Active Aggressive
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Post by Active Aggressive on May 13, 2016 10:02:18 GMT -5
Based on the previews on iTunes, I will purchase this, as I did Title. Sounds like a fun pop album, which is all I have ever expected from Meghan anyway.
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Ty
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Post by Ty on May 13, 2016 10:25:05 GMT -5
Wow, just finished first listen. It's much better than I expected. I like this one more than Title.
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Post by Heart Shaped Box on May 13, 2016 11:56:20 GMT -5
The album is fine. It's transitional. What you like about her first album is present here - great melodies, hooks, strong writing. There's no runaway hit here, but there are songs I will go back to listen to.
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Gray.
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Post by Gray. on May 13, 2016 12:37:11 GMT -5
^Was literally coming here to say "the album is fine." It's not bad, but the tracks aren't aggressively memorable. I liked the two singles, "Watch Me Do", and "Champagne Problems" the most. I won't be buying it.
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Active Aggressive
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Post by Active Aggressive on May 13, 2016 13:46:41 GMT -5
Just picked up the Target deluxe. Gotta support my fellow Cape Codder! I also picked up Jennifer Nettles, Mike Posner, and Corinne Bailey Rae.
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musiciscool
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Post by musiciscool on May 13, 2016 20:59:50 GMT -5
Even among the negative comments about Meghan's album, I still purchased it. I don't know when I will listen to it, but I will eventually.
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divasummer
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Post by divasummer on May 13, 2016 21:32:39 GMT -5
When "All About The Bass" first came out I didn't think I would be much of a fan of hers. I liked the second single more than it and after hearing her duet with John Legend I listened to the rest of her cd and really liked it. There's a few songs on there I thought could have been singles.
When "No" came out I liked it a lot. The video and her live performance of it were a little confusing though. I actually think the way she's executing second single "Me Too" is better than the way she did with "No" I love both of them. For pre singles I liked "Watch Me Do" and "Better" best. The other's are decent enough too. I think the rest of her cd is good so far. I Love "Woman Up". I so want it to be a single. "Champagne Problems" has some influence of the tropical houseish pop sound that's big now. I like it a lot."I Won't Let You Down" is very poppy and catchy. There's other upbeat songs on there as well that I like as well. There's also a few that are pretty good that are close to the sound on her debut cd The ballad "Just A Friend" is great. The chorus is kind of haunting with the second voice joining her in the chorus. I really like this cd. It's one of the better ones I've gotten in awhile.
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Ty
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Post by Ty on May 13, 2016 22:07:09 GMT -5
I don't even know which one to pick as next single. "Dance Like Yo Daddy," "Champagne Problems," and "Better" all sounds like top20 hits to me. Also, I can totally imagine her shooting a video for "Just a Friend to You" featuring Charlie Puth. That song is probably my favorite ballad from her.
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Caviar
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Post by Caviar on May 13, 2016 22:30:02 GMT -5
"Better" and "Watch Me Do" absolutely need to be release. I wish the former was much longer though.
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Dreams
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Post by Dreams on May 14, 2016 8:50:28 GMT -5
LMAO @ her fall on Jimmy Fallon. She played it off nicely though to her credit. And she seems like a good sport in general. :)
I really want to give the album a listen, especially if it's as stupidly fun and mindless pop as most posts make it sound like (which is exactly what I need in my life rn), but I haven't had the chance yet. Based on the singles, I like "No" and "Me Too" is OK.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2016 9:12:22 GMT -5
I actually prefer this album over her last one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on May 14, 2016 15:37:26 GMT -5
First projections are 70-80k (100-120k SPS). Title debuted at #1 with 195k (238k SPS); 1.06m to date.
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Glove Slap
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Post by Glove Slap on May 14, 2016 15:46:52 GMT -5
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Ty
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Post by Ty on May 14, 2016 18:25:48 GMT -5
Well, consider "No" is not as big as "All About that Bass" and the bashings she gained ever since "Dear Future Husband," that's still an awesome first week.
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Post by Active Aggressive on May 14, 2016 18:29:34 GMT -5
This album is very strong. I think it's better than Title for the variety it presents. Good job Meghan! I hope it does well.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2016 18:56:31 GMT -5
Sales projection is not as brutal as it could have been. I think falling on Jimmy Fallon will actually help her b/c the performance itself was really good, so people looking up the video to watch will see that and maybe make an impulse purchase.
I listened to this in full last night. I hated Title so it kind of rings hollow when I say Thank You is better, but Thank You is the better album, and much more palatable once you stop thinking of it as an attempt at 'empowerment.' These songs aren't empowering at all, they're just Meghan alternating between letting her id roll around gleefully in the afterglow of Title's success and letting her ego wallow in its despair over some guy - which is all totally fine. It's when critics insist that she's trying to pawn this off as any kind of feminist statement that they lose the plot; her lyrics are way too simplistic to be taken seriously that way. And if that is how Meghan herself is trying to spin it, I suggest she dial it all the way back and stick to this being only an affirmation of her personal self-confidence.
Dance Like Yo Daddy is very fun and Kindly Calm Me Down is lovely enough that it's not even shade when I say that it sounds like it could be track 7 or 8 on your Kelly album of choice.
With that said, Thank You certainly still has its flaws. Woman Up a very grating, poor attempt at Christina's Can't Hold Us Down, and if a quarter of the songs are any indication she can't even raise her hand along with the other girls who don't need a man because she clearly wants one. No is still catchy to me, but problematic given that we're supposed to buy this as a kiss-off to every creeper we've ever had to deal with in the club, when even Meghan's own words reveal that she's really just being a jerk to a guy so nervous and shy that his bros have to psyche him up just to get him to approach a girl. Then Meghan shoots him down and it's like, way to validate all his worst fears, Meg.
Even when singing about her mom Meghan finds it impossible to do so without putting everybody else's mom down a little bit. It is here that I finally figured out what is really most offputting to me about this album: Meghan has a ridiculous superiority complex for someone whose lyrical concept of self-fulfillment is so basic and at times contradictory, and it's not nearly as endearing as her stage presence (I give her credit: she does have this, in spades) would indicate it should be.
While the Fallon performance was great, the gloating fun of Watch Me Do and Me Too on record feel less like Meghan and more like Meghan doing a really good karaoke of someone else's songs. I realize that I am committing one of my own biggest pet peeves here, which is declaring that someone's music or change of image "isn't her." For all I know Title was the farce and this is much more in line with who Meghan truly is. If so...ok, I guess. But there is something to be said for having a clear vision and solid execution. This era lacks both for me. Aside from these specific nitpicks, the album itself is just all over the place. No and Watch Me Do had me thinking "ok, debut was doo-wop retro, and now this is going to be '90s/early '00s pop-r&b retro. Cool." But she flits between so many different sounds without anything to tie it all together. Sometimes I rearrange tracks on albums to create a better flow, but I don't think there is any sequencing order that would help here. different things. By the time you get to the end you realize that you have no clue why this album is named Thank You, though it's probably not worth it to ask her because "I thank God every day that I woke up feeling this way" seems to be the extent of it.
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Peterawr
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Post by Peterawr on May 14, 2016 20:24:20 GMT -5
I feel like she should have named the album "Watch Me Do"
"Dance Like Yo Daddy" needs a viral video.
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Active Aggressive
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Post by Active Aggressive on May 14, 2016 21:00:13 GMT -5
I dunno...I've personally always read Meghan's bragging as tongue-in-cheek. I believe she had self-esteem issues due to her weight in the past. It kinda reminds me of a friend on FB who posts 1000 selfies a day so people assume she is vain but then, when you talk to her, she reveals that she has body dysmorphia and she just posts those selfies to try to find a way to love her image, as fucked up as it sounds. Anyway, this album is so damn catchy and fun. She sounds really great on the ballads too. Also, the Target exclusive songs are Title-era songs and glad they made it onto the album in some shape or form.
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redsea
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Post by redsea on May 14, 2016 21:17:22 GMT -5
I bought the Target Deluxe too! I really love it. My favorite song on the whole album is Better. :)
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2016 21:52:35 GMT -5
I dunno...I've personally always read Meghan's bragging as tongue-in-cheek. I believe she had self-esteem issues due to her weight in the past. It kinda reminds me of a friend on FB who posts 1000 selfies a day so people assume she is vain but then, when you talk to her, she reveals that she has body dysmorphia and she just posts those selfies to try to find a way to love her image, as f**ked up as it sounds. Anyway, this album is so damn catchy and fun. She sounds really great on the ballads too. Also, the Target exclusive songs are Title-era songs and glad they made it onto the album in some shape or form. That makes a lot of sense with the 'karoake of someone else's songs' thing, actually. If it's only a matter of trying to boost her self-esteem then it could be a fake it till you make it thing. I have a friend who recommended I do something similar - (I have a thing about mirrors...don't ask...but anyway she told me someone recommended that she carry a mirror with her everywhere she goes so whenever her self-doubt starts creeping in she looks at herself in the mirror and reminds herself that she's beautiful. I never built myself up to that level but it's good advice. And from that angle, I can understand more where Meghan might be coming from with those songs. I just wish it were more convincing to me. The album is very front heavy for me. Despite my misgivings about WMD and MT they're on the better half of the album (I listened to the deluxe version on Spotify - not sure if that includes the Target tracks). Aside from Dance Like Yo Daddy I really have no use for anything past track 7. I forgot to mention it in my first post but Better is really the star of the album and deserves all the mentions possible so I'm going to plop that mention here.
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Active Aggressive
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Post by Active Aggressive on May 18, 2016 7:19:42 GMT -5
I LOVE Kindly Calm Me Down. I realize that she and Ariana have similar sounding voices, except Ariana does more with hers and Meghan enunciates.
Oh...@antigonerising, you don't like I Won't Let You Down? That song is pretty cute.
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Peterawr
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Post by Peterawr on May 18, 2016 7:31:35 GMT -5
Kindly Calm Me Down is the song I keep going back to. I think it's one of the least "Meghan" songs on the album, if that makes sense, but it's one of my favorites. I think a lot of the pop artists now could have recorded the song, but I love Meghan's voice on it.
Like... Me Too and No are straight up Meghan songs. I can't really imagine many other peoples' voices on those.
I think I Won't Let You Down would have been a better summer single than Me Too, though Me Too is (regrettably) growing on me.
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Active Aggressive
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Post by Active Aggressive on May 18, 2016 21:26:50 GMT -5
Fuck...I legit love this album and the Target songs are better than several songs on the album, including the singles. Such a bop of an album and I love the ballads. She hasn't even really lost her identity. There are a handful of songs that could easily fit on her debut, no question,
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Post by Heart Shaped Box on May 18, 2016 22:32:38 GMT -5
Friends is a jam. This would be a good summer single.
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Ty
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Post by Ty on May 19, 2016 20:58:07 GMT -5
Friends is a jam. This would be a good summer single. Yes!! It has become my second favorite song from this album after "Dance Like Yo Daddy."
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theflying
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Post by theflying on May 22, 2016 14:08:16 GMT -5
Listening to the album and "I Won't Let You Down" FINALLY seems like that smash in the waiting I've been missing for the prior songs. Love it. "Me Too" is a bit catchier but IWLYD is a better song and Meghan's way more relatable. I wish it was the second single instead.
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Caviar
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Post by Caviar on May 22, 2016 16:54:05 GMT -5
^^^ That single will almost certainly be released in the fall.
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theflying
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Post by theflying on May 23, 2016 11:37:37 GMT -5
I will say that "Woman Up" is straight up trash. Completely awful.
Another observation: "I Won't Let You Down" feels like the big sister of "Better When I'm Dancing", not just in sound, but lyrically. Meghan sounds so authentic when she's being the tender older sister lyrically, or when she's trying to cheer someone up. It really works for her.
BWID is currently #150 on iTunes (pretty impressive, definitely the hit that got away), so I wonder if IWLYD will connect in the same way.
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Ty
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Post by Ty on May 24, 2016 13:27:08 GMT -5
Dance Like Yo Daddy and Just a Friend of You need to be released!!!!!
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theflying
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Post by theflying on May 25, 2016 10:06:00 GMT -5
Dance Like Yo Daddy, oh my god. Everything I love about Meghan in one song.
I feel like she was really focused on changing what people thought of her sound, hence the NO and Me Too choices. But if she hadn't been, Dance would have been a great first single.
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