CD Review: Mandy Moore's Wild Hope

In 1999, Mandy Moore began her career as one of the premier pop princesses. Her debut album So Real was lambasted by critics (and anyone over the age of 14) who considered it to be a bit too sweet and anything but real. In an effort to combat criticism, Moore decided to release a remixed version of So Real entitled I Wanna Be With You, but it was met with equally disappointing results.

In the past eight years, Moore has released a remix album, a CD of cover songs and two compilation records. Apart from So Real, her only true release was a self-titled disc that was rightfully torn apart in 2001 for being the banal bubble-gum garbage heap that it was.

While the former pop princess has since used her tiara to spark a much more admirable acting career, she recently stated she missed singing and wanted to return to the studio.

OK, Mandy. Fair enough. Now everyone, please raise your hand if you actually care … OK fine. Now everyone, please raise your hand if you actually care AND have a driver‘s license … Nobody? Yep, that’s what I thought.

In 2006, in regard to her earlier albums, Moore said, "I feel bad that people wasted their money on such trite, blah pop music."

Wow. Thanks so much for your sympathy Miss Moore. She is appearing honest and regretful, but is she also implying her newest album won’t suck? Probably not, but if she plans on abandoning her bubble-gum roots, who the hell is left to care? How many young adults will even be able tell the difference between Mandy’s mature and immature pop, really?

We’re just left hoping that Wild Hope isn’t a thinly veiled version of every other album she’s ever released.

(As you can see, I am trying to put off actually reviewing the album for as long as possible. Why? It’s simple. Reviewing an album has never been more painful, and well, taking shots at Candy Mandy is much more fun, but I must put pleasure aside for a second and get down to business.)

On "Extraordinary," Moore actually sums up her musical journey and aspirations somewhat well: "I was a starling/nobody’s darling/and now I’m ready to be extraordinary."

On top of that, the country rock jam "The Latest Mistake" is surprisingly tolerable, and "Gardenia" is a folksy little number that doesn’t make me wish I were elsewhere, which is all one can really ask of a Mandy Moore album.

Regardless, the shining moments on this album are sparse. One can’t begin to pick apart the negatives of the dull numbers because they more or less sound the same.

Bottom line: Even though Wild Hope is probably Mandy’s strongest release to date, she should stick to doing Neutrogena commercials and her latest boy toy.

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