HEADSTRONG - ASHLEY TISDALE
Sharpay Evans, the character she plays in the Disney phenomenon “High School Musical,” was not an artist of great range, and neither, really, is Ashley Tisdale. On her debut release, the 21-year-old singer hews straight to the contemporary school of fellow Mouse products Britney Spears and first-album Christina Aguilera — lots of synthesizer-laden, beat-heavy, layered-vocal dance tracks that vary among leering come-hithers (the distinctly PG-13 “He Said, She Said”), sneering disses (”So Much for You,” “Over It”) and self-affirming anthems (”Positivity,” the title track). The campy bop and slightly Eastern flavor of “Not Like That” mimes Gwen Stefani-style theatrics, while such emotive ballads as “Unlove You” and “Suddenly” follow the by-numbers formula of swelling dynamics. Tisdale asks us to “Love Me for Me,” but she’ll have to develop a more defined identity before she can truly win our affections. Billboard
February 7th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Ashley is appearing at the Verizon store at 368 South Lake, Pasadena, CA 91101 from 12:30pm to 1:30pm this Saturday, February 10th.