| Product Summary | | Label: Universal Music Group | | UPC: 00050087122737 | | Release Date: 7/1/2008 | | Buy.com Sku: 208163553 | | Item#: M46THK | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 2010 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
(P) 2008 Hollywood Records, Inc.
(C) 2008 Hollywood Records, Inc.
| | She knows it's coming. With two major motion pictures, a new album and an international mega-tour on tap for 2008, Vanessa Hudgens can sense the approaching cyclone. The media frenzy, the blur of time zones, the roar of the arena crowd: it's all part of the package. But having been around this block before, the 19-year-old singer is more than ready. With her new Hollywood Records CD, Identified, Vanessa Hudgens has matured, revealing a level of sophisticated artistry sure to thrill long-time fans and draw in new fans as well. Working with A-list songwriter-producers like JR Rotem, Dr. Luke, Tim James and Antonina Armato, Vanessa took unexpected turns on the new album. "This time I did what I wanted to do," she says. "I always had a knack for a more soulful, jazzy sound, so right off the bat I wanted to kind of let loose, and come up with a sound no one has heard from me before." She's not exaggerating. For those familiar with her sweet-toned performances from the High School Musical films -- which catapulted her to superstardom -- or her 2006 debut CD, V, Vanessa has some gritty surprises in store. Track Listing
1. Last Night
2. Identified
3. First Bad Habit
4. Hook it Up
5. Don't Ask Why
6. Sneakernight
7. Amazed
8. Don't Leave
9. Paper Cut
10. Party on the Moon
11. Did it Ever Cross Your Mind
12. Gone with the Wind
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | On her second solo studio album, 2008's IDENTIFIED, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL-star Vanessa Hudgens unveils a lively set of R&B-inflected dance-pop tunes. Hudgens's first record since her '07 nude-photo controversy, IDENTIFIED finds the Disney star going for a slightly edgier sound but still staying within the realm of Mouse House accessibility. While the lead single, "Sneakernight," and "Hooker It Up" are tailor-made for the club, the ballads "Don't Ask Why" and "Don't Leave" reveal the California native's more introspective side. IDENTIFIED's most impressive track, however, is the piano-led closing number, "Gone with the Wind," a song that fully displays both Hudgens's dynamic vocals and her newfound maturity. | | Ever savvy, Disney started launching the post-High School Musical careers of the franchise's stars while it was still in full swing by having Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa Hudgens make albums with a more mature sound than most Radio Disney fare. Hudgens' debut album, V, was her first step toward a less overtly Disney-affiliated career: released by the studio's Hollywood label, it used Christina Aguilera's soulful pop as a template; even if its songs were a bit faceless, they had surprisingly sophisticated production values. Almost two years passed between V and its follow-up, Identified. That's a long time in Disney terms, especially considering how quickly they release anything related to star attractions like High School Musical. Identified isn't drastically different from V -- Hudgens still sings about love, dancing, and hanging with her girls, and once again, the production outclasses the songs and the singing. With work by Kasz Money's Doctor Luke, Benny Blanco, and J.R. Rotem, the album sounds more playful, more elaborate, and trendier than it has to: "Last Night" builds from a bouncing beat into whispered backing vocals, acoustic slide guitar licks, and warm electric pianos, while "First Bad Habit" segues from chugging electric guitars to breathy electro-pop and back again. Borrowing from Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, Fergie, and Rihanna, Identified plays like a simulation of a state-of-the-art pop album. However, strangely for an album named Identified, these songs skip from sound to sound, hoping that some of them will stick. Hudgens just doesn't have the presence or pipes to pull off a hip-hop-tinged dancefloor anthem like "Hook It Up" or an intimate ballad like "Paper Cut," which feels like a Disneyfied version of Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love." The best moments here turn Hudgens' weaknesses into strengths: her vocals aren't powerful, but they are malleable, perfect for tweaking into fembot pop like "Amazed" and the title track. Though there are a couple of truly strange moments here that may or may not be intentionally campy, such as "Party on the Moon" and "Sneakernight," which features lyrics like "Did you eat?" and a surprisingly good Aguilera impersonation from Hudgens, there are also a couple of genuinely impressive moments: "Did It Ever Cross Your Mind" could be a legitimate pop hit, and the slightly jazzy "Gone with the Wind" makes her transition from Disney star to a more mature singer more convincing. Despite a few stumbles, Identified achieves its goal: it anticipates that Hudgens' fans will outgrow High School Musical soon enough, and gives her a better chance of staying relevant to them as they move on to other kinds of pop music. ~ Heather Phares |
| | Artist Overview | | Teen pop singer Vanessa Hudgens got her start as an actress, appearing in the films THIRTEEN and THUNDERBIRDS in the early 2000s. But Hudgens gained national prominence with her appearance on Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL hit series, where she played Gabriella Montez. Following her solo debut, V, in 2006, she performed some of her original songs on the worldwide tour undertaken by the cast of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. She also embarked on a tour with the Cheetah Girls around the time HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 was released. IDENTIFIED, Hudgens sophomore effort, arrived in 2008. |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 07/01/2008 | | Original Release Date : 2008 | | Catalog ID : D000205202 | | Label : Hollywood Records | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00050087122737 |
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| | Bio | | | Vanessa Hudgens Starting age eight, Vanessa has been performing in various musical theater and local productions. Her first professional job was doing a local production of The Wizard of Oz as a munchkin and was paid $50. When asked about it, she said in an interview - in the character profile of the Road to High School Musical - "I have to start somewhere". She has also appeared in local productions of Evita, Carousel, The King and I, The Music Man, Cinderella and Damn Yankees among others. Vanessa got her first gig successfully by auditioning for a friend who couldn't make it. Vanessa started making television appearances in Quintuplets, Still Standing, Cover Me, Robbery Homicide Division and Brothers Garcia. In 2003, she filmed her debut film, Thirteen, doing the role of Noel. Later in 2004, has landed a role in another film entitled Thunderbirds as Tin Tin. As she's been adding a little more fame to her career, she appeared in the Drake & Josh television series as Drake's girlfriend. She made a huge bang in the showbiz industry and the teenage audience after starring in the hit made-for-TV movie High School Musical, a Disney Channel Original, as the shy intelligent Gabriella Montez along side with Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Gabreel and Monique Coleman. Later, after the huge success of the show, she has started appearing in various TV shows including The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, as Ashley Tisdale and Brenda Song's characters's classmate. She also became the new spokesmodel of Neutrogena facial care alongside with actresses like Hayden Panettiere. She's not done yet. July 2006, months after the success and promotion of High School Musical, she began recording her debut album entitled V, which stand for Vanessa and Variety. She signed under Hollywood Records, which is also under Walt Disney. She was the first High School Musical star to record and release an album followed by Ashley Tisdale and Corbin Bleu. The album includes her hit singles "Come Back to Me" and "Say OK." Also, her song "Let's Dance" was lately featured in the promo of the Dancing with the Stars new season. Months later, she toured with The Cheeatah Girls doing the opening act.
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