Breakout is the second studio album by American singer Miley Cyrus, released on July 22, 2008, by Hollywood Records. Despite being her second album, it is her first record not affiliated with the television series Hannah Montana, as Meet Miley Cyrus was released as part of a joint album with her character. The majority of the record was composed as she traveled during her headlining Best of Both Worlds Tour (2007–08). Overall, Breakout is dominant on pop rock but explores a variety of other musical genres. Lyrical themes addressed in the album relate to breakups and coming of age. Most of the album was produced by Rock Mafia. Matthew Wiler and Scott Cutler also produced. Cyrus co-wrote eight out of thirteen tracks.
Breakout was met with generally favorable reception from music critics, though some believed the tracks were not a significant departure from the Hannah Montana franchise. The album encountered commercial success and introduced Cyrus in new countries. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for one week selling 370,000 copies, also becoming the third solo artist to chart on the Billboard 200 under age eighteen twice, and seventh overall. It is Cyrus' third album to do so, and was eventually certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Elsewhere, Breakout topped the Canadian Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks and the Australian Albums Chart for one week. The album also charted within the top ten in Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Two singles were released from Breakout. "7 Things" was released on June 17, 2008, as the lead single from the album; it was commercially successful, reaching the top ten on charts in various countries. The second single, "Fly on the Wall" was released on November 4, 2008, as the final single.
Background
Cyrus is a singer-songwriter and actress who starred as Miley Stewart, a girl with a secret double life as the popstar Hannah Montana, on the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana. Through the television series, Cyrus developed fame as a teen idol and released music while being credited to Hannah Montana. Cyrus' debut studio album, titled Meet Miley Cyrus, was released as the second disc of the Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus (2007) double-disc album. Breakout is Cyrus' second studio album and her first not be affiliated with the Hannah Montana franchise, which was intended to be reflected by the title of the album. She believed it was her "breakout record", where she was going to "show everyone what Miley Cyrus is all about." Cyrus 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".
Cyrus believed that compared to previous albums, Breakout was "grown-up" and "just a little more creative." Cyrus aimed to incorporate a sound influenced by rock music, saying "the writing is definitely different...the lyrics mean more than my last couple of records". According to Cyrus, the album documented, in depth, the events that occurred in her life in a year span. Most of the songs were written as Cyrus traveled on the Best of Both Worlds Tour from October 2007 to January 2008. In an interview for Billboard, Cyrus 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.”
Recording commenced immediately after the tour came to an end and ceased in March 2008Breakout liner notes [CD] Hollywood Records (2008). as Cyrus was to film Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) in Tennessee soon after. She expressed that, through each song, a listener could discover something about her and about themselves. Of connecting with her fans through Breakout, she claimed she wanted "girls to feel 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".
Development
"Breakout" was written by Ted Bruner, in collaboration with Trey Vittetoe and Gina Schock of the Go-Go's. It was first recorded by American pop singer Katy Perry, for her second album One of the Boys (2008), though it was never included for the album and was passed on to Cyrus, on whose version Perry sings backing vocals. Like most songs on Breakout, Cyrus wrote "7 Things" while traveling on the Best of Both Worlds Tour, reflecting on her numerous emotions about an ex-boyfriend. She claimed her use of the word "hate" demonstrated how furious she was, at the time. Originally, "7 Things" was more "soft and nice" but Cyrus says she "went nuts" during the recording process and gave the song a harder sound. She decided to record a cover version of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" from the album She's So Unusual (1983), after speaking with Lauper at the 50th Grammy Awards. The two singers were conversing about music, when Lauper stated, "Well, don't be scared of anything. People waste their lives being scared. Lasso the moon. But don't do it because someone tells you it's the right idea." Cyrus believed Lauper's saying encompassed the direction she wanted to take Breakout, ergo she covered "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". However, she desired for the cover to be completely different from other covers of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" she heard. She described the process as "almost [having] to relearn the song." About the finished product, Cyrus said, "When you listen to the song, it's, like, you're not even sure what it is. It's something completely new." "Full Circle" was co-written by Cyrus, Scott Cutler, and Anne Preven about Cyrus' relationship with Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. "It's about two people. They're always gonna come back together no matter what anyone says, the bad people that try to keep you apart", Cyrus said of the song's concept.
"Fly on the Wall" was written by Cyrus with the aid of Armato, James, and Devrim Karaoglu. "Fly on the Wall" was intended for the media, regarding "how they think they know everything about [her], when they don't. They want to be a fly on my wall and watch [her] 24/7." Cyrus explained it was about attempting to avoid paparazzi but they appeared, "not going away like little annoying flies." Cyrus was inspired to write "Bottom of the Ocean" by her deceased fish, Lyric and Melody, who died when Cyrus was eleven years of age. She said the topic drifted drastically once she began writing. "It's saying if there's someone you've loved but for some reason you can't love them anymore, you have to take your feelings, scoop them out, and put them at the bottom of the ocean." Cyrus, Armato, James, Aaron Dudley co-wrote "Wake Up America", a track about environmentalism. The song was directed towards "the people in the back seat", children of today's generation; she said that, in the future, they would be the ones "driving [the] Earth to what it's gonna be." "It's the only one you got, so you gotta take care of it. And if you don't, there's gonna be, maybe not for you, right then, and your generation but your kids and their kids ... Every generation has a cycle that'll carry on for the rest of eternity", she concluded. Cyrus recorded a cover of Cheyenne Kimball's "Four Walls" from the album The Day Has Come (2006) for Breakout, titled "These Four Walls". The twelfth and final track is a remixed version of the hit "See You Again", referred to as the Rock Mafia Remix and the 2008 Remix; "See You Again" was originally released on the Meet Miley Cyrus disc of Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus.
Composition
Overall, Breakout is dominant on pop rock but explores a variety of other musical genres. The opening track, "Breakout", is a dance-pop number that begins with a fast beat, composed of chiming electric guitar and drums and later progresses to "the snares skip and the keyboards shimmer"; "ecstatic beats" pummel throughout. The song's lyrics are "a girls-only call to fun" that anecdote on feelings about coming of age and the desire to be school-free. The uptempo refrains of "7 Things" are pop punk influenced. The song is "a three-tempo patchwork quilt", transitioning "from sensitive breakup song in the strummy verses to punky-pop kiss-off in the double-time choruses." "7 Things"' lyrics list seven traits Cyrus hates about an ex-boyfriend. "The Driveway" is a power ballad whose lyrics regard a breakup, insisting "nothing hurts like losing when you know it's really gone." The cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" replaces the subtle reggae undercurrent in the original version with a more rock music driven sound that includes pop punk beats and string stabs. The lyrics of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" primarily discuss the "desire to let loose with one's friends", touching upon details of the life of an overworked child star. The song "Full Circle" is composed of several pop rock hooks; in one of the hooks, Cyrus finishes various words with "Oh, oh, oh!". The lyrics describe not quitting a relationship.
"Fly on the Wall" is prominently an electropop song that is also composed of a number of hooks, which yell the song's title, while the instrumentation relies on electric guitars. Unlike other songs on Breakout, "Fly on the Wall" has Cyrus' voice processed to sound different. The song's lyrics taunt "the listener for being on the outside of her inner sanctum". The target of the message has been interpreted differently by contemporary critics – an ex-boyfriend and the media have most commonly been referred to. "Bottom of the Ocean" is a contemporary ballad that contains a sound reflecting influences from minimalist music. The backdrop for the "feel-bad" love song features ocean wave sounds. The track "Wake Up America" has a "cheeky riff-rock backdrop" as its, while its lyrical content concerns environmentalism, where Cyrus mainly pleads for audiences to give the Earth "just a little attention". In the first verse, she "admits that she doesn't know exactly what's up with this global warming but believes there's something we should all do about it". "These Four Walls" is a power ballad accented with country pop elements and twangy vocals and lyrics which speak of an interior narrative. "Simple Song" has "bile" sound and is lyrically about moments in coming of age where a person "can't tell which way is up, which way is down" and they feel the need to alienate themselves. In "Goodbye", Cyrus' vocal performance is more "roosty" with a more "natural-sounding accompaniment" while, in the lyrics, she finds her remembering the "simple things ... until [she cries]." "See You Again" (Rock Mafia Remix) is dance-pop number, fusing sultry vocals with techno beats. The track has Cyrus detailing previous scenes and plans to redeem herself.
Singles "7 Things" was released on June 17, 2008, as the lead single from Breakout, through digital distribution. Following the song's release, allegations sparked that it was about Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, which Cyrus neither confirmed nor denied. It received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, several of which compared Cyrus to Avril Lavigne. "7 Things" enjoyed worldwide commercial success, becoming a top ten hit on charts in Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United States. The single was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The song's accompanying music video was directed by Brett Ratner and features Cyrus performing the song with a back-up band as many teenage girls lipsync along.