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dancing-to-architecture · 1 year ago

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20 - ZZ Top - Eliminator (1983)

Ah, ZZ Top. The Houston blues-rock band known for spinning fuzzy guitars and big ass beards, except for the one guy who's last name was actually "Beard".

Having existed in America during the 80s and 90s (and having lived in Houston itself for a year and half) of course i know their hits (and i can see a few here) but I'm kinda excited to hear the deeper cuts.

Speaking of ZZ Top's deeper cuts: i got to see these guys live at Bonnaroo, but i don't think they quite got the point of Bonnaroo. Typically, if you're there, you're playing the hits. The Big Numbers. The ones you know everybody there is gonna be able to sing along to.

Over the course of 45 minutes, they didn't play a single song i could recognize.

I don't have an ounce of shame in saying that yeah, I left that set early and went to a different stage to watch The XX right as they started playing Intro.

Easily one of the better calls i made at that festival.

•Gimme All Your Lovin'-

Such a simple but effective drum beat. No frills but it doesn't need 'em.

Aggressively horny lyrics, but it feels almost campy with how straight they're delivered.

"If i blow my top, will you let it go to your head?" At the risk of sounding like John Waters for a moment, i think the world needs more barely-disguised lyrics about getting a blowjob, especially these days where it really seems like everybody's horny but nobody fucks.

"You got to pack it up, work it like a new boy should." Happy pride month, y'all.

•Got Me Under Pressure-

This girl sounds FUN AS HELL. I'm reminded of Sheryl Crow here: "are you strong enough to be my man?" (Yeah i know that's not what that song is about but play with me in the space here.)

•Sharp Dressed Man-

1000% the first song that comes to my mind when i hear "ZZ Top".

Also 1000 is likely the number of times I've heard this song in my 38ish years on this rock.

That riff still kicks all kinds of ass though.

Audience participation section: which movie's "main guy wearing a bunch of different suits for 5 seconds each" changing-room montage do YOU think of when you hear this?

(Correct answer: it's literally the background song for every. single. one. since this album came out.)

Also white gloves and looking for love...that's... certainly a look.

•I Need You Tonight-

I fucking love this song!

Oh wait, shit, no I'm thinking of INXS.

Jokes aside, i really like the echoing guitar tone.

Pretty solid bluesy "i miss my woman" song. If this album wasn't already stacked, I'd say this could have been a single.

And that solo, though!

•I Got The Six-

Before this one started, i was wondering what the six was referencing. A six pack of beer? I got your back? HAHAHAHA NOPE.

"I got the six, gimme your nine!"

Again, more songs about blowjobs! Sixty-nining, even!

And also, if you're attracted to women and you don't/won't eat pussy, know that i have lost some respect for you.

Horny as hell song, but it gets a nod of overall approval especially since the end is kinda hilarious.

•Legs-

ATTENTION META: 40 years ago, the bearded ones taught us all about the importance of having Legs and knowing how to use them. Y'all had no fuckin excuse for your floating torso mananangal-wannabe bullshit.

This song goes so fucking hard. At least 35% harder than a song about legs should go. I hate that it fades out during the solo, though. Let that man cook!

•Thug-

I know, I KNOW this album came out at least a decade before the show did, but that slap bass just feels Seinfeld-y. Funky, but Seinfeld-y.

Also, calendar check: June 21 is Thug Day, i guess. Remember to keep your machine guns and money secure, and bust your friends out of jail!

•TV Dinners-

Know what? I can appreciate that Billy and/or Dusty sings about processed microwaved slop with the same exact amount of gusto and dedication that he does about the most beautiful woman he's ever seen.

Otherwise it's basically a novelty song, imo. I can't believe it was a single.

•Dirty Dog-

Ah, the flip side of aggressively horny: the creepy/gross/misogynist angle. God forbid a woman does anything.

Also this really sounds like a ZZ Top b-side. It literally sounds like 4 of their other songs put in a blender for a while.

•If I Could Only Flag Her Down-

The misogyny continues and deepens.

In lieu of a review for this song, here's a lyric:

"I just want to crash her/

I just want to trash her."

And here's the vomiting emoji 20 times:

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

•Bad Girl-

"Praise kinks DNI": the song. I feel like i need a shower after hearing this.

Well, the second half of the album sucks some real shit, but Legs is still a banger. It's pretty easy to see why the deep cuts stay deep, though.

And, like many, many albums I've heard before: after the first 5 or so songs, it's just time to put on a new album.

Favorite Track: Gimme All Your Lovin'. 100%.

Least Favorite Track: If I Could Only Flag Her Down. I'll spare you another 20 vomit emojis.

#1001 albums #dancing to architecture #zz top #eliminator

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it-waswritten · 19 days ago

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It's been 7 amazing months since Taylor Swift released TTPD out into the world, brought it to life on the Eras Tour stage, and I've only grown to appreciate it more since then. I wrote a short little review that was more just my thoughts abt the album after 3 days of listening. Now it's been 7 months, oh how things have changed. This double album has had time to marinate while I've played it on loop almost everyday. The announcement of TTPD: The Anthology getting its own CD & vinyl exclusive to Target (for now) being made available in store on November 29, Black Friday here in the US. I thought I'd write out a small retrospective on what has changed in my perception of the album & its Era during this time. It is filled with a lyricism we haven't necessarily seen from Taylor since the release of folklore & evermore. Midnights held lyrics tht were beautiful to be sure, but they didn't contain the vibrant images of the previous 2 albums. Which isn't a bad thing! I love Midnights & found myself listening to it as often as I've listened to TTPD these past months.

Midnights was a dream-like pop synth as she chronicled for herself & for us a collection of sleepless nights throughout her life in no particular order. TTPD in its entirety gives us a similar (not the same) synth with the soft acoustics of the evermore Era and the piano of folklore scattered throughout. The subjects of her songs dance around to no particular time-line, and I think this works for this particular album especially in the wake of Midnights & the advent of the Eras Tour.

TTPD was written, recorded, produced, and then released in the midst of the phenomenon tht is The Eras Tour with all the Taylor Swift induced mania tht comes w it. Her personal life must have felt like a whirlwind at the same time as this tour & album came to fruition. She'd ended a years long relationship, fell into a rebound of epic proportions, lost herself to the excitement of said rebound, then lost the rebound entirely after internal conflict we weren't (& still aren't) necessarily privy to, and then soon after has found herself in a relationship where she seems excited even (dare I say) happy. The unordered almost abandoned time-line in TTPD reflects this. She must have felt so many mixed emotions, possibly even confusion, through the loss of her longest relationship followed closely by a new short lived relationship that crashed like a rental car to now someone who seems proud of all tht she's capable of.

TTPD & The Anthology are filled with beautiful lyrics tht leave me gasping as if I've been underwater only now coming up for air. So I decided it'd be fun, for me, to list my top 3 songs (in no particular order) along with my favorite lyrics from tht song.

1. So Long, London: I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist/ I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift/ pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away/ my spine split from carrying us up the hill/ wet through my clothes, weary bones caught the chill/ I stopped trying to make him laugh (...) I stopped CPR after all it's no use/ the spirit was gone, we would never come to/ and I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free (...) you swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?/ I died on the altar waiting for the proof/ you sacrificed us to the Gods of your bluest days/ And I'm just getting color back into my face/ I'm just mad as hell because I loved this place

2. How Did It End?: we hereby conduct this postmortem/ he was a hothouse flower to my outdoorsman/ our maladies were such we could not cure them/ and so a touch that was my birthright became foreign/ come one come all/ it's happening again/ the empathetic hunger descends/ we'll tell no one except all of our friends/ we must know/ how did it end? (...) say it once again with feeling/ how the death rattle breathing/ silenced as the soul was leaving/ the deflation of our dreaming/ leaving me bereft and reeling (...) I can't pretend like I understand/ how did it end? (...) but I still don't know/ how did it end?

3. The Prophecy: hand on the throttle/ thought I caught lightning in a bottle/ oh, but it's gone again/ and it was written I got cursed like Eve got bitten/ oh, was it punishment?/ I guess a lesser woman would've lost hope/ a greater woman wouldn't beg/ but I looked to the sky and said/ please/ I've been on my knees/ change the prophecy/ dont want money/ just someone who wants my company/ let it once be me/ who do I have to speak to/ about if they can redo/ the prophecy? (...) feeling like the very last drops of an ink pen/ a greater woman stays cool/ but I howl like a wolf at the moon (...) a greater woman has faith/ but even statues crumble if they're made to wait/ I'm so afraid I sealed my fate/ no sign of soulmates

#ts #ts ttpd #sometimes i talk

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fantastickkay · 5 months ago

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Album Review of the Week: Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine (2024)

After 3 whirlwind studio + 1 live albums between 2018-2020, Ariana Grande declared that she would be taking a break to enjoy her new life as a married woman. During those years she did a few side projects, including starring in the upcoming Wicked film adaptation. Finally, in January 2024, we get a new single - Yes, And? produced by powerhouse Max Martin. This, along with the second single We Can't Be Friends (Wait For You Love), debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 which now makes her the woman with the most #1 debut singles!

The album opens with Intro (End of the World). I usually find tracks that introduce you to the theme of the album to be a little pandering, however I think this was really well done. The first line being "How can I tell if I'm in the right relationship?" and the rest of the lyrics outline what we are about to hear very well. Not to mention she sounds amazing! Throughout this whole album, her vocals are improved from past projects - she can finally enunciate!

Bye expands on the previous track starting with some dramatic synths that almost replicate brass instruments, but not quite. The chorus is breezy and beautifully melodic. This makes me picture the photo of Nicole Kidman after finalizing her divorce to Tom Cruise, makes me want to dance around the house in euphoria.

Don't Wanna Break Up Again backtracks a little bit into the last stages of the relationship. The lyrics are very bare and honest. I enjoy the slightly elevated chill pop sound of this track and how honest it is.

Eternal Sunshine continues that chill pop sound. The choppy vocal delivery reminds me of Cry Me A River. I absolutely love the little video game noises when she says "played me like Atari". I enjoy how we get to hear some lower notes from her in the verses.

Supernatural is one of the weaker, more forgettable songs on the album for me. While it's on, it sounds gorgeous and breezy but I couldn't tell you what it sounded like an hour from now.

True Story is a standout. The strong vocals paired with the light, layered backing vocals portray an urgency. The instrumentals are much darker as well, with more tight drum sounds and warbled synths.

The Boy Is Mine is the absolute best track on this album. I love everything about it! Her vocals sound amazing throughout, the chorus is really fun and I love how the chorus hesitates just a tiny bit right as it is beginning.

The lead single, Yes And?, is a really fun dance track! I love the House vibes, and it even has a little bit of a bridge! It is certainly not prime Max Martin level but still a great lead to get people interested in the project. It is completely different than the rest of the album and appears so far into the album (as I've noticed with many other Ariana tracklists). I wanted the remix with Mariah Carey to be so good! I was hoping for a classic 8-minute Mariah remix with all new vocals.... it was very cobbled together and Mariah was not mixed well at all and not even a remix. They just shoved some Mariah vocals in there and didn't even do it well, so that was very disappointing!

We Can't Be Friends (Wait For You Love) was the 2nd (and so far - until June 7th - the latest) single. This is another one with very honest lyrics, "I just want to let this story die". Once again, she sounds gorgeous and the melody is beautiful.

I Wish I Hated You has a really beautiful wind-chimy background instrumentation, or the low end of a xylophone. The changes in tempo of the vocal delivery throughout is very interesting, I especially love the quick 'I wish I hated you'. Towards the end, you can hear a cry in her voice which really brings home the emotional aspects of the project after we have had a few fun dance songs.

Imperfect For You is another standout, something about the melody of the title really grips me and keeps me coming back to this ballad. The entire song is really relatable, everyone has their imperfections and finding the one person who will accept them all is so great!

Ordinary Things is a really sweet song about just wanting to live the ordinary moments with your significant other. The sound of the song is pretty forgettable to me, but I appreciate the sentiment and I really like the spoken word at the end by her grandmother. The perfect closer!

Overall, I feel as though the sound and production of this album is a natural progression after Positions. Even though the 13-track standard album clocks in at only 35 minutes, I really enjoy this album! It is definitely one of my favorite albums so far this year and a great progression of Grande's artistry.

#album review #ariana grande #eternal sunshine #2024 #2020s #cd collection

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the-loaf-of-all · 11 months ago

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Billy Bragg Changed My Life.

My dear friend! I can't even begin to express how stoked I am that you liked "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards." Here are a few of my absolute favorites from this most wonderful of songwriters, from across a few of his albums.

To Have And Have Not: Way back in the 90s, I got Joel (from Plow) into Operation Ivy. As a thanks, he says, he made me a mixtape of Billy. I lost that tape when someone broke into my Jetta outside Jen's apartment, but not before almost wearing it out to the point where Bill had already morphed my musical DNA. This was the first song on that tape. In it, you get a little bit of so much that I've come to associate with Bill: workers' rights, class struggles, clever wordplay...and that voice, accompanied by that single guitar. I said he was my cello yesterday, which might not have made sense...apparently, cellos resonate so much with folks because their frequency is closest to the human voice. I think Bill's voice is closest in frequency to whatever frequency my heart sings at.

She's Got a New Spell: "She's gone to let the cat in, the next thing I know she's mumbling in Latin, and she pulled the stars down from the sky and baked them in a pie." C'mon, Bill...that's not fair to the rest of us trying to write. :)

Strange Things Happen: Oh, this one...I'm 90% sure I play guitar like I do because of this one track.

Like Soldiers Do: "Blue eyes fighting the grey eyes fighting the tears." I can't even type those lyrics without tearing up. When Bill was in the army, Bob Marley died, and when he found out, he wept while in formation. Apparently, his DI gave him a bunch of crap about it, which, maybe, is where the impetus for this song came from. it's one of his most beautiful, especially the fucking harmonies at the end after the repeated chorus line, raised in register, that finishes me off, every time.

The Saturday Boy: "In the end it took me a dictionary to find out the meaning of unrequited." Jesus, Bill...give us a chance over here!

Levi Stubbs' Tears: One from his "Difficult Third Album". Sad as fuck, but also simply beautiful.

Lovers' Town Revisited: I can't seem to find the original "Lovers' Town" on Spotify, but I do have a recording of from his Peel Sessions (lemme know if this works, if you'd like another treasure trove of his songs). This is a gorgeous follow-up, if you can call it that (it's really a totally different song). "Sometimes it makes me stop and think and sometimes it makes me turn away." Yup.

Waiting for the Great Leap Forward: Jesus, this one. I'm so glad you liked it! This one taught me in so many ways, and continues to do so to this day. "You can be active with the activists, or sleep in with the sleepers" encapsulates so much of what I do and why, while "in a perfect world we'd all sing in tune, but this is reality, give me room" is permission to belt it out like I do. :) And the live version from this bootleg has about 2/3 alternate lyrics (as he often does at shows) which is why I sent it to you after watching Oppenheimer yesterday.

A New England: If I had to guess, I'd say this is his most famous song. It's so perfect, in every way. "Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill." Chills. He sang a version of this with Kristy MacColl waaaaay back in the day, too, which was incredible. I thought of the "I saw two shooting stars last night" line when we were down in Summer Lake. :)

There is Power in a Union: I used to play this with a guy named James Stedman at COCC whenever we were together and both had our guitars, which was, predictably, not as often as I would have liked. One of those memories I'm glad we shared when we did, as he was killed in a car crash a few years back. I'll never forget how big he smiled when we would do this. <3

Help Save the Youth of America: Of all the incredible lines in this amazing song, I think "The incident at Chernobyl proves that the world we live in is very small" is my favorite. There's a reason I always write him in for local government positions.

Tank Park Salute: Speaking of sleepers, this one took a few years to grow on me. Then, I found out it was about his dad. <3 I had inadvertently aped the lyrical feel of these verses in my own songs about Max and, reading Billy's lyrics now, I well up, both in my heart and with my eyes. Fuck, I love this guy.

I Dreamt I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night: Absolutely haunting. A play on "I Dreamt I saw Joe Hill Last Night." Aside: Phil Ochs is one of only three artist I have in my vinyl collection that starts with "O" (alongside The Outfield - which I hope you love! - and Operation Ivy - which I think you already do)

You Woke Up My Neighbourhood: Oh, this one. Sometimes, he uses a band - perfectly. Again, the "beneath the Seven Sister stars" ran through my mind when I saw the Pleiades in Summer Lake. Billy's never far in my heart and mind. <3 Listen for Michael Stipe!

The World Turned Upside Down: A very old poem that Billy made his own. The words are painted on the restroom at Peoples' Park in Berkley, which gives me great joy.

There Will Be A Reckoning: The only song in this list from after 2000. :) Here's him doing a soundcheck of it at the Tower in 2010 right before I got to see him the second time. It was election night, and he came onto stage with a little tee shirt that had a 45 adapter on it, and a cup of tea. I melted. And then he said, "No matter what happens out there, you're safe in here." Then I laughed. And cried. For two hours. <3

Upfield: "New England" might be his most well-known song, but I think this one encapsulates his life's work the best. Bill taught me what socialism actually was through this lovely, lovely tune. And the line "I've got socialism of the heart" has guided me in ways innumerate, and will, forever.

Thanks, Bill. For everything.

And thank you , LILI BOWERS! I hope you enjoy him, too.

#thebardofbarking

#Spotify

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gabenvrhappened · 1 year ago

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MusicOr... Is It Over Now? by Taylor Swift

Favorite Lyrics: Let's fast forward to 300 takeout coffees later ⬩ I see your profile and your smile on unsuspecting waiters ⬩⬩ Let's fast forward to 300 awkward blind dates later ⬩ If she's got blue eyes, I will surmise that you'll probably date her;

It felt like the time would never come. Since Taylor first announced she would be re-recording her albums, I couldn't wait for the re-release of 1989 (and also Reputation). Little did I know that Taylor's Version of her first official pop album would take so long to come. Having the chance to see this album being released again was a sight I never thought I'd see, even in my wildest dreams, and it was truly an experience being able to just close my eyes and listen to Style and How You Get The Girl as if it were the first time. Nonetheless, there's no point in denying it. At the end of the day, what really matters to me are the new tracks.

The best one is, without a shadow of a doubt, Is It Over Now? (although it's obvious that with time I'll love every one of them, so that's why I don't feel like poiting out my favorite songs from Taylor albums because, one day or another, they will always be my favorites). Gosh, no matter how many albums she puts out, it'll always be insane, the feeling of listening to a new powerful-chaotic-angsty Taylor Swift song (especially after Midnights, which was so monotone). The new final track of the album really got me with all its chaoticness because my life couldn't be more chaotic when it was released. I was in the middle of a moving process, with my house being a living mess, while having to train my replacement at work (who was trying their best to get on my nerves).

Taylor is known for her bridges, but in this song, it's the pre-chorus that stands out for me. The feeling of hopelessness in picturing how your life would look like after a break-up, and the feeling of having an on-and-off relationship that never seems to come to an understanding, comes at me like waves. These ripples of water can't help but make me wonder, "will I have something this intense in my life one day?" just to get the thought tangled up with the loud voice of reason inside my mind that says, "do I want to have something this intense in my life, in the first place?".

It's no wonder that my favorite songs on the album are about a relationship that has its ups and downs. And I'm sure it's because of these songs that I grew to feel like having this kind of situationship in my life. I'm sorry, but it just feels like an experience worth living. I've never had this, and I know I'm supposed to want healthy things, but it's not my fault that cinematic love, as I know it, has to have this kind of turbulence. And it's definitely not my fault that Taylor filled my life with songs that romanticize that to the point of making me want to live it, not just vicariously.

That, together with the fact that I'm a singer-songwriter that needs content to write about, is the perfect recipe for beautiful disasters. If it all goes wrong, and I still need time to learn my lesson, at least I have one new song to make me wonder, "How did I live ten years without this masterpiece?" and that's fine by me.

#MusicOrGabeNeverHappened

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ihatetosayitoldyouso · 1 year ago

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when 1989 first came out i was so young and so scared of everything!!! and now i am less young and still scared of everything!!! but also i have changed so much and i really am proud of that. and 1989 will always hold such a soft spot in my heart like i remember hearing the opening of ootw and something truly shifted within me like. i wasn't expecting anything like that from taylor and it was exactly what i needed at that point in time. taylor always grew and changed right when i did and it felt so special and it still does. this album is always going to be one of my favorites of hers simply because of where it landed in my life when it first came out. and i am not emotionally prepared to hear the first notes of welcome to new york for the first time again i think i might just cry through my entire first listen. but i am so excited to experience this again for the first time and i love 1989 i love the polaroids i love the aesthetic like i don't know how to explain how life-altering and impactful this whole album was to my growth and my trajectory as a person!!!

i just had to write something about this like i have had a very strange day and i am very emotional and feeling sentimental and i love 1989 and i just. i don't know how to explain all of the feelings i have surrounding this album and what it meant to me when it first came out. 8th grade mari really needed it and she didn't even know it! i remember listening to wtny in the car with my mom and i sang the lyric "boys and boys and girls and girls" and she didn't know yet that i was a lesbian and it felt so exciting that taylor had a line in her song about the fact that girls can like other girls!!

maybe it's all gonna be okay and maybe music is so incredibly important and beautiful and meaningful to so many people in so many different ways. i've been really struggling lately with my own songwriting (if u don't know i am a singer-songwriter, yes very original of me) and one of the most difficult things i deal with is comparing myself to other songwriters and artists, ESPECIALLY taylor. but i have to remember like. there is so much good music out there and some of it sounds nothing like 1989. i've always wished that i wrote a lot of 1989 and like. i can't. and i never will. and i have to accept that. and i'm grateful i didn't! it wouldn't be the same if it was someone who wasn't taylor. so maybe everything happens for a reason and we'll all be okay. and i can't wait to listen to 1989 tv. if you read all of this thank u for listening.

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69fever · 1 year ago

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i decided to review one of my favourite albums ever, folklore by taylor swift, so here it is!

🎵

Folklore by Taylor Swift

• The 1 - Perfect

10/10, The guitar is so pretty and the lyrics hit hard and get me in my feels. "You know the greatest films of all time were never made", it's accepting that life isn't a movie and the greatest film of all time is an impossible goal, just like how life and love isn't always fulfilling and amazing like a movie.

• Cardigan - Perfect

10/10, Omg the lyricism is so beautiful, Taylor Swift has a beautiful way of expressing emotions and feelings it's so incredible and especially amazing to me personally to listen to because I find it so difficult to word how I'm feeling, and Taylor somehow just embodies it. "A friend to all is a friend to none."

• The Last Great American Dynasty - Perfect

9/10, I love the way it picks up, the bridge is so enjoyable and I love Taylor's story writing ability. "I had a marvellous time ruining everything" YES.

• Exile - Perfect

10/10, Bon Iver's vocals are so fucking majestic to listen to, and I love the argument type thing that they do, it's so powerful and really fun to belt but also get into your feels to, which I really love.

• My Tears Ricochet - Perfect

10/10, The intro is so gorgeous, with headphones it literally feels like I am ascending. THE LYRICSSSSS, the album is truly top tier because of the amazing songwriting and it really shines through in this song.

• Mirrorball - Perfect

🥈10/10, Girls when they're still a believer but they don't know why, they've never been a natural, all they do is try try try. And they're still on that tightrope, they're still doing everything to keep you looking at them.

• Seven - Perfect

10/10, So sweet, it's like protecting a childhood friend and living in sweet innocence. "Love you to the moon and to saturn" <3

• August - Perfect

🥇10/10, This is (one of) MY TAYLOR SWIFT SONG. "WANTING WAS ENOUGH. FOR ME IT WAS ENOUGH." It's nearly august and i can't wait to stream this everyday.

• This Is Me Trying - Perfect

🥉10/10, So emotional, I listened to this all the time when i was struggling with my A levels. Hits so hard and is always a go to cry song for me. It's truly beautiful. Girls when they told them that all they're cages were mental so they got wasted like all their potential.

• Illicit Affairs - Perfect

10/10, Every time, I feel like im just saying the same thing but every time the lyrics hit HARDDDD, like Taylor's pen was on literal fire the whole time when she was writing this album.

• Invisible String - Perfect

10/10, Such an adorable song and a beautiful concept, it's so sweet imagining that anyone important to you, you are connected to them in some way. Makes my heart warm.

• Mad Woman - Perfect

10/10, I'm a feminist, ofc it's a 10/10. I understand every lyric and feel it in my bones. i feel like every woman has felt this frustration before. A man calling you crazy for your reaction to his actions is the most infuriating thing ever. "You poke that bear until the claws come out."

• Epiphany - Amazing

8/10, The vocals are so angelic on this song and the backing vocals are amazing too. The rhythm makes me feel like i'm floating.

• Betty - Perfect

10/10, The country aspect to this is so beautiful, and being 17 it hits harder. I love love love the chorus on this song.

• Peace - Perfect

10/10, Dare I say that it's a very peaceful song? It's sweet and chill and the lyrics are beautiful as always, what more could you want.

• Hoax - Perfect

10/10, Her higher vocals in this song sounds sooooo good and it's such a nice song to have towards the end of the album. Very deep lyrics.

• The Lakes - Perfect

10/10, This song is literally me with my notes app and my tumblr and my journals and my diaries. Take me to the lakes where all the poets go to die.

->🥇My #1 Favourite

->🥈My #2 Favourite

->🥉My #3 Favourite

i've always liked taylor swift but i would say that i'm a relatively new swiftie, only properly getting into her music last summer so some of these i hadn't listened to before which i loved!

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katsukikitten · 4 years ago

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WARNING 18+ BIRB NOT BIRB SMUT! Band AU, harem collab. In which reader meets her favorite faceless singer. Little over 3k

Sweat trickles down your spine as your favorite song is blasted from the large speakers. Fog from the stage lingers just above your head as you feel as if you were in a dream. The setting is surreal especially since you actually managed to WIN those rare radio tickets to see a band in concert. And not just any band, your favorite fucking bad.

TOKYO MOB

The band consisted of four people, Bakugou Katsuki, the drummer who was angrier than any person you'd ever seen wearing nothing but skinny black jeans and a perpetual frown. Jiro, so cool and sleek in anything she wore as she tore up her guitar as side vocals. Then there was Denki, funny, cute even, on the bass with his electric blonde hair and killer smile. Lastly there was "Dark Shadow", the lead vocalist.

No one knew his real name or what he looked like, he chose to wear a headpiece in the shape of a raven or crow. You loved him, even without knowing his face.

He was so fit, strong arms and deadly abs that could be seen from beneath his cut off band tee crop top, much like you were wearing now. His voice was soothing as a bird's song, whether he was screaming or singing. The sound so uniquely beautiful it brought tears to your eyes the first time you heard it. And standing here with nothing but a small barricade and stage separating the two of you was a dream made in heaven.

He sings your favorite song, looking out into the crowd, body drenched in sweat from the high energy show as he jumps to the beat. He pauses to hit a long note and while the guitar riffs he looks into the VIP section. You swear you feel as if he is looking dead at you. The next few lyrics are packed full with emotion as he gets onto his knee, one hand holding the microphone while the other gently floats towards outstretched hands.

"I've been looking for youuuu, I just need to find youuuuu and when I do, when I do I'll dress you in my band teee and make youuuu~"

But it's yours that his fingers brush, intertwining his fingers with yours as tears prick your eyes.

"Mine. Forever miiinee~"

The world stops, his silky voice smoothing over your skin before it erupts in goose flesh, he holds on to your hand as he sings the chorus again. The screaming people around you fade away as you hear nothing but his sultry voice.

As if he were serenading you in the kitchen of your home.

"I've been looking for youuuu, I just need to find youuuuu and when I do, when I do I'll dress you in my band teee and make youuuu~"

"Mine. Forever miiinee~"

He squeezes your hand as he finishes the note, releasing your hand slowly before starting to stand. The music begins to fade as he huffs, trying to catch his breath before looking over the band. He sees that ever might need just a second more to take in some water so he brings the mic close to his face as he shouts.

"Are we having a good time tonight?!"

The crowd erupts into a scream, so loud you can barely hear the one tearing up your throat.

"I can't fucking hear you, extras!" Bakugou shouts into his own mic. The sold out stadium shakes rivaling the bass of the sound system as they all play off random notes and beats. When the deafening roar becomes a hushed, dull roar Bakugou sets the beat, Jiro and Denki join in as their most popular song begins to bump through the speakers. The song sets a heavy, hype beat that can get anyone to bang their head to. You start along with them, booze lighting up your system and causing you to ignore the charged air around you

Some of the bystanders, some of the women especially were jealous of the fact that you were holding hands with none other than the DARK SHADOW.

"Stupid bitch." They murmur amongst themselves, "Let's really fuck her up."

One says before shoving her unsuspecting and overly excitable boyfriend into another guy while shouting.

"MOSH PIT!" The crowd follows suit, putting you in the thick of it. Normally you could handle a little mosh, staying on the fringes to avoid too much damage but being in the center was beginning to spell trouble. The world spun as body after body began to slam into you, turning you this way and that before someone begins to take advantage of the situation. A sleazy guy you had hoped to avoid "falls" into you, rough palms grabbing a handful of your ass, beneath your skirt. A yelp lost to the crowd leaves your lips, tears burning in your eyes as this man set out to ruin what was possibly the highlight of your life.

He was going to ruin it with his disgusting cigarette breath, lips sloppily kissing at your throat as he moved the two of you closer to the barricade. His fingers dig into your ass, spreading your cheeks as he shouts into your ear.

"These fishnets for me slut?" He slurs, chuckling as he presses your back into the cool biting metal, "Love the crop top baby, do you got a bra on underneath?"

A sob threatens to rack through your body as your elated high quickly turns into stomach churning nausea. Desperately you look up to the stage, anything to distract you from the fingers that try to venture between your thighs, while the other rips at your favorite top.

Tokoyami jumps, stopping to adjust his feet for steady ground to do the screaming part of the song, he glances down into the crowd, silently looking for you. The woman who made his heart flutter for the first time in years and when he sees your face tilted up towards him with fear and pain twisting your features he loses his cool.

"Fucking stop!" He shouts, the lyrics gone for now as the music abruptly stops, the man holding you startles as the light follows Dark Shadow's accusing finger. He is illuminated by the stage light as bystanders rip him from you, he punches one guy and makes a run for it.

"Aye yo security. Get this asshole!" Dark Shadow shouts, leaning down for your now outstretched arms. Pulling you on stage with ease as his fingers flutter over your shoulders and sides for injuries.

"You okay my sparrow?" He coos softly and you nod, and he guides you towards the back of the stage, leaving the two front members to appease the excited crowd. He presses a cold water bottle to your hand before pulling up a chair a few feet from the drum kit.

"Stay by Bakugou okay? He'll take care of you." He wipes some sweat from your face before squeezing the nape of your neck. Bakugou glares your way with mixed emotions before doing his show starting beat to get the crowd jumping.

"Anyone else wanna act like a fucking douche?" Denki asks, walking up and down the front of the stage waiting for Tokoyami to return to the forefront.

"NOOOOO!" The crowd shouts, Denki offers a cheeky smile before adding.

"That's my good fans!" He blows a kiss to the crowd and the screams fly up an octave.

"Alright let's start this shit from the top!" Jiro shouts, letting out some hypnotic notes before looking towards Tokoyami.

"Actually, let's give them a sample of the new album. Let's give them a tease. Do you wanna be teased?" He asks the crowd aiming the mic towards them as if he needed to.

"SHOW US! TEASE US!" The crowd chants before Tokoyami looks towards his band members.

"I dunno do they deserve it?" Bakugou prodes and the audience lets out a dejected whine.

"Promise to behave?" Jiro teases and the crowd collectively screams out desperately "YES!"

"Well keep your hands to yourself and listen up cause you're only gonna hear it this once til it drops!" Tokoyami shouts before Jiro starts playing that hypnotic sound, shortly after Denki joins in. Bakugou twisting his drumstick as he waits for his cue impatiently. Dark Shadow takes in a deep breath before singing the haunting first lines of their new song.

"What do you do, when it's stalking after yoouuu? What do you say when it's just a breath awaaay~? Coming closer and you can't seem to get awaaaaay?"

"Always watching, always loooomming-"

Bakugou slams his sticks down hard onto the kit, foot tapping the bass drum at an alarming speed as everything seems to be hitting a climax.

"WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN ITS COMING FROM INSIDE OF YOU? WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN IT SHARES YOUR NAAAAME?

WHEN YOU CAN'T HIDE THE DEMON THAT'S LURKING INSIDE!"

The last line he screams and the crowd is overcome with emotion. The height of the music and the new song that the band pours their hearts into, sends the crowd into a frenzy. Sweat dripping from everyone as their black shirts dampen around their collars.

The song the crowd wanted to last forever comes to an end and you find yourself standing to scream, tears in your eyes.

"That was amazing!" Curling your fingers into a fist, Dark Shadow turns back to see you, out of the millions of people there tonight, in that moment he could only hear you.

"Well I think we gave them a good show huh?" Denki asks into the mic, Bakugou drums a heavy beat as he shouts.

"FUCK YEA WE DID!"

"HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!!" The band members shout in unison before waving and slowly backing off stage. Tokoyami rushes towards you, hand slipping around your natural waist as he guides you into the darkened stage towards his dressing room. Your heart is racing in your ears as the silence becomes deafening. Being this close to Dark Shadow you couldn't help but notice the little cushion that keeps his helmet from damaging his throat and the intoxicating smell that rolls off of him like a cool breeze. He smells like cedar and pine at twilight while the wind brings with it the threat of snow.

You shiver despite the warmth of his touch. Swallowing the lump in your throat you force your tongue to cooperate as he steps in front of his door politely opening it for you. His small silver chains clink from the motion.

"You must be tired, are you sure you want...company?" If you could see his face you imagined he'd be smiling. Pressing his hand at the small of your back to urge you inside.

"I'm sure." He walks in, waiting for you to follow before he slumps onto a worn leather arm chair. Your platform converse move on their own as you cross the threshold of the room, closing the door behind you.

"Lock it, would you sparrow?" All you can do is nod as you turn the lock until you hear a soft click. He gestures for you to sit on the couch beside him before his broad hands go towards his helmet.

The blood rushes from your face as a moment of honor and horror wage war in your gut, pulling your heart down towards your feet.

"Wait!" You shout, startling both of you and you feel heat rise into your cheeks and throat, "I don't want you to feel obligated to take it off. We can just...talk."

Nervously you fidget with the hem of your skirt, thinking he was going to kick you out for being so lame.

Boring.

He stands and you flinch before he sits beside you on the love seat. If you could see his eyes you wondered if they were sparkling. His winter woods smell tickles your nose and you smile.

"I'd love to just talk. But first." He must notice your ripped shirt as he stands again. Rummaging through his suitcase to find the first edition band tee ever made for TOKYO MOB.

"I couldn't!" You half shout and then squeak, "I shouldn't"

"I insist." He says softly placing it on your lap before giving you his toned back. The cropped tee he wears shows off the dimples in his lower back that has you thinking of what it would look like while those hips piston into you. Quickly you toss your ripped shirt aside and slip his over your head, relishing the present smell, heart stirring.

"It's safe." You say softly and he turns around taking the seat beside you again.

After a small awkward silence the two of you begin to talk, the conversation coming easy as you gushed over his voice and where you went to college when he asked. Him wanting to know more about your life and the night ended up being about you instead of him for once and it was nice.

Nice to not have someone prying or clawing at his neck to find out just who he was and what he looked like, suddenly heat rushes to his pants. His hand comes to rest on your knee just below the hem of your skirt, ringed fingers sliding beneath the black fabric. You swallow, looking into the face of the bird mask and softly speak.

"How- how would we kiss?" It feels stupid, embarrassing that you would even think that. He kills the light by the love seat flooding the room in total darkness before he takes off his helmet with a clatter.

"Like this." His lips are by your ear now sending ecstacy through your body in the form of a spine tingling shudder. He kisses at your lobe working his way down your throat and then up to your jaw, avoiding your lips as he tastes every inch of you he can. His damp hair tickles your nose as he moves you to him, hovering over you as he kisses the plane of your stomach beneath his lifted shirt.

"You look damn good in my shirt baby." He trails his tongue up your sternum causing you to moan, he smirks against the bone before sucking at the supple skin of your breast. Choosing them for his canvas to paint in blacks and blues that you would soon come to wish would last a life time. His free hand twists your nipple, pulling it as he scrapes his teeth against your other. Tongue flicking against the sensitive nub another moan escapes your lips as he plays with you for what feels like hours. He doesn't even go to touch your aching cunt until you're covered in a sheen of sweat. Begging for his hands to move lower as your vision spots in the dark from his sensual touch alone. Your own hands explore up his defined abs and torso occasionally catching the cool metal of his chains, this time you decide to pull him into a kiss. Your lips touching his for the first time all night and you feel like a live wire. Hungrily and aggressively trying to devour him as you feel music dancing through your blood, humming in your bones, he groans amplifying the feeling as his clothed hard on presses into your core. His tongue swipes over yours and the thought of not even knowing what he looks like arches your back into his touch.

Finally he flips your skirt up, his fingers venturing between your thighs and when he finds no fabric and the satisfying sound of your slick he bucks his hips, biting at your breasts.

"So wet sparrow…." His voice is soft breath and a little desperate causing your cunt to clench. He circles your clit until you're crying, his fingers occasionally checking for a stream of tears. When he feels the droplets on your face he chuckles shoving his fingers knuckle deep going agonizingly slow until you're fluttering around his thick curled digits. You cum hard and he whispers praises in your ear, several times as your body shakes and you think you won't be able to make it through the night.

"Ready for my cock babe?" He asks gently swiping his thumb over your swollen and heavily abused clit. You perk right up, ready for the finale silently thanking the gods for a band members stamina. You notice him shaking as he leans down for a kiss, his stomach sweaty and sticking to yours. You fist his hair, pulling him back just a bit.

"You'll be okay?" You can just make out the gleam of his teeth from his smirk before his voice comes out as pure sinful husk.

"The question is, will you sweet sparrow?"

Too stunned to answer he swallows your silence with a kiss before he sheaths himself inside you. Relishing the moan in his mouth and the fluttering of your velvet walls as they adjust to him. You were so wet, so ready for him as he slowly rocked his hips. Your half wish from earlier coming true as your hands fly to the dimples of his lower back, trying to urge him to quicken his pace but he keeps it languid, deadly. Each stroke hitting with purpose. The head of his cock hitting that cushy spot as his pelvis snapped against your clit. The sensation sends you into a never ending moan. Each gasp his stage name as he marks you as his, nails raking down your arms as he praises.

"Such a nice pussy you have. Taking me so fucking well." He lingers by your ear, his tone the opposite of his lustful words. Your own nails claw down his back in viscous lines as he keeps you on the edge. The coil, steady and tight as you feel the pressure in your stomach growing. He can feel how tightly you're squeezing him and how your thighs are locked around his waist. He press his fingers into your stomach as his thumb swipes over your clit, his hips snapping faster and faster as he waits for what he hopes is coming. The pressure becomes too much he overstimulates your body, shaking as you cry out.

"I can't, I can't…"

"You can, just for me. Don't be shy, cum for me baby." His deep voice sends a chill through your body, you go rigid, quiet before your body jerks and releases a clear liquid onto his pelvis and cock. Shaking as he fucks your through it before his voice comes out strained as you milk him.

"Imma cum baby, where do you want it?"

"In me, I promise I have an IUD just fucking cum Dark Shadow!" You gasp and he obeys, adding to your pleasant after shocks, filling you to the brim with his hot seed with a husky grunt. He collapses onto you fixing your shirt before he gently withdraws, keeping his face to your chest as your fingers find his hair. You try not to let your thoughts wander and as if he could read your mind.

"I promise you, you're the only one who's made me do that." He kisses your throat gently before his hand searches for your free one, interlacing his fingers with yours before he hums. Slowly singing you to sleep. You welcome the feeling as exhaustion blankets you in darkness.

"Uh miss." The voice comes as a shock as a large man tries to wake you from a distance. You startle, grabbing at blankets to cover yourself although you're fully clothed.

"Hate to wake you miss but we're locking up. The venue is closed and the band is…" Although he looks a brute he clearly has some sort of heart. Unable to say what you know.

"Gone." Tears burn your eyes as you think of how stupid you were. To ever think you were special enough to be anything more than a groupie. A note sits on the bedside table.

"Should we cross paths again, Sparrow. I'll make you forever mine"

The note blurs as you recognize the lyrics to the song. You look down at his band tee and wonder if your favorite song was more of a gimmick to pick up fans than some fated promise.

And so life moves on.

You can only tell that time has passed from the fading color of your bruises. Slowly they melt from a cold bluish black into cool greens and warm dotted yellows. You sigh, looking in the mirror before you head towards your room for clothes. Finally mustering up the courage to wear that stupid band tee he gave you again. It still smells faintly of him, of the winter woods suspended in forever twilight. Of musk from your sweat and his. You fight back the tears as you remind yourself you just put on mascara, finally choosing to participate in a social life after having your heart broken for being a fool. You decided to get ready sooner rather than later, otherwise you would have backed out from the plans and mopped around the house. You figured some coffee would help kill the time as you lace up your converse thinking of your favorite shop. You head out and walk leisurely to the cafe off the beaten path of downtown. The street is full but not overly so as people browse the shopping district of the huge city you call home. Everyone fades into the background until your eye catches against a handsome man, dressed in tastefully torn black jeans, and an onyx turtleneck. You would be concerned for his attire in this weather if he wasn't so damn handsome. You must catch his eye as well as his face instantly lights up when he makes eye contact. He beats you to the cafe door, holding it open for you with ringed fingers like a gentleman waiting for you to enter. The gesture feels familiar causing your heart to squeeze in your chest, feeling trapped beneath your too small rib cage. As you walk past him you think you smell something familiar.

Like cedar and pine, dancing on a snowy wind as the sun sets the world on fire.

Your world on fire as you grip at the front of Dark Shadow's shirt trying not to cry. You just wanted your fucking macchiato and to move on with your life. You had lived every fan's dream of sleeping with your favorite band member. Tasting Dark Shadow's blackberry mouth. Shouldn't that be enough?

Your aching heart said otherwise.

Suddenly warmth is behind you, radiating off of a thick body as the handsome man bends over to put his profile to your ear. Goose flesh prickles your skin in late August as he says with a voice that drapes you in sinful black silk.

"You look damn good in my shirt, sparrow."

#tokoyami smut #tokoyami fukimage #tokoyami x reader #tokoyami x you #bnha x reader #bnha band au #server collab #fukimage x reader

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greenandbluebubblegum · 2 years ago

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Hello Darling 💜 Kinnporsche anon here!!! Have a good end of the week (we are getting closer to the news episode!!)

Oh I understand the pain, my uni is suppose to send us out result for the 1st of July, but I know that they are going to be late 😭 good luck!!

I kinda want to read the book too?? I am really curious to see how the book is! I'll probably start after the series though, so I can have more Kinnporsche after episode 14 😭 and I don't want to get sad bc my fav' moment is not put in the series! But at the same time, I want to read the part from episode 6 (let me be obsessed with this episode), I want to know what were going in their head, all the feeling, the realization, the confusion!! Especially when Porsche run back to Kinn!!

I don't know Kim seems to be the guys to run away from everything. But at the same, with Porsche saying that Chay want him to quit, I'm scared that it will be Chay to cut Kim off, you know him being scare of all the mafia stuff (and I wouldn't blame he just got kidnapped) . But, I could be great in term storyline. Kim accepting his feelings for Chay and ready to live in relationships with him, then boom the break up happens, then Kim wrote a lovesong for Chay and they make up!!

For Kinnporsche, I would love to have them asking each other to be boyfriend, or the first I love you!!! (I'm looking at you Kinn), no more angst, just two man in love!!!! Maybe some more date (again, looking at you Kinn)

I'm really impatient fro Vegaspete !!! They tease us for so long!!! Give them to us now!! I want to see Vegas break down for Pete, get on his knee for him!! Vegas is the characters who intrigue me the most, like why he is like this? What happen to him? What is his motor? Like, I feel we are going to learn so much about him during his act with Pete!!!

If they give us a whole serie of just Tankhun, I will never complain for the rest of my life 😭 he is top tier

Now BTS. I kinda see this coming from them? They need this break, and I'm so happy they are in a place where they could, you know, be honest with us and say '' we need to stop if we want this to continue ''. But I'm still little bit sad about it, like I'm going to miss them as a group. But we will have Run BTS, which I miss a lot!! And I feel like we are going to see them hang out together a lot :'). And we have solo project to be excited about!!! J-hope is, supposedly, the first one to release it, and I know he is going to deliver!! (but i' l scared, bc 1) I'm broke, and 2) I have no more place in my room to stock the album 😭). And like you said, It's a good time to catch on some other group!! 🥰 (NCT is pulling me in their fan base 😭)

Oh did you find any cute stuff on Ali?? 🤗 I care, if you want to tell me about it, please go ahead!!!

Yeah, I love my new identity 🥰 see you soon!! 🥰

Hi darling!!! how are you? hope everything is fine!! We are having a heat wave and I'm dying 🥵🥵🥵 my favourite season is winter so imagine this is hell for me lmao

It's finally Friday so only some hours left until we'll have a new episode!!!! Yessss I'm so excited 🎉🎉🎉 can't wait!!! I so curious about VegasPete!!! like is going to be intense!!!

I'm thinking on reading the book after the series is over too!! I want to know all the differences and like you to have more kinnporsche content!!

I think in the new episode we will have more about Vegas's father (can't remember his name lol it was Kan??) Also we still have the mystery about Porsche and Chay parents!!! like Kim, our detective is not doing his work instead he is falling in love hahaha

About BTS, I was expecting something when they announced the anthology and the video clip of 'yet to come' is kind of telling too! like the lyrics are so beautiful 🥺🥺 but I'm understand they wsnt to explore what they have out of the group!! can't wait for their solo projects or whatever they will do!! Also run bts!!! yey!! I love it!! 🥰🥰🥰 and as you said I can focus in other groups too!! I think The Boyz has a comeback a few weeks ago so yey!! also enhypen is always in tiktok page haha I need to fully stand them now lmao You mean NCT with all its unit or one in particular?? they are so many haha I still don't know all their names 🤫

Oh I found some cute stuff on ali!!

this carrot cutter 💕💕

also some transparent notes!!!! and this bag for notes!!!

Look how cute is!!! 💜💜💜 I'll put them so I won't need to carry all in my backpack!!

Hope they will be at home soon!!!

I'm finishing a gifset! I'll upload it next! It's the bed scene!! I tried something new haha hope you like it!! also wanted to do the VegasPete but I think I'll wait until tomorrow's episode to have more material hahaha

See you soon!! to our weekly screaming and comment routine of KinnPorsche haha 💜💜💜 Mua Mua 😘😘

#anon #kinnporsche #kinnporsche anon

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literally-just-a-review-blog · 3 years ago

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Post #1: Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish

I've been casually listening to Billie Eilish for four years at this point. I was never a superfan but I can definitely sing along to more than a few of her songs. I was really excited for this album to come out, because it had been a while since I'd listened to her music and I wanted to get back into it with multiple new songs rather than just one. So, here's my song-by-song review of Billie Eilish's latest album, Happier Than Ever.

1. Getting Older

I'm going to be honest, I think this is a weak song to start the album with. The constant rhythm of the synth in the background is somewhat boring, and there's really nothing about this song that stands out to me. I love the line "things I once enjoyed just keep me employed", but other than that, there's not much to say about this song. It's not bad, but it's not entertaining or something I would want to listen to.

2. I Didn't Change My Number

Dear goddess someone tell Billie she doesn't have to have one synth part playing constantly throughout the whole song. It ruins the feel of every chorus so much that I can barely tell when the chorus is supposed to be. I don't know if this monotone constant is part of the appeal for some people, but it isn't for me. This is also a concept we've seen Billie write about a lot (my boy, lost cause, bad guy, etc. etc. etc.). I dunno, maybe I'm being too critical, but hey, this is an album critique. Overall, the song is only slightly less boring than Getting Older and I'm still waiting for that "wow, that's Billie Eilish, alright!" moment.

3. Billie Bossa Nova

This might be controversial, but please do not put your own name in a song title if you don't have to. "Billie Bossa Nova" doesn't even. Make. Sense. Anyway, this song is slightly above I Didn't Change My Number. It's got a good construction and the chorus has an actual melody that I can recognize as a chorus. It's the least boring so far, but that's not saying that much.

4. My Future

I bought the exclusive picture disc of this song when it first came out. That's my opening statement to my review of this song. A beautiful half and half song of ethereal vocals and a funky beat. I also love the lyrics and the message of this song, because I really think that you don't need to be in a relationship to be happy. The chords are really pretty and I just. I love this song.

5. Oxytocin

I'VE FOUND THE BILLIE EILISH MOMENT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! I'm in love with this song. The sensuality of the lyrics and the music, the rare Billie belting, the echo, the layering, the everything. This is the best song on the album so far.

6. GOLDWING

Following up Oxytocin (a song with mentions of religion) with GOLDWING (a song that begins with a hymnlike acapella section) is genius. By itself, GOLDWING isn't super remarkable, but pairing it with Oxytocin creates a really cool effect. I also love the "da da da da" part. This is one of the better songs so far.

7. Lost Cause

Another one of the singles. I didn't listen to this one very much when it first came out but I heard it playing in an H&M a few days ago. The bassline and the lyrics make this such a badass song. It's like a better version of I Didn't Change My Number. There's not that much more to say about it, it's what you'd expect from a Billie Eilish song.

8. Halley's Comet

The chord progression is gorgeous. When I first heard this song I didn't love it, since it usually takes me a few listens at least to vibe with the slower songs. The main adjective for this song is pretty. The vocals, the music, the lyrics. I especially love the vocal effects on the outro. Speaking of the outro, I think that it makes the rest of the song feel more raw because of how stripped back it is. In all, a nice song.

9. Not My Responsibility

Wow. The power of words. I don't know what to say about this song that you can't gather from listening to it. I don't even really want to add anything, so I'll leave it here: this is one of if not the most powerful song on the album.

10. OverHeated

Sigh. I guess they can't all be bangers. This isn't a bad song at all, but it's still somewhat disappointing. There are a few parts that I can bop along to, but it feels very monotone and sedated. There's no remarkable high or low notes, no parts really worth noting. I'm having a hard time even writing one paragraph about this song because of how little there is to say.

11. Everybody Dies

Very subdued. Very low energy. This song isn't quite my style, but some of the lyrics are nice. I can't see myself listening to this a whole lot.

12. Your Power

The emotions I can feel in this song are so powerful. "How dare you" hits me so hard. Another song where I don't feel like anything I say will add very much to it, so I'll leave it at that.

13. NDA

I really like the lyrics of this song, and the chorus makes great use of autotune. The outro is also great, but the rest of it is a little boring. I can't really bop to the verses, and they don't really make me feel anything. A little disappointing, but not the worst on the album.

14. Therefore I Am

This one is a fucking banger. Singing along to it can make virtually anyone feel like the most badass person in the world. "I'm not your friend or anything, damn" is such a raw line. The music in the bridge also really reminds me of video game music, and the autotuned backing vocals on the last chorus really adds something else to it.

15. Happier Than Ever

Oh. My. Goddess. This has got to be, by far, my favorite song from this album. The contrast between the longing in the first half and the resentment in the second half. The ukulele vs. full rock band. This song is just incredible. Quite possibly one of the most screamable pop songs I've ever heard.

16. Male Fantasy

There are many beautiful songs on this album, and this one is no exception. I'm in love with the lyrics, as someone who has never been lucky in love. I know exactly what it's like to wish you could just get over someone, and to wonder if you're always going to feel so helpless and weak against your own emotions.

Happier Than Ever is something of a grab bag, in my opinion. You're never going to get an objectively bad song, but picking any song from the nearly hour long album will have you feeling anything from somewhat bored to extremely emotional. I would give this album a 7/10 rating in my own personal taste, because there are some songs I know I'm never going to listen to again, but also some songs that I've already listened to on repeat for days (cough, title track, cough).

#billie eilish #album review #happier than ever #new music

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tsrookie · 4 years ago

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Alright, so today’s the three-year anniversary of Reputation a.k.a the greatest album of all time, my baby, the light of my life, the album that deserved a Grammy (trying desperately not to think about the scene from Miss Americana😭), the album that introduced us to the most beautiful couple ever, the album that shut Kimye up, and I better stop now, or else I’m not gonna shut up.

So in honour of this momentous occasion (and the fact that I reached 200+ followers! Thank you so much you guys!🥺 Love you all 3000💙), here’s a loooooong post on why Reputation is the Ethan and MC album.

1. ...Ready For It?

No one has to know

Throwback to MC saying the exact same words back in Miami.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

You should see the things we do, baby, mmm

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

I know I'm gonna be with you

So I take my time

Remember back when MC asked for Ethan to get into bed right away during their first time? Ethan told them that he had dreamt about the moment for months, so he wasn’t going to rush it.

2. End Game

Big reputation, big reputation

Ooh you and me would be a big conversation

These two dating would be the talk of the hospital, and they know it.

Even when we'd argue, we don't do it for long

And you understand the good and bad, end up in the song

For all your beautiful traits, and the way you do it with ease

For all my flaws, paranoia, and insecurities

Think these lines are pretty self-explanatory😌

I hit you like bang

We tried to forget it, but we just couldn't

*gets war flashbacks of the ‘reset’ phase*😭 They tried to make it work, but we all know how Ch 8 of book 2 went😌

I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me

Perfect for our chaotic MC😌

3. Don’t Blame Me

Do I... really have to explain this one?

For you, I would cross the line

I would waste my time

I would lose my mind

They say she's gone too far this time

Do we need a recap of our rule-breaking MC?

And baby, for you, I would fall from grace

Just to touch your face

If you walk away

I'd beg you on my knees to stay

He was willing to risk his (mostly) rule-abiding reputation for being with MC. And there’s no way he wouldn’t beg for MC not to leave him if he ever screwed up🤷‍♀️

4. Delicate

This ain't for the best

My reputation's never been worse, so

You must like me for me

Ethan stood by MC’s side throughout the Ethics hearing, when her reputation was completely smeared, and people only saw her as a patient murderer. He didn’t know about the sabotages, but he would’ve definitely supported her if he had known.

We can't make

Any promises now, can we, babe?

Commitment-phobia🙃

Sometimes I wonder when you sleep

Are you ever dreaming of me?

Sometimes when I look into your eyes

I pretend you're mine, all the damn time

They spent so much of time apart, not able to be with each other, so the least they could do was dream of being with each other all the time.

5. So It Goes (an underrated af bop)

What can I say... it’s a sex song, okay? Don’t make me go into the details😂 Just listen to the lyrics, and all will be clear.

6. Gorgeous (Tumblr won’t let me put any more links)

MC’s eternal anthem to Ethan.

Whisky on ice, Sunset and Vine

You've ruined my life, by not being mine

We all know Ethan loves Whiskey, and the second line? C’mon!

You're so gorgeous

I can't say anything to your face

'Cause look at your face

And I'm so furious

At you for making me feel this way

But, what can I say?

You're gorgeous

Ethan Ramsey is famous for two reasons. One: his smart brain, I guess😒 Two: HIS LOOKS!!! HE’S GORGEOUS, AND DON’T DENY IT.

And you should think about the consequence

Of you touching my hand in the darkened room (dark room, dark room)

Ah, the olden days of hand holding in the diagnostics office🥺

Ocean blue eyes looking in mine

I feel like I might sink and drown and die

No explanation required.

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah

There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have

You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad

The wonderful will-they-won’t-they saga. The frustrating hot-and-cold behaviour. The ‘We can’t’, ‘It’s unethical’ and ‘It’s complicated’. MC deserves an award for her patience😓

7. King Of My Heart

I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own

I made up on my mind, I'm better off bein' alone

Ethan ‘I don’t believe in soulmates and nobody’s waiting at home’ Ramsey.

And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once, you are all I want, I'll never let you go

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

This could be from both Ethan and MC’s perspectives. The love they share isn’t something that you get easily. It’s something that MC has waited for her whole life, and something Ethan never knew he needed, but now can’t live without🥺

Late in the night, the city's asleep

Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep

Change my priorities

The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury

This was definitely Ethan throughout book 2, after he finally gave in. He let go of his previous rules and regulations, especially during the time of the attack. He was clearly affected, and once MC was alright, his main priority was her, and her alone.

Is the end of all the endings?

My broken bones are mending

With all these nights we're spending

Ethan’s been burnt a lot in the past. But all those wounds are now healing thanks to MC.

Up on the roof with a school girl crush

Drinking beer out of plastic cups

They act like lovesick teenagers around each other, like, that’s literally their description if you choose to kiss Ethan for the first time in Chapter 14 of book 2!😅

Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff

Baby, all at once, this is enough

We all know about his initial fear of his mother reaching out to him for the sake of his money. To him, MC not talking advantage of him is a pretty big deal, even though it’s never mentioned. You just know, you know?🥺

8. Dancing With Our Hands Tied

My, my love had been frozen

Deep blue, but you painted me golden

Again, Ethan doesn’t have the best experience with love. But MC changed that.

I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted

This could go both ways, cause they’re both piping hot messes😬 (but love each other anyway🥺)

The rest of this song could have made so much more sense for them if we had gotten some sort of a secret relationship storyline. But oh well, I’m definitely not complaining about the gala😌 (and definitely not believing any of the supposed cancelled storylines)

9. Dress

Our secret moments

In a crowded room

They got no idea

About me and you

I mean... pretty obvious😌

Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me

And I woke up just in time

Now I wake up by your side

My one and only, my lifeline

This is practically Ethan’s train of thought, and you can’t convince me otherwise.

As for the rest of the steamier lyrics... I’ll um... let you guys listen to it yourselves😁

10. Call It What You Want

I wrote an entire fic inspired by this song, so excuse me for the shameless self-promo, but go give it a read?🥺👉👈(totally fine if you don’t! I’ve probably made so many posts about this song that y’all know the meaning anyway😅)

11. New Years Day

Don't read the last page

But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away

I want your midnights

But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day

MC has always stayed by Ethan’s side, even when he’s pushed her away. These lines perfectly explain how she wants his worst times, and his best, the midnights they spend staying up together, and the moments where it’s just the two of them, when everyone else has left, like the aftermath of a New Years party (still mad at the fact that we didn’t get to see the gang celebrate New Year together😭)

I'll be there if you're the toast of the town babe

Or if you strike out and you're crawling home

The above explanation for these lines as well.

Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

Becoming strangers to each other would be their worst nightmares. Knowing that the other was out there in the world somewhere, but not being in their lives would kill them.

You and me forevermore

These two are each other’s soulmate, they know it, even if they haven’t said it yet. Forever wouldn’t be enough for them to shower each other with they love they hold for each other. But it’s a good start.

——————————

If you guys made it this far, then I honestly love you more than words can ever express🥺💙 Thanks for putting up with my Swiftie-Directioner-Ethan stan ass, cause I dunno if I’d ever be able to handle someone like myself. And if you read all the above stuff, then I hope you wanna know why this album means so much to me.

Reputation is perceived as a dark album, when in reality it’s truly about finding love amongst all the noise. This album, and Taylor and Joe’s story, taught me what true love actually is, and Ethan and MC cemented that. This album and these two couples (quite literally) saved my life.

The most beautiful part about both these relationships is that even though they never showed it openly, for the sake of their relationships, both Ethan(in the story) and Joe stood by the side of the one’s they loved, despite half of the people who they knew hating on them, or betraying them. And I think that’s what’s truly important. Forming a true relationship like that, be it platonic or romantic, is long lasting, and I hope everyone finds those kind of people to fill their hearts with. Sending much love, and sorry for being a huge sap😅💙

Tagging a couple of my Swiftie homies: @swiftlydarcy @nikki-2406 @dxnicaramsey @kaavyaethanramsey @caseyvalentineramsey @drariellevalentine @justanotherrookie

#open heart #open heart second year #dr ethan ramsey x mc #ethan jonah ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #mercy goes nuts #happy three years of Reputation🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤#ethan ramsey

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angsty-nerd · 3 years ago

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Oh hey… I did this meme back last Saturday and finished writing it up riiiiight before the Comic Con panel, which seemed like a bad time to post it, so I decided to hold off. Then I went out of town with the family, scattered my dad’s ashes, played with my niece Max (yes, I know…), did some fandom work, did some real life job work….and I just remembered that I never posted! I was tagged by @suzteel and by @theredandwhitequeen AND by @daughterofelros so, thanks y’all! I do so love doing these things!

Shuffle, 10 songs, yaddah yaddah… I don’t tag, which is funny since I love being tagged, but like, I think everyone already did it and if you haven’t been tagged, consider this your tag.

1. Six Weeks - Of Monsters and Men

I just love OMaM... Their music sounds like the mountains to me. Especially the first two albums. I remember about a decade or so ago I was driving around Olympic National Park with my ex-best friend, and this album was all we wanted to listen to. I still have to pop it on during the good view parts of road trips. 💚💛

2. School Night - Ani DiFranco

I never went through an Ani phase in the 90s like most of my camp friends. Listening to her was like...one of those things I always meant to do and never got around to. And I still have quite a bit of education left to go when it comes to Ani. But thanks to RNM's The Diner I finally dove in. And some of these lyrics just absolutely kill me:

and you'll never know, dear, just how much i loved you

you probably think this was just my big excuse

but i stand committed to a love that came before you

and the fact that i adore you is just one of my truths

3. Hang - Matchbox Twenty

@tasyfa can reinforce how long I've just been stupid for MB20. In the early 2000s they were my #1. Well, them and the Indigo Girls, of course. But this isn't about them. This is about how the thing about MB20 is that it's NOT all about the singles. The radio tracks are good, but they get old. It's songs like this that have the lasting impact and kept me coming back to MB20 for years and years. This was the closing song on their debut album and I'm still listening to it all these years later, because it just gives me FEELS.

Speaking of feels…

4. Easy - Demi Lovato

This one is @suzteel’s fault. I don't listen to Demi Lovato. Like at all. But her Echo gif set based on this song ripped my soul into pieces, so now I listen to it. 💔 Go check it out here:

5. Hide - Little May

Y'all know why. I just thought musically and intensity wise, this was one of the best scenes of S2. Definitely one of my Top 5 songs from S2.

6. Ain't Gonna Drown - Elle King

I just love her. I haven't listened to her second album as much as the first, admittedly, but I just love the contrast between earthy, Americana songs like this one and then a more modern femme power ballad like America's Sweetheart.

7. What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie

This song is SO beautiful and SO painful and hard to listen to. I'm actually struggling to listen to it right now. For…reasons. In case you don't know, what Sarah said: "Love is watching someone die." 😭

Okay shuffle...

8. Do You Remember - Chance the Rapper (feat. death cab)

It's just really good. Full of childhood nostalgia and pop culture references and positivity and love. I'm super into it. It makes me smile.

9. Love Me Like you Used To - Lord Huron

Lord Huron is one of three bands that were basically my pandemic soundtrack, so the fact that they've got a new album out right now is stellar. This is one of a handful of earthy Americana tracks that just really fits my current moody aesthetic. Also, I have tickets to see them in Oct. Can't wait.

10. August - Taylor Swift

I just love this song. The unrequited teenage angst pining thing will always work for me because I relate to it so stupid much. (hellooo Max Evans in every form). I'm not sure I've ever heard song lyrics that more directly and accurately captured that feeling that I was used to as a teenage:

Back when we were still changing for the better

Wanting was enough

For me it was enough

To live for the hope of it all

Bonus track…which I can’t link properly because, Tumblr. 🙄

Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley

https://open.spotify.com/track/4yY8JqTOQyi7K4O1QcQtBG?si=-WQEu1dZRAGJpEaakitXfA&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1

I don't know why I just remembered this, but Carina was listening to this while writing RNM season 2. I remember her tweeting about it. And it just gave me thinky thought about Max and Liz's 2b arc. Sigh… 😕

#Spotify #feeling the feels #music of my soul #rnm music #echo #real life #music memes

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westernchords · 4 years ago

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2020: a replay & reflection

so... here we are at the near end of a very long, unsettling & strange year. and at this particular moment in time, spotify has released its 2020 wrapped feature, an annual highlight for gay people everywhere (self VERY included). since the world is very large & this is a personal blog with a limited scope, i'll talk about what i know best: the view from my corner of the musical world.

i only had two songs in common with any previous year -- i wish i missed my ex by mahalia & sugar by brockhampton (... i know, the heartache is loud already,)

4 unique rain asmr audios made it into my top 15 (they help me sleep lolol)

show tunes was my #4 most listened to genre and yet not a single one made it into my top 100. (i'm pretty sure it was all of my late night waitress sing alongs)

i discovered 1,012 new artists and 162 new genres

all very fun and interesting things! however, in looking at this year, there are two things to discuss that are most important: the amount of time i spent listening to music (111,989 minutes) and my top song, fake mona lisa. let's discuss both.

on time: in short, music means a lot to me. in long, i mean that music has been central to my life for as long as i can remember. i think of my church choir and my mother singing eartha kitt and corrine bailey rae in the kitchen, my father's surprise talents at piano when he would play in chapel, and how i like to make up little ditties to sing for my dog or while i cook or to solely entertain myself. if one was to take a look at my journals, each entry is annotated with the song i was listening to or suited my mood at the time i was writing. at any moment, i am capable of revisiting the emotional landscape of old memories all set to the very soundtrack that holds that particular past closest.

i still remember plucking violin strings at 5, how i used to stack music books so i could sit up straight on my piano bench because i was too short at 7, picking up woodwinds in highschool and letting my best friend act as conductor, and now, singing endlessly- day in and day out, because it makes me feel like i am traveling home. i think of creole folk songs that connect me to my family, my diaspora. i remember the favorite songs and artists of people i don't know anymore, but still. it stays with me. my friend cj says i have a great emotional sensitivity to music, but more so, music simply connects to every cornerstone of who i am. the creation of it, the listening, the love of it. the constancy.

music is integral to my daily routine and life. since i was 13, maybe younger, i have always believed that the first song i hear in a day sets the tone so i always try to play something i love and makes me feel joyful to start off on the right foot. i will do this my entire life. every day is permeated by sound and the data shows it. 111,989 minutes is almost 3 months straight. this doesn't even count soundcloud listens or youtube tracks or music i play on my own. this felt fitting. music, this year in particular, has been a salve to both new and old hurt. and maybe i am picking at my scabs, but 2020 has amplified so much anger and shame and fear and despite that, there is so much joy in art. music is a balm for the world, it is poetry in its own right.

on fake mona lisa: so .. i am kind of obsessed with this song. fifteen hours worth of listening, i text my friends i'll join the video call soon - i just need one more replay, i got high and played this song while lying in the middle of a meadow and experienced more emotions than i had had in a very long time, my friends lovingly tease me about it so it's sort of like a character trait now, kind of obsessed. my turning to this song was the sort of romance that i didn't anticipate, but fell very hard into and, if you know me, you know that's my favorite kind. let's get into why: when dedicated side b came out, i was heartbroken. there's really no other way to put it. i was alone, back in my childhood bedroom, and harboring a reopened wound from past relationships that maybe had never closed in the first place. i was in this strange, melancholic knee-deep-in-emotions place & if you're an avid CRJ fan, you recognize that's a place she knows and sings about well.

as a song, fake mona lisa tends to be one of carly's more lyrically opaque tracks. which is fine, i'm a storyteller at heart, i'll craft my own narrative. (and honestly, there wasn't much legwork here.) without doing a full blown analysis, here are pieces that i find important to note about the song lyrically and resonate most with me -- big or small.

(transcription at bottom)

what i'm basically saying is that this song is about risk and young love and sex. its about secrets, cheap thrills, fast & easy desires, and the fantastical euphoria of a dead-end-but-still-fun “we're young so what's the matter,“ relationship. (very reminiscent of LA hallucinations, imo) and to me, someone who has been in and out of this same subset of emotional affairs, fake mona lisa stuck with me. vegas is a city of high risk, high reward- where else to chase that superficial, unattainable someone? more so, the song gives you the understanding that the relationship doesn't last, but that was not what carly ever truly wanted out of it. fake mona lisa is, at its core, about over indulgence in pleasure as a stand in for actual love + commitment, something i am oft to do myself & only did more of after dedicated side b dropped. i latched onto the slow and simmering exposition into glittery pre-chorus, starlit imagery, shiny-faraway vocals, and frankly, there was no competition for my song of the year. the song is a dream. i love it and i know what that says about me, but i stand by it.

dedicated side b, especially fake mona lisa, carried me through the healing process of heartbreaks that crystallized into many other things- indulgence, desire, risk, short lived romances, secrets, joy, kisses i should've kept to myself, spontaneous dance breaks, tears, etc., it is an album about love, recovery, and returning to the self. fake mona lisa is just my favorite stop on a long train ride to an okay-ness with aspects of romance (both with the self and others) that i am still figuring out the messy, rose-tinted, contours of.

and sonically? i just adore the key of d minor.

as a last touch point, fake mona lisa was only the tip of the iceberg of songs i obsessed over about not-exactly-ideal romances. again and again and again, heartbreak anthems appeared in my top 100, a deviation from my typical warmth towards romantic sentiments that appeared in past years. instead, there is a sense of love-at-a-distance, a painting yourself as the object of desire, a severed attachment, a not wanting to commit at all (see let's be friends, heartbeat, want you in my room, all by crj ... all appearing on the list.) however, much of what appeared celebrated love and having tremendous, special, struck by cupid, feelings. it's all there. what i'm saying is that carly rae jepsen writes music for lovestruck people- both lucky and not so much, hopeless or hopeful -- you name it. she writes about how you can fall in love with almost anyone, soundtracks for the highs of the first throes of intimacy, the first (and last) kiss, the shared moments between two people when they are each other's whole world, and the palpable distance of heartache, separation, and the landscape between.

she writes as though she is both eros and psyche, armed with arrows of cascading melodies, tipped with a salve for suppressing+healing+amplifying heartbreak, and lyrics so intimate and dreamy, you really can't help but believe in love with the way she speaks of it. love is a venture from shame, a fantasy that is more real than anything else, tender and kind, pleasurable, and escapable into. the world is better in it, the world is better because of it. in carly rae jepsen's discography, love is the defining pillar of experience. a northern star and guiding principle. it is the only thing, no matter what form. & frankly? i cant help but agree.

as a final note, in hanif wills-abdurraqib's emotion review for MTV, carly rae jepsen's public displays of affection, he says this:

thats all for now. bye 2020.

- august

///

transcription of my notes:

verse 1:

city/star light imagery

i am known for wearing a star stamp on my cheek

infatuation & attraction

paints a photo of a starlet and her lover, a fair weather affair

pre-chorus:

always waiting fro a chance the object of desire

a high from love, addictive pleasures

chorus:

sex & art & risk taking (art synonymous with beauty. + seduction)

she knows she cant handle this in a real way, but wants it

desire vs/& (in conjunction with) pain

verse 2:

an idealistic worldview, hoping for the best, always somewhere else not present.

dreamy lyrics + dreamy state of mind, cloudy even.

specifically the words fake mona lisa:

contrast, beautiful yet fully acknowledged to be unreal/superficial

a stand in for “real art“ aka “real love“

#crj #mine

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familiarvulpes · 5 years ago

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Tool - Fear Inoculum Album Review

It feels good to review albums again. I reviewed albums last year for about six months but it just became too much trying to juggle everything with personal life and day job and writing songs for the channel and creating stuff for the second channel. But now instead of doing video reviews, I can do blog reviews. To be honest I don’t know why I did not think of this sooner. Album reviews will be about once a month. If I am feeling giddy then maybe two. Another good thing with doing reviews through this blog is I can spend more time on each album talk about it more and give more thought to each review. Like before with the reviews that were on the YouTube channel. Each album will get a score between one and ten. The higher the score, the more I enjoyed the album. It is just a number on how much I enjoyed it. It is just an opinion. One thing I am going to add is that in these reviews here on the blog, I will go track by track and talk about each one specifically.

The first album I am going to review or talk about is the brand new album from Tool “Fear Inoculum.” The first time I heard Tool is a toss up because I can't really remember. It was either on the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. It had three songs from them. “Vicarious” “Parabola” and “Schism.” The other time that it could have been the first time I heard Tool is when in high school I was in the car with my band mates and he played Tool. I believe it was Sober. Either one of those two were the first time but ever since then, I have been obsessed with them. They are the reason I make the music I do. I never knew you could make with dark spin and a hint of ambiance. Unfortunately, by the time I discovered them it was after “10,000 Days.” If you are a Tool fan then you know that is a horrible time to become a fan because it would be 13 years before any new music would come out. I am not going to talk about each time there was a rumor on the internet buring the span or the lawsuits had to deal with during that time. All I want to talk about is the new album.

The first time I listened to the album in full, I was in complete silence and in awe. You can say I was fangirling, I don't care. I love this album. The fillers I am not the biggest fan of but the songs themselves are amazing. You know you are doing something right when you right a ten minute song and it goes to number one on the billboard top 100. My personal favorite on the album is “Culling Voices.” It is the calmer one of the main songs and the lead vocals just make the song. Maynard James Keenan and his haunting voice makes this album very special. I love the album. The wait is worth it. I know people complain about it. I knew once it came out that people would have a problem with it. When you wait 13 years to release an album, there will always be people who expect way too much. I knew that when this would come out that people would feel underwhelmed. This album has become almost a deity with all its rumors and hearsay. Number one rule in life. Don’t try to make other people happy. You can’t make everyone happy. That doesn’t mean be rude to everyone but do things that benefit you. Now onto the songs.

Fear Inoculum

The First song on the album, and the single, opens up with your classic Tool ambiance. From faded in and out guitars that pan left to right , which is a good touch, to the drums and synths from the incredibly talented Danny Carey. After a while the bass comes in. What brought me to love Tool is the bass riffs. They play bass like a guitar which gives them part of their sound I believe. If you would ask me what is the heart of Tool music, I would say the bass. I know not a lot of people would agree with me but I can not think of another rock band has the bass guitar be so unique. Most of the time the bassist is just playing the root notes of what the guitarist is playing. But with Tool, the bass gives something more to the songs. Then Maynard James Keenan comes with the vocals. His vocals on not just this one but all of the songs sound amazing. The vocals are crisp and clear and just the overall tone of his voice is beautiful. The word inoculum I had to look up and it turns out Maynard talked about ‘inoculating’ in an interview about his wine making business. This interview was like three four years ago. The title was right in front of us for so long and yet we were looking for some weird spiritual things. No, its a wine making things, at least I think. I am not the greatest at grammer. Worst subject in school. At one point Mayrd does this whisper type of vocals and goes right into singing. The melody during the ‘chorus’, I was not expecting. Do not get me wrong, it was a pleasant surprise. Then after a whole the bridge hits and it is classic Tool. Almost dissonant guitars with punchy bass riffs. It calms down with the whole band with Maynard doing a very eerie vocal performance. The next vocal part is chant like. This song just goes into one thing after another. The transitions between are performed smoothly and precise which I expect no less from these guys. Then at the end of the songs everything picks up and gets heavier. At times it sounds like there are two drummers but in fact just one drums with 42 arms. I don’t know how the guy does it. You also have a guitar solo that sounds similar to something you would hear on 10,000 days. Then the very end is just guitars and crazy drums. I love this song. I think it is the perfect single for the album because it is the ‘catchiest’ on the whole thing.

Pheuma

The second song on the album is called “Pneuma.” This might be the most “Toolest” title ever because the word pneuma means the spirit or soul of a person. The song starts with a guitar riff that is kind of hard to explain. It is unique but hard to explain. Then the drums come and play some complicated groove that I am not going to even try to count because I am bad at math. Then it fades out to a bass riff that is in an odd time signature with a delay effect so the whole thing so far is in classic Tool fashion with being in an odd time signature. The guitar joins the bass in the same groove with a delay affect so it gives it a more spacey vibe to the riff. Then the Maynard comes in and the song officially starts. This song also has some chanting like parts from Maynard which is a theme in the album so far. I can only imagine what it is like live. After the chanting it goes into open chords and drums fills and just a huge sound. The quality on this record just surprises me every time how clear and crisp it is. The song continues a little while instrumentally and then goes back in the chanting like vocals with a little bit different guitar. This song is much more trippy and spacey than “Fear Inoculum.” It continues the pattern so far for quite a while. For some, I could see that being a turn off but I enjoy mainly because I love the sound to begin with but I can see why people would say that the record is too repetitive. I think it is meant to be repetitive because I have always seen Tool as a band that make music for meditation and it is hard to meditate to a three minute song. After several rounds of the same thing it breaks to just bass and what I think are bongos but I could be wrong. Then Synths come into the mix. That is another thing I believe they added more of than the previous releases is synths. I have noticed that synths are making a comeback, especially analog or modular. They’re just fun toys and super easy to make trippy music with. The song has a solo that sounds like a Tool solo. That is one thing about the solo’s is that once you hear you can instantly know who plays it. After the solo, it goes into a super heavy riff that is one of my favorites in the album. It is almost like a breakdown. The guitar tones rip through the mix in the best way possible and then song goes back into the chanting like vocals with the whole band just going crazy. The whole song explodes at the end. This song is becoming the fans favorite one I can see why because it has all the classic Tool characteristics but more. The song slowly fades out with instruments. My favorite thing of the song is the bass and delay effects. I am a huge nerd for delay effects and reverb so anytime I hear stuff like this I just love it.

Litanie contre la Peur

This is the first filler song for the digital album. Funny story about this song. First off you have to know what it sounds like. It is this super creepy synth that fades in slowly. The sound is very disheartening and creepy. One night at 4 in the morning, myc at apparently got on my computer keyboard and hit the play button and this song is the song that played. I was so freaked out. I thought the raptured happened or aliens invaded or a ghost with a broken flute was haunting me but it was just my silly cat. The song is ok. Like I said before, I am not the biggest fan of the fillers. I just am not sure why they put them in. If it was to make the album more than ten songs then ok maybe I understand. It is just ok this one. But lesson learned. Don’t have your cat walk on your computer keyboard.

Invincible

This is one is to me the best song lyrical on the album. It starts with a sweet guitar riff. It goes on for a bit but there are some changes in the riff so it is not the same thing over and over. Then the bongo whatever things come in and then Maynard starts singing. Like I said before, the lyrics on this one are amazing to me. From what I got from it is a person struggling to stay relevant, which is kind of the theme on the whole record but this song really hits the nail on the head on that theme. Then after a while a break happens with another Tool bass riff with a delay affect on it and goes back into Maynard singing. Just like before but without guitar and a more of a focus on the bass. After a little bit, the guitar comes back and whole the whole bands plays this trippy whatever you call it. One thing about this song is the chugging is real in this one and yet still has parts of ambiance in it. Like the ones before, the transitions are smooth and clean. For about the first half of the song they kind of repeat the riffs and parts but add little differences to them. Pretty much you are going to hear something different every time you listen to it. Around the six minute mark there is the first breakdown. Again the tones are monster. The breakdown does not last long but later in the song, they make sure to properly do a breakdown. It is kind of weird to talk about and the usage of breakdowns but they do great at them I think. Around the seven minute mark, it cuts to what is almost a different song or a different tempo. Super trippy and psychedelic. Then goes into a very tribal chugging part. It sounds like something you would hear from a tribe like thousands of years ago that is about to go to war or sacrifice some goat or fish or something. Maynard adds some vocals in this part with some effects on his vocals. I am not sure what the effect is though. The tribal chugging continues for a bit then breaks into super heavy chugging even though it's the same riff. It is just really heavy. Only complaint about this super heavy thing is that it does go for a long time. I would’ve liked to hear some ambient stuff or something different as the breakdown went along. Then all of the sudden when you think the song is over the whole band comes back in with a killer riff and picks up the tempo a little bit. The end of the song, the whole band just jams out and does what Tool does best. I love this song especially the lyrics on it.

Legion Inoculant

This is the second filler. More ambient-synth stuff. It is border-line noise music. You hear some vocals from Maynard from songs on this album. This is my favorite filler on the album because I do love noise/drone music.

Descending

This one the band has been playing bits and pieces of for a couples before the release of the album. It starts off with ambient noise and then comes in a bass riff with what sounds like a phaser or chorus effect. This riff is the riff they played at shows before the release of the album. Not long after the riff starts Maynard starts to sing. The songs start off very calm and hypnotic like but you can already tell it is in an odd time signatures. This song is more ambient than the others and somewhat chiller than the others. I am not saying that is a bad thing at all. Sometimes you gotta chill and relax and not listen to constant tribal chugging. Around the five minute mark, things pick up and up, not much and then the guitar and bass ring out to start with chugging on the guitar and the bass riff that was in the beginning of the song. This song so far is just one big build up. The part in the song where Maynard sings loudly “Stay Alive” is just so haunting. Around right before the seven minute mark the band goes into a massive jam session with Danny Carey just destroying the toms and the bass and guitar sounding massive. Adam Jones goes into a solo that just Tool. One thing I did not expect was the harmonizing on the guitar during the solo which I thought was a very nice touch. Then the ambiance comes back with the guitars fading in and out and the same bass riff that was in the beginning of the song. The jamming comes back in the while the band and you almost forget you’re listening to a song because it puts you into a trance, at least it did to me. Then another solo comes in and Danny Carey is just destroying the drums. This song just has so much in it. I think over half the song is instrumental and if you know me, I love that. The song just ends with the band going crazy. There is not much more to say about it that that.

Culling Voices

This song is hands down my favorite. It starts off with some sweet ambient noise and goes into a beautiful guitar riff. Maynard comes shortly after. What I like about this song is the vocals and melodies. That are so haunting and hit so hard. The song itself so almost creepy it is so haunting and I love it. This is actually, when it comes to songs, is the shortest at ten minutes and five seconds. Says a lot about the album when the shortest actually song is over ten minutes. My favorite part of the song is when Maynard sings “Don’t you dare point that at me.” I don’t know why I love it but I do. Maybe it is the style of singing he is doing or maybe it hits with me personally. I don’t know. I just love it. The guitars for most of the beginning of the song remind of a post rock band. It could easily be mistaken for a post rock band like God is an Astronaut or Russian Circles if you added more reverb to it. After a while the bass comes in with its own riff and of course sounds amazing. Around the six minute mark, you can tell the song is slowly starting to pick up. As Maynard sings “Don’t You Dare Point That At Me,” The song grows and explodes with full band just going crazy. Even Maynard after a while pretty much screams it in like a whisper cream. The song has a little break near the end but of course picks back up with another jam. This album is full of jams. Every now and then on the internet you will see a person ask for an instrumental album from Tool. There are plenty of instrumental parts on this album that will suffice their fancy. This song is great, I love it. It is my favorite it and I don’t feel like it is talked about enough.

Chocolate Chip Trip

This is my least favorite thing on the album. The synths I do not care but this is just a drum solo. I Know Danny carey is a monster of a drummer but the synths on this just ruin it for me.

7empest

The Longest song on the album. Clocking in at almost sixteen minutes. It starts with a guitar intro that similar to ones throughout the album but then goes into a riff that sounds like it could be on a Tool album in the 90’s. Reminds me of chevelle almost. They said in interviews I believe that they had this riff for years and now are able to put it into a song. The song sounds like it could be on undertow. Even the vocals and melodies sound like undertow. Out of all the albums, Undertow is my least favorite but has one of my favorite songs on it. That album to me feels like they were beginning to find their sound. Around the two minutes and forty second mark, they do a quick chugg thing then go right back into the song. Maynard’s vocals are angriest on this one when compared to the whole album. Of course it is in an odd time signature. I am not going to try to figure it out. The more you listen to the song, the more you hear other albums on it. It is ike every album into one song. The band even goes hard on this song. They let everything loose and just go insane. There are guitar solos, sweet bass riffs and insane drums throughout the whole song. The guitar solo goes for quite a while. And more impressive is that it is in an odd time signature as well which of course makes sense. At times I wish there was more singing but I am totally OK with these exteneded instrumental parts. It is hard to digest the whole song in go since it is over fifteen minutes long. Around the half way point of the song, they do this really fast guitar chugging which at first listen took me by surprise because it is just so cool. They have done riffs like that before when it is chugging pull offs but not the fast before. This song is really something else. It is a behemoth of a song because there is so much in it. I could only imagine the writing process for it. No wonder it took so many years to write the album. Around the ten minute and forty second mark they do a nasty breakdown that you can’t but help bob your head to and right after that, goes right back into a solo. Once the solo ends, you hear the guitar riff you heard at the very start of the song. It picks back up and the band goes crazy again. This song is a rollercoaster. At the end you heard that nasty breakdown with vocals for a short period and everything fades out at the end.

Mockingbeat

This is the last song on the digital version and probably the weirdest filler thing on the album. I am not sure what it is. I don’t really understand. But they put it on the album for a reason and there is probably some hidden meaning behind it but we will probably never know. Or maybe we are looking to much into it. Oh well.

Final Thoughts

The albums is a 9/10 For me. At times, I wish there was more singing and yes at times it does repeat a lot but that does not take away from the masterpiece that is this album. And now time to wait 54 years for the next Tool album.

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