Paris

by Paris Hilton

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
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0093624413820
Rank:	82832

Tracks

1. Turn It Up
2. Fightin' Over Me
3. Stars Are Blind
4. I Want You
5. Jealousy
6. Heartbeat
7. Nothing in This World
8. Screwed
9. Not Leaving Without You
10. Turn You On
11. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Paris Hilton   Primary Artist,Vocals (Background),Vocals
Jadakiss   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,Producer
Niko 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