What Is a "Music"? (Album/track review thread)
Apr 30, 2017 21:04:11 GMT -5
Post by Every Sperm Is Great on Apr 30, 2017 21:04:11 GMT -5
Words about music will be written here, or something.
For the inaugural review, I'll attend to the more well known side of things.
Gorillaz - Humanz
When I first heard of the alleged concept driving this album's lyrics, I was rather curious. From what I could tell, these tracks were written by Albarn during the early days of the 2016 election cycle, when Trump was first gaining ground as a 'wild-card' candidate. Albarn wrote these lyrics while imagining a worst-case scenario future in which Trump was elected as president.
Oh, cool! He predicted the future. Oh, wait... that also acts as another reminder that Donald Trump is president. Fuck.
Political rants aside (spoilers: I'm a tree-hugging, liberal pansy communist atheist who hates America and wants to take your guns away), I was intrigued going in. However, I first listened through the Gorillaz discography, something with which I was not too familiar outside of the big singles. I found that while Albarn could craft some truly amazing songs with this project (e.g. "Feel Good Inc.", "Dirty Harry", "Rhinestone Eyes", "Stylo"), Gorillaz albums contained a startling amount of filler, especially on that shaky debut. Demon Days and Plastic Beach are solid records overall (78/100 for the former, 82/100 for the latter), though even on those records, they could feel a bit long, especially with the amount of filler in the latter halves.
Humanz follows many of these trends, though it is still fairly solid. Instead of being a concept album with prophetic foresight as I had expected, this album places far more focus upon the individual tracks themselves, though there is still a unifying theme that will be addressed later. The record works in this capacity, with some real highlights such as "Submission", "Andromeda" and especially "Let Me Out". The lo-fi trip hop style of the band's previous records is still present on Humanz as well, though the list of collaborators has received a modern update. Many of the more interesting rappers working today can be found in this list (e.g. Pusha T, Vince Staples, DRAM), in addition to some other intriguing features (Jehnny Beth of Savages, Mavis Staples and the return of longtime collaborator De La Soul), and some more obscure names as well (Kali Uchis, Benjamin Clementine). As with previous Gorillaz records, the far-reaching selection of collaborators does not seem as disparate when listening to the actual songs; somehow, they blend together into one definitive style.
This album falters musically in its slower sections; songs like "Charger", "Saturnz Barz" and "Hallelujah Money" can get very uninteresting very quickly. "Charger" is the biggest offender, as it sounds like one of the more "experimental" tracks from the debut album in that it doesn't really go anywhere or provoke any emotion besides indifference.
The deluxe edition of this album also adds to the quality; while I don't care for "The Apprentice", "Halfway to the Halfway House" and "Out of Body" are both very enjoyable tracks, with the former being musically interesting and the latter working as a dance-pop song. "We Got the Power", "Submission", and "Andromeda" work in a similar pop capacity.
The lyrics to some of these tracks have a unifying theme, and this goes back to Albarn's speculation about a Trump presidency. While "Hallelujah Money" and "Let Me Out" are more critical with their politics, many other lyrics try and offer solutions to cope with the unfortunate circumstances. Take "Ascension", where Vince Staples raps about hedonistic nihilism, using the political discord as rationalization for this philosophy. Or "We Got the Power", which is really more of an empowerment anthem. I generally detest these songs, especially the variety that plagues the HAC radio format. However, "We Got the Power" works, as there is some real genuine sincerity and reassurance to be found in this song, with just a hint of melancholy in accepting the state of affairs.
Overall, this is a very unique and timely album that is most definitely worth your time, though it does suffer from an abundance of filler tracks and lackluster moments. However, there are some truly great high points on this album as well, and for many of us who are upset about the current state of politics (such as myself), this could be the record we all needed.
76/100
Best Tracks: "Let Me Out", "Submission", "Andromeda", "We Got the Power", "Strobelite", "Halfway to the Halfway House (deluxe)", "Out of Body (deluxe)"
Worst Track: "Momentz"
For the inaugural review, I'll attend to the more well known side of things.
Gorillaz - Humanz
When I first heard of the alleged concept driving this album's lyrics, I was rather curious. From what I could tell, these tracks were written by Albarn during the early days of the 2016 election cycle, when Trump was first gaining ground as a 'wild-card' candidate. Albarn wrote these lyrics while imagining a worst-case scenario future in which Trump was elected as president.
Oh, cool! He predicted the future. Oh, wait... that also acts as another reminder that Donald Trump is president. Fuck.
Political rants aside (spoilers: I'm a tree-hugging, liberal pansy communist atheist who hates America and wants to take your guns away), I was intrigued going in. However, I first listened through the Gorillaz discography, something with which I was not too familiar outside of the big singles. I found that while Albarn could craft some truly amazing songs with this project (e.g. "Feel Good Inc.", "Dirty Harry", "Rhinestone Eyes", "Stylo"), Gorillaz albums contained a startling amount of filler, especially on that shaky debut. Demon Days and Plastic Beach are solid records overall (78/100 for the former, 82/100 for the latter), though even on those records, they could feel a bit long, especially with the amount of filler in the latter halves.
Humanz follows many of these trends, though it is still fairly solid. Instead of being a concept album with prophetic foresight as I had expected, this album places far more focus upon the individual tracks themselves, though there is still a unifying theme that will be addressed later. The record works in this capacity, with some real highlights such as "Submission", "Andromeda" and especially "Let Me Out". The lo-fi trip hop style of the band's previous records is still present on Humanz as well, though the list of collaborators has received a modern update. Many of the more interesting rappers working today can be found in this list (e.g. Pusha T, Vince Staples, DRAM), in addition to some other intriguing features (Jehnny Beth of Savages, Mavis Staples and the return of longtime collaborator De La Soul), and some more obscure names as well (Kali Uchis, Benjamin Clementine). As with previous Gorillaz records, the far-reaching selection of collaborators does not seem as disparate when listening to the actual songs; somehow, they blend together into one definitive style.
This album falters musically in its slower sections; songs like "Charger", "Saturnz Barz" and "Hallelujah Money" can get very uninteresting very quickly. "Charger" is the biggest offender, as it sounds like one of the more "experimental" tracks from the debut album in that it doesn't really go anywhere or provoke any emotion besides indifference.
The deluxe edition of this album also adds to the quality; while I don't care for "The Apprentice", "Halfway to the Halfway House" and "Out of Body" are both very enjoyable tracks, with the former being musically interesting and the latter working as a dance-pop song. "We Got the Power", "Submission", and "Andromeda" work in a similar pop capacity.
The lyrics to some of these tracks have a unifying theme, and this goes back to Albarn's speculation about a Trump presidency. While "Hallelujah Money" and "Let Me Out" are more critical with their politics, many other lyrics try and offer solutions to cope with the unfortunate circumstances. Take "Ascension", where Vince Staples raps about hedonistic nihilism, using the political discord as rationalization for this philosophy. Or "We Got the Power", which is really more of an empowerment anthem. I generally detest these songs, especially the variety that plagues the HAC radio format. However, "We Got the Power" works, as there is some real genuine sincerity and reassurance to be found in this song, with just a hint of melancholy in accepting the state of affairs.
Overall, this is a very unique and timely album that is most definitely worth your time, though it does suffer from an abundance of filler tracks and lackluster moments. However, there are some truly great high points on this album as well, and for many of us who are upset about the current state of politics (such as myself), this could be the record we all needed.
76/100
Best Tracks: "Let Me Out", "Submission", "Andromeda", "We Got the Power", "Strobelite", "Halfway to the Halfway House (deluxe)", "Out of Body (deluxe)"
Worst Track: "Momentz"