Original TV Soundtrack - Icarly / Various (Snyp) (CD)

All Music Guide

The soundtrack to the Nickelodeon series iCarly is a curious hybrid of original music from the series and contemporary pop hits, sometimes presented in censored versions Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" gets a lyric change for its "Nickelodeon Mix," Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" gets a whole verse lopped off to make them better fit the preteen vibe of the show. This combination of iCarly originals and real world pop tunes has a dual purpose: it fills out a soundtrack that couldn't exist just on original music (as there is just not enough ready) and provides a soft launch for the musical career of star Miranda Cosgrove, who proves herself to be an appealingly spunky singer. It helps that she has a pair of good tunes in "Stay My Baby" and "About You Now," fizzy pop just about on the level of the Naked Brothers Band (a fellow Nick act who has a cut here), as they make the most of her girlish talents, but the focus isn't really on her: there are so many cuts from the likes of Good Charlotte, Natasha Bedingfield, Tiffany Evans with Bow Wow, and the deathless Menudo that she doesn't really stand out but rather blends in the mix, which is really the ultimate goal of the soundtrack anyway. Really, the only annoyances are the endless sketches, placed between every single track on the album something that is bound to delight young fans of the show but will irritate anybody older than 13. Thankfully, that's the only irritating thing about this otherwise fun soundtrack. [iCarly was also released in a Deluxe Fan Pack edition including bonus tracks.]

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide