If the 9-year-old in your life hasn't alerted you already, consider this your heads up: Not since Hilary Duff has Disney delivered the masses a tween sensation as hot as the double-life-leading Miss Hannah Montana. More important for speaker-blowing second- to seventh-graders and the parents forced to buy them CDs, though, no small-screen sensation transcends the tube more convincingly. Part party girl and part plain old good girl, Montana--a sweet-voiced, playful performer--never skimps on the pipes. Country fans will chalk that up to our rhyme-named heroine's lineage; 14-year-old Miley Cyrus, who plays Montana, is the daughter of Nashville star Billy Ray Cyrus (who duets on this disc's sentimental, twang-resistant last track). The rest of the world, though, is apt to find itself belting along based on Hannah's unsinkable hooks and frothy Ashlee-meets-Hilary vocals alone: theme song "Best of Both Worlds" bumps around off a Joan Jett-reminiscent springboard; "Who Said" rips a page from the emo diaries; and "Just Like You" ladles on harmonies sweet enough to attach a stick to. Additional tracks like Jesse McCartney's "She's No You" and B5's Earth Wind & Fire redo "Shining Star" are first-rate complements to the proceedings, but make no mistake: this dance-happy hybrid belongs to the reigning pop princess alone. --Tammy La Gorce
More Albums by Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana "The Best of Both Worlds Concert (CD + DVD)"
$9.25NEW
Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party is a full on Non-Stop Dance Party with your favorite songs from the girl with a double life! Featuring a fresh mix of the complete soundtrack all re-mixed into a continuous dance party mix. PLUS a photography slide show, music video and printable party invitations.
Hannah Montana "Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus"
$5.93
Tweens aren't often heralded for their good judgment and excellent taste (Heelys--hello), but if any young starlet can redeem them, it's Hannah Montana. On this, the second soundtrack from the Disney Channel series, Miley Cyrus takes her cues from her TV alter ego, who has an alter ego of her own: Disc 1 features Miley as Hannah, hair-tossing pop princess by weekend, likable schoolgirl by weekday (see "Old Blue Jeans" and "True Friends" to get a sense of each episode's un-cloying sweetness). But disc 2 is the start of something new, as her friends over on the High School Musical set might say: Miley sings strictly as her spunky, truth-telling self. This yields a number of pepped-up pop tracks bound to vibrate through the walls of pink bedrooms everywhere--"See You Again" is a boy-centric song instantly relatable to anyone who's ever been in seventh grade and suffered a bout of bashfulness, "East Northumberland High" puts a punk spin on an I'm-just-not-into-you tale, and "Clear" bounces on a reggae beat while canceling any doubt about our heroine's ability to stand up for herself. Like Hannah before her, Miley makes the best of both worlds--this well-worth-it set, by turns rockin' and reflective, is a masterful example. --Tammy La Gorce
Hannah Montana Photos
Hannah Montana "Hannah Montana: 2-Disc Special Edition Soundtrack"
$16.95
The Hannah Montana special edition soundtrack arrives so coolly p ackaged and with such a bonanza of extras that it might even induce budget-conscious tweens who already own the original to break open their piggy banks a second time. All the same hyper-charged, deliriously fun songs are here--the Radio Disney hit "If We Were a Movie" and the speaker-hazardous "Pumpin' up the Party" included--but so is a new number, "Nobody's Perfect," that again reaches out with a message from Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hannah, without mitigating the sky-high mood. Toe-tapping, indeed, is mandatory. Throughout. Other deluxe-edition tack-ons include signed snaps of the double-life-leading superstar, a certificate for a free "This Is the Life" ringtone, and a starter course of celebrity dish: in addition to a concert sliver featuring "Nobody's Perfect" on disc two (the DVD), Miss Cyrus leads her breathless fans on chummy, if minimally revealing, backstage tour. --Tammy La GorceHannah Montana Photos
