Kelly Osbourne is a hot ticket due to heavy exposure and a little ambition, exploitation and more than her ten minutes share of Andy Warhol's fame endowment. But you have to give her credit. See a good thing and you'd better take advantage of it, especially when it is in your lap. Well, she did and this album is her result.

With an album that appeals to the post Spice Girls era crowd who are, age-wise, caught in that twilight zone between thick sugary pop and the pop metal of later years, Kelly Osbourne's "Shut Up" provides a surprisingly good dose of late 70s/early 80s' trendy new wave pop. The most interesting thing is that Kelly would have fit very well into that era and with no help from the family name and a popular TV series.

The album consists of 12 correctly timed, radio friendly tunes that should easily have the album played well enough. Anchored by the updated Madonna classic, "Papa, Don't Preach" and piled high with pop-punk tunes that will have young teen girls bopping, at least until they're old enough to shed their pop skin and molt into more discriminating rock purveyors. However, I would be surprised if any boy bit into this.

The title song, "Shut Up" takes teen rebellion to the forefront with its, "You say I should do it differently...Blah blah blah...That's what it sounds like you said to me",anthemic stand up. But the guitars are great and sound like a cool blast from the past, back when I listened to New Wave myself. Hey, I had to grow up too.

Like it's title song, other songs on this album are designed to be sung along with. This album succeeds greatly with that formula. Just listen to "Contradiction" and that chorus has you popping. "Coolhead" is a kick as well as "On Your Own".

But let's face it. Kelly ain't for everybody. She is designed for a target audience and she'll sell discs. If you were a big Top 40 fan in the late 70s/early 80s when pop New Wave ran rampant over the airwaves, you'll find these tunes to be a bit nostalgic in sound. But the sales will will be dominated by the 13-16 year age group for girls and there they'll stay.

I believe that Kelly could mature into a feisty, rock singer in years to come but she will have to glide that rail carefully. The landscape is littered with wreckage of discarded pop stars that have failed to grow with their audience. Rough waters, but Kelly has Dad who knows the depth of that ocean better than anyone.

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Kelly Osbourne
Shut Up

Released: November 26, 2002
Origination Year: 2002
Time: 39:30
Tracks: 12
Produced by: Rick Wake
Engineered by: Juan Franscisco & Dave Scheuer
Mastered by: Vladimir Meller
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: None
Label: Epic Records
Website:
www.kellyosbourne.com

Disconnected
Come Dig Me Out
Contradiction
Coolhead
Right Here
Shut Up
On The Run
On Your Own
Too Much Of You
Everything's Alright
More Than Life Itself
Papa Don't Preach