MY VIEW
Music: 'Speak' by Lindsay Lohan

By Jeremy Castillo
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: THE RATINGS 5 — Outstanding: Add it to your collection now. A must-have. 4 — Great: Buy it or rent it — definitely listen to it. 3 — Good: Worth listening to despite some flaws. 2 — Fair: Unless you're a fan of the group or singer, don't bother. 1 — Poor: Save your money (and your ears).

Release: Dec. 7, 2004

Style: Pop

Rewind: "Speak," "Rumors" (I guess)

My take: Hollywood's newest "it girl," Lindsay Lohan has had her face plastered on movie posters, DVD covers and an abundance of magazines and tabloid newspapers. So why not an album cover?

Pop music doesn't get much respect from critics and discerning music fans, especially when it's from a Hollywood celebrity. This doesn't stop the actress from joining the stable of actors-turned-musicians, including Jennifer Lopez, Hilary Duff and David Hasselhoff.

"Speak" is Lohan's debut album, and it has everything you'd expect from a pop album engineered for mainstream success: background music synthesized like there's no tomorrow, banal lyrics and vocals that are less than impressive. Mix all of those elements together, then process and polish to the point where it's impossible to perform any of the songs live, and you have this CD.

Undoubtedly, a big chunk of the record's sales will be from adolescent girls who adore Lindsay. But if you assume "Speak" will be like the clean, cookie-cutter music from the *NSync era a few years ago, you're wrong.

Some of the lyrics are as subtle as a punch to the neck: "Something inside me burns/And then I realize, I wanna come first," from the opening track, "First." Combine that with the lusty tone in the vocals of every song and a few provocative pictures in the liner notes — one of Lohan posing in only an unbuttoned dress shirt — and it's clear that projecting innocence wasn't a goal.

In her defense, Lohan's voice isn't half bad. It already sounds better than Britney's ever did, and there's infinite room for improvement. While her delivery is strong but sometimes overdone on the uptempo songs, her singing of slower songs sounds insincere. However, that might not be such an offense considering some of the lyrics written for her on this CD. Take the chorus of "Symptoms of You" as a good example: "I'm not ill I don't need to/Take a pill to fix what you do/Cure can't come through/Cuz baby all I do is suffer from/The symptoms of you."

There are a couple of songs that don't make the album a complete bust. "Rumors" is something that teenagers can relate to, in some sense, and the title track is decent enough to be mentioned without being criticized, just because it's the best example of what Lohan's voice is and can be later.

The bottom line is that "Speak" should have been a good record, could and would have been if there were actual musical instruments and better-written songs. However, in any business, you don't sell potential, you sell product. Better luck next time, Lindsay. I still think you're hot.

Jeremy Castillo is a student at Windward Community College.

Have a game or CD you want to review? Reach Island Life deputy editor Dave Dondoneau at ddondoneau@honoluluadvertiser.com.