Review Summary: As far as role models go, I'll take Barbie over Hannah Montana any day. And the music's not bad either!
Novelty records are nothing new. Kids have forever been suckers for the latest franchise, and it only makes sense that company execs should attempt to cash in on the successive crazes as much as possible. Records end up being only one branch of a tree which has its roots in toys and also extends to syndicated TV shows, books and, more recently, videogames. When your franchise has achieved the prowess of surviving for more than the standard couple of summers, you have that much more reason to try and cash in by all means possible; and when the trademark’s been around for
decades…well, you get the point.
All this leads us to
Beyond Pink, a mid-90’s album which sought to cash in on the most popular girls’ franchise of all time, the almighty Barbie doll. With its fresh, bouncy, airy brand of pop,
Beyond Pink is a product of a time when executives at Mattel were seeking to update the doll’s image, dispelling notions of Barbie setting unrealistic goals for little girls and instead trying to pass her off as a multifaceted role-model. This was initially achieved by having her take on a number of different professions, and eventually evolved into giving her her own pop group, initially christened Barbie and The Rockers and later changed to Beyond Pink. The only output produced by the all-star team of Barbie, Christie and Teresa was the eponymous 1998 album, which, surprisingly, isn’t nearly as bad as would be expected.
Effectively, as far as gimmick albums go, this one is a pleasant surprise. Not that it’s by any means anything approaching a masterpiece, but it definitely manages to stand out from the pack infested by Hulk Hogans and Ninja Turtles by giving us a product which evidences a modicum of effort, rather than just a rushed hackjob.
So what do these three not-yet-Pussycat Dolls sound like, you ask? Well, actually, they sound…like dolls! The credits list “Barbie” as lead singer, and listening to the faceless studio singers, even an adult would be hard-pressed to deny that statement. At times, their voices are so listless, an assembly line could be producing them; however, to their credit, the girls do show some talent, and unlike many others in records of this ilk, are seldom an embarrassment to themselves or anybody else.
The same can be said about the music, which is far from the ear-raping drivel being served up by most kiddie records. Of
course there are some clunky rhyming couplets, and of
course some of the beats are so tacky they would make Milli Vanilli blush; but that’s par for the course with this type of record. What
isn’t so typical are the well-crafted songs and adequate lyrical messages which make this album so much more commendable than most of those others.
As far as references for the musical side go, Milli Vanilli would actually be a fairly accurate one. Imagine, then, Milli Vanilli without the obnoxious rappers and with better production values, and you wouldn’t be far from the sound Beyond Pink practices on this album. It may be surprising for an album which sought to reboot the franchise for a new millennium to sound like it could have come out of the 80’s; however, the producers slightly minimize this effect by grabbing hold of some more contemporary influences. Therefore,
One Love, True Love is a picture-perfect Spice Girls pastiche, and the infectious
Boys Will Be Boys and
Wonderland sound like vintage Aqua or Ace Of Base. Still not as hip as the corporate execs would have wanted, but not half bad.
But while the ability to deliver music which will appeal to kids and not offend parents too much is a plus for this album, its real strength resides in the lyrical messages being conveyed. Quite simply, this is an excellent record for the target audience to listen to, as it presents little girls with wholesome messages about being themselves (
Rainbow), following their dreams (
You Are The Universe and absolute standout
The Girl Of Today) and standing up for their friends (
From The Jump), not to mention one of the most age-appropriate views of the male gender ever committed to record (
Boys Will Be Boys, which sounds for all the world like the view a girl about twelve would have of the opposite sex). All the while, not a single “happiness through marriage and men” message can be found, even if
One Love, True Love is about looking for a perfect romance and
Think Pink presents quite a few shoehorning girly stereotypes. However, even when it threatens to descend into mindless party-boppers and banal true-love lyrics, the album always manages to pick itself up, making for a quite commendable lyrical package overall. When combined with the fun, harmless pop beats, it makes for a perfectly adequate final product for its target audience. Heck, even
I had fun listening to these songs!
In the end, then, this is a very worthy little record if you have a little girl who’s big on Barbie. It beats anything Dora or those damn Winx put out, and as far as role models go, I’d take Barbie over Hannah Montana any day. There are a few slips along the way, of course, like the r’n’b butchering of pop classic
Happy Together; but the wholesome messages and bouncy pop rhythms make up for those. Even when Barbie, Christie and Teresa are trying to convince us that
”pink is the colour of the world” or rhyming
“come from” with
“Hong Kong”, it’s hard to stay mad at them, as there are always enough positive messages and funky beats to gloss over any flaws. Highly recommended if you have a female under the age of eleven, and a guilty pleasure even if you don’t, even despite the overload of pink.
Recommended Tracks
Boys Will Be Boys
The Girl Of Today
Wonderland
