She may be Rocking out in quarantine but this star is more than her covers.

If you haven’t gotten on Miley Cyrus’ new rock n’ roll train then you are living under the saddest of quarantine rocks. Her take on Blondies “Heart of Glass” took the internet by storm during her three days at Save our Stages, a virtual benefit festival for starving local venues. It was so good, that after countless people banged furiously on their keyboards you can now find it on Spotify.

Because of this, most commentators have come to the conclusion that she is single-handedly becoming the queen of covers. Her royal status is warranted but short sited. Anyone who grew up watching her alter ego rock out on our Sunday morning screens could tell you that she is a powerhouse no matter if she is singing beloved covers or newly released singles.

Upon finding her new collection of covers, I must confess, there was an immediate reaction from Rock lovers like myself to label her as the new savior we all needed, placing her in a category with the likes of Joe Cocker. Cocker is known for his powerful Beatles covers and interesting antics. He struggled with his own demons and never quite recovered from the pain. While I see some connections between the two, Miley is so much more than just a footnote in covering beloved rock songs. She can sing, write and en-body pretty much any genre she wants.

Her writing credits don’t include a lot of the songs a passive observer might hear on the radio but she has written quite a bit of her own stuff. This includes tracks she recorded in her early day (impressive for someone not yet old enough to vote) and recently, a lot of the more in-depth tracks that would fit perfectly on any playlist. “She’s not him,” a recent hit, is a treasure and I can’t believe it took this long for me to find it.

Cyrus has traversed many different genres and has never been pigeonholed into a single one. Starting out in the country genre, she pulled a classic Disney twist like Taylor Swift and started putting out the pop hits that people would know her for. Many are saying her recent indulgence in raw classic 60s rock covers is her “final form.” It is pretty hard to disagree with this opinion, she seems purpose-built to growl and belt the lyrics of Pat Benatar and Blondie.

This opinion is pretty undisputable but it does miss a perfectly blatant truth: she can do and be whatever she wants. This is both a stupidly obvious statement and also one backed by her own attitude and stamina. Relegating Cyrus to one type of music is a short-sited act and one that will surely be disproven.

The preposition is also somewhat misogynistic. We often preach against music that appeals to a younger female audience until the Beetles stop making hit “teen records” and start occupying every genuine music lover’s vinyl record collection. So don’t make the obvious connections and claims and start enjoying this artist’s new and intriguing endeavor.