Osbourne tackles teen angst

The album has a pop-punk flavour

by Leigh Mytton BBC News Online

Kelly Osbourne found fame on the reality TV show about her rock star father Ozzy and his family. Now she has released her debut album.

Kelly Osbourne could be called an accidental pop star.

It was her sister who persuaded her to cover Madonna's Papa Don't Preach to fill a gap in The Osbourne Family Album, released on the back of the hit reality TV show.

Now the 18-year-old has got an album of her own.

The album has no Black Sabbath overtones

You have got to admire Kelly. In a world of Britney look and soundalikes, her eccentric fashion sense and devil-may-care attitude offer a refreshing change.

But can she sing? Well, yes, as good as the next girl. In fact, she sounds a little like Kim Wilde.

But Shut Up is not necessarily about pitch-perfect singing. It is about a state of mind. Kelly is venting her frustrations about boys, authority and feeling misunderstood.

It is a pleasant enough 12-song pop-punk journey and a stiletto-wielding Kelly looks pretty feisty on the album cover, too.

Opener Disconnected (with vitriolic lyrics and churning guitars) is a stand-out track.

"Hope you're drowning in a pool/You've fallen in/'Cos you can't swim," snarls Kelly, striking a chord with every adolescent who has ever been dumped on.

Anyone expecting any traces of Kelly's dad, ex-Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy, will be disappointed.

Come Dig Me Out and Right Here are reminiscent of The Go-Gos and Kelly comes over all Suzi Quatro in Coolhead.

Osbourne shows her softer side

Title track Shut Up vies for the dubious honour of being the worst on the album, surpassed only by power ballad (thankfully the only one) More Than Life Itself.

The songs are competent, but samey.

You might find yourself drifting off about five tracks in, only to be woken up by Everything's Alright, which starts off sounding like Van Morrison before evolving into a fabulous angst-ridden rant.

"Need to relax/Get my head straight/Put my face on/Shove my hair up," she thunders.

The album is very well produced. It leaves you wondering what Kelly sounds like live. But there is no denying the girl's spunk and this album will be beloved by moody teenagers and Osbournes fans everywhere.

And despite her four-letter outbursts and short fuse, Kelly has got her soft side, and the power ballad is not the only evidence of that on the album.

She even manages a mention of her pets (New Baby and Pippy included) on the album sleeve. Maybe she is more of the girl-next-door than she likes to think.

Shut Up is out now on Epic.