*Full reflections on each song coming soon!:)
Welcome Back to Disney!πππI hope you enjoyed my last post on A Definitive Ranking of EVERY Song from the Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus Soundtrack Album, because today we’re continuing with this blog post series and talking all about…Well, technically Miley’s third album released, but as herself, it was her SECOND album ever to be released called Breakout.πΆπΏππ€π€❤Another one of the BEST, MOST ICONIC, MOST NOSTALGIC, and UNFORGETTABLE albums EVER!ππ€π€❤
Like I just mentioned before, Breakout is the SECOND studio album by Miley Cyrus that was released by Hollywood Records on July 22, 2008.πΆπΏπ Although, despite it being her second album, it is her FIRST album not affiliated with the TV show Hannah Montana, as Meet Miley Cyrus was released as part of a joint album with her character. Fun fact though, majority of this album was composed while Miley was traveling during her headlining Best of Both Worlds Tour (2007-2008). Breakout is mostly in the pop-rock genre, but it also explores a variety of other musical genres, as well. Lyrically the themes addressed in the album relate to breakups and coming of age, with even one STAND-OUT song being about taking care of the planet we live on.ππππ±Out of the thirteen songs on this album, Miley Cyrus co-wrote eight of them.ππ
This album (Breakout) received generally favorable reception from music critics. Although, some believed the songs were not a significant departure from the Hannah Montana franchise.π²πWhich I totally disagree with. ‘Cause I think the opposite to be true.πPlus, regardless of the critics, Breakout still encountered commercial success and introduced Miley in new countries.ππThe album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for one week after having sold 370,000 copies. Making Miley Cyrus the third solo artist to chart on the Billboard 200 under age eighteen TWICE, and seventh overall.ππ Which was Miley’s third album to do so.π Breakout was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).πThe album also topped the Australian Albums Chart for one week, and the Canadian Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks.ππ It also charted within the Top 10 in Italy, Hungary, Japan, Spain, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.πππππΆ
Only two singles were released from Breakout. “7 Things” was released as the lead single from the album on June 17, 2008, and it was commercially successful itself, having reached the Top 10 charts in various countries.π And “Fly on the Wall” was released as the second and final single on November 4, 2008. It received critical praise, with several critics claiming it defied teen pop expectations and was Breakout’s best track.π However, the song failed to match the success of “7 Things”, as it reached its highest peak at number sixteen on the UK Singles Chart. The Rock Mafia remix version of “See You Again” was released August 11, 2008, but only in countries where the original version was not. According to sources, the remix was received well by critics for properly combining vocals and music, and it expanded the success of “See You Again”, appearing on charts in Belgium (Flanders), Germany, Ireland, Austria, and the United Kingdom.πππππΆ
As mentioned briefly before, Breakout is Miley Cyrus’ first album that was not affiliated with the Hannah Montana franchise, which was intended to be reflected by the title of the album itself. As she believed it was her “breakout record”, where she was going to “show everyone what Miley Cyrus is all about.” Miley further explained the album was also appropriately titled because it portrayed her “stepping away from Hannah but just a little bit different.” She also decided to title the album after the song “Breakout” because it was one of her favorite songs. Miley believed that compared to her previous albums, Breakout was “grown-up” and “just a little more creative.” As she even said once when speaking about the difference between Breakout and Meet Miley Cyrus, “My new songs have a bit more of a different vibe. I finally got to, kinda, step out and do exactly what kind of sound I wanted to do. In my last record, I had to introduce myself and now that people already know who I am and know a little bit about me, this is just, you know, getting to know me personally.”π
With this album, Miley aimed to incorporate a sound influenced by rock music. As she was once quoted saying, “the writing is definitely different…the lyrics mean more than my last couple of records.” According to Miley, the album documents, in depth, the events that occurred in her life in a year span. ‘Cause like I also mentioned briefly before, most of the songs from this album were written as Miley traveled during the Best of Both Worlds Tour from October 2007 to March 2008. In an interview to Billboard, Miley stated that she pushed herself even more to write the songs this time, saying that, “No matter how long what I’m doing here lasts, I want to be a songwriter for the rest of my life. I love it and it’s my escape. I just hope this record showcases that — more than anything — I’m a writer.” And I can say, as a longtime fan, she definitely did prove that with this album.❤
Recording for the album started immediately after the tour came to an end, and seized in March 2008, because Miley was to film Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) in Tennessee soon after. Miley expressed that, through each song, a listener could discover something about her and about themselves. When it comes to connecting with her fans through Breakout, she also once claimed that she wanted “girls to be able to feel empowered and just feel like they can kind of rock out”, going on to say that, “listening to this music, I hope they can feel like a reason to dance and just smile and to have fun. This CD is totally age appropriate, specially for me.” And once again, as a longtime fan, she definitely also accomplished that with this album. ;Cause it made me feel that way then and it still does now.π❤
As I also briefly mentioned before, Breakout is, overall, dominant on the pop rock genre but it explores a variety of other musical genres as well. For instance, the opening song, “Breakout”, is more of a dance-pop number, while “7 Things” is pop-punk influenced, “The Driveway” is a power ballad, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” is rock meets pop-punk, “Fly on the Wall” is prominently an electropop song, “Bottom of the Ocean” is a contemporary ballad that contains a sound reflecting influences from minimalist music, “These Four Walls” is a power ballad accented with country pop elements, and “See You Again (Rock Mafia Remix)” is a dance-pop number with techno beats.πΆπΈπΉπ»π€π
Promotion for the album (Breakout) was centered on massive performances and interviews for TV, radio, and magazines. According to sources, it was formulated to not be too aggressive in order to give Miley a period of rest after doing many consecutive projects. As Miley once explained about the promotional plan for this album, “I’m a kid. That’s why, for the most part, we only did the big publicity and otherwise decided to let the album do whatever it was going to do. It was so weird not to do everything in my power to promote my first album under my own name…I am very proud of it and love what we came up with. But I also had to accept the reality of my situation. So much is happening all at once, so many opportunities. I want to make the most of them, but I also need to stay sane. There will be a day, my parents constantly remind me, when I won’t have so much going on. And when that day comes, I don’t want to feel like an empty shell of a person.”
However, when it came to the promotional tour for the album, Miley did first perform the title track, “Breakout”, “Fly on the Wall”, and “See You Again (Rock Mafia Remix)” at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Disney Channel Games (Which I remember watching on Disney Channel during that time. A memory that I’ll never forget.) on May 3, 2008. Her first live performance of “7 Things” took place on May 17, 2008 at the annual summer concert put on by radio station Z100 (2008 Zootopia). Later that summer, she promoted Breakout at outdoor concerts hosted by The Today Show, Good Morning America, and she also performed “7 Things” during her time hosting the 2008 Teen Choice Awards and at FNMTV.
She (Miley) began promotion for Breakout in Europe in the fall of 2008. Performing "7 Things" on the United Kingdom channel GMTV, as well as on the French TV show Le Grand Journal, and the British singing competition show, The X Factor among other venues. Miley also performed several songs from Breakout on April 24, 2009 in a London Apple Store. Those performances were also recorded and then sold exclusively by the United Kingdom iTunes Store as a live extended play (EP) titled iTunes Live from London. And well over a year after Breakout’s release, Miley embarked on her second concert tour, the Wonder World Tour, to further promote songs from this album and The Time of Our Lives extended play (EP). A tour that was Miley’s first to not have her costumed as Hannah Montana, and it expanded from September 2009 to December 2009, with a total of fifty-six concerts in North America and in Europe.ππΆπ
As briefly mentioned before, Breakout debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 on the week ending August 8, 2008.π Thus, earning Miley a third number one album on the chart, including albums fully credited to Hannah Montana. In its debut week, the album sold 371,000 copies, becoming the fourth-highest sales week of 2008 for a female artist.πBreakout spent a total of forty-eight weeks on the Billboard 200.π It was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments exceeding two million copies.π And according to Nielsen SoundScan in July of 2013, the album had sold 1.6 million copies in the U.S. up to that point.π
Due to sales of 27,000 copies, Breakout also entered at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart on the week ending August 8, 2008, and maintained the top spot for two consecutive weeks.π On the week ending September 14, 2008, Breakout entered the Australian Albums Chart at number two. It moved to number one in the succeeding week, where it stayed for a week.ππBreakout was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments exceeding 35,000 copies.πThe album debuted at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart on the week ending September 8, 2008.πIt also reached its peak at number two on the New Zealand Albums Chart on the week ending October 13, 2008, a position it maintained for two consecutive weeks.πThe album was also certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for the shipment of more than 15,000 copies.πAnd it peaked in Japan at number ten.π
Breakout entered and peaked at number ten on the UK Albums Chart on the week ending September 13, 2008, becoming Miley’s first top ten album in the country.π And it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for the shipment of 300,000 copies.πBreakout peaked at number eleven in Ireland and was certified platinum by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) for shipments exceeding 15,000 copies.ππThe album peaked at number twenty-eight on the European Top 100 Albums Chart in mainland Europe, at number twelve on the Austrian Albums Chart, number six on the Italian Albums Chart, and number sixteen on the German Albums Chart.ππππBreakout debuted at number twenty-six on the Spanish Albums Chart on the week ending September 21, 2008, and it reached its peak at number seven, after twenty-six weeks of ascending and descending the chart.ππIt was also certified gold by the Productores de Musica de Espana (PROMUSICAE) for the shipment of more than 30,000 copies.πThe album experienced similar commercial outcomes throughout the rest of Europe, too, as it charted within the top twenty on charts in Norway, Finland, and Poland.πππ
Like I’ve mentioned before, those statistics and wins aren’t what made me LOVE this album then or now. 'Cause I still don't know what half of those numbers mean or what those charts are. I just thought they would be interesting facts to share here.πPlus, they are still great accomplishments made by Miley when it comes to this album. Just, again, they’re not at all what makes this album SO GREAT. At least to me, they’re not. The album is just GREAT because the album is GREAT. Not because of how many awards it won. Okay, now I'm just repeating myself. You get the point, I'm sure.ππ
I’m not sure how much people talk about this specific album from Miley, but I feel like growing up no one was talking about this album enough and still aren’t. Although, I was a kid then, and didn't have social media, so I wouldn't have really known what was being talked about around the world anyway. I just know that at that time, when it came to my school and the kids that I was around, even kids my older sister's age, I never heard any talk about this album. Unless, of course, I brought it up or played the CD. And even now, I don’t see anything about this album online, so that’s why I’m here to give it all the LOVE and HYPE it deserves.π
Which is now a great segue into my memories of this album. How I came to know and LOVE Breakout. Obviously, at the time in which this album came out I was already a HUGE FAN of Miley because Hannah Montana was my FAVORITE Disney Channel show. Probably, my favorite show of all time, at the time. So I was always excited and loved anything Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana related. So, when this specific album came out, I was eleven-years-old. And for some reason this is the only album from Miley/Hannah that I don’t remember how I came to own it on CD. I have vivid memories of how I came to own every other Miley/Hannah album on CDs but this one, and it makes me sad because I wish I could remember the first time I got it.πI'm thinking I must have gotten the CD of this album, at the time (in 2008), as a gift for either my birthday or for Christmas...or maybe I purchased it with my own money I had saved?π€Either way, I might not remember how I got the CD of this album when I was a kid, but I do have many special, vivid, fond memories of listening to it, in 2008 and for many years after that.ππΆπΏ
One specific memory I’ll never forget is getting to listen to it in my parents room at the time, and my mom had this big stereo system that made listening to music SO FUN and VERY LOUD. So I remember my mom letting me put my Breakout CD in her stereo system and blasting it out loud to listen to. I mean, not too loud, but you know, louder than my little radio at the time would allow.πAnd I remember just sitting on the floor singing along while reading and looking at the pictures in the lyric/picture book thing (sorry, I forgot the technical term for them) that CDs always usually come with. I also have a vivid, special, fond memory of watching the Disney Channel Games in 2008 and seeing Miley perform a few of the songs from the album on there. I also remember seeing the premiere of the “7 Things” music video on Disney Chanel and all the times they would play a part of that music video during commercial breaks. As kids then, my little sister (shout out to you Amber) and I instantly loved "Fly on the Wall" when we first heard it. Which I remember was when we saw Miley perform it on the 2008 Disney Channel Games, because after we saw that performance I remember her and I going in the basement of our childhood home dancing and singing along to the song ("Fly on the Wall") having come downstairs dressed in our own hats and jackets like Miley was during that ICONIC, TRULY UNFORGETTABLE performance. My little sister and I loved listening and dancing along to "Fly on the Wall", and we even made a video of us doing exactly that one time when we were even a little older. It truly was a hit song. At least to us. So every time I listen to any of the songs on this album they just transport me right back to those times and moments of listening to them and seeing those music videos and performances on TV for the first time. Just so many great memories.
Again, I feel like this is Miley’s most underrated album, and it shouldn’t be, because ALL the songs on it are TRULY GREAT and SPECIAL. There really isn’t a bad song, which is really RARE. That’s why it was really hard for me to rank these songs because they really are all SO GOOD. This album is also one of the most nostalgic to me. It just gives off those late 2000s vibes. It makes me emotional just for those two reasons when listening to it, but in the BEST way. I don’t know how to explain it, but this album just makes me feel all the feels. Again, in the BEST way. It definitely makes me feel close to my childhood. If that makes sense. You also know it’s a great album when you can still listen to it, because I listened to this album, as I said, when I was a kid, but also when I was in my teen years, as well as in my early 20s and even now.
Anyway, enough about me, and let’s finally get into the AMAZING songs that make this album what it is. So, let’s BREAOUT of THESE FOUR WALLS, 'cause GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, and you don’t have to wish to be a FLY ON THE WALL, because I’m sharing it all with you in this post, because this album is giving more than 7 THINGS, not just a SIMPLE SONG, so WAKE UP AMERICA, because SOMEDAY is today…Okay, again, I’ll stop with trying to rhyme using the title of the songs.π€£πSo, for real, let’s get into A Definitive Ranking of EVERY Song from Miley Cyrus’ Breakout Album!πΆπΏππ€π€❤
Just a brief note before we begin: When released, this album initially included only 12 songs, but when I was researching the track list for this album to make sure I had it correct, and listening to some of the songs on YouTube, I came across two other songs that were only included on the deluxe version?!? One song I had heard before, but the other I hadn't, and they are both REALLY GOOD. So, I just had to also include those two extra songs into this ranking, because they definitely deserved to be on the initial, non-deluxe version release of the Breakout album. And, like always (at least when it comes to these albums by Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana), the ranking of these songs go from my LEAST to MOST FAVORITE. I say "favorite" for both, because there really are NO BAD songs. They're all favorites.πNow, let’s get into A Definitive Ranking of EVERY Song from Miley Cyrus’ Breakout Album!!!πΆπΏππ€π€❤
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(from LEAST TO MOST FAVORITE)...
#14 "See You Again (Rock Mafia Remix)" by Miley Cyrus
#13 "Goodbye" by Miley Cyrus
#12 "Wake Up America" by Miley Cyrus
#11 "Someday" by Miley Cyrus
#10 "Simple Song" by Miley Cyrus
#9 "Bottom of the Ocean" by Miley Cyrus
#8 "These Four Walls" by Miley Cyrus
#7 "Full Circle" by Miley Cyrus
#6 "Hovering" by Miley Cyrus feat.. Trace Cyrus
#5 "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Miley Cyrus
#4 "The Driveway" by Miley Cyrus
#2 "Breakout" by Miley Cyrus
#1 "7 Things" by Miley Cyrus
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Well, that concludes A Definitive Ranking of EVERY Song from Miley Cyrus’ Breakout Album! I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did creating it.π It's always SO FUN and NOSTALGIC to get to go back and relisten to this album by Miley Cyrus. ‘Cause it TRULY NEVER GETS OLD. Every song still holds up, and the album as a whole instantly takes me back to the late 2000s vibes, when I was just eleven years old. Like I said before, I knew the songs on this album were going to be tough to rank, but I didn’t know it was going to be this tough. Although, I feel pretty good about my ranking. But also like I've already said many times before, really no matter where I ranked these songs on this list, EVERY song is a BANGER! Top-tier good! So, I would love to know, what are your favorite songs from Breakout? Is it your favorite album from Miley Cyrus? Let me know in the comments below, and come Back to Disney tomorrow for more GREAT music from Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana!!πΆπΏππ€π€❤✌π
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