Fully and shamefully admitted: I really like Miley Cyrus

I'm not saying I watch Hannah Montana or anything, but I have to spread the word about the huge talent that exists in this tiny 15-year-old girl that stars in the TV show that my 10-year-old sister drools over. I mean, just look at her rocking out in that picture above!

I don't own either Hannah Montana CD--there are two, and my sister has both--but I do bop around to these two incredibly peppy, legitimately ROCKING tracks featured on Miley's second Hannah Montana (widely successful) effort, Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. From what I can distinguish on iTunes, this is actually a collection of two CDs--the first recorded by Miley's alter ego, Hannah Montana, and the second recorded by The Real Miley. Meaning, the second CD reflects more of Miley's personal taste and lacks the little lessons that all of the Hannah Montana songs seem to have: "Find yourself in you!" "Nobody's perfect!" "Everybody makes mistakes!" "Life's what you make it!" "Don't let anyone tell you what you can't do!"

Instead, Miley's disc has a more mature feel: her voice is tough and strong and the lyrics are not necessarily sweet but they are simple. The power of her voice is actually quite impressive, and the sporadically girly candor is refreshing: "The next time we hang out, I will redeem myself." There's even some exploration in the way she sings. In "See You Again," she stutters on the word "stutter," getting a chuckle out of me, at least, with "I st-st-stutter when you ask me what I'm thinkin' 'bout." Don't let the pink-and-white, Disney-emblazoned CD cover fool you! Tracks like "See You Again" and "Start All Over" are rough, sexy, and make you want to get down (...I'm living proof).

Bonus: she actually plays guitar. And sings live. (Except she might have a body double for that.)

Credit: Amazon.com, Post-Gazette.com, TheBosh.com