still feel a bit too safe and bland. However the song is good
in terms of the vocal performance, as the wistful tone of the track suits the
light quality of the singer’s voice very nicely, and so here we find the singer
playing to her strengths.
3/5
Track 3- Stranger
According to Duff, Stranger was inspired by her parent’s
relationship, with the singer thinking about how her mother felt after her
father had an extramarital affair. The third single from her album Dignity,
Stranger lyrically focuses on Duff as this woman who sees the man in her life
in a different way, as she knows that he has cheated, and although her treats
her nicely in public, when it is just the two of them things don’t feel right
for her. The song is great in the way that the vocal tone of the singer is
light still strong, with the layering of vocals in the chorus giving the song
some extra power, and in the way that she performs the song, the singer gives a
nice mixture of anger and icy coolness, which in the process gives the song
this level of being hurt. The production is also sleek and great, with a firm
dance pop edge that is extremely catchy and shows that Duff has perhaps
successfully transitioned into being a more mature artist, with a nice funky
breakdown in the final minute that gives the song an added kick at the end.
4/5
Track 4- With Love
Her highest charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, With
Love is a mid to up tempo tune that
finds the singer in a happy place. The song’s lyrics focus on the idea having a
crazy job but being thankful that one person in your life who is really there for
you, and whose advice and criticism you are happy to receive, as you know it is
said with love. The lyrics have a fast paced, infectious quality, and although
the vocals are a little thin and could do with a bit more personality, the
singers light vical tone makes this quite a pleasant listen. The production of
the track also makes it a slightly more appealing listen, with a forceful dance
pop edge that comes complete with finger snapping beats and a great underling
dance rock guitar.
3.5/5
Track 5- Play with
Fire
Released as a tease for the singers new sound and third
studio album Dignity, Play with Fire is a mid tempo offering tat was released
way in the advance of her third record and which is intriguing in the way that
it shows us this darker and more electronic/dance edge. The song finds the
singer telling this guy that she is completely over him, and she will never get
with him again, cause if he wants to he will be playing with fire. The song
shows more of a bold lyrical edge that is cool, but the vocal performance comes
across as still too youthful and a bit annoying , with the use of Auto Tune
making the song lose it sense of personality. The production is also ok,
featuring a cool mix of pop rock with the grittier guitar riffs but having a
cool dance vibe in terms of the electronic beats, but yet the sound doesn’t
necessarily grab you in the way it should. It was perhaps a good release in
terms of showing these singers new sound and allowing people to start to get
use to the change, but it is definitely not the singer’s best work.
2.5/5
Track 6- Wake Up
Perhaps the singers biggest hit, Wake Up was recorded for
the singers (what was firmly advertised as) compilation album Most Wanted. The
song is a mid tempo, dance pop song with teen pop beats and has a frivolous fun
edge that is very light and catchy. The lyrics focus on the idea of people
talking about you but not really knowing you, and just forgetting those
troubles through music and the dance floor, with the chorus featuring cool
references to New York, London, Paris and Tokyo. The vocals here are light and
just have a vibrant quality that is really nice. And the production is good,
with a good mix of bass, guitar and drums backed by twinkling electronic beats
that just combine to create a sort of euphoric tone to the track that is
perfect for teen parties.
3.5/5
Track 7- Fly
Described by Duff as ‘an uplifting song in the face of all
the negativity going around these days’, Fly is an uplifting pop rock tune that
has a kind of dark essence of the production that makes things a bit more
intriguing. The song lyrically asks the listener to let go and reach for a
greater goal, and although the inspirational quality is there, it doesn’t hit
us in the way that some songs with a similar message have. This might be
because vocally Duff comes across as just singing the song rather than being
invested in it, with the singer over singing the song and showing off the
weakness of her voice. However the song is saved by the moodiness of the
production with the nice use of piano melodies and more forceful guitar rhythms
that make the song more of a teen pop song with a Evanescence like sound, and
so there is a greater sense of appeal and urgency.
3/5
Track 8- Come Clean
(remix)
Released as the second single from Hilary Duff’s second
studio album Metamorphosis, Come Clean finds the singer lyrically putting on
the role of a girl who wants to tell her beau everything and basically ‘come
clean’, as the relationship is strained. However, on this record the song
appears in a new remixed form that heightens the electronic vibe of the
original track and makes this more of a dance song, showing how the singer is
standing firm in the creation of a more mature sound and image. The original
song was great vocally as it showed off the delicacy of the singers voice very
nicely and played to her strengths, but her the vocals are distorted to the
point where she is too robotic, and so we lose the personality of the original
track. The lyrics are a little more poetic and less cliché than some of her
other tunes, which is great. Production wise the remix is cool, and come snappy
club beats to give the song a nice dance quality, but yet at the end of the day
it still feels very much just like another remix rather than an improvement on
the original, and so why the need was felt to have to include a remixed version
is something I can’t understand, as I think the original was quite a mature
statement already.
3/5
Track 9- So Yesterday
The lead single from her second studio album is a slice of
breezy teen pop rock that finds the singer in an empowering frame of mind, as
Duff has broken up with someone and is totally over them, declaring that they
are ‘so yesterday’. The song’s lyrics have a fun silliness about them whilst
still instilling a positive message into the listener, and the light vocal tone
of the singer makes the lyrics of the track stand out more, as the sense of her
having truly moved on seems more believable. The simplicity of the chorus makes
the song more catchy, and the bubblegum energy of the tracks production is nice
and simple, with inoffensive drums and guitar that just create a light, radio
friendly sound. At the time of its release and still today this is by no
stretch of the imagination a unique song for the teen music market, but it’s
light and fun enough to just be enjoyable for that market, even if you’re not a
fan of this kind of music.
3.5/5
Track 10- Why Not
Duffs proper debut single Why Not originally featured on the
Lizzie McGuire movie soundtrack, and then was re-recorded for her second studio
album Metamorphosis. The song was then remixed for third version with a
slightly more rock based sound, and it is this version that features on this
record. The song is a simple teen pop rock track with lyrics that are designed
to be inspirational as Duff asks us to go beyond our comfort zone and take
chances, because there is really no reason why. Singer Michelle branch
criticised the lyrical content of the track, but to me I think it is just fun
and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, with a catchy chorus in the repeated
questioning of why not which will distill positive thoughts into a younger
audience. The song also features a nice light vocal performance from the singer
that feels vibrant and exudes a charisma that shows that she might be taking
chances, whilst the sound of this version is a cool pop rock mix that is just
bouncy and fun. and once again sees the singer really catering to the fan base
that she had at that time.
3.5/5
Track 11- Reach Out
(remix)
So whilst this is a greatest hits record, the fact that
there are only ten original songs on the record ( and one of them is remixed)
shows that maybe she shouldn’t actually be doing a greatest hits record. And so
to round out things we have a couple of remixes of the two new tracks on the
record that give a dance/club vibe to her music and once more establishes that
she has really grown up. The first remix is simple club music with frenzied
electro beats, and whilst okay it definitely drags out and feels bland very
quickly, and so to me if you were going to put remixes on the record, this was
not the way to go.
2/5
Track 12- Holiday
(Bermuda- Chico remix)
The final track is remix of the song Holiday and is simply
the same version of that track but with more of an electronic rock sound. The
song is a better remix from the last track and actually sounds a bit better
than the orginal track, as the sound of this remix is a little more forceful
and so creates more of an impact on the listener. It would have been better to
end the record on an orginal song, but this is a nice remix to close things
with.
3/5
Final Review
Hilary Duff was for many people the first proper music star
of the Disney channel, but this greatest hits shows that as far as a wide
ranging music career goes, the singer perhaps hasn’t produced the number of
truly good hit songs that she should have. The changing of some songs and the
mature image that is conveyed on this record perhaps is a wrong move, as it
kind of alienates the fans that made her a star originally. However, the singer
does work well in the way that she has changed her sound over time, and I like
the way the album is structured in reverse chronological order. The earlier
hits are also just light and fun, whilst the later songs have a cool dance
vibe, and so whilst this isn’t a record that should be a greatest hits, it does
exhibit why some songs did make her stand out as a Disney star.
5/10
Best Track- Stranger
Worst Track- Play
with Fire
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