Disney-safe album attempt

Try as hard as she might, Ashley Tisdale will have to work a whole lot harder to separate herself from the squeaky-clean image she developed as a star of Disney’s “High School Musical” franchise.

Tisdale’s latest release, “Guilty Pleasure,” which comes two years after her initial step into solo recording, is nothing pop-music fans haven’t heard before. Though the first track, “Acting Out,” begins promisingly enough with a melody featuring string instruments, it quickly devolves into the same trite confessions made by pop princesses through the ages: “Up above the surface / I was just a perfect child / But underneath it all, I was craving to be wild.”

Despite an emphatic setup, Tisdale’s role as a rule-breaking rebel never really materializes. After giving the album a thorough listen, fans will learn that she likes the smell of her boyfriend’s T-shirts (“Hair”) and that she sometimes wakes up “in a bra and ... makeup” (“Hot Mess”). Shocking. Unfortunately for Tisdale, this album is as tame as anything she sang beside Zac Efron on the small screen.

Most of her songs, with their catchy power-pop chords and belted vocals, take a cue from the latest songs by Kelly Clarkson and Pink, and the club-friendly “Crank It Up” could easily be a bonus track on Britney Spears’ “Blackout.” But Tisdale’s renditions fall short of the edge and polish exhibited on those artists’ chart-topping albums.

Surprisingly well-done tracks such as “It’s Alright, It’s OK” hint at the type of music Tisdale could be making if she attempted to create her own style rather than serve as a lesser imitation of successful pop stars before her.

This release is not a guilty pleasure, but with a little work, her next album just might be.