#the kid a album review does not disappoint | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bubster3020 · 5 months ago

Text

ALBUM REVIEW #2 - Frailty - Jane Remover

This album was really cool, and I'm really happy I got to listen to it the way it was intended. I went into this album completely blind, not even knowing what genre it would be. While hyperpop was the last thing on my list of expectations, the record did not disappoint. It boasts awesomely creative instrumentals, quality vocals, and some really neat writing that at some points hit closer to home than I ever anticipated. The project dives into themes of being lost in the world, particularly after graduating high school, unsure about your life's trajectory and your identity. All of this culminates into an album that feels like you're partaking in the most fun and inspired downward spiral you've even encountered.

The opening track, "Goldfish," is one of the record's most relaxed songs, which both prepares you for it's lyrical contents and lulls you into thinking the rest of the album will keep the same pace. This was consciously done by Jane to cause uncertainty on what the rest of the project would sound like. It perfectly puts you in the headspace the album was written with, that being one of confusion. To contrast this, "Your Clothes" explodes with energy right from the get go, which truly sets the tone, being fast, loud, and distorted. As much as I love the idea of the first song being a bait and switch for this one, it doesn't quite stick the landing. The energy is great, but there were some odd mixing and writing choices that made me question how I would feel about the rest of the songs. The opening's guitars were too drowned out and felt quiet in comparison to the rest of the sound. This was coupled with some lyrics that felt out of place like "you're picking your berries, revenge is so sweet," which feels strangely childish compared to the rest of the record. Luckily, its only a small blemish.

Frailty is one of the most creative and innovative albums I've heard in a long time. The risks it takes are things I wouldn't even dream of doing, owing to Jane Remover's resourcefulness as an artist. This is no better demonstrated by the fact that no matter how distorted, loud, and aggressive the guitars sound, its all acoustic. Just because she didn't own an electric guitar while recording the album, Jane comes up with some of the coolest guitar tones I've ever heard on this. Songs like "Pretender" sound exactly like a heavily pitched down telecaster, yet it's just a humble acoustic and a boatload of talent. Another strong musical aspect is its usage of digital sound effects and 16-bit chiptune. Computer bleep bloops are all over the record, which aside from blending really well with the hyperactive synths and drums, creates a sense of feeling like a kid again. It feels like you're being brought back to a simpler time that you never wanted to leave, which does wonders in communicating its themes of growing up and discovering oneself.

This album keeps its themes very tight, with a clear focus on discovering your own identity and how turbulent the last few years of school can be, especially during a pandemic. Feeling like you're developmentally stunted, especially compared to your peers is a common topic, and one I personally relate to. Songs like "Champ" explore how the chaos of growth can often lead to depression because of hard it is to cope with change. The second half of the record especially feels like Jane is spiraling out of control, letting herself rot in bed as a means to cling on to whatever childhood she has left before realizing that it's not healthy to be stuck in the past. Halfway through "Eyes Off The Wheel, I'm A Star," there's an epiphany that while change is inevitable, it's not something that is inherently bad and it only hurts worse if you deny it. The album is very well balanced between both overbearing and fun songs, with the lighter and cleaner songs such as "Kodak Moment" feeling like a beacon of hope in the ocean of sadness. Despite how hopeless this project may come off as, it's ultimately a work of euphoria.

On top of everything else, this album is very well sampled and inspired, its soundscape reminding me of some Beach House records and at times even UNDERTALE's soundtrack. Even though it wears a lot of its inspiration on its sleeve, literally sampling songs from Pokémon and 3DS menu screens, it transforms them in so many unconventional ways that I am consistently blown away. There were multiple moments where I would recognize a style of music or sample and just sit there stunned because of what was going on around it. While sampling is pretty common practice in the world of EDM and hyperpop, I think Frailty not only pushes its boundaries, but smashes right through them. This record has an overabundance of creative decisions with only the odd misstep when it comes to mixing, and I think the record will only grow on me as time goes on. It beautifully explores topics of how hard life can be on the cusp of adulthood and the struggle is only worsened by both other people and yourself. The album ends with the idea that despite everything going on around you, life will work out and it will get better. No matter what, at the end of the day you're still you, and you're still living.

Favourite song: Pretender

Least favourite: Your Clothes

Score: 8/10

#music #jane remover #edm #digicore #lgbtq #review #album review #album recommendation #frailty

7 notes · View notes

cherries-in-wine · 9 months ago

Text

For some reason Tumblr won't let me edit this but another thing I'd like to add is the song writing just didn't do it for me. I genuinely think that Taylor is capable of writing beautiful lyrics and i wouldn't be so critical of ttpd if she hadn't said it's her most lyrical album. She's a great story teller even while using simple words taking folklore and Evermore for example: "all these people think our love's for show but I would die for you in secret" "I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere" "now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon" "don't want no other shade of blue but you, no other sadness in the world would do" the entire bridge of cardigan. She uses more complex words pretty well too like how illicit affairs uses clandestine and champagne problems uses crestfallen perfectly. The thing is these words feel really natural when used in folklore and evermore but ttpd feels like a pretentious kid who thinks mental asylums are an aesthetic.

A (not so) quick comparison as to what I thought ttpd would be like vs how it actually was:

In my tears ricochet (i love that song so much) Taylor sings "if I'm dead to you then why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed, look at how my tears ricochet" the use of ricochet is perfect, the tears that she cried are reflecting back as bullets and hitting the people that hurt her. Here she says "and you can aim for my heart go for blood, but you'll still miss me in your bones" here "miss me" has two meanings, that the person who's aiming for heart will miss it because there's still lingering affection or maybe they're just a coward and "miss me in your bones" also means that even though they act indifferent, they're still gonna miss her when they kill her.

In but daddy i love him, Taylor says "Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I'll never see" the rhyme is so awkward, and it just doesn't make sense in the context of the song. Sanctimoniously means making a show of being morally superior and soliloquies is essential just talking to yourself. "He was chaos, he was revelry, bedroom eyes like a remedy" maybe i wouldn't hate this so much if it was about anyone other than Matty Healy but again I just expected more from Taylor.

I don't think ttpd represents female rage either, mad woman from folklore alone was more female rage coded than the entire album.

I think swifties are justified in feeling so protective of Taylor after all the kim and Kanye shit went down and people are also justified in disliking Taylor for romanticising asylums, all her carbon emissions, not speaking up for Palestine and her dating Ratty Healy. I also think it's unfair to call everyone that criticizes Taylor someone who just hates successful women. She's done some problematic shit that does deserve criticism. But i think it's also true that some people's reasoning for hating Taylor is unfair and unjustified like how only teenage girls listen to her (not true at all) or she's a bad writer. Let's just stop shaming teenage girls for their interests and let's listen to something other than shake it off before calling her a bad writer.

About Taylor not speaking up for Palestine, I did not say that it makes her a Zionist, but the thing is that she isn't just some billionaire, she's person of the year and a really influential figure that holds a lot of power so her choosing to stay silent is very disappointing.

That's all I've got for now I'll probably add more things later. These are just my thoughts so feel free to disagree but please be respectful about it <3

#Taylor Swift #Taylor Swift analysis #folklore #Evermore #ttpd #the tortured poets department #ratty healy #anti matty healy #anti taylor swift #lyrics analysis #my tears ricochet #but daddy i love him #anti ttpd

19 notes · View notes

thenightling · 3 months ago

Text

Review of the last few episodes of Agatha All along / whole series opinion (With Spoilers)

To address a few things first. Someone has been mistaking my Facebook posts as plagiarism. My guess is they googled parts of my post and found my TheNightling Tumblr blog. Yeah... That's me. I post on more than one site. That's not plagiarism. All my words are my own except if in quotation marks and sourced. Second thing to address. Some people mistakenly think Agatha All Along is for kids because it's a Disney+ show under the Marvel banner. Let me just say that is NOT the case! Though it isn't gory like American Horror Story I would say this show was the equivalent of American Horror Story: Coven. There's death, including the literal Death incarnate / Grim Reaper. There's even the death of a child. It's not gory but it's definitely not "kiddie."

As I predicted we got a few more versions of The Witches Road song. We got the slow evolution of the song as sung by Nicolas Scratch (Agatha's Son) and a new montage version where we see Agatha luring witches to be victims of her power-draining / feeding, something Mordo was apparently originally supposed to be doing in the Doctor Strange sequel but it was dropped to make the story Wanda-centric. (No one remembers that Doctor Strange bonus scene of Mordo stealing magick?) So for those keeping score we now have nine (sort of ten or eleven) versions of The Witches Road song. 1. The Winding Road (True Crime version) 2. The Witches Road (Sacred chant version) 3. The Ballad of The Witches' Road (Lorna Wu 70s Glam version) 4. The Ballad of the Witches Road coven version (episode cut) 5. The Balled of the Witches Road coven (full album version) 6. The Witches Road instrumental version. 7. The Windy (Winding) Road / Witches Road (Nicolas Scratch version. Might count as two versions.) 8. Agatha's montage version as she tricks other witches through the centuries.

9. The Balled of The Witches' Road (Japanese Breakfast pop version). Anyway... Here we learn Agatha's backstory, or rather a fragment of it. We see her after it's been established that she preys on other witches like a vampire to feast on their power. She takes advantage of their kindness and hospitality to prey on them and teaches her young son to act as bait for kind witches. The show strategically hides from us who Nicky's father is. It is easy to say "We don't need to know, he's not important." but is something to be curious about. Apparently his father's identity is still a secret in the comics too. (I just checked. I had thought his father might be Mephisto, the demon from the Faust legend who is running around in Marvel.)

Agatha does under-go a redemption arc but it's not as big of one as I'd hoped. It takes a reminder of her son for her to sacrifice herself for Billy (Wiccan). I wonder what Billy told "his" (actually William's) parents when he showed up a day late and bloodied. Survived an attempted mugging? Jumped by bullies? How do you explain that without freaking them out? You know he can never tell them he's not their original son, that William died in the car accident and he jumped into the empty body. They'd disown him if they believed him. (At least most people would but you'd wish they wouldn't.) Now we come to the one thing I did not like about the show. I do NOT like that The Witches Road was manifested entirely from Billy's mind based on things in his bedroom ala Sarah in Jim Henson's Labyrinth. I saw the clues but was sort of hoping that The Witches' Road was real and just using Billy's mind to shape itself according to this particular coven and that it was Billy's power that opened the way. The idea that Billy created it entirely out of a con is very disappointing to me. We didn't need a second WandaVision "twist." I'd have been much happier if The Witches' Road was something ancient and primal and Billy just opened the way and so it tapped into his mind and manifested from his mind.

My second big complaint about Agatha All along was the notion that Agatha didn't realize she was the one who bound Jen. I know. I know, she could be playing dumb, but it was Agatha giving a reaction indicating that she just realized it- that lead to Jen figuring it out. But here's the thing. How do you cast a binding spell (for pay) roughly around the time a well-known witch is mysteriously bound and you already know roughly when she was bound, and you never consider you might have been the one to do it?!?? This version of Agatha Harkness is, in my opinion, very Dracula-esque. Not the archetype or literary Dracula but Marvel's Dracula. If you've read Tomb of Dracula you may know what I mean. A morally very grey character who is still capable of love and grief. And feeds on innocent victims... Since Agatha obviously isn't strictly lesbian... I'd ship it. Agatha and Dracula. (See the song Rapping with The Witch. It's a song about a wicked Witch's affair with Dracula.) I do like that Agatha returned as a ghost though. She died and came back as a sassy advisor ghost in the 90s (I think) comics. It reminds me a bit of Bob in The Dresden Files (TV show version, not the novels. I know, I know, it's not the same). I'm glad that this show at least established that Death incarnate is real in Marvel, witches are real, (though I hated the term "Analog magick.") and I do like Agatha back as a ghost buuuut I'm nervous about how they'll handle her ghostliness here on out. And this version of Death is no Death of The Endless from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Like Death of The Endless she is just fulfilling her function in the natural order of things but she's a bit of a b-tch about it. Will Marvel chicken out about Agatha being a ghost and say her consciousness is being fed into the mushrooms and manifesting a corporeal form for her still active brain? Will Marvel claim she's just an extension of Billy's subconscious / dark side? Will they reveal she's something else or someone else entirely? I'm nervous and don't trust Marvel to let a ghost be a ghost. Also it's funny that they say Agatha named him Nicolas Scratch because he's not made from magick, he was made "from scratch" when I thought he was named after "Old Scratch" or "Mr. Scratch" which is an old nickname for The Devil.

I do love that Agatha now has the silver hair of her comic book counter part's original incarnation though. And I am glad this seems to tease the story will continue with Billy and Agatha. I'm curious to know what will come next. I do miss her recently deceased coven though, I liked them. So in general I loved the show but I am disappointed that The Witches' Road isn't some primal entity manifesting a location based on their minds and thoughts but instead is just from Billy's subconscious... period. They could have had so much fun with the mystery of who or what really created the road centuries upon centuries ago. And I'm nervous about how the show will handle Agatha The Ghost or if they'll let her BE a ghost.

#Agatha All Along #Marvel #MCU #Marvel Cinematic Universe

5 notes · View notes

amplifyme · 1 year ago

Text

Fannish Year Review - 2023

1. Your main fandom of the year: The X-Files, Beauty and the Beast 1987, A Song of Ice and Fire (specifically SanSan). Can't narrow it down to one.

2. Your favorite film this year: Barbie. America Ferrara's monologue on the rules women are expected to follow made me laugh and then sob. Been there, trying my best to no longer do that.

You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people.

You have to answer for men's bad behavior, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.

But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful.

You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.

3. Your favorite book this year: Wayward, Chuck Wendig's sequel to Wanderers. Read these! Chuck is the modern day old-school Stephen King. Not to be missed.

4. Your favorite album or song this year: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's Weathervanes. Every album these guys put out is better than the last, and they're all superb. Jason Isbell's lyrics are always a revelation. Best songwriter of his generation.

5. Your favorite TV shows this year: The Last of Us. Humanity and inhumanity all wrapped up into a heartbreaking and uplifting package. Best show of the year. Long, Long Time will live with me forever.

6. Your favorite Tumblr community this year: Don't have one. I love all the different 'verses I move within.

7. Your best new fandom discovery of the year: That's hard to say, what with the age of my favorite fandoms. They're all getting on in years, which makes new discoveries rare.

8. Your biggest fandom disappointment of the year: None, really. Well, maybe the weirdness of the SanSan fics I've seen posted lately. Hopefully that will soon pass.

9. Your TV/movie boyfriend of the year: Gotta go with Vincent from Beauty and the Beast. He never disappoints. And everything he does and why he does it is the epitome of what it is to be human. And to be alive. 🥰

10. Your TV/movie girlfriend of the year: Weird Barbie. She is me.

11. Your biggest squee moment of the year: Introducing @randomfoggytiger to the BATB universe through Nan Dibble's writing, and soon after that the show itself, and her getting it. Best feeling in the world, to bring a new fan into the fold.

I'm tagging @randomfoggytiger @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly @kateofthecanals @storybycorey @baronessblixen @littlefeatherr @enigmaticxbee @xxsksxxx @lilydalexf @ladytp @daisies-cats-and-spacemen @musingsofaquietmind @settle-down-frohike

No pressure. Only play if you want to.

#fannish year review 2023 #about me

12 notes · View notes

taintedcigs · 1 year ago

Text

1989 tv review, vault track rankings, my ratings and overall thoughts:

Welcome to New York — okay i honestly can’t believe I hold myself off and started w this. always thought this was a great opener and HONESTLY sounds really close w the og. I LOVE the production, not my fav song on the album though lol, 8/10

Blank Space — THIS SOUNDS SO CRISP OH MY GOD. there's something different from the og BUT I LOVE IT. 9/10

Style — THIS ALSO SOUNDS SO CRISP TOO. god i love the maturity in her voice SO GODDAMN MUCH. always will be one of my favs on this album. YOU GOT THAT!! JAMES DEAN!! DAYDREAM!! LOOK IN YOUR EYE!! just perfect. 9/10

Out of the Woods — the intro is a bit disappointing but this is one of my fav songs on this album SO I WILL LET IT SLIDE!! "OH I REMEMBER" is scratched into my brain FOREVER. 9/10

All You Had To Do Was Stay — THIS ONE SURPRISED ME SO BAD. I KNOW THIS SONG IS UNDERRATED BUT MY GOD THIS ONE IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN OG 10/10.

Shake it Off — serotonin. just makes me so goddamnn happy, THE UPDATED LAUGH IS SOO CUTE I LUV HER. so much better than og, like i swear im a shake it off fan despite not caring that much before LMAO.

I Wish You Would — OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I WILL SAY ABOUT JACK ANTONOFF AND THE PRODUCTION AT THE END (sorry). THIS IS SO GOOD. STOLEN VERSION DOES NOT EXIST, THATS HOW GOOD IT IS. 9.5/10

Bad Blood — the intro to this SONG is so different. KINDA Neutral about it but the whole song sounds very different !!1 8/10

Wildest Dreams — honestly i skipped bc ive been listening to this one for months anyway IM SORRY. but still 10/10 ofc !!!

How You Get The Girl — ALWAYS ONE OF M Y FAV SONGS. POP PERFECTION. just so FUCKING GOOD AND TV IS PERFECT. GOD TAYLOORRR ILY FOR THIS ONE. (also im thinking a steve fic for this? sorry i have to mesh my two hobbies together im insane) 10/10

This Love — also SKIPPED IM SORRYYY SUCH A GOOD SONG AND IVE BEEN LISTENING TO IT FOR MONTHS ALREADYY !!!

I Know Places — OH MY GOD SO PERFECT THIS IS MY TOP 3 ON 1989 AND... IM IN AWE... the GROWL (lmao) in and we run is PERFECTTT. god so good 10/10

Clean — 10/10. no words. im actually kind of sobbing. just makes me SO sad but relax. such a bittersweet song and i still think about the secret message for this song. "She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything." forever engraved in my BRAIN.

Wonderland — WONDERLAND TV AFTER CLEAN HITS SO WELL ALSO ONE OF MY FAAVOOORIES. "didn't you flash your GREEN eyes at me?" GEEEENNIUUUS! the OOOHHH hit so well. guys i just... so good. 10/10

You Are In Love — guys HOENSTLY SO GOOD. but im gonna keep this one short even tho this is also one of my favs img etting so impatient for vault tracks. 10/10 masterpiece im not kidding.

New Romantics — BABY WE'RE THE NEW ROMANTICS. COME ON, COME ALONG WITH MEEE. HEARTBREAK IS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM, WE SING IT PROUDLYYY. another pop perfection. the production sounds so good in these deluxe songs omfg. 10/10 GUYS IM SO IMPATIEN T BYE IM GONNA LISTEN TO SLUT! OH MYG DO

Slut! — "if they call me a slut you know it might be worth it for once" OH MY GDO??? I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE ABOUT SLUT-SHAMING BUT BLONDIE JUST WENT THERE AND MADE IT A LOVE SONG LMAOO I LOVE HER 9/10

Say Don't Go — im sobbing, ugly crying. and screaming. say "don't go", i would stay forever if you say, "don't go" OH MY GOD IM IN TEARS 10/10

Now That We Don't Talk — "I cannot bе your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost. And what it cost, now that we don't talk" OH MY GOD??? even tho its so SHORT IT HITS SO GOOD HELP ME." And the only way back to my dignity Was to turn into a shrouded mystery" JUST FDUCKING CRAZYYY?? 9/10

Suburband Legends — OKAY THIS IS SO MIDNIGHTS CODED OMFG? the production sounds so mUCH like mastermind and i love that song. "And you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever" she just gets me!!! 9/10

Is It Over Now? — "Oh, Lord, I think about jumpin' Off of very tall somethings" OH MY FUCKING GOD???? shes so bella swan coded. IM CRYING SHES SO RELATABLE AND I THINK THIS ONE IS MY FAVORITE OH MY GOD. 10/10

IM STILL TRYING TO PROCESS IT WHAT THE FUCK BUT OKAY MY RANKING FOR THE VAULTS:

Is It Over Now? OH MY GOD. SHE WAS SO CRAZY FOR THIS. THE LYRICS?? I HAVE TO LISTEN 2-3 MORE TIMES TO FULLY PROCESS IT. WHAT THE FUCK SO FUCKING GOOD.

Say Don't Go. ALSO?? IM SOBBING?? SO FUCKING GOOOD??

Suburban Legends. I LOVE THIS ONE SM SO MIDNIGHTS CODED.

Slut! ALSO REALLY GOOD. NOT WHAT I EXPECTED AT ALL. A LOVE SONG?? TAYLOR SWIFT YOU ARE A CRAZY GENIUS.

5. Now That We Don't Talk. I LIKED THIS ONE AS WELL. JUST NOT AS MUCH AS THE OTHERS.

OVERALL; I think this is BY FAR my favorite re-recording. I love all of them with my entire heart but THIS ONE IS JUST SO SPECIAL AND IMM SOOO HAPPY TAYLOR FINALLY OWNS IT. JUST A MASTERPIECE. my only ONLY problem is some of the production in some of the songs. i loved the changes. and I LOVE what she did. and I LOVE JACK ANTONOFF FOR GIVING US AMAZING SONGS. but the production sounds a bit off in these songs :(( i think max martin and shellback should've also produced more of them. BUT LIKE I SAID. it has a new vibe and I LOVE IT. (i still think we shouldn't JUST have him on other projects but that is another topic) anyway 10/10 IM STILL SHAKING.

#em talks #taylor swift #1989 tv

17 notes · View notes

fantastickkay · 9 months ago

Text

Album Review of the Week: Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas (1964)

As Beatlemania began its meteoric ascent to the top of the charts, Elvis continued his now humdrum routine of churning out 2-3 movies per year. However, Viva Las Vegas is one of his best films! It also costars Ann-Margret who has recently begun burning up the movie scene, her breakout role in Bye Bye Birdie being just a year earlier. Their chemistry was palpable, but I am not really here to review movies - at least not yet!

I have the CD reissue, which may be a bit different than the original tracklist. Here, we start with the titular - iconic - tune, Viva Las Vegas. It has a fast, rotating, bossa nova beat to get your shoulders shaking and the lyrics invoke the very feeling of walking the Vegas strip! If you see it once, you'll never be the same again. And how! My mom literally goes there 4 times a year, I go about every other year with her. I especially love his vocal delivery here and there when he gives a little growl to add some sass. Very well done track, especially among the quality he was given at the time!

Next, we have a cover of What'd I Say. This is a fantastic dance track as well, the scene in the movie is a lot of fun! His vocals are not quite as strong here, but a fun cover nonetheless.

If You Think I Don't Need You is a song that is often playing in my head. I love the fast vocal delivery, the melody is tons of fun and it gets you bopping which is always a good time.

I Need Somebody To Lean On is our first ballad, it's movie scene has some amazing colorful lighting to set the melancholy mood. Elvis does a fantastic job delivering the emotion. He sings it soft and morose and simply sounds really great.

We're back on the dance floor with C'mon Everybody! We have a call and response, instruction kind of song as the verses give a Simon Says vibe. I love the lyric "Well, there ain't nothing wrong with the long-haired music /Like Brahms, Beethoven, and Bach /Well, I was raised with a guitar in my hand /And I was born to rock". A surprisingly biographical tune as his movie character is a waiter by day and race car driver by night, not a rock star as he is in real life!

Today, Tomorrow and Forever is a snoozy ballad but Elvis' voice is luscious enough to keep you interested! Still, it is not much more than your standard movie track to force the romance along.

Night Life is a saucy number, a darker sexier version of Viva Las Vegas.

Santa Lucia is an Italian (?!) song. I don't remember this being in the film so it feels especially out of place to me. I mean, it is very fun that he got to flex his skills like this for a little one minute diddy! He was probably trying to impress Ann-Margret's character.

Do the Vega seems like a sibling to C'mon Everybody with its instruction-style lyrics, although a much cheesier and children's movie version. I am not as much a fan of this track, it is too juvenile in my opinion.

You're the Boss is our first duet with Ann-Margret. Most of their duets were cut from the original movie and soundtrack and Elvis' manager did not want anyone to get close to overshadowing his star. In fact, the movie contains a solo Ann-Margret tune that I really love and am super disappointed it was kept off of the soundtrack ("My Rival") This is a very sexy number, with its bare percussion and laid back vocals.

The Yellow Rose of Texas / The Eyes of Texas is simply a silly movie number. I used to love this one as a kid, the silliest songs were always my favorite (see: All Together Now by the Beatles). I still enjoy it now, but there isn't a whole lot to say about it since it is clearly a silly movie number.

The 2009 CD edition closes with The Lady Loves Me, another duet with Ann-Margret. Though the lyrics represent a trope that is frowned upon today, it is quite hilarious as it depicts Elvis flirting and Ann-Margret cutting him down at each turn. Both of their vocals are really great here as well, they both do well to portray a conversational tone.

Even with its skips, this is one of the strongest mid-1960s albums from Elvis (which is entirely soundtracks between 1962-1967) with some great vocal performances. It is also rare in that his female co-star has vocals featured, this will not be present again until Nancy Sinatra co-stars with him in Speedway in 1968, I believe.

#album review #elvis presley #viva las vegas #cd collection #1964 #1960s

6 notes · View notes

gerogerigaogaigar · 1 year ago

Text

Alright so here is another set of reviews. This time it's my brother who is very much into fun and goofy music so enjoy this selection from my brother Jason!

The Aquabats - Fury Of The Aquabats!

The Aquabats are living cartoons. Concentrated essence of childhood fun. They are a child friendly ska punk Gwar. Even though this album is from long before their purely kid oriented Yo Gabba Gabba! days there is still a distinct family friendly atmosphere to The Fury Of The Aquabats! It has a similar energy to Homestar Runner or The Muppet Show where it is kid friendly media made for adults. And, like those examples, it works because they are having so much goddamn fun with it. It is deliberately and pointedly stupid. Magic Chicken is a song about chicken. I'm laughing because it's funny. The Cat With Two Heads has the line "I was in my laboratory creating what i thought would be we something great for the world, a two headed cat. You can pet one kitty's head and pet the other kitty's head, but little did i know the power of atomic energy would create a

two headed man eating monster!"

So have I convinced you to listen to a 90s ska album yet? Because this is a very pure example of the genre musically. It has the pop punk pacing and fast paced ska rhythm and the horn section and everything. It does admittedly have some, uh, genre diversions I guess I'll call them. Attacked By Snakes is a tango song and Lobster Bucket is a zydeco type thing sometimes. The MC Bat Commander is a perfect vocalist for this kind of music. He's so goofy, but you never really get the impression that he isn't taking it seriously. Or at least he is meeting the music and lyrics on their own terms. It is very endearing. Plus this album has a little bonus that other Aquabats albums lack. Do the drums sound like really competent to you? Like way too much for a pop punk band? Yeah that's Travis Barker of Blink-182 fame. He's probably the most talented punk drummer and he lends a fantastic energy to these songs.

Deee-Lite - World Clique

If you know Deee-Lite already then you probably know them as the one hit wonder who did Grooves Is In The Heart. Well this album deserves more recognition than just having produced a hit single. Deee-Lite channel the 60s flower child throwback aesthetic harder than any other artist of the 90s and they bring that energy to house music. Now I feel like a lot of electronic music fans start to dismiss an artist the minute they hear pop vocals, but this is totally unfair. Dee-Lite use vocals the way they would use any other instrument on a house track. The repetitive vocal lines mesh with the piano samples, drum loops, and funky bass.

Speaking of funky bass, this album has a few performers with a pedigree. Three former Parliament-Funkadelic members feature on this album, trombonist Fred Wesley, saxophonist Maceo Parker, and bass legend Boots Collins. Plus A Tribe Called Quest member Q-Tip gets a verse on Grooves Is In The Heart. That element of P-Funk goofiness is apparent in their peace and love lyricism and overt cheesiness. And while a lot of memorable tracks like Try Me On and Groove Is In The Heart are more hip house to pop oriented the rest is populated by songs like What Is Love that show off a more traditional house style. The album has enough variety and good enough pacing that you don't need to throw these songs into a DJ mix when you can just throw on this whole album and get the same experience.

Shonen Knife - Brand New Knife

I can't pretend this is my absolute favorite Shonen Knife album, I'm more of a Burning Farm or Pretty Little Baka Guy kinda girl. But Shonen Knife doesn't exactly disappoint here either. There's a simplicity to their lyricism and playing that leaves little room to actually fuck it up. The punk rock meets 60s girl group sound feels like it should be influenced by cuddlecore musicians except for the fact that Shonen Knife's sound predates that movement by a decade. This album is smack dab in the middle of the height of that scene though (low heights admittedly) and there is definitely a bit of a cleaner sound than on previous Shonen Knife records that reflects the styles of the time and the rising success of the band. I don't personally believe that higher production quality does much for them, but as long as they are still singing about food and other things that make them happy Shonen Knife will always be a treat to listen to.

Bitch Ass Darius - Follow The Sound

This is the greatest DJ mix ever. Booty bass or ghetto house or ghettotech or whatever you want to call it is a chatic style of house that adopted a lot of hip hop tendencies and then ramped things up to eleven by using the most sexually explicit lyrics possible. Follow The Sound is the most ridiculous example of this already ridiculous genre.

Bitch Ass Darius is an anomaly to me. I can't find out who they are or if they made any more mixes under a different alias. A friend showed me this mix once and I don't know where he found it. The experience of listening to the mix is kind of similar. In between recognizable samples will be snippets of things that you couldn't place the origin of in a million years. And even if you could they probably fly by so fast you don't have time to parse what he just sampled before the world's foulest lyrics start repeating some shit like "he's not my baby daddy he's just a sperm donor" or "I wanna fuck your mouth". A lot of typical booty bass samples are present which means nothing if you aren't a freak like me, but if You've ever heard that memetic snippet that goes "ass n titties, ass n titties, ass ass ass ass ass n titties" that was DJ Assault who is a staple of the genre and that exact sample is in this mix. But the typical hyper crude samples are interspersed with something way weirder. Random seconds long snippets of literally anything else. I can't explain the experience adequately because everything is always happening so fast. My favorite example that I have managed to catch is that he rapid fire samples Michael Jackson (pitched and sped up naturally) saying "beat it, beat it!" And then without missing a beat counterpointing it with the Weird Al parody lyrics "eat it, eat it!" This happens in maybe one and a half seconds. The contrast of samples is a great vehicle for delivering the comedy inherent in the genre while also delivering a good example of the music. Despite feeling like it's poking fun it still remains respectful of the chaos of booty bass music. The album dwells on nothing. It doesn't care if you heard that because listen to this! Follow The Sound is the purest and most perfect sonic overload. If you have problems with auditory overstimulation then seriously consider skipping this album. But if you have ADHD like me then you are about to find your new favorite thing.

Accept - Balls To The Wall

This album is gay af. It was noted at the time and the band acknowledged it. To quote drummer Stefan Kaufmann "It's a phenomenon that should be taken into consideration. Because it exists on a wide scale and should be demystified. In fact, this is a phenomenon of society that needs to be taken as such. For a long time gay people have been considered as sick or insane. And yet, it's time to respect these people, open our minds which are often closed."

This is the kind of music that I think most people are thinking of when they say "heavy metal". It is riff driven heavy music with corny lyrics about tough guy stuff. Like having sex with men. Accept is like if AC/DC was self aware. And thankfully the only ballad in the album is actually good too. It's hard to review this style of metal without sounding dismissive. The camp is obviously deliberate here so I don't feel as bad poking a little fun because I think I'm laughing with them a bit. But really this is a simple and effective album with no weak tracks and themes that it plays straight. Which doesn't seem like much but in the world of late 70s early 80s heavy metal its really raising the bar for future acts.

Desmond Dekker & The Aces - 007 Shanty Town

Before ska was associated with middle school boys with frosted tips and cargo pants, before the days of London teens in ill fitting suits and checkerboard patterns, before dub and reggae there was Desmond Dekker. One of the 60s original ska artists. With a sound that blended Jamaican mento music with a solid helping of jazz and R&B to create a unique blend of Jamaican pop music.

The unique beat that we all know and love (you love it right?!) is created by muted guitar downstrokes on the one and three beats and loud staccato upstrokes on the two and four. Add in some horns, walking bass, and vocal harmonies and you've got the blueprint for basically all ska. And this combination, the crisp staccato guitar and horns especially, grant a uniquely sunny disposition to basically the entire genre so that even when Desmond Dekker is singing about poverty or crime there is an underlying love for his home in every song. Plus a lot of the gangster aesthetic is pure kitsch and is strangely one of the major aspects of the genre to have maintained throughout the years. Ska artists all wanna be in Oceans Eleven even in back in 1967.

Mastodon - Leviathan

If 17 year old me knew that in the year 2023 I was still going off about how much I love this album I think she would call me a slur and have a weird feeling about being called 'she'. I've liked this album for a while and the more metal I listen to the more I appreciate Mastodon. They are somewhere between being sludge, progressive, and death metal and they navigate that in-between with skill. The chugging skudginess can easily erupt into speedy solos and there is an abundance of complexities in the musical arrangements.

Leviathan is the second in a tetralogy that incorporated their first four albums each being themed after a classical element. Leviathan is a concept album about Moby Dick and therefore is obviously water. If their more aggressive debut is fire and the sludgier Blood Mountain is earth then Leviathan's status as water follows. The riffing crashes like waves and there are a lot more melodic flowing sequences that also suggest water. Although the album is more strictly focused on its Moby Dick themeing. Leviathan crashes forward with an intensity that is honestly too much to just call sludge metal but it never hits the level of screaming that you expect from death metal. In retrospect Mastodon have always been a very progressive metal act and I think this album in particular does the best at blending all of their different styles into one package. That said all four of their original albums, Remission, Leviathan, Blood Mountain, and Crack The Skye are worth a listen.

K.d. Lang And The Reclines - Absolute Torch And Twang

Oh so my son of a bitch brother is gonna be a bigger lesbian than I am by giving me a k.d. Lang album I've never listened to huh? Before she transitioned to a more lounge / jazz style k.d. Lang was a full on country western musician with her band The Reclines. Country music had been in severe decline for over a decade but somehow Lang avoids any of the pitfalls of her contemporaries. Instead she mines decades worth of country music blending rock influenced outlaw styles, singing cowboy western styles, and 60s Nashville sound into a monolithic style that celebrates the history of the genre without just being a period piece. And her voice is just astounding. She can sing tender love ballads and rollicking honky tonk numbers with equal ferocity. Her mezzo-soprano is maybe the richest I've ever heard.

Luie Luie - Touchy

Luie Luie is here to tell you about a new dance called the Touchy. This is going to be a bitch to explain. Luie Luie was an outsider musician from the 70s and understanding that he was almost certainly on the autism spectrum goes a long way towards understanding what's going on here. You see Luie Luie was a nightclub manager who thought that people didn't touch enough while dancing anymore so he tried to make a new dance called The Touchy that would encourage touching but with clear rules for how you were allowed to touch you dance partner. It's strange but all very well meaning. He managed to finance the creation of an album and so Touchy was born.

So after Luie Luie tells you that he's invented a new dance and that he plays all the instruments on the album and that every touchy starts with a "wild horn intro" we get a wild horn intro and holy shit he's actually a really good musician. The touchy is basically a mix of mariachi, funk, soul, and lounge music. The slightly offbeat sound and cheap production are wildly endearing especially when you understand this as a passion project that is composed, performed, and recorded all by one man. Luie Luie is a fairly talented multi instrumentalist and where his technical skills falter he covers with incredible ear for complex arrangement. Some songs like El Touchy make for fairly danceable music, although I would rather sit and listen than dance and touch if I'm being honest. Although special mention should be given to the track Touch Of Light for it's intense layering of up to fourteen trumpet parts creating an elaborate tone poem that recalls the works of Ligeti. I'm eternally baffled and grateful for the Touchy it is the rare piece of outsider music that is actually as listenable as it is intriguing.

Kumi Tanioka - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles OST

Crystal Chronicles is such a weird mess of a game. It has an intriguing narrative structure, but the repetitive gameplay loop makes finding the plot tedious. Plus it isn't really fun to play at all unless you have at least three people with game boy advances and gba link cables. I beat it single player when I was a kid because I'm neurodivergent.

Soundtracks are difficult to review. Should you review it as a stand alone album, pretend the source material doesn't exist? You would be missing crucial context and anyway a soundtrack that does stand alone as an album probably didn't work that well as a soundtrack then. Well the answer for me is to realize everything has context. Nothing exists in a void. If you saw an album with blood and gore on the cover and the title in a death metal font and then the album contained folk rock your opinion of the music would be colored by that experience even though the cover has no effect on theusic. So let your understanding of this music be colored by the fact that it is the soundtrack to a GameCube game.

Kumi Tanioka is mainly just the Crystal Chronicles composer and that's a shame because she is extremely good. Final Fantasy games have a long history of using their music to heavily influence the game's mood, but that is partially because of the efforts of long time composer Nobuo Uematsu. Tanioka manages to outdo even Uematsu when it comes to heavily themeing the soundtrack. The Crystal Chronicles OST features music heavily influenced by a mix of medieval folk styles. Music that plays in towns and in roads will have aspects of Byzantine music while your hometown festival is very Celtic. Some tracks like Twilight In Dreamland show some influence from South American music too. The idea of a world music soundtrack to a game about trying to travel ever farther into an unfamiliar world is quite brilliant.

The music is also melodically beautiful. And catchy. There are tracks that you are severe risk of getting stuck in your head especially Annual Festival or the opening vocal track Sound Of Wind. A lot of games have a vocal pop track tacked somewhere in there and sometimes it does work (I dunno how FFXV pulled off a Florence Welch cover of Stand By Me but goddamn it worked) but usually it's just an out of genre pop song that doesn't mesh with the game at all. Sound Of The Wind is a great song that works as a pop song units own right but also sticks to the medieval themeing of the rest of the soundtrack.

You might not appreciate listening to this as much if you haven't played the game. And honestly I can't in good faith recommend Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, it's not a very good game. But this soundtrack is one of the ones I put on just to listen to and it is probably my second favorite Final Fantasy OST after FFIX.

#the aquabats #Deee-Lite #shonen knife #bitch ass darius #accept #desmond dekker & the aces #mastodon #k.d. lang and the reclines #luie luie #kumi tanioka #500 album gaiden

10 notes · View notes

deadcactuswalking · 1 year ago

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 28/10/2023 (The Kid LAROI/Central Cee, blink-182's 'ONE MORE TIME...')

Content warning: Cynicism and brief masturbation

For a third week, Kenya Grace’s “Strangers” is at the top of the UK Singles Chart, and welcome back to a quieter, later episode of REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

Now the Official Charts Company was so delayed in posting the chart this week that I am so incredibly late in actually getting the chance to write this rundown section. Alas, let’s do a speedrun here - firstly we always start with the notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75 - which is what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40, you know it, yadda-yadda-yadda. This week we bid adieu to: “DArkSide” by Bring Me the Horizon, “I Do” by Nines featuring who the Hell cares, “Hide and Seek” by 163Margs featuring Digga D, “PARK CHINOIS” by Headie One and K-Trap, “Rich Men North of Richmond” by Oliver Anthony Music, “Hell n Back” by Bakar and finally, “So Much in Love” by D.O.D. It had a good run.

As for our gains and returns, we see re-entries for bottom-feeders like “Riptide” by Vance Joy at #75 and “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac at #66, as well as the new Rolling Stones album letting “Angry” slip back at #73, “Lil Boo Thang” by Paul Russell sprouting legs at #65 and “bad idea right?” by Olivia Rodrigo doing weird three-song-rule shenanigans at #46 because of course. And as for our gains, we see boosts for - bear with me - “Style” by Taylor Swift at #62 (watch that space), “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac at #56, “Party All the Time” by Hannah Laing and HVRR at #53, “ONE MORE TIME” by blink-182 at #42 thanks to the album, “Calm Down” by Rema at #39, “Me & U” by Tems at #36, “On My Love” by Zara Larsson and David Guetta at #29, “Agora Hills” by Doja Cat at #28, “Pompeii” by Bastille at #26, “One of Your Girls” by Troye Sivan and finally, Noah Kahan grabs his first top 10 with “Stick Season” at #9.

As for our top five, it’s pretty expected - “Water” by Tyla is at #5, which I’m never going to complain about, and then we have “greedy” by Tate McRae at #4, “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift at #3 gaining off of the back of a re-release featuring a live version and a remix - more of her to come next week - and then “Prada” by casso, RAYE and D-Block Europe at #2 with of course, “Strangers” at #1. Now to see what this smaller week may have to offer in its pattering of shoddy new entries.

NEW ARRIVALS

#63 - “Sensational” - Chris Brown featuring Davido and Lojay

Produced by DJ Hardwerk, BigRagee, Krazytunez and XQ

Davido and Lojay are Nigerian singers so it seems like Chris Brown’s latest ploy is to slot himself within Afrobeats, a genre wherein he… honestly fits pretty well. A lot of male Afrobeats singers have nasal, Auto-Tuned voices saved by their potent, earnest delivery. That’s Breezy’s vocal default in a nutshell… so why is he trying to be cool here? He plays off the wavy, tropical shuffling with a level of restraint and subtlety you rarely hear from the guy ever, I guess to match the sample-esque murky backing vocals from Lojay. It’s not a bad groove either, but it honestly kind of disappoints me that he didn’t go full-out with the classic Chris Brown approach, even if he does do some obnoxious “na-na-na”s and those staccato harmonies as usual. It doesn’t help that this song doesn’t have a good hook, despite Sean Kingston being behind the writing of all people. There’s just nothing catchy about this song, which seems to focus much more on atmosphere… which makes no sense! It’s a club dance song where the girl’s body is described as sensational, where’s the sensation? Davido tries, bless him, but as a result of the song’s misplaced “coolness” pretence, he just sounds out of place. And Lojay’s verse is embarrassing - “booty wider than the Internet”? Really? Sigh, given it’s Chris Brown, it could be a lot worse.

#57 - “IT GIRL” - Aliyah’s Interlude

Produced by Lxnely Beats

It’s been a while since we got a straight-up TikTok viral song, it feels, but rising star Aliyah’s Interlude - what made you go with that name? - seems to have cultivated a pretty loyal fanbase and specific terminology, some of which is mentioned in the song, already so this could either be the start of a big deal or a complete meme fluke. And God, I hope this is a fluke because this is insufferable. It’s not even insufferable in a moral or boring way, it’s just annoying. The Eurodance throwback synth is obnoxious, the plodding percussion is lazy, and whilst Aliyah’s Interlude herself is clearly full of passion and character, it is actually to the detriment of an already minimal, annoying song. It seems the intent was either to be primal or overwhelming, but that synth is so distracting that I can’t fully understand the cult of personality with borderline comedy-rap verses and an admittedly very good use of spelling out the title in chorus. I believe that this is what one could claim as “slaying”, and I kind of get it, but it’s just too much of a stressful listen for me. That synth, it just never stops. I’m sure Aliyah’s Interlude would shine on more polished production as her performance here is close to salvaging something but that may come years down the line. For now, God, please don’t make this a hit.

#55 - “DANCE WITH ME” - blink-182

Produced by Travis Barker

This is such a dry week that I could aptly describe it as being victim to a blink-182 album bomb, or at least as much as the UK Singles Chart will allow. At least they debuted some songs from their #2 album ONE MORE TIME… unlike the Rolling Stones at #1. Anyway, this was a pre-release single only charting now thanks to the album, and it has a music video that mimics that of the Ramones’ “I Wanna be Sedated”, which the track also interpolates. The 1978 track was never released as an A-side single in the UK so failed to chart, but has been set in stone as one of the classic punk outfit’s most iconic songs. I assume that as a result we have a pretty straightforward punk throwback from blink, and for the most part we do, but it’s not really a good one. I love Travis Barker’s cavernous drumming and production of course, and it will always will give a certain base level of quality to these songs, but blink aren’t doing anything new here, or doing something they’ve already done particularly well. There’s a weird bitter venom in Tom DeLonge’s delivery and an apathetic disinterest in Mark Hoppus’ voice that both miss the mark for a song about dancing - or masturbating, if the awkward intro is to be believed - all night long. The chorus is basic but somehow not even catchy, it’s just expected and predictable. At this point with blink, maybe that’s all we should settle for? It just sucks that I know how interesting they can be.

#48 - “ANTHEM PART 3” - blink-182

Produced by Travis Barker

This is the opening track on the record and one that follows in the footsteps of their older “Anthem” tracks, signaling their big comeback. The original “Anthem” from 1999’s Enema of the State is actually the outro to the album, and is fittingly out of fuel considering the rest of the album’s energy that this track seems desperate to grab onto, which sounds like a complaint but considering the fantastic drumming, atrocious vocal delivery and mixing, incredibly cathartic post-chorus, I’d say it sums up the aftermath of a reckless party pretty damn well. The issue here is that “Anthem” plays a lot into the idea that parents - probably a further analogy for authority in general - possess a lot of power behind what fun can actually be had, with “Anthem Part Two”, the opener of 2001’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, playing even further into that by basically making it a protest against how the youth are having their futures ruined by those in power who are from generations prior. It sums up pop punk’s teenage rebellion side pretty well - it’s not good, it’s formulaic and surprisingly dull, but I can understand why it is held up as the anthem it claims out the gate to be. Now here’s the real problem: blink-182 are now the parents. What do they rebel against this time around? Life, in general. Actual adult life in fact. It’s an uplifting track with rapid, awkwardly-mixed drums and a seemingly constant crescendo of guitars that merges into a muddy, gross stretch of noise under Tom DeLonge, but an uplifting track nonetheless, an anthem for people who have been played with by the nine-to-five and tedious career. The really resonant bridge from Mark Hoppus, who recently came out of his struggle with cancer, ends with a line about no-one caring for the eventuality of him dying… but it gets cut short, taken away by the chorus. This could be a pretty effective decision, if it weren’t the only part of the song that I actually liked or moved me in any way, with even the classic pop punk drop-into-half-time trick just coming off as tired. Whilst all of these “Anthem” tracks are tired, exhausted last bursts of anger, this one is tired in a particularly sad way. It’s a pathetic song, one that can’t really be called “ANTHEM”… and that’s fine. In fact, it’s slightly endearing and not even really a slight towards the song. It’s just kind of sad to hear.

#41 - “In the City” - Charli XCX and Sam Smith

Produced by A.G. Cook, Charli XCX, George Daniel, ILYA and Omer Fedi

I have no idea what either of these artists are doing career-wise at this very moment. It seems like both Charli and Sam are struggling to hold onto the balance between mass appeal and niche novelty, and Sam may be in a similar spot to where Charli was back in the mid-2010s, or at least appears to have some kind of dissatisfaction with pop stardom as a fact rather than how they viewed it when it was a promise. Basically, it makes complete sense for the two to collaborate, and it also makes complete sense that the song is… just bad. A.G. Cook is on the boards here but his style is so washed out by the pop songwriters also involved that even Charli sounds disinterested. It’s hyperpop lite, with some interesting lyrics about finding your true self after meeting a partner in New York City’s sprawling nightlife, but over some particularly dull four-on-the-floor percussion and with vocal effects - particularly on Sam Smith’s voice - that overwhelm the actual performance, making it feel programmed and somehow so professional it breaches back onto amateur, in a cyclical motion I didn’t think could even happen. I know Charli fans will defend her continuing to experiment whilst also spreading out to mainstream pop tracks but let’s be real, how far is this really from a Joel Corry song? A.G. Cook could have had nothing to do with this and it’d sound the same. Everyone here just seems tired and confused with what to do with themselves, in an awkwardly passionless single that seemingly isn’t connected to an album yet and doesn’t have a video. Sam Smith is nowhere to be seen in the cover art or even the picture used for the YouTube audio video. This is just… nothing.

#10 - “TOO MUCH” - The Kid LAROI, Jung Kook and Central Cee

Produced by Blake Slatkin, Jasper Harris, Emile Haynie and Omer Fedi

You know, this is kind of refreshing. For once, there is no discourse. It is just a simple idea that this top 10 hit by three big-name artists, including a BTS member, with a stacked production list, Scooter Braun single push is a bad song, and that’s fine. There is nothing immoral about the song’s badness, there’s nothing particularly annoying or sad about the song’s badness, there’s nothing even all that boring about the song’s badness. It’s just bad, sometimes comically, and I’m honestly okay with that. The vocal sample is filtered to crap and placed against a similarly weightless, chippy snap and ladders of gross, inhuman leads and sounds, none of which actually seem like they actually want your attention. The chorus has too much empty space punctuated by… bilingual breathing, The Kid LAROI’s verse goes for a desperate and annoying delivery which doesn’t last too long but is still overly whiny, Central Cee is in full rent-a-rapper mode and despite having a completely fine, on-beat flow, he still somehow sounds awkward with his typically toxic, sexual lyrics that don’t go too far to be immoral, just more weird and overly wordy and detailed, maybe manipulative at times. The Kid LAROI’s second attempt at a pre-chorus is actually pretty good, he sounds great, especially on the backing vocals, right before the final chorus, wherein I couldn’t tell where he ends and Jung Kook begins. In fact, Mr. Kook has jack to do in this song. The song just seems to reflect how all three of these guys are at least slightly complacent, facing slightly less favourable results than they expected commercially but still doing well enough and is a piece of apathetic male pop music no one is actually seeking out too much anymore - and apparently Justin Bieber was supposed to be on this at some point and still has a writing credit, so that rings extra true. But that’s all it reflects. It’s just bad, and if anything sums up this week of new arrivals, it’s that: just bad.

Conclusion

And yeah, that wasn’t really hyperbole in any way. I liked none of what little the charts had to offer this week. I can barely give a sincere Best of the Week and really, Chris Brown is a runner-up for the most quality song here, which is a depressing state of affairs. He’s not getting it though, at least blink-182 gave me a lot to say with “ANTHEM PART 3”. As for the worst, I mean, pick any of them but I think I’ll give to “In the City” by Charli XCX and Sam Smith for making me feel absolutely nothing, with Aliyah’s Interlude as the Dishonourable Mention with “IT GIRL” for making me feel a pounding headache. Taylor’s next and then we’re in the holiday dregs for the next two months. Thank you for reading, sorry for the delay - genuinely out of my control, complain to the Official Charts Company - and I’ll see you next week!

#uk singles chart #pop music #song review #charli xcx #sam smith #the kid laroi #central cee #blink-182 #one more time...#aliyah's interude #davido #lojay

3 notes · View notes

attallahmusic · 2 years ago

Text

Jackman. and why it's not all that-

An album review of Jack Harlow's newest album, Jackman. (2023)

Jackman. (2023) is the newest album from Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow, who gained international fame with his pop rap song, WHAT’S POPPIN (2020). However, he breaks from this style in Jackman., exploring the genres of conscious rap and storytelling in rap, over the short span of 24 minutes divided into 10 songs.

This album follows last year's release, Come Home The Kids Miss You (2022), which disappointed many critices and fans alike. In contrast, Jackman. has received a lot of praise, with people reacting positively to his change in genre and citing his lyricism as having greatly improved He shows clear inspiration from artists such as Drake, with songs like Is that Ight? and It Can’t Be which is reminiscent of a J. Cole track.

The album kicks off with Common Grounds, a song where Harlow critiques American white suburban kids who appropriate Black American culture. In doing so, he seemingly acknowledges his own part in rap culture. However, this is later downplayed by It Can’t Be, where Harlow sarcastically states that his success is solely due to his hard work and not his skin color, neglecting to acknowledge the privilege he has.

Throughout the album, the instrumentals are stripped down to give space for the lyricism, but this does not always work in Harlow's favor. His flow is very uniform throughout, and he neglects to take full advantage of the auditory storytelling elements. However, They Don’t Love It is an example of one of his stronger songs on the album.

On his lyrically absolute strongest song, Gang Gang Gang, Harlow sets the tone with its eerie-sounding hook:

Ride for my dawgs, lie for my dawgs, die for my dawgs

This is heard between verses of storytelling where Harlow experiences the disgust and horror of finding out two childhood friends, one of whom grew up to be a serial rapist and the other a pedophile. The storytelling is one of the strongest elements on the album, but it is still somewhat lackluster and flat, undercut by the fairy tale ending of the song.

Overall, the album is a great improvement on his previous work and shows that we can expect more from Harlow than just clever lines and fun songs. However, the album seems half-finished and lacks depth despite its focus on conscious rap. While it may not be part of my rotation, I will be listening out for what Harlow has in store for us in the future.

#jack harlow #jackman.#rap #rap music #music news #music review #hip hop #hip hop culture #spotify #new music #article #writing #conscious rap #rapper #storytelling rap

5 notes · View notes

checkthreetimes · 2 years ago

Text

Why Chloe Bailey's "In Pieces" Isn't Doing Big Numbers

Chloe Bailey is a singer and actress who rose to fame with her sister Halle as part of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle. The sisters signed with Beyonce's Parkwood Entertainment in 2015 and released two `acclaimed albums, The Kids Are Alright and Ungodly Hour. However, in 2021, they decided to pursue solo projects, with Halle taking on the lead role in Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid and Chloe releasing her debut solo album, In Pieces, on March 31, 2023.

In Pieces is a personal and vulnerable album that showcases Chloe's vocal range and emotionality. The album features collaborations with Future, Chris Brown, and Missy Elliott. Chloe has described the album with this message:

It's okay to not have it all together—none of us are perfect and as well-kept as we might seem. We're all in pieces. We all have things that have broken us down—we all have fears. We all have scars but it's just who wears them the best.

Even though it has received positive reviews from critics and fans, the album has not performed well commercially. According to reports, the album sold only 10,000 units in its first week, which is a huge drop from Chloe x Halle's Ungodly Hour, which sold 24,000 units in its first week. The album also failed to produce any hit singles or chart on the Billboard Hot 100.

So what are the reasons behind Chloe's disappointing debut? There are several factors that could have contributed to the album's lackluster performance. A few possibilities are listed below.

The lack of promotion and marketing Chloe did not have a major label backing her up like she did with Parkwood Entertainment. She also did not have a lot of media appearances or interviews to promote the album. The only notable performance she did was on Saturday Night Live on April 8, which was a week after the album's release.

The backlash from some fans and online trolls Chloe has faced a lot of criticism and hate for her solo work, for example, her performance of the classic songs Feeling Good and Lovin’ You. which some people felt was too sexualized or disrespectful to the original artists. She also received negative comments for her revealing outfits and her collaboration with Chris Brown. Chloe has said that she has become “numb” to the backlash. Who can blame her? Delays The album was originally announced in 2021, but it took until 2023 to be released. This might have caused some loss of interest or hype among fans and listeners.

These are just a few possible reasons why Chloe Bailey isn't performing well on her new album. This does not mean that she is a failure or that she should give up on her solo career—she is still a talented and versatile artist who has a lot of potential and creativity.

#chloe bailey

4 notes · View notes

mooncatmelodies · 2 years ago

Text

SCARING THE HOES Album Review

by Josefina Gaspar

The highly-anticipated collaborative album between JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown has finally been released. This album has been on my radar for quite some time now, ever since Peggy expressed his desire to collaborate with Danny Brown on Twitter. After numerous leaks and posts on social media, I was eager to listen to this album and see if it would live up to my expectations. So, when it finally dropped, I waited until I got home, put on my headphones, and pressed play. And I must say, it did not disappoint. Without further ado, let's review the new record by JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown, "SCARING THE HOES."

The album kicks off with Lean Beef Patty, and it sets the tone for the rest of the record quite well. Right from the beginning, you can hear the production style of Peggy's previous release, LP!, in the production. While there has been some criticism online about the production quality, mostly on reddit, I feel that it complements the style of the album. This project has more of a mixtape feel to it rather than a traditional album, and Lean Beef Patty serves as an excellent opening track. Peggy's performance is, as always, fantastic, but it doesn't feel like he's trying to replicate what made LP! great. Although Danny's verse is shorter than expected, it still adds to the overall quality of the track.

Moving on to the next track, Steppa Pig does an excellent job of maintaining the high energy established in the opening track. Danny delivers a spectacular performance, not overdoing it but adding enough to satisfy the listener. Peggy's verse is impressive, showcasing his ability to rap flawlessly along with the instrumentals he produced. The title track, Scaring the Hoes, is also noteworthy, especially with the unique, moist sample in the beginning. However, I did feel that the track could have been more, as it felt slightly drawn out. Nevertheless, it's still a great track overall. Garbage Pale Kids is possibly one of the better tracks on the album, and it's also one of my personal favorites. Peggy's sampling skills are on full display here, demonstrating his incredible talent. Similarly, Fentanyl Tester is another great track that features an unexpected but successful sample from Kelis's Milkshake.

Burfict! is another prime example of Peggy's exceptional beat-making and producing skills, as the track bursts with energy. The use of "super-bowl-ahh" horns is particularly impressive, and I would love to hear more tracks in the future incorporating horns in the mix. By this point in the album, I realized that I had been listening to the first five tracks in absolute awe. The album had completely captivated me, and I found myself shutting my mind off and just listening. The energy doesn't let up with the very next track, Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters. Every track on the album thus far has been great. One of the things I appreciate about this track is that it feels like Danny Brown has his moment to shine. Although he's featured on every song, it often felt like the album was more of a New Solo JPEGMAFIA record with lots of Danny Brown features. However, this track made me feel like it was truly a collaborative effort between Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA, rather than a solo project with supporting features.

Moving on to the next track, "Orange Juice Jones," it offers a moment of respite and allows for some reflection after the high-energy first half of the album. While not quite an interlude, it still provides a break from the intense tracks that preceded it. "Orange Juice Jones" is still a great track that showcases Peggy and Danny's standard of talent. It's a reminder that even when they slow down the tempo, they still maintain their skill and ability to create captivating music. The next track on the album is "Kingdom Hearts Key," which is possibly my favorite track on the entire record. It features the only artist besides Peggy and Danny, and that artist is redveil. The energy on this track is electrifying and it stands out in every aspect - from the production to the beat switches and the overall performance from the artists. Peggy's first verse is a great start with his flawless flow and production, especially with his beat switch section. The track is so mesmerizing and catchy that it was my number one song on my playlist. Danny's performance is an excellent complement to the track, and you can really feel the chemistry between the two artists. The amount of fun they had while creating this album is evident in their work. Finally, I can't forget redveil's flow and style. While there are criticisms about redveil's solo work, he really shines on this track. His ending verse is outstanding, and it's impressive how he is the only artist featured throughout the entire project.

God Loves You, another great track, does a really good job at building and maintaining energy. I absolutely adore everything from this project, and it’s just amplified with this track. Jack Harlow Combo Meal, on the other hand, is a standout for me. The piano sample used in the beat is amazing, and it's a great change of pace from the more aggressive tracks on the album. Plus, hearing Peggy's singing on this track is just beautiful. HOE (Heaven on Earth) should’ve been the ending track. It’s everything that this album is, it’s a project from the two legends of experimental hip-hop having fun. The ending part of this track is my favorite thing they sampled throughout this entire record. But finally, the last track, Where Ya Get Ya Coke From. While a great track, I do wish that this would’ve made it in the middle section of this record. Still a really good track. I don’t think there really was a track that I really didn’t like.

Overall, this album blew me away. I already knew this was going to be a record that I had on repeat, however, I think I underestimated the absolute greatness these two growing legends would produce. And to think that JPEGMAFIA isn’t done this year. He already announced, some time last year, that this was the one out of the three records he would be releasing. I can already predict what one of the releases would be, however, I won’t say much. Besides, I am just speculating. This album is simply a 9/10

My top 3 favorite songs are:

Kingdom Hearts Key (feat. redveil)

HOE (Heaven on Earth)

Burfict!

Least favorite song:

Run The Jewel's

you know this is all an opinion, right?

3 notes · View notes

maximuswolf · 5 months ago

Text

Travis Scott - Days Before Rodeo - ALBUM REVIEW

Travis Scott - Days Before Rodeo - ALBUM REVIEW In light of Days Before Rodeo dropping on its 10 year anniversary, I listened to it again here's what I have to say. Overview:Days Before Rodeo is a 12-song mixtape exclusively released on Soundcloud and marks Travis Scott’s first studio project. Hailing from Houston Travis Scott has openly exclaimed his sound is inspired by Kid Cudi and this project perfectly reflects this relationship. This mixtape may be a surprise to new listeners, where we see more complex and complete verses which differ from his current melodic trap rap, which has inspired the likes of Don Toliver and Post Malone. Days Before Rodeo clearly highlights Scott’s rawness where we clearly see that he hasn’t mastered his sound yet and as a result, we get basic verses with lack of deeper meaning. Pros:Production was the only thing that was enjoyable throughout this album, with masterful beats from Mike Dean and Metro Boomin. Personally, my favourite beat was in Backyard which samples Marvin Gaye’s ‘Distant Lover’ to create a Mariachi band type loop which sounds great with the 808’s and kicks.While Travis’ vocal performance for the most part throughout this album were disappointing, he compliments great Mike Dean production in ‘Drugs You Should Try It’ where vocal inflections similar to his sounds now in songs such as Goosebumps and HIGHEST IN THE ROOM.Travis sounds great in patches of this project when he doesn’t stray into other styles and genres where he’s clearly out of touch. For the first part of songs like ‘Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer’ and ‘Zombies’ Travis sounds amazing but as we progress into the song he starts playing around with his flows and style which makes a great song turn bad. This is something he has well refined in the next album ‘Rodeo.’ Cons:While there is some to like about the project, there is a lot to hate. Throughout the project Travis delivers horrible verses which neither lack flow and rhythm or any meaning. This is evident in ‘Don’t Play’ where Travis recites “Played with her pussy in the Jeep. Yeah, she was down with foreplay driving.” Like what does that even mean? Even most of the features were forgettable, with Rich Homie Quan delivering one of the most forgettable features along with Young Thug on Mamacita where Quan says, “call her ticket because I really wanna meet her.” While I realise that Quan isn’t exactly a lyricist but this lack of song writing is something no one should listen to.The mixtape feels incoherent and rather feels like multiple singles rather than one project. Travis dibbles and dabbles into his different sounds without really mastering or committing to any. Some tracks just seem like drafts that Travis decided to put out to up the track list. The project is often weighed down by the lazy writing but on songs like Mamacita, I think the beat is overcooked and is doing too much in relation to the lyrics/style of the song. With Travis harmonizing in the chorus, the booming 808’s with the kicks and claps sound off-putting which then forces Travis to deliver a soul-less verse.Final Thoughts:I think this project is very overrated, while some may say I’m not appreciating the Soundcloud era, I still think this album is incredibly mediocre. Luckily all this was refined and fixed in Travis’ next album. Rating:4/10Let me know what you think and whether you agree. Submitted September 07, 2024 at 12:55AM by Formal_Sherbet6746 https://ift.tt/NFkM4Ug via /r/Music

#IFTTT #reddit

0 notes

womanofwords · 11 months ago

Text

STEM Kids Shenanigans (Chapter 35)

Chapter 35: Stashed Secrets Spilled

Angelo grinned as he typed away on his laptop. Once he was done, Stephan wouldn't know what had hit him. Everyone would know exactly what he had done and how many secrets he'd kept. But one thing was nagging at the back of Angelo's head.

What secrets did Stephan himself have to hide?

Other than him working with Melanie to get scoops on people, Angelo really couldn't think of anything. There had to be something else. Had Melanie blackmailed Stephan with something and he was counter-blackmailing her to stop her from blackmailing him?

He (with the help of his friends) would have to find out for themselves.

(PAUSE)

"And why are we going into Stephan's office . . . again?" Layla asked. "I thought we handled everything the last time."

"There has to be something else, though," Angelo said. "What does Melanie know about Stephan that we don't?"

"What proof does Stephan have about Melanie's . . . whatever?" Layla asked.

"Knowing Stephan, maybe it's a photograph," Yujin said.

"You're right! Genius, Yujin!" Angelo said. "Maybe there's a photo album!"

"Like this one?" Dante pulled a manila folder down from a bookshelf. It was bulging with papers. "Hey, Angelo, your picture's in here!"

The teenagers turned to the picture. Sure enough, there was the photograph of Angelo Riva on his flying skateboard, looking the coolest he'd ever looked.

"Dang, I need to hire this guy if he's this good," Angelo joked. Layla smiled and Yujin rolled her eyes.

"What's the worst thing he could have on Melanie? It would have to be embarrassing for her to act out the way she has," Layla said.

"I hope it's nothing illegal," Yujin said.

"Only one way to find out," Dante said, shaking out the contents of the folder and looking at the contents.

Photos of all sorts of people were in this folder. Most of them were doing something embarrassing, incriminating, or scandalous, like wearing ridiculous outfits, kissing people in public, and committing petty crimes like vandalism. Melanie's were . . . different.

"I recognise these places. These are science conventions," Angelo said.

"But why would Melanie be at a science convention?" Dante asked. "Was she in the audience? It doesn't seem like her."

"No." Yujin said, showing all the pictures of a younger Melanie looking disappointed, a different admission in each picture. "She was competing. And it didn't go well for her."

"Not well at all," Dante said. "Seems like she lost every last one."

"I guess this is why she hated the science club," Angelo said. "This is just straight up sad."

"Not an excuse, though, let's remember that," Layla said.

"I know that." Angelo looked at his friends. "We can't let Stephan hold onto this stuff. But what do we do with it?"

"The responsible thing, of course," Yujin said. "We take it to authorities. Stephan is someone who likes to stick to the shadows; he can only operate if nobody knows what he's doing."

"But then we have to explain what we were doing in his office," Dante said.

"It's not even his office. It's the school newspaper club's office. Stephan just uses it the most," Angelo said. "Come on. Get everything and run to Dr Violet's office."

The gang grabbed as much incriminating evidence as they could. Folders of photos, notebooks full of secrets, his camera. They waddled out of his office and made a (pretty slow) break for it.

"What are you doing? And why are you holding my stuff?" Stephan asked.

Stephan looked at the STEM club. The STEM club looked at Stephan.

"Run!" Dante yelled.

And they ran.

"Come back here!" Stephan yelled. "That is private property!"

"It's blackmail material!" Angelo yelled. "You shouldn't have this stuff in the first place!"

"What on earth is going on?" Dr Violet asked.

"They have my stuff!" Stephan yelled.

"He's been holding onto blackmail material!" Angelo yelled.

"In my office," Dr Violet eventually said. "Now. We can review this stuff calmly."

"No, it's ridiculous!" Stephan said. "These kids have been causing chaos since the STEM club was created! Clearly, this stuff should just be disposed off in a safe manner."

"No! You have so much damaging stuff of other people in there!" Dante yelled.

"Oh, shut up, this is harmless! Just a few embarrassing photos, is all."

"Why do you have other people's embarrassing photos, Stephan Marriot?" Dr Violet asked, glaring at Stephan.

The young reporter turned blackmailer and information broker was surrounded. He'd been found out, and they had proof right in their hands. His plans were about to go to waste.

He couldn't let that happen.

"They were entrusted to me by . . . friends," Stephan lied.

"We have lots of proof that they weren't friends with you. Your own words, as a matter of fact." Angelo handed over a memory stick and Stephan's own notebooks. This was bad.

"Of course," Stephan said, forcing a smile as bile rose up from his stomach.

He was doomed.

(PAUSE)

Dr Violet looked through everything the STEM club gave her with rising alarm. "Stephan, you shouldn't have these," she said. "And why would you even have notes like these?"

"Checking on people," Stephan lied, still tapping away on his phone.

"Blackmail," the STEM club chorused.

"You should see the photos," Dante said. "They're seriously creepy."

As Dr Violet went through the photos, a look of horror took over her face until it was the most prominent facial expression she had. "Mr Marriot, this is egregious behaviour. Blackmail, bullying, extortion, and stalking! This is the worst thing I have ever seen in all my years running a school! And I haven't even finished going through all of this stuff!"

"I heard Stephan blackmailing Melanie, so I hid a bug in his office that recorded speech. There are a lot of conversations here," Angelo said.

"I see," Dr Violet said. "Mr Riva, Miss Moon, Miss Ismail, Mr Rhodes, you can leave. Mr Marriot and I can stay here and continue to . . . discuss matters."

Stephan gulped audibly. The STEM club politely left the office and walked away. Once they were out of earshot, they cheered.

"Stephan the Snake is soon to be vanquished!" Dante cheered.

"Wanna come with me to this food place I know?" Angelo asked. "We can order pizza. Actual good pizza. And I'm paying."

"Yes! Pizza!" Layla cheered.

And that was how school ended for the four members of the STEM club. Sitting in a pizza joint sharing a pizza together, with no Stephan or Melanie in sight.

A damn good day.

To read the other parts of this fic, see Masterlist.

#creative writing #my writing #my WIP #writers on tumblr #writers #writeblr #writerscommunity #science nerds #science fiction #friendship #humour #autistic black boys #fantasci tumblr

0 notes

makeit0utalive · 2 years ago

Text

Hello and welcome to the latest installment of Dove Does Reviews. Today’s album: Hotel Kalifornia

Chaos: I’ve had a love/hate relationship with this song. When it first released, I loved it, listened to it all the time. After a while, I didn’t care for it much. Now, as I’m relistening to the album and writing this, I’m loving the song. Usually by the time an album releases I’m tired of the first single, but not in this case. I feel like Johnny and Funny’s parts feel a bit out of place in this song, but other than that I really enjoy it. I’ll give it 7.5/10.

World War Me: When this first started playing I didn’t expect it to have such a heavy chorus, but I’m glad it did, because it’s great. Love me some angry screaming Danny. I’m really happy with the long verses on this song, I’ve always preferred those to the shorter ones. The “bleh bleh bleh bleh” took me out on my first listen, and now it’s just hilarious. Love the energy on this song. 9.5/10.

Ruin My Life: I wasn’t sure what to think of this song when I first heard it. I think this was mostly due to the fact I had no idea what Charlie was saying on the chorus. Charlie Scene more like Charlie Brown’s school teacher because I couldn’t understand a word. After a day or two a flip in me switched and since then I’ve been really digging this song. Definitely giving me Cashed Out vibes and I love it. 7.5/10 because I still can’t tell what Charlie is saying on the chorus.

Hourglass: After watching and reading many interviews where the guys hyped this song up and said it was one of their favorites, I got really excited for it, but if I’m being honest, I was kinda disappointed. It’s not bad, but I don’t quite love it. Give it time though, because it’s already grown on me since the first listen. I was happy that Danny FINALLY GOT A VERSE and that he got his name mentioned in a song for the first time! I think this will be a song that just takes some time to grow on me, and when it does I’ll love it. I’m already getting attached to the chorus. Gonna give it a 7/10 for now.

Go To War: I’m just now reading the lyrics for this and “so heartless won’t even hug mom” that’s. Kinda funny. Why does this song remind me of Hangin Tough by New Kids On The Block. I like that song so it’s not a bad thing but. Why. I really enjoy this song, love the energy, especially the part with all of them chanting, that really pumps me up. Let’s give this one…8.5/10.

Alone At The Top: This song is really pretty. That chorus is flawless, I’m obsessed. This is one that can be relaxing as just kinda background music, but will make you sad if you sit and listen closely. Don’t have much to say about this one other than I really like it. 9/10.

Wild In These Streets: This song is dope. Funny and J stole the show imo. Loved the King Kong throwback. This chorus is catchy as hell. This song just makes me wanna get Wild In These Streets yknow? Solid track and once again, I’m not sick of it despite it being a single that came out a while ago. 8/10.

Dangerous: Love love love this one. It’s the total package. Has everything you need. Everyone did so good on this one. Literally nothing I do not love about this song. I’m actually sitting here smiling as I listen to it because it’s just that good. 10/10.

Lion Eyes: Another one I’m absolutely obsessed with. It’s so theatrical and spooky. I love how raw they all sounded on this track. This is another one that I just smile while I listen to it because it’s that good. 10/10.

Trap God: I keep saying this, but once again, I love the energy in this sound. Like Papa Roach said in the comments of this song’s video, it makes me wanna bounce. Banger after banger on this album. 9/10.

Happy When I Die: “Wait, what happened?” I’m so glad they actually put that in a song, it needed to happen at this point. This song sounds like it could’ve easily come from Charlie’s solo album, I’d almost argue it fits in better with that album rather than this one, but either way, it’s a good song. Also, Funny, you alright dude? Need a hug? Giving this one a 7.5/10.

Reclaim: For some reason this song just isn’t clicking with me yet. It’s very good, and I really don’t know why I’m not connecting with it yet because this should be a song I’d enjoy, but I’m just not feeling it yet. Give it time, though, and I’m sure I’ll be loving it. Despite the lack of connection I have with this song it’s still getting a 7.5/10, because it is really good.

City Of The Dead: J singing was not on my HU8 bingo card, and yet here we are. This is another good one, everyone did great here. Top notch song. It is nearing 1am as I type this and I am getting tired. Good song. 8.5/10.

Alright: Alright…is what I am not after hearing this. This is my new favorite song. This is god tier. That high note in the background of the last chorus? Killed me. Deceased. If any song tops this one I will be shocked. 10000000/10.

This is a stunning album, and has secured its spot as my second favorite HU album (just wasn’t quite enough to top DOTD, but that’s gonna be a hard one to beat, I love that album). It was even better than I was expecting. I will be listening to the entire album daily from here on out.

#This review is kinda late but I wanted to really listen to everything before I made my final thoughts #Hollywood Undead

25 notes · View notes

void-magician · 2 years ago

Text

RUSH! - Måneskin album review

pretty fresh drop here, fellas! i will say that personally i've been looking forward to this album since the first single dropped wayyyy back in october 2021, and it absolutely does not disappoint. since being introduced to these guys by their eurovision win, i've come to love their hard-hitting instrumentation, cutting lyricism, and generally hard-rock-angry-horny vibe, and this record delivers all of that without missing a beat! overall, i'm ranking this one a 9/10, because it is a FANTASTIC record, and i think you all should listen to it. track-by-track review under the cut.

Track by Track review:

OWN MY MIND - strong opener. love the crunchy guitars and the drumline, and putting the lo-fi effect on damiano's already gravelly vocals is a beautiful sonic touch on the rest of the track. the bars in this track cut deeper than i was originally expecting, given that this track is in english, but you won't hear me complaining.

GOSSIP feat. Tom Morello - lord already knows i'm gonna love something that known That Guy Tom Morello puts his guitars on, but this track is TRULY something else. as usual, damiano's fast-paced vocals make this a high-octane banger with a sweet message to boot - i really love the note of cutting out all the instrumentation in the first two lines of the chorus before everything comes crashing back together.

TIMEZONE - the tonal whiplash of the previous track into this one hit me like a truck, so already i'm partial to it. the slow, dragging bassline helps carry damiano's swooning vocals to that place of distant longing that he's clearly in. i love how his voice loses its grittiness in this track, because. he's sad, and longing. no need for those rough edges. definitely a fav from this record.

BLA BLA BLA - this one's silly, and i do like it for that. the opening verse with just the drums behind it is a great starter, followed in by this mildly crunchy bassline to lay the foundation of a brain-off, hands-in-the-air banger. it's not my favorite off the record, but it's definitely fun as just a noisy song.

BABY SAID - this one's FUN you guys. this one definitely hit for me, telling this story about wanting even a slightly involved connection and only running into someone who wants something raw and physical and not much more. the swimmy guitars in the bridge really help take us to this place of unfulfillment before grounding us back between this lover's legs. definite fav.

GASOLINE - ngl, kinda shocked this track wasn't the tom morello feature, because it feels like it's following in RAtM's footsteps. bold, cutting commentary about the world state of affairs over these crunchy guitars and aggressive drums makes for a fantastic expression of rage at totalitarian regimes and selfish dictators. another definite fav.

FEEL - ooooooo baby when i say i like horny rock this is what i'm TALKIN about! every part of the instrumentation on this feels like it's lifting damiano's vocals as he sweet-talks the listener into his bed. or the nearest closed door. i'm getting distracted. solid banger, very fun.

DON'T WANNA SLEEP - another fantastic high-energy, quick lyrics-focused banger, and i love the drive on this one. the sentiment of not wanting to sleep is particularly relatable to me, as is the drive to do irresponsible shit just to feel something.

KOOL KIDS - as a fan of the mountain goats, "white boy mad as hell screaming into the mic" is a favorite niche category of songs, and this one is no exception. love this on-top-of-the-world vibe with damiano just screaming down the mic. according to artist interviews, he was near-blackout drunk recording this one, and i think that just makes the vibe so much better.

IF NOT FOR YOU - i'm always a sucker for a good power ballad, and this one checks all the boxes. extremely yearny lyrics, pithy but cutting chorus, and smooth, weepy guitars.

READ YOUR DIARY - evocative imagery about a fucked up kind of person really send this track home. you can feel the obsessiveness rolling off of damiano's delivery of these lyrics, repeating those key phrases and slurring some of the chorus. loved this one a lot

MARK CHAPMAN - fast-paced banger in their native italian means this one was an immediate fav. lyric translation really locked this one in as a fav, and the chorus is a complete earworm. definitely top fav from this record.

LA FINE - hands down, without question, my favorite track off this album. another earworm, but of a much more righteous and angry bent. everything hits the gas on this track, and doesn't let off till the end, and i LOVE it. imo, best track on this record, and one of their best songs in a while.

IL DONO DELLA VITA - this one slows down the flow of the album, a welcome respite after three hard-driving tracks back to back. the vocals start on this one sounding kind of tired, but it picks up into a robust exaltation of life and joy. fantastic message for the times we find ourselves in, and an all around fantastic track.

MAMMAMIA - gotta be honest, i didn't listen to this one when it dropped as a single, but i LOVE it. another real horny song and this one definitely feels like it was written for the kind of guy that i am. it's a little crazy, a little bit fast, and a whole lotta hot. another big fav.

SUPERMODEL - the sound and the single cover of this song are obviously meant to evoke thoughts of Nirvana, and that's never gonna go wrong. i like the slightly peppier, slightly cleaner sound of this song in contrast to the rest of the grunge and the crunch on this album, but don't take that to mean this song isn't grungy itself. it knows its inspirations and pays beautiful homage to them.

THE LONELIEST - holy mother of god. early 2000s sad rock ass song and boy does it hit you like a truck. this one's a really fantastic endcap to this whole album, even if it did nearly make me cry.

#felix listens #maneskin #rush maneskin #album review

8 notes · View notes