Girlicious

Album Review

The conception of Girlicious is both laughable and brilliant at the same time. Following the hysteria of reality television and the hype behind the sultry Pussycat Dolls, the creation of the television program Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious came about. The show, which hoped to capitalize on the success of the aforementioned multi-platinum quintet, was about creating a new, fresh, girl group whose success would be in the urban pop market, as mentioned by creator of the project, Robin Antin. The term "project" must be used here, since the final product of the show, the formation of this new quartet called Girlicious, is nothing more than a well-oiled, made-for-market package whose aesthetic beauty is both in harmony, and even more so, in appearance. On their debut release, the four girls involved, Natalie Meija, Nichole Cordova, Christina Sayers, and Tiffanie Anderson, deliver a well-balanced set of sexually charged, urban-friendly pop and dance numbers which satisfy the listener, yet would probably all feel much more complete with the help of video. Girlicious, and their debut album, do not feel necessarily artistic; rather, they are marketed exceptionally well. In terms of reaching, and appealing to, the audience for which it was intended for, Girlicious' eponymous release is quite great. Stomping beats on "Baby Doll" and "Like Me" help make the release ready for both the dancefloor and radio waves, and the cameos of Sean Kingston and Flo Rida help take tunes like "Liar Liar" and "Still in Love" from middling tunes to rocking pop creations. The album is driven by sex and sexual content more than anything, and it may have taken 38 writers (yup, that many) to bring this album into existence (none of which are any of the vocalists, or Antin), but seeing as this album isn't necessarily intended to be a revolutionary artistic sampling, that may not be such a bad thing. It's clear that the producers of this album have thrown away hopes of making this group a serious band, and have steered them 100-percent down the naughty but nice sell-out road, leaving the girls, all of whom seemed like boisterous, talented beauties during their run on the program, albeit without distinctive personalities, or distinctive voices. The album is fueled by harmonies and synthesizers, as opposed to "songs that feature the girls as people" however, once again, this isn't a bad thing. Girlicious, like its feline burlesque counterpart, is not a band built on merit; it is built on visual appeal and sexualized fantasy, and their first release is certainly not an album that will win a Grammy anytime soon, but it never tries to do that, and because of this, an objective eye can judge this album in the context it's shooting for, which is merely fun, flirty pop; and in that sense, this album, the producers, the ample writers, and the girls, have done a fantastic job.