Christy Carlson Romano
Walt Disney Records, 2004
http://www.instagram.com/thechristycarlsonromano
REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/12/2005
There is good and bad news regarding teeny-bop pop. The bad news is that there always seems to be a new entry or three trying to grab their share of the throw-away pop throne for a few minutes.
The good news is that the herd tends to thin itself - and the weaker entries -- out quickly. This is the fate that actress Christy Carlson Romano seems to be about to face with her self-titled mini-album. (I refuse to call any disc with only eight songs -- that wasn't released by a progressive rock group -- a full album.)
Best known to a phalanx of young girls across the country as the voice of Kim Possible, Romano pleasantly sneers her way through a selection of songs featured in various Disney shows and movies, but never really finds her own unique voice or sets herself out among the crowd. This quickly proves to be her downfall.
It's not that songs such as "Dive In" and "Let's Bounce" are unpleasant; indeed, I've heard worse coming out of my daughter's boombox. But Romano doesn't really have the range to nail some of these songs -- as painfully evidenced on a stone-cold rendition of "Colors Of The Wind." Unfortunately for Romano, things go downhill quickly from here.
Tracks like "Could It Be," "Teacher's Pet" and "Dream Vacation" all are the musical equivalent of white bread: very little substance, no real value. Had she kept some semblance of the style she showed on the first couple of songs on this disc, things might have been a little different.
This all isn't to say that Romano can't become a talented singer. After all, she's still very young and has yet to find her particular vocal and musical niche. But Christy Carlson Romano serves as proof that just because you're on television doesn't necessarily mean you should record an album of your own. Just ask William Hung.