Lately, Disney's kiddie pop has been plenty profitable, with High School Musical and Hannah Montana seemingly the only bulwarks against the collapse of the record business. Unlike Britney and her cohorts in the Nineties teen-pop boom, Disney's current stars are G-rated, easing tweeners' transition to adolescence with music that replicates the sounds of the Top 40 while leaving out the sex and complicated emotions. That's the case with Camp Rock, whose soundtrack offers vanilla takes on "Since U Been Gone"-style rock ("Our Time Is Here") and dance pop ("Hasta la Vista"). But the many self-esteem anthems ("Here I Am," "This Is Me," etc.) grade into narcissism — are they really instilling the right values? The bright spots here are Joe Jonas, who delivers pathos on the power ballad "Gotta Find You," and Disney's new ingénue, Demi Lovato, who bears down with a ferocity that suggests, when her inevitable solo album comes out, things could get interesting.
Vanessa Hudgens knows the rocky passage to adult celebrity. The High School Musical star is a tabloid fixture, thanks to viral photos of her sans schoolgirl togs. But on Identified, Hudgens hews to the Disney content code, only occasionally tiptoeing into double-entendre. Hudgens can't really sing, so her producers handle the heavy lifting. Several songs are helmed by pop wizard Dr. Luke — his lovely ballad "Don't Ask Why" is filled with heart-tugging melodic twists — while Hudgens submits to digital doctoring. "Party on the Moon" sets her tiny voice against a baroque swirl of effects. She sounds like a little girl who took a wrong turn and ended up in T-Pain's fun house.
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