Radio Disney Jams 11 - Various Artists

Release Date: January 27th
Tracks: 15
Length: 51 minutes
T2 Rating: 4 out of 4 stars

Audio CD
1. Burnin' Up - Jonas Brothers
2. Fly On The Wall - Miley Cyrus
3. Crush - David Archuleta
4. Teardrops On My Guitar (Pop Mix) - Taylor Swift
5. The In Crowd - Mitchel Musso
6. Get Back - Demi Lovato
7. Scream - Zac Efron
8. Tell Me Something I Don't Know (Radio Disney Edit) - Selena Gomez
9. Leavin' (Radio Disney Edit) - Jesse McCartney
10. Goodbyes - Savannah Outen
11. Amazed - Vanessa Hudgens
12. Future Love - Varsity Fan Club
13. One Love - Jordan Pruitt
14. Check Yes, Juliet - We The Kings
15. Distracted - KSM

DVD
1. Right Here, Right Now (Edit) - Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens
2. Future Love - Varsity Fan Club
3. Fly On The Wall (Live) - Miley Cyrus
4. One Love (Live) - Jordan Pruitt
5. Behind The Scenes - Mitchel Musso
6. Meet KSM - KSM

Crank it up! Jams 11 IS the best Radio Disney compilation CD to date and they’ve balanced it well with exclusives and new music that you won’t find anywhere else. Skimming down the tracklist you’ll find the big hits: Burnin’ Up – Jonas Brothers, Fly On The Wall – Miley Cyrus and Crush – David Archuleta. There’s a good chance you already own a few of them, but if you don’t they are must haves. Next up you’re treated to a Pop mix of Taylor Swift’s – Teardrops On My Guitar, once again it might already be in your collection, but now you have a new version of the Top 10 hit.

After that it’s an exclusive track by Mitchel Musso. The In Crowd marks a change in direction from his previous music and perhaps a better idea of the direction he’s headed. A strong effort, although the mid-tempo songs struggles a little bit after having to follow the upbeat tracks by the JoBros, Miley, David Archuleta and Taylor.
To get this album back on track, it’s the rocker Get Back by Demi Lovato with high energy vocals on her debut single. One interesting note here is that it’s the album version… not the version played on Radio Disney where the phrase “Kiss Me” has been replaced with “Hold Me”. The song is followed by Troy… most commonly referred to as Zac Efron. Scream is another song that fits right in with the tone of this release. It’s probably safe to say listeners will love having the song Tell Me Something I Don’t Know by Selena Gomez since the soundtrack sales to Another Cinderella Story haven’t been all that great. It’s a great track and you can only wonder what’s in store for this talented teen when she releases a full length effort.

After eight tracks, the album slows down with one of the longest reigning #1 singles of 2008 – Leavin’ by Jesse McCartney. Once again, Jams 11 offers a nice little treat – Goodbyes by Savannah. It’s available on iTunes and a physical CD single is available at shows, but for the most part this is the easiest way to get your hands on this song that connected with fans in a special way last summer. The song is then followed by Vanessa Hudgens, whose new CD Identified only generated two singles, and Amazed is the better of the two. To date, the careers of Varsity Fan Club seems to be on hold. Will their debut ever ship? Once again, if you want a physical copy of Future Love, it’s right here. The song is an easy listen, and if you pay close attention you’ll know why – the arrangement echoes One Step At Time by Jordin Sparks.

Continuing on with the 'not quite' an exclusive theme here is One Love by Jordan Pruitt. The first track off her second effort showcases her vocals that have always been at the top. The song comes from her release Permission To Fly that to date is only available at select retailers, so it’s a treat to get this one here. Check Yes, Juliet is another one of those songs that’s a must have, even though you probably aren’t interested in the full length release by We The Kings. At the end, we find an exclusive from KSM, Distracted. You can’t help but smile at Shelby Cobra’s 80’s inspired Pat Bentar'esque vocals. Out of all the tracks it’s probably the least friendly from a commercial perspective.

It’s not quite over yet! The DVD is a great add-on although it does have a few rough points. First off, it includes the :90 version of Right Here, Right Now from High School Musical 3. Who’s idea was this? Disney Channel can get away with it between commercials but aside from that the thought of a :90 second song is evil! Varsity Fan Club’s Future Love is nice to see with all of its production and of course Burnin’ Up by Jonas Brothers can turn any room into a party. Next, there are two songs from the 2008 Disney Channel Games. Miley Cyrus performance of Fly On The Wall is nice, but the technical quality of the video image falls apart. Not sure who’s to blame but one thing's for sure, her red jacket turns into a bunch of big red blocks. On the other hand, Jordan Pruitt’s One Love looks great and it’s a great performance. Next it’s behind the scenes with Mitchel Musso in the studio. This features an interview along with short previews of his upcoming music. Finishing it up is the KSM’s EPK that played at the Tour of Gymnastis Superstars… it’s a fun introduction to Walt Disney Records newest act.

While the album could’ve been laid out better, there’s no doubt about it that if you want the best songs that aired on Radio Disney in 2008 this is the only place to go. I highly recommend it.

- T2