Album Review: A Little More Personal (Raw), Lindsay Lohan

Little of what made Lindsay Lohan's debut album, Speak, such a success remains on her sophomore effort, A Little More Personal (Raw). Sophomore albums are notoriously difficult to make, and Lohan's album demonstrates just that. She certainly does get a little more personal on this album, squeezing in at least three to four songs about her relationship with her father. Even with the help of two covers, the album falls flat.

In addition to the emotional "Confessions of A Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)", "My Innocence" is another song that enumerates the burdens Mr. Lohan has placed on Lindsay's life. "My Innocence", like "Confessions," is evocative and beautiful, if not more so. It is, strangely enough, a mix -- in terms of melody -- a mix of Christina Aguilera's "Loving Me For Me" and Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry." "It could be all your blood runnin' through my veins / that ties me to your face ... But you won't bring me down / I always come around," she sings, sounding somewhat in denial. Her vocal ability is particularly evident on this track. It seems to have improved quite a bit since her last album -- I guess she found time to take voice lessons between her hospital stay, her bathing in cantaloupes and dating every other guy in Hollywood. Anyway, no judgments -- only on her voice, which deserves praise.

What doesn't deserve praise is the next song, "A Little More Personal." It is only slightly catchy and does not live up to its title, instead dilly-dallying around "It's like we do a dance where no one wants to move / But if I take the first step maybe we can find a groove." Um, ok. I'd assumed that she'd be reaching out to her fans to get to know her a little better so she can reveal more to them." This, of course, would've been (and is) just another marketing ploy. Which absolutely does not work, since she doesn't actually really reveal anything in this song.

Most of the mid-tempo to faster songs on the album are filler-material; the soul of the album in the ballads. "If You Were Me" has a rock feel to it, evoking images of the running man, tie-dye shirts, backwards baseball caps. It's catchy, but perhaps a little overdone. "Fastlane"'s somewhat perceptive lyrics on life in Hollywood are unfortunately masked by an annoying "The Brady Bunch [Variety] Hour" type of sound. All sunshine and butterflies and a hundred percent annoying. But the juxtaposition of dark lyrics with a cheery melody has its intrigue ... "Who Loves You" is possibly the lowest point of the album. Lohan takes a huge misstep and borrows from her prime nemesis, Hilary Duff, with the speak-sing quality of this song.

The cover of Stevie Nick's "Edge of Seventeen" is arguably the best track on the album. Lindsay adds her own brand of rock to it and revives an old classic, perhaps even giving it new meaning. The album's other cover, "I Want You To Want Me," however, is not quite so successful. It brings back memories of a less mature Lohan, whining and reeking of desperation over something as menial as ... Aaron Carter?

She ends the album with a song whose title is borrowed -- literally -- from her rear. It's easy to write this off as a filler upon first glance, because it makes reference to the tattoo on her bum, but it actually turns out to be a good song and a pleasant conclusion to the album. Lohan pays tribute to her fans indirectly by stating that in spite of all the craziness that has ensued since her star has found its way onto the A-list, she's thankful for what she has. After all, if you've reached this point in the album, you've been paying for her numerous wrecked Mercedes-Benzes.

Lindsay must have thought that by titling her album A Little More Personal (Raw), she'd be able to serve up a mish mosh of genres and sounds. It doesn't quite cohere, and what we have left is a melange of filler songs sprinkled with the occasional just-good-enough song. Perhaps this is indicative that the twelve months since Speak was released just wasn't enough time for Lohan to settle on a musical style -- or a hair color. A Little More Personal (Raw) is as its title illustrates -- a little too personal and raw; uncooked and under-prepared.

"A Little More Personal (Raw)" releases on December 6th in the United States.

[Photos courtesy of Amazon.com, The Associated Press, LohanOnline.com]