Hannah Montana: The Movie is the
soundtrack for the
film of the same name. The film is
an adaptation of the popular
Disney Channel Original
Series Hannah Montana,
which first aired in 2006. In the television series and film,
American singer–songwriter and actress
Miley
Cyrus portrays
Miley Stewart, a
girl with a secret
double life as the
popstar
Hannah Montana.
Cyrus performs twelve of the songs on the album, seven of which are
credited to Hannah Montana. American recording artists
Billy Ray Cyrus,
Taylor Swift, and
Rascal Flatts and English recording artist
Steve Rushton also have songs on the
soundtrack.
The album was released on March 23, 2009 under
Walt Disney Records. All of the songs in
the album went through the film's director
Peter Chelsom. He felt the film needed music
that was tightly woven into the film's plot and the character's
background. Several producers worked on the album, mainly
John Shanks and
Matthew Gerrard. Shanks was more involved
with Cyrus and the other artists. Meanwhile, Gerrard produced
Cyrus' songs as Montana; he previously wrote her hit song "
The Best of Both Worlds"
(2006). A
remix of "The Best of Both Worlds"
is featured as the album's closing track. Musically, the album
merges heavy influences from
pop and
country. Songwriters include Cyrus,
Gerrard, Swift, and many more. The songs' lyrics primarily discuss
the film's themes of fame, family, and love.
Contemporary critics were pleased with album, claiming it was
indeed a merge of "the best of both worlds". Cyrus was praised for
being natural and reflected while performing as herself. They also
complimented Swift's performance and debated if she or Cyrus were
more dominant. The soundtrack received a nomination for a
2009 American Music Award for
Favorite Soundtrack, but lost to
the Twilight soundtrack.
Hannah Montana: The Movie reached the top ten in many
nations, and topped charts in countries such as Austria, Canada,
and New Zealand. In the United States, it peaked at number one on
the
Billboard 200 and the
Billboard Top Country
Albums chart. By May 2009, the
Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) certified the album
platinum.
Two singles were released from
Hannah Montana: The Movie.
The
lead single released from the album
was "
The Climb". It became Cyrus'
best charting single in theUnited States at the time and topped
Billboard's
Hot
Adult Contemporary Tracks. Cyrus' "
Hoedown Throwdown" is the album's
follow-up single and reached the top ten on the
Irish Singles Chart. The album was
promoted through exclusive releases to
Radio Disney and live performances at numerous
venues. Cyrus' performed four songs from the album on her first
worldwide concert tour, the
Wonder
World Tour.
Writing and development
Most of the songs on the soundtrack were offered to
Peter Chelsom, the
film's director, for inclusion on
the film. Producer Alfred Gough said, "Peter Chelsom describes the
Stewart family [Cyrus' character's family in the film] as a
bilingual family whose second language is music, and that's very
true in this movie." Chelsom says the film's numerous songs are
tightly woven into the fabric of the story and the characters,
which is why he believes the film will feel like a musical without
being one. "We continuously dance very close to the convention of a
musical but are more integrated. Songs are going to sit within the
film, not apart from the film. At times, you won't notice the music
is happening; it'll just move the story along."
In regards to Cyrus' songs, Chelsom said, "We realized this was an
opportunity to move forward with the music, to update it and make
it more sophisticated, to move with Miley’s age. I’ve never had a
better musical experience on any film."
Cyrus noted that most
of the songs included on the soundtrack were inspired by the return
of Cyrus' character, Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, to her Nashville
roots. She explained, "The soundtrack is all
about Nashville, and that's where I'm from, that's my roots. I
think that's a lot of the reason I am who I am." Cyrus co-wrote
"Don't Walk Away" because it was to be included on her own studio
album
Breakout (2008).
"
Hoedown Throwdown", a song in
which Cyrus
calls dance steps, took
much time to write. It became an ongoing collaboration between
Chelsom, Cyrus, choreographer Jamal Sims, and the song's
songwriters, Adam Anders and Nikki Hasman. "Dream" is a cover of
the
Diana DeGarmo song "Dream, Dream,
Dream" from DeGarmo's debut album,
Blue Skies.
Jessi Alexander said she was inspired to
write "
The Climb" while driving to
the home of her songwriting partner, Jon Mabe. Once she arrived,
they decided to write a song about overcoming obstacles. Alexander
referred to the process as a form of "therapy". It had initially
been passed over by several artists until Chelsom chose it and
offered it to Cyrus. Under the name Hannah Montana, Cyrus performs
the song "Let's Do This", which was originally written and recorded
by American country singer Adam Tefteller. The last track is a
remixed version Cyrus' hit "
The Best of Both Worlds"
(2006). The song is used as the theme song of the Disney Channel
television show
Hannah
Montana, the basis of the film, and was originally
released on the television series'
first soundtrack.
Several other artists appear on the soundtrack.
Billy Ray Cyrus' song on the album,
"
Back to Tennessee", is the
title track of his
eleventh studio
album. Written by Cyrus, Tamara Dunn and
Matthew Wilder, the song reflects the desire
of both Cyrus and his character in the film,
Robbie Ray Stewart, to return to their
roots. Disney artist
Steve Rushton
sings "Everything I Want" and "Game Over".
Rascal Flatts performs acoustic versions of
previous efforts originally released on
Feels Like Today and
Me and My Gang. When approached about
participating in the soundtrack,
Taylor
Swift sent her ballad "
Crazier" because
it "was perfect to fall in love to". Swift also shares a writing
credit with
Martin Johnson
of
Boys Like Girls on the opening
track "
You'll
Always Find Your Way Back Home".
Music structure and lyrics
Musically, the album is country heavy, but merges
adult contemporary music,
country pop,
country
rock, and
teen pop styles. According to
About.com, each of Cyrus' songs
incorporates her "husky twang". The up-tempo songs are mainly
performed by Montana and
ballads are
kept at a minimum. Songs like "
You'll Always Find Your
Way Back Home", "Let's Get Crazy", and "Spotlight" are the most
true to
pop. "Let's Get Crazy" carries a
groove and creates a beat from
paparazzi flashbulbs. Cyrus' songs are
more mid-tempo. "Hoedown Throwdown" is an instructional dance song
that mixes the album's country style with
R&B and
hip-hop. "The
Climb" has solid, clear vocals and is a standard issue
power ballad that places
piano solos in between chiming
electric guitars. "Crazier" is a
waltzing ballad that has Swift in relaxed
soprano vocals.
Lyrically, the album explores through a variety of concepts. With
the exception of "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home", which
speaks about staying grounded and relying on family, Montana's
songs describe the "glitzy-world" and privileges of a
celebrity. "Let's Get Crazy" centers on having fun
at a party. "The Good Life" is a sugar-coated celebration of
Gucci handbags and
Prada
shoes.
"The Best of Both Worlds" explicitly alludes
to Cyrus' character's double life as Montana: regular adolescent that moved from Nashville,
Tennessee
to Malibu, California
by day and pop star by
night. In the song, Montana talks about the privileges and
advantages that are faced in leading in two lives with references
to
Orlando Bloom,
concerts,
friendship and
film premieres. The songs Cyrus performs
as herself are more reflective, personal, and sentimental. "Hoedown
Throwdown" is a tribute to down-home fun. "The Climb" contains a
philosophical message about remaining
optimistic through any of life's struggle. "
Butterfly Fly Away" is a father-daughter
duet by Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus about the
coming of age.
In "Back to Tennessee" Billy Ray Cyrus
laments leaving Tennessee
. "Backwards" by Rascal Flatts is a ridicule
of country music. The remaining songs on the soundtrack are about
romantic love.
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Warren
Truitt of
About.com described the album as
Cyrus' attempt to gradually capture a more mature audience by
sharing the album with artists like Flatts and Swift. Truitt also
made musical comparisons to
Shania
Twain in "Dream",
Kelly Clarkson
in "Don't Walk Away",
Avril Lavigne in
"The Good Life", and Gwen Stefani "Spotlight" and "
Let's Get Crazy".
Heather Phares of
Allmusic noted that the
presence of so many and drastically different genres make the album
"a little weird." She stated that Cyrus' songs which were performed
as herself were "the best songs", which also recalled Shania Twain.
Phares also noted that Swift's "
Crazier" was
"the best song on
Hannah Montana: The Movie". Leah
Greenblatt of
Entertainment
Weekly stated, "the distance between
tween and
twang
isn't actually all that far; think of this [...] as a sort of
country-lite starter kit for her legion of young
Disney-fed fans".
In the end, she said
Hannah Montana: The Movie was "the Miley show — whether it
broadcasts from Nashville or Hollywood
", despite appearances by other
artists.
Chart performance
Hannah Montana: The Movie debuted on the
Billboard 200 at number two with
139,00 copies sold on the issue date April 11, 2009. After, four
weeks of ascending and descending the chart, the album reached the
number one position, becoming the first soundtrack of the year to
top the
Billboard 200. In its fourth week the album sold
133,000 copies, a decline of 32 percent compared to previous week's
haul of 196,000. It also topped
Billboard Top Country Albums for nine
non-consecutive weeks and
Top
Soundtracks for nineteen non-consecutive weeks, respectively.
After two months, the album became certified
platinum for shipments
of one million copies, by the
Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the album debuted at
number two, and peaked at number one for two consecutive
weeks.
Hannah Montana: The Movie made its debut in the
New Zealand RIANZ
Album Chart at number eleven and eventually topped the chart
for a week. It was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry
Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for the shipment of 15,00
copies. In Australia, the soundtrack peaked at number six and was
certified platinum by the
Australian Recording
Industry Association (ARIA), selling more than 70,000 copies.
In Spain, the album debuted at number eighteen and peaked at the
top spot for four weeks. The album was later certified platinum by
the
Producer
of Spanish Music for the shipment of 80,000 copies.
In Austria, the soundtrack peaked at number one for one week and
was eventually certified gold for sales above 10,000.
Hannah
Montana: The Movie also topped the Portuguese chart and
reached the top twenty of charts in Belgium, Denmark, Mexico,
Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Singles
"
The Climb" was released as the
lead single from the album on March 5,
2009 through digital distribution. The song critically appreciated
for its lyrical content and Cyrus' strong vocals. It achieved
commercial success and reached the top ten on charts in the United
States, Australia, Canada, and Norway, as well as reaching the top
twenty in many other countries. In the United States, the song
topped
Hot Adult
Contemporary Tracks for fifteen consecutive weeks.
"
Hoedown Throwdown" became the
album's second single in the United States, through digital
distribution. The song received mixed reviews; Reviewers called it
"goofy" and a "weird mix" of country and urban styles, while others
called it "epic". However, the song managed to make commercial
success by reaching the top ten of the
Irish Singles Chart and top twenty in
numerous regions.
Promotion
On October
10, 2008, Cyrus performed "Let's Get Crazy", "Let's Do This", and
the 2009 Movie Mix of "The Best of Both Worlds" as Montana for the
taping of third season of
Hannah Montana at the Verizon
Wireless Amphitheatre
in Irvine California. On January 19, 2009,
Cyrus premiered "The Climb" at the
Kids' Inaugural:
"We Are the Future" event in celebration of
Barack Obama's inauguration. Cyrus and her
father performed in London in an
Apple
Store, which was sold exclusively by the United Kingdom
iTunes Store as an
extended play titled
iTunes: Live from
London. Cyrus has performed songs from the album on the
Academy of Country Music,
Tonight with Jay
Leno,
American Idol,
Good Morning America,
Live with Regis and
Kelly, the
AOL Sessions, the
twentieth annual A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival,
The Today Show, and the first
D23 Expo.
Promotional songs from
Hannah Montana: The Movie were
premiered on
Radio Disney and
Disney Channel. "Let's Do This" was first to
premiered on Radio Disney and Disney Channel on December 13, 2008,
the video being taken from the taping in Irvine. Due to digital
downloads, the song peaked at number twenty-three on the
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Chart (Hot 100 - 123); the song charted in the
Hot Canadian Digital Singles at
number sixty-nine, but failed to reach the
Canadian Hot 100. "
Let's Get Crazy" was
then premiered on January 19, 2009. The music video is an excerpt
from
Hannah Montana: The
Movie in which
Miley Stewart,
portrayed by Cyrus, is forced to enter
Lilly Truscott's, portrayed by
Emily Osment,
Sweet Sixteen as Montana. The song
peaked at number fifty-seven in the
Billboard Hot 100 and twenty-six
in the
Canadian Hot 100, therefore
becoming Montana's highest chart effort in Canada. "
Back to Tennessee" was premiered
only on Disney Channel with a video that interspersed scenes from
the film. The song peaked at number forty-seven on
Hot Country Songs. After the release of
the soundtrack, Disney still kept sending promotional songs.
"
Crazier" and "
You'll Always Find Your
Way Back Home" premiered on Radio Disney and Disney Channel
post-soundtrack release, the latter promoting the home release of
the film. "Crazier" became the most successful non-single of the
album, charting at number seventeen in the
Billboard Hot
100, sixty-four in the
Australian ARIA Singles Chart,
sixty-seven in the Canadian Hot 100, and one-hundred on the
UK Singles Chart. "You'll Always
Find Your Way Back Home" peaked at number seventy-six on the
Canadian Hot and at number eighty-one in the Hot 100.
Radio Disney premiered the entire soundtrack on March 21, 2009,
with a rebroadcast the next day. A series of promotional music
videos were released to
Disney.com on
March 2009 entitled
The Miley Sessions. The videos feature
Cyrus in a
recording studio
singing. Disney Channel aired a series of commercial segments
entitled
Hannah Montana: The Movie Playback, in which
Cyrus is in the same setting describing the music of the album.
Cyrus also embarked for a five city
acoustic radio promo tour that reached over
two-hundred-fifty for six days to promote the album. In addition,
Cyrus performs four songs from the album on her first worldwide
concert tour, the
Wonder World
Tour.
Track listing
Standard edition
This version was released internationally to selective
countries.
Deluxe edition
This version was released to the United States
iTunes Store as a pre-order special. It
includes the original eighteen tracks from the standard edition,
with four videos as a bonus.
Karaoke series
Disney's Karaoke Series: Hannah Montana The Movie was
released to selected countries. The artwork underwent minor
changes, the background are yellow stripes, the
Hannah Montana logo was placed at the
bottom left corner, and in the top right corner letters spell
"Karaoke Series". It features eight
karaoke
versions of tracks from the original soundtrack. The first half of
them are instrumental versions, meanwhile the second half are vocal
versions.
Charts, sales, and procession
Charts
Certifications
Chart procession and succession
Awards
Personnel
Release history
References
- http://clickthecity.com/music/?p=6415
External links
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