The Definitive Track Listing of Miley Cyrus And Her Dead Petz

At the conclusion of this year's MTV Video Music Awards, hostess Miley Cyrus announced her latest album, Miley Cyrus And Her Dead Petz, was available to stream for free on her website. It was surprising that a pop star of Cyrus' stature would give away her music, considering that sales of Bangerz was solid enough to not steer away from a traditional promo strategy. Although we're currently in an era where the public either expects music for free or at least easily accessible, the rule is that if you can still sell records, you keep charging (it would be difficult to imagine Taylor Swift or Beyoncé pulling the same move, for example).

When listening to Dead Petz, which was released outside of Cyrus' contract with RCA and paid for out of her own pockets, it wasn't hard to tell that this was a project dear to her. With The Flaming Lips producing the majority of the album and a few oddball songs dedicated to the passing of her aforementioned pets, it was clear radio was never the goal here. It was also clear that this was an album made without the assistance of an A&R or someone who could keep everything tethered. At a running time of 92:06, it's a slog to get through at times as Cyrus goes to many lengths to not be placed in a box, much to the detriment of the listener or anyone with an attention span.

The main source of my frustration is that I can never shake the feeling there's a better album lurking within. While there are a good deal of quality songs, one can only judge an album as a whole, not just cherry picking their favorites, which is why the critical response has been pretty divisive. Still, the potential for a good album was so intriguing to me that I decided to revise the sequencing and come up with my own track list, one that would still hold the original freewheeling intent and hopefully cut straight to the core of some of the album's main themes of loss and lust. I came up with something that tries to be a bit more cohesive and that comes in at just over an hour. This version is at least worth 3 stars.

1. Cyrus Skies
2. I Get So Scared
3. The Floyd Song (Sunrise)
4. Karen Don't Be Sad
5. Space Boots
6. Slab Of Butter
7. Pablow The Blow Fish
8. BB Talk
9. Bang Me Box
10. I Forgive Yiew
11. Lighter
12. Tangerine
13. Something About Space Dude
14. Twinkle Song