- Turn It Up
- Fightin' Over Me
- Stars Are Blind
- I Want You
- Jealousy
- Heartbeat
- Nothing in This World
- Screwed
- Not Leaving Without You
- Turn You On
- Do Ya Think I'm Sexy
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0093624413820
CD
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Overview
As everybody knows, Paris Hilton is famous simply for existing. Even before she was a household name the heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune was famous in certain circles, partially because of her pedigree, partially because she was at every exclusive party, partially because of her very name, an instantly memorable and malleable moniker that spawned T-shirts ("Paris Hilton Is Burning") and gossip websites alike. All this hipster activity was bound to spill over into the mainstream and it did in a spectacular fashion in 2003 when she and Nicole Richie -- her best friend for life circa 2003 -- starred in the reality series The Simple Life, which saw the two pampered socialites attempting to fit into the real world of Wal-Marts and roadhouse saloons. Pretty soon, she was everywhere and she began dabbling in almost every part of the entertainment industry, from film to fashion. What all these projects had in common is that they all featured Paris as Paris -- even when she was getting whacked in House of Wax, she wasn't really playing a character -- and in all of them her presence never matched her persona, which always was more compelling as seen through the prism of tabloids. She seemed destined to never deliver any project that would justify her fame, and it certainly seemed that the album that she spent two years recording would not be the project that would be a flat-out success -- that prolonged gestation for a pop album nearly guarantees trouble of some kind.
Amazingly, that long-to-materialize album turns out to be shockingly good -- and not just according to a grading curve for actors-turned-singers. After all, Paris was never an actress to begin with; she was a media creation who peddled the same image to a number of different formats, and it just so happens that her act is perfectly suited for bubblegum pop. Of course, it helps that she has a crack team of professionals supporting her on Paris, chief among them songwriter Kara DioGuardi and producer/co-writer Scott Storch, who is name-dropped on the first song, "Turn It Up," and leaves a heavy imprint on the rest of the record, producing just over half of it and serving as one of the executive producers along with Tom Whalley and Paris herself. They come up with a sound that's casually modern and retro with enough heft in its rhythms to sound good at clubs, yet it's designed to be heard outdoors on the sunniest day of the summer. This is exceedingly light music, as sweet and bubbly as a wine spritzer, yet it isn't so frothy that it floats away. Like the best lightweight pop, Paris retains its sense of fun through repeated listens, long past the point that the novelty of Paris Hilton releasing a good album has worn off.
Make no mistake, Paris is a very good pop album, at times deliberately reminiscent of Blondie, Madonna, and Gwen Stefani, yet having its own distinct character -- namely, Paris' persona, which is shamelessly shallow and devoid of any depth. Where that might be irritating within a movie or within pop culture at large, when placed in a shiny, hooky dance-pop album it works splendidly, particularly because the songs are strong and Storch and company know how to keep things light -- and everybody involved knows that it's fun to play around with Paris' image, no matter if it's her murmuring "that's hot" at the beginning of the record or covering Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," or writing about her feud with Nicole Ritchie on the delightful "Jealousy." But for as much as Paris is about Paris, she doesn't necessarily stand out here; her voice -- which is almost certainly auto-tuned and tweaked by a computer, yet it's nevertheless appealing, more so than Britney Spears' often awkward squawk -- may blend into the production, yet that actually helps the recordings since it emphasizes the melodies above everything else. And there are some irresistible melodies here: the breezy "Stars Are Blind," the gilded rush of "I Want You" driven by a "Grease" sample, the sweet "Time After Time" rewrite "Heartbeat," and the great power pop of "Screwed," for starters.
Yes, there is no denying that this is a pure piece of product, but it is indeed pure as product. Paris makes no apologies for being mass-market pop, but everybody involved made sure that this was well-constructed mass-market pop. It may not bear the mark of an auteur the way Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics does, but it never feels tossed-off, and track-for-track it's more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too. It's easy to hate Paris Hilton -- lord knows that she and her friends like Brandon Davis are walking advertisements against the repeal of the estate tax -- but any pop fan who listens to Paris with an open mind will find that it's nothing but fun. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Product Details
Release Date: | 08/22/2006 |
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Label: | Warner Bros. |
UPC: | 0093624413820 |
Rank: | 79218 |
Tracks
Album Credits
Performance Credits
Paris Hilton Primary Artist,Vocals (Background),VocalsJadakiss Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Fat Joe Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Penelope Magnet Vocals (Background)
Keely Pressly Vocals (Background)
Taura "Aura" Jackson Vocals (Background)
Black Violin Violin,Strings
Eric Jorgenson Trombone
Gabriel Guitar
Eric Jorgensen Trombone
Ed Calle Saxophone
Pooh Bear Vocals (Background)
Kara DioGuardi Vocals (Background)
Niki Haris Vocals (Background)
Coley Read Guitar
Jennifer Karr Vocals (Background)
Aaron Fishbein Guitar
Lee Thornburg Trumpet
Technical Credits
Sheppard Solomon Composer,ProducerNiko Marzouca Engineer,Recording
John Hanes Pro-Tools,Digital Editing
Dr. Luke Producer
Shep Solomon Composer
Matt Taylor Design,Art Direction
Anthony Mandler Photography
Claude LeGache Mixing,Remix Engineer
Jeffrey Aldrich A&R
Penelope Magnet Composer,Producer,Vocal Producer
Jeff Alorich A&R
Tom Whalley Executive Producer
Michael Lattonzi Engineer
Ralph McCarthy Composer
DJ Crown-One Recording
Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff Art Direction
Steve Miller Mixing
James White Photography
Taura "Aura" Jackson Producer,Vocal Producer
Victor Cabrera Composer
Lukasz Gottwald Composer,Musician,Instrumentation
Jonathan Rotem Mixing,Composer,Producer
Llandel Veguilla Composer
Evan "Kidd" Bogart Composer
Juan Luis Morera Composer
Marcos Masis Composer
Paris Hilton Composer,Executive Producer
Fernando Garibay Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Programming,Instrumentation
Courtney Triggs Composer
Taura Jackson Composer
Scott Storch Composer,Producer,Executive Producer
Chris Brown Engineer,Recording
Serban Ghenea Mixing
Tony Maserati Mixing
Alonzo Jackson Composer,Producer,Vocal Producer
Billy Steinberg Composer
Ian Green Producer
Matt Beckley Engineer,Recording
Fat Joe Composer
Jake Davies Engineer,Recording
Greg Wells Composer,Producer
Duane Hitchings Composer
Rob Cavallo Producer
Rod Stewart Composer
Kara DioGuardi Composer,Producer,Vocal Producer,Vocal Arrangement
Michael Lattanzi Recording
The Scumfrog Producer,Remix Engineer
Tom Whaley Executive Producer
J.R. Rotem Mixing,Producer,Vocal Producer
Neeraj Khajanchi Mixing Engineer
Tim Roberts Mixing Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Chris Steffen Engineer,Recording
Brian "Big Bass" Gardner Mastering
Josh Alexander Composer
Eric Weaver Engineer,Recording
Jennifer Karr Vocal Arrangement
Wayne Allison Engineer
Wayne "The Brain" Allison Recording
Barry Gibb Composer
Paul Oakenfold Remix Engineer
Jadakiss Composer
Carmine Appice Composer
Conrad Golding Engineer,Recording
Jeff Bowden Composer
Francisco Saldana Composer
Aniela Gottwald Assistant Engineer
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