Linnethia Monique
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Post by Linnethia Monique on Aug 25, 2017 18:37:13 GMT -5
Another thing I'm curious about is why they didn't get them more rent-a-rappers here. It's not like they have to, I'm just surprised there's not an extra verse by Jeremih/Ty Dolla $ign/Kid Ink added to songs like "Lonely Nights" or "Deliver" The group chose not to have any features besides Gucci Mane. I'm glad they decided on doing proper bridges instead of getting rappers.
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Dylan :)
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Post by Dylan :) on Aug 25, 2017 18:59:06 GMT -5
Deliver, Lonely Night, Don't Say You Love Me are so so good! Everything else is good but nothing outside of those and He Like That are single material (and even that falls flat in the chorus). But the album was much much better than I was expecting after Down so! Whoever picked Down to be the lead single..
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Linnethia Monique
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Post by Linnethia Monique on Aug 25, 2017 19:08:18 GMT -5
WHEN I TELL YOU MY EDGES ARE BLEEDING!
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Mazo
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Post by Mazo on Aug 25, 2017 19:08:39 GMT -5
There's not way Angel would have been a hit over Down. Down was the perfect single people are just not feeling 5th Harmony. The album is forgettable like their last one. They're just not album artists. Down was the worst single. Angel has gotten a far better reception and would've helped pull in an audience that they are currently mute to. I disagree clearly.
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Ty
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Post by Ty on Aug 25, 2017 19:14:17 GMT -5
"He Like That" is my favorite visual from them!
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Dylan :)
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Post by Dylan :) on Aug 25, 2017 19:17:03 GMT -5
That video was so good!!! Ugh if they waste Sunday on just performing Down I am going to be so sad
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 19:18:27 GMT -5
Highlights: He Like That, Deliver, Don't Say You Miss Me, Angel. These are so obviously where the singles should have been pulled from that it makes the mistake of choosing Down an even more glaring error.
Not really standouts but acceptable album cuts: Down, Sauced Up, Make You Mad, Lonely Night.
Should have been left off: Messy, Bridges. Total filler. 8 tracks is super short these days I know but this could have easily ended on Angel and felt complete.
This album leans more urban/rhythmic than their previous ones, and I think it's a nice fit for them; would love for them to push even harder in that direction. In theory they're on the right label to make that kind of shift, it just sucks that Epic doesn't care about them and is doing nothing to try to cross them over to the urban or rhythmic formats.
The production is consistent and doesn't feel cheap, but feels kind of samey from tracks two to six. Not a fan of that and is probably part of why a couple of songs didn't stand out as much to me. Moving Angel and Don't Say You Miss You to different places on the track list would have helped break up the borderline monotone feel here. The writing is unremarkable; only Angel stands out for a few choice lyrics.
My biggest gripe with past material from them, aside from some songs just not being strong enough to hold their own, is that these four have such similar tones that it's hard to tell them apart. This has slightly improved on the self-titled album - I have finally picked up on Dinah having the strongest voice; Normani having the most resonant/sweetest tone, especially on her 'falsetto' notes; Lauren having the warmest tone; and Ally having a slightly raspier tone and the most distinctive enunciation (well, namely that she doesn't enunciate as much as the other three). But these -ests are only by margins so it's still hard to distinguish them a lot of times without listening really closely. Angel is an exception - they're all easily distinguished from one another and that's one reason I love that song so much from them. To that end I kind of get why Camila got more parts while in the group and why her fans are so insistent that the group 'needed' her to stand out. The problem is that Camila's voice was so different that it outright didn't match theirs. She stuck out like a sore thumb and was displeasing to the ears. It's not like 5H had a JoJo or Tori Kelly on their hands who was just blowing the rest of them out the water.
That brings me to my next complaint - them sounding so similar wouldn't be such an issue if they would actually live up to their name and sing some harmonies! Isn't that the entire point of a group, to be able to do things that a soloist can't?. But too often, it's such an obvious effort to make sure everyone got solo parts and when they do sing together they're all landing on the same note. This does nothing to help give each of the girls a unique identity within the group or give the group as a whole a distinctive sound.
Nonetheless I think this is a solid B-plus album and if I thought they had a chance of remaining signed together after this, would say it's a start in the right direction for them going forward. It had potential and Epic squandered it.
Sort of inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but the album cover should have been holographic. The blurry-picture effect looks kind of cheap in plain ol' 2-D.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 19:22:12 GMT -5
Down was the worst single. Angel has gotten a far better reception and would've helped pull in an audience that they are currently mute to. I disagree clearly. I'm in the middle - Angel is by far the better song, but I wouldn't have chosen it to be a lead single; better for it to be second or third, following something else like He Like That or Don't Tell Me You Love Me. Down is just a WFH facsimile that shouldn't have been released at all, but would have been fine as album filler.
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Linnethia Monique
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Post by Linnethia Monique on Aug 25, 2017 19:27:42 GMT -5
After Sean Bankhead got DRAGGED over getting a VMA Choreography Nomination for Down; he walked into the room, laid down this video, and cackled into the wind like the Wicked Witch of the ATL.
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Post by Fat Ass Kelly Price on Aug 25, 2017 19:57:48 GMT -5
He Like That is a smash waiting to happen. The video is one of their best. Even Ally doesn't look tragic.
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DistrictTwelve
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Post by DistrictTwelve on Aug 25, 2017 20:05:02 GMT -5
He Like That is a smash waiting to happen. The video is one of their best. Even Ally doesn't look tragic. lmao this made me laugh, then feel bad about laughing. harsh but true.
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Aug 25, 2017 22:04:14 GMT -5
The group chose not to have any features besides Gucci Mane. I'm glad they decided on doing proper bridges instead of getting rappers. "We chose not to have more features" sounds like something you'd say instead of having to say "the labels didn't want to pay for the rappers." Come on, these girls have wanted to collaborate with Nicki Minaj for years now.
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Linnethia Monique
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Post by Linnethia Monique on Aug 25, 2017 22:19:06 GMT -5
The group chose not to have any features besides Gucci Mane. I'm glad they decided on doing proper bridges instead of getting rappers. "We chose not to have more features" sounds like something you'd say instead of having to say "the labels didn't want to pay for the rappers." Come on, these girls have wanted to collaborate with Nicki Minaj for years now. They could be on Nicki's project.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 22:55:34 GMT -5
Epic has a range of rappers on its roster that it could have plunked on the album without having to pay too much upfront. And Gucci isn't even one of them (he's on Atlantic). It struck me at first as "no budget" too but I really do think they chose not to have any features other than the one on Down.
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think pink.
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Post by think pink. on Aug 25, 2017 23:28:34 GMT -5
WHEN I TELL YOU MY EDGES ARE BLEEDING!
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Hurricane Lee
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Post by Hurricane Lee on Aug 26, 2017 11:00:16 GMT -5
So...decided to give these little girls a chance after semi-dragging. I did enjoy WFH a little but I really didn't care about them or whatever they put out. On a long, delayed bus to Providence for a fundraiser and a bit whacked on half a pot brownie, but yes...this is very strong. I have no idea who is who and honestly don't even care. He Like That is so good, I was almost in tears. Nothing is skipworthy. I could see myself buying this, honestly. Deliver and Don't Say You Love Me are ace. Angel should be a single.
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Ling-Ling
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Post by Ling-Ling on Aug 26, 2017 11:28:09 GMT -5
I think the album is just okay, like their other albums there's some strong highlights and then the rest is listenable/faceless filler. I do think this is their best effort so far though.
That being said, these past two songs and videos have been CLUTCH. That "He Like That" video is the first moment where they look like they have all of their sh*t 100% together IMO. It's a shame that all this BS is going down once they finally seem to be hitting a stride.
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Mike79
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Post by Mike79 on Aug 26, 2017 17:56:20 GMT -5
This album is amazing from start to finish. Looking forward to their VMA performance on Sunday. My ranking:
1. Lonely Night
2. Don't Say You Love Me
3. Make You Mad
4. He Like That
5. Angel
6. Deliver
7. Sauced Up
8. Down
9. Bridges
10. Messy
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think pink.
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Post by think pink. on Aug 27, 2017 1:31:27 GMT -5
Listen....
"SAUCED UP" IS IT!!!!
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Rural Juror
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Post by Rural Juror on Aug 27, 2017 13:47:53 GMT -5
As expected, the album grew on me and I think I'm verging on loving it. The only one that is not making an impression on me is Messy, but I'll wait until the song inevitably hits me. DSYLM is still the standout, though. Sauced Up needs to be the third single because it has hit written all over it. I hope that He Like That becomes a success because it deserves to be one.
After some initial trepidation about this album after I heard Down, I'm really happy with how the rest of the album turned out. I just hope that we get a few bonus tracks because 30+ minutes for an album is too short for my liking. It needs to have two more songs at least.
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Envoirment
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Post by Envoirment on Aug 27, 2017 15:44:14 GMT -5
Wow. "He Like That" video turning me slightly straight, yes girls! By far their sexiest video and the choreography was on point.
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Aug 27, 2017 20:50:04 GMT -5
Down won the VMA for Best Pop Video and they threw some beautiful shade during their performance.
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jdanton2
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Post by jdanton2 on Aug 27, 2017 20:51:45 GMT -5
performance was great though wish they had done He Like That.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2017 20:54:51 GMT -5
Should've performed Angel & He Like That What a waste, Down is there worst single
Also that shade though, is Camilla in attendance?
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Aug 27, 2017 21:05:48 GMT -5
Also that shade though, is Camilla in attendance? She wasn't.
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Ty
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Post by Ty on Aug 27, 2017 21:39:57 GMT -5
Their best live performance in a while.
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Aug 27, 2017 22:12:53 GMT -5
That was possibly their best performance.
It looked quite expensive, by the way.
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SHOOTER
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Post by SHOOTER on Aug 27, 2017 22:17:33 GMT -5
Normani jumping into that split made me stan for a good 3 minutes!
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Ty
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Post by Ty on Aug 27, 2017 22:26:09 GMT -5
Normani is the real deal. No clue why the industry doesn't seem to be too fascinated with her.
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Wave.
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Post by Wave. on Aug 27, 2017 22:43:02 GMT -5
Also that shade though, is Camilla in attendance? She wasn't. She got kicked into Oblivion πππ
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