In the drastic swing between between her roots and rock records of the late 2000s and the pop and hip-hop moves she pulled at the beginning of the next decade, there is massive tension between the singer’s pedigree as the daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus (and goddaughter to icon Dolly Parton) and her desire to be seen as something, anything else. It’s a question Miley struggled with long after she left the Disney Channel fold. At its core, Hannah Montana was a show about the weight of pop star aspirations and how much one must give of themselves in order to maintain a profile on the charts. Miley Cyrus has been in search of the perfect balance between rock attitude and pop smarts her entire career. 1980 was an embarrassment of riches not unlike 2020, a year so stacked with great rock albums by women that there wasn’t room for men in the nominees for the Grammy for Best Rock Performance. Also waiting in the wings was Stevie Nicks, who came off of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk tour and set about recording the songs she’d release the next year as Bella Donna. Pacific Northwest quartet Seafood Mama enjoyed a local hit in “Harden My Heart,” a showcase for front woman Rindy Ross’s impassioned vocals and sax accompaniment, later changing its name to Quarterflash and entering rotation on the fledgling MTV with a fiery video treatment for the early hit. Breakout artists like Kate Bush and Pat Benatar charted well with the singles “Babooshka” and “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” and impressed audiences with albums - see Kate’s Never for Ever and Pat’s Crimes of Passion - that would help to cement them as essential to that era’s sound. X, Blondie, and the B-52s showed how versatile punk could be, just as much as the Clash’s sprawling triple album Sandinista did. in January and London’s Girlschool, friends of Motörhead, whose debut Demolition is every bit as volatile as anything Lemmy’s group was selling that year. At the same time, the men in metal, post-punk, new wave, and art rock made masterpieces like David Bowie’s Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), AC/DC’s Back in Black, Motörhead’s Ace of Spades, Joy Division’s Closer there were brilliant debut releases from former Runaway Joan Jett, whose self-titled solo album was renamed and reissued the next year as Bad Reputation after its killer opener the Pretenders, whose self-titled debut technically hit America in the final days of 1979 and landed in the U.K. Passionate and self-aware, Plastic Hearts is easily the finest incarnation of Cyrus' music yet.Plastic Hearts is an album both in awe of and in conversation with the classics, whose melodies wear their inspirations proudly.ġ980 was a watershed year for women in rock music. Similarly, "Golden G String," a contemplative synth-country mini-memoir, feels very on-brand even as it reflects her growth as a songwriter and singer. Plastic Hearts' quieter moments, like the pedal steel-laden power ballad "High," offer some of Cyrus' best vocal performances in a while, and feel just as true to the album's spirit. "Prisoner" is another highlight, with Dua Lipa's cool tones providing the perfect contrast to Miley's raspy warmth.
By comparison, the Joan Jett collaboration "Bad Karma" feels almost subdued, yet the heat she and Cyrus generate is undeniable, and Angel Olsen's guitar solo helps propel it to standout status. It's joined on the album by "Night Crawling," a duet with Billy Idol that captures the over-the-top, black and red leather sexuality of his best-loved singles so convincingly, it's almost uncanny.
It's no surprise that "Midnight Sky," Cyrus' deeply affectionate homage to the tough-girl cool of Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen," became one of her biggest hits. Ronson and company get just the right gated drums and neon synth washes on songs like "Gimme What I Want," where the stomping beat harks back to Animotion's "Obsession." Since the beginning of her career, Cyrus' rock-tinged moments have been among her strongest, and Plastic Hearts is no exception.
#MILEY CYRUS PLASTIC HEARTS FULL#
The album's creative team included Mark Ronson, a producer who's as savvy and versatile as Cyrus herself, and Plastic Hearts' songs are full of stylish, witty details. Once again, well-chosen collaborators help her set the stage for this era. This time, she doesn't go to either extreme: Plastic Hearts' mix of polished pop, country heart, and 1980s rock edge builds on her image instead of taking a wrecking ball to it. On She Is Coming, her wild-child antics felt like an equal and opposite reaction to Younger Now's twangy contemplation. After all the stylistic shifts that have defined Miley Cyrus' career, on Plastic Hearts she reaches a balance - but not a compromise.
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