Let's start with the video. What a mess.
Beginning with Miley having her Sinead O'Connor moment, it's clear that the video is stunningly shot by director Terry Richardson - from the extreme close-ups, to the soft lighting and the slow-motion, tumbling rubble.
But then the nudity swings in, which would be perfectly acceptable if it was tastefully done. Yet the way the camera slowly and perversely caresses her writhing body is just too much. The hammer lick is the real step too far however, utterly cheapening the image and undermining the sentiment of the song. It's a video with all the subtlety of... well, a wrecking ball, designed merely to shock and rake in the YouTube hits.
Worst of all, it completely overshadows what is actually a decent power ballad. "I never meant to start a war, I just wanted you to let me in, I guess I should've let you in", she laments in the middle-eight before crashing into a roaring, guitar-based chorus. After her continued whirlwind romance with Liam Hemsworth, she puts in a suitably emotional performance that swaps twerking for tears.
This should have been a powerful moment of sentimentality. Instead, Wrecking Ball has become a metaphor for Miley's sexually-charged assault on the music industry and womanhood.
3/5
Listen: Wrecking Ball will feature on the forthcoming album 'Bangerz', released on October 4th.
