Billboard, March 14, 2009

SPOTLIGHT
MILEY CYRUS
The Climb (3:58)
Producer: John Shanks
Writers: J. Alexander, J. Mabe
Walt Disney/Hollywood
After building an empire on Disney’s “Hannah Montana,” Miley Cyrus is putting kid stuff aside. “The Climb” is her bid for vocal credibility, with a mature ballad (though ironically, the song is featured in the new “Hannah Montana” movie). Produced with grandeur by John Shanks, it features an inspiring lyric about life’s struggles: “Always gonna be another mountain, sometimes I’m gonna lose/Ain’t about how fast I get there/It’s the climb.” The track is also Cyrus’ first push for country acceptance, following the 2008 pop hits “7 Things” and “See You Again”—much like cross-format pal Taylor Swift. Among previous bids to be taken seriously—really, on any front—Cyrus successfully transitions here from lunchbox icon to lauded artist.—CT

SPOTLIGHT
THE SCRIPT
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (4:00)
Producers: Danny O’Donoghue, Mark Sheehan, Steve Kipner, Andrew Frampton
Writers: M. Sheehan, D. O’Donoghue
Epic
U.S. radio is fickle when it comes to other countries’ shining stars: Indulge another paint-by-numbers rapper or chance innovation that requires some sweat to break? Rest easy. First, trio the Script arrives in the States with a sure-fire success story as the best-selling new band of 2008 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a No. 1 album and a World Music Award. But more so, launch single “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved,” which is already a smash in a dozen nations, possesses an easy, breezy vibe, a driving melody packed with one monster hook after another and a clever lyric about a dude patiently waiting for redemption from his lady: “If you’re missing me, thinking you’ll come back to the place we’d met/Gonna camp in my sleeping bag, I’m not gonna move.” Lead singer Danny O’Donoghue is awfully dapper, destined to charm the pants off of top 40’s female demo. The Script’s self-titled album is due March 17—from the same label that ably broke Adele. Programmers, if you’re not moved by the Script, kindly turn in your FCC license. You’re simply not serving the public interest.—CT

POP
SHONTELLE FEATURING AKON
Stuck With Each Other (3:20)
Producers: Rodney Jerkins, Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken
Writer: D. Warren
Universal Motown
Shontelle was studying to be an attorney until management allies of pal Rihanna in Barbados convinced her to pursue songs instead of subpoenas. Score, considering her clever, fashion-conscious debut single “T-Shirt,” which reached top 40’s top 15, No. 1 at R&B and No. 2 at dance. The follow-up “Stuck With You” reveals the singer as a formidable talent who’s on top of her innate glamour, as the song walks a neat line between contemporary R&B and pop, written by Diane Warren. Akon accompanies—but oddly sounds more like a nasal, overtly processed Anastacia than himself. Lyrically, the pair acknowledges its enduring alliance: “Nothing I’d rather do than sit with you forever/Can’t think of nothing better than to be stuck with you.” Less gimmicky than “T-Shirt,” the track is a better bid for career longevity. Shontelle should wear well across multiple formats.—CT

ROCK
LIVE
Forever (3:54)
Producer: CJ Eriksson
Writer: E. Kowalczyk
Action Front/Vanguard
Long-lived Live has been missing in action at U.S. radio for the past six years, since “Heaven” soared from the album “Birds of Pray.” Still, it’d be naïve to call the act’s new single “Forever”—from “Live at the Paradiso: Amsterdam”—a return to form, since the quartet never lost its mojo. This package, featuring its first career-spanning live performance DVD and CD and two new tracks (with “Purifier”), is an event amid the band’s 18-year history and includes classics “The Dolphin’s Cry,” “I Alone” and “Lightning Crashes.” “Forever” is vintage Live, with lead singer/songwriter Ed Kowalczyk shouting to the moon and promising, “I’ll stay with you til the end of the storm,” amid a hooky “ooh-ooh,” crunchy guitars and percussion. As ever, an ace.—CT

AC
JIM BRICKMAN FEATURING RUSH OF FOOLS
Never Far Away (3:46)
Producers: Rusty Varekamp, Jason Ingram, David Grow
Writers: K. Hughley, J. Ingram, W. Willis
Time Life
For 15 years, Jim Brickman has been one of AC’s most consistent hitmakers—quietly—because the composer/pianist calls upon a who’s who of vocalists to lead the call, such as Martina McBride, Donny Osmond, Olivia Newton-John, Lady Antebellum and Richie McDonald. But make no mistake: This guy is in charge of the enduring melodies that long ago propelled him past his “new age” persona. “Never Far Away” engages Rush of Fools, whose “Undo” was Christian AC’s most-played song in 2007, and appears on the act’s current CD “Wonder of the World.” This version anchors the career-spanning “Ultimate Love Songs: The Very Best of Jim Brickman,” issued by Time Life, which includes four new tracks. With the maestro on piano, the midtempo pop/rocker lyrically honors the Fools’ wives as lead singer Wes Willis and the band persistently tour. AC needed no convincing to indulge; in two months “Never” is dashing up the playlist. Brickman scores another coup, as his understated fortitude promises another 15 years’ command of the airwaves.—CT

TRIPLE A
CHRIS ISAAK
We Let Her Down (3:21)
Producer: Eric Ivan Rosse
Writer: C. Isaak
Publisher: C. Isaak, ASCAP
Reprise/Warner Bros.
Chris Isaak must be confounded. After a recording career on the verge of 25 years, he has but a single top 40 calling card: 1991’s “Wicked Game.” The persistently photogenic singer/songwriter is now starring in his own Biography Channel series, “The Chris Isaak Hour,” a music interview and performance show branded as “Inside the Actors Studio” for acts, including the likes of Trisha Yearwood, Stevie Nicks, Chicago, Glen Campbell and Michael Bublé. Accompanying “Mr. Lucky,” Isaak’s first studio album since 2002, is “We Let Her Down,” which, melodically and harmonically, is an engaging romp, but lyrically it’s a disturbing story about a woman whose fate is in question: “I told her I’d love her/Now that it’s too late, I see I let her down.” What in the world will it take to convince radio that Isaak is relevant? Oh, that’s right, TV is the new radio. Never mind then, FM.—CT