|
Post by nathanalbright on Feb 24, 2023 1:57:33 GMT -5
Midnight, by Grace Potter
Some artists tend to fall in-between genres, and it can be hard for those of us who are not deeply involved in those fanbases or genres to really appreciate. Grace Potter, for example, is an artist that I am not greatly familiar with but who has a certain amount of passionate fans. Normally, this tends to alienate me from an artist, but given that I tend to enjoy both the sort of country/Americana/Adult Alternative that this artist tends to straddle between, I was willing to give this album a listen and see how much I enjoyed it. Despite the genre confusion that this artist is involved in, is there a coherent and enjoyable sound that this album presents? Let's find out.
The album begins with "Hot To The Touch," a song that rocks surprisingly hard about what seems like a doomed relationship, but one that is filled with a great deal of infatuation. "Alive Tonight" is an upbeat song and pleasant enough, but not a song that tends to offer a great deal of depth beneath the repetitive hook and the admittedly energetic instrumentals. "Your Girl" is a song about a really confusing romantic situation where the narrator's fondness for the girl of the object of the song keeps her from going further with someone who keeps on trying to get with her. "Empty Heart" is a bluesy song about the artist's seemingly unsuccessful efforts to start a relationship with someone who has been through a tough time, with an upbeat pseudogospel choir but a repetitive hook. "The Miner" is a lovely song with intricate instrumentation about a dysfunctional relationship with someone who keeps breaking the narrator down, never a good thing. "Delirious" shows an insomniac narrator wanting to enjoy some late night sort of activity with other people who are awake like she is. The concept is an interesting enough one, but not fleshed out with a lot of detail, and filled with a fairly commonly repetitive hook, but at least the lengthy instrumental coda adds interest to the song. "Look What We've Become" is a driving song that seems dedicated to those who were negative about the artist and some unspecified "us," but again the details are rather sketchy about who the other person or people are included in the titular "we" or what indeed they have become. "Instigators" is another driving and highly repetitive song where the singer tries to make herself appear to be some sort of bad girl who starts trouble with others. "Biggest Fan" offers encouragement to someone she wants to sweep away who she considers herself the biggest fan of, which offers a somewhat dark and obsessive view of love, but also one that is unfortunately all too self-absorbed. "Low" offers a promise of commitment and encouragement, but while it has interesting music, the lyrics are pretty repetitive, far more so than one would expect for an act aiming for AAA superstardom. "Nobody's Born With A Broken Heart" tries to give a story about lonely people, but even if the intent is good and the music and production are excellent, the song itself has sketchily themed lyrics and a repetitive hook like so many other songs here. The album ends with "Let You Go," which given the title is predictably a sad piano ballad about what appears like the collapse of the singer's marriage to her former bandmate which appears to have prompted the unrecognized collapse of her group and the solo turn represented by this album.
The extent to which you enjoy this album depends a great deal on what sort of expectations you bring to the album. I expected a country album that would have rich lyrical detail and ended up with an album that reminded me of pop music that is not popular, where one does not necessary understand why. By and large, the production and instrumentation on this album is excellent, but the songs are consistently underwritten, with repetitive hooks and lyrics that try to evoke feelings that they do not earn with their writing. This is an album one can enjoy well enough if it appeared on the radio, but it doesn't really leave any sort of deep resonance that comes from a well-crafted song. This material reminds me of Andrew Gold, the sort of singer-songwriter who tries to do everything while lacking in lyrical depth simply because they were successful enough and were told that they were good enough to do it all. This album would have been bettered by some time spent re-writing the songs and making them more detailed and less dependent on the supposed charm of the singer that seems wasted on me, at least. This is by no means a bad album, but it was disappointing.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Mar 1, 2023 0:49:10 GMT -5
Subject To Change, by Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini is an artist who has found some success in country music and has a crowd of people who wish that she was able to obtain more success, and more crossover success, than she has yet received. I have not been too impressed with what I have heard of hers so far, but I tend to keep an open ear to music and the chance has come for me to review her latest album, subject to change. Admittedly, I go into this project with a bit of dread, not only because it carries with it the possibility of misandry, something I am always on the lookout against when it comes to singers, but also because for reasons unknown to me, the singer decided to title all of the songs with all capital letters, which is a very unpleasant sort of gimmick (and a gimmick which I have ignored when giving the titles of the songs in this album because it hurts my eyes). It is possible that I could be proven wrong, and I hope to be, but these are the sorts of aspects of an album that put me in a more critical mindset than I would normally be in. Naturally, only one of these songs has had any degree of success on country radio so far. Is this a good album? Let's find out.
The album begins with the title track, which portrays the singer as being moody and temperamental and subject to drastic and unpredictable changes, which the singer seems to portray as a good thing but indicates a degree of craziness that is a definite negative. "The Little Things" follows, with its praise of the basics and the little things that make life enjoyable, which is by no means a groundbreaking song but it is pleasantly produced and is pleasant enough to listen to. "I Can't Help Myself" shows a narrator singing about some deeply self-destructive habits of drinking with her girlfriends and losing her inhibitions leading to some self-destructive behaviors that harm her life. "If You Go Down (I'm Goin' Down Too)" provides a picture of two people who are friends with each other that both have shady business that they are both covering for each other, which the singer intends on being a sweet sort of devotion but that ends up looking like co-dependency. "Love Is A Cowboy" is a tender ballad, certainly a welcome respite from most of the songs so far, that looks at love in a familiar but beautiful metaphor that points to the bittersweet nature of love. "Muscle Memory" provides a case of the singer praising the sort of history and memory that her and a lover she sees in a bar have with each other. It's hard to tell if the singer is talking about an on-again-off-again partner or singing something that she thinks would be relatable to others, though. "I Guess They Call It Fallin'" is another song that looks at the downside of love, talking about a situation where the singer jumped into a relationship but has regretted the fallout and being let down in the end. Again, is the singer singing about her own experience, or is she trying to relate to women in the same position? "Weather" points to the singer's dissatisfaction with an unsteady and unreliable lover, which cuts against the first part of this album which praises the singer's own moodiness and changeability, a quality she celebrates in herself but is unwilling to praise or accept in someone else. "Universe" is a mellow and gorgeous love ballad that reflects on the cosmic importance love and relationships to people, showing the singer's devotion to a partner, pointing to a reciprocal kind of love that the singer praises God for. "Walk In The Park" understandably and beautifully and honestly portrays the singer as someone who is difficult to love and be in a relationship with, which is a reasonable understanding given this album and the way that quite a few people are indeed far more difficult to love than they would wish to be. "Heartfirst" is a beautiful and upbeat song that reflects the singer's audacity and impetuosity in leaping into relationships with her heart and feeling that she needs to have the intoxicating rush of infatuation, which is easy enough to understand and relate to, but perhaps not the best attitude for someone already married to someone else. "You're Drunk, Go Home" (featuring Kelly Clarkson & Carly Pearce) offers a dismissive tell-off to an unworthy would-be hook-up partner. This sort of song smacks of misandry even under the best circumstances--and a trio of women insulting a man is not the best of circumstances. Again, though, the singer herself at the making of this album was a married woman, so she should not even be entertaining romantic proposals from anyone else, which makes this song even more morally offensive. "Doin' My Best" shows the singer portraying herself as an everywoman who learns from her mistakes and makes excuses for her lack of having everything all together, and some strikingly personal details about some of the mistakes she has made for the past couple of years, referencing some of her social media and career mistakes in the last album cycle, material that would only be interesting to those who are committed to the singer's career and who buy her excuses. "Marilyn" provides a melancholy reflection on the contrast between Norma Jean and Marilyn Monroe from one woman to another, one of the many portrayals of this particular woman in music, it must be admitted. "What I Have" is an austere ballad that reflects on the singer's attempts to find contentment with what she has--a relationship, a dream job (as a major label country singer), even if she sometimes wishes that she had more or that things were better. If this song isn't particularly stellar because it's so plain, and because reality has clearly not been kind to her in the months since this album was released with regards to what she has, this sort of mood would have been far more welcome in the rest of the album.
In reviewing this album, I am working under the assumption that this album reflects the actual life and behavior of the singer and not attempts at relating to others. There are enough songs on this album that are clearly personal and focused on the author's mentality and behavior that I am judging this whole album as personal, and in that light, this album reflects poorly on the singer-songwriter behind it. It is at least more competently performed and played than the most recent Taylor Swift album, but both albums appear to be focused on presenting the warts and all view of the artists in their less than flattering lives. This particular album was recorded by a woman who was married at the time to a less successful but generally supportive country singing man. Yet this album presents the singer as mercurial, impulsive, and prone to cheating on him while going to the bar with her friends and meeting up with people talking dirty to her that have no business being around her in the first place. More so, the singer presents herself as doing the best she can when she is clearly not doing very well, struggling to find contentment in her marriage even as she acts recklessly with her heart and body, which does not sound like an auspicious reflection of the singer's future as a married woman. All of this makes the album a troubling listen.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Mar 3, 2023 2:00:38 GMT -5
Blue Rev, by Alvvays
Recently I had the misfortune of ranking down the top 100 songs from Rank Your Media from 2022. It is not as if the 100 songs were exactly bad, but most of them were inessential and inoffensive and decidedly mediocre songs that went in one ear and out the other without making much of an impression or impact in between. One of the rare exceptions to this was the band Alvvays, who had four songs in the countdown from their 2022 release Blue Rev. I was impressed enough by the sound of those sounds to think that the rest of the album might be as worthwhile a discovery as the songs on that list, and so it is that I decided it would be good listen to and review the entire album. When I was in the habit of buying albums in the pre-streaming age when I actually had something to play cds and tape cassettes on (unlike now), I had a rule that stated that when I lied three songs on an album by an artist I was unfamiliar with that I would take a chance and get the album and listen to the rest. And so it is that as I have listened to and enjoyed six of the fourteen songs on this album already, I think it is safe to figure that the album as a whole is going to be a good one. Is there a coherent aspect to this album, though, aside from its obvious good songs?
"Pharmacist" begins the album with a bittersweet and nostalgic song with somewhat obscure lyrics that is nonetheless a beautiful song that seems to be about relationships and addictions or bad habits. "Easy On Your Own?" contains a pointed look at a relationship where the singer feels she has wasted enough time and at least presents herself as indifferent to whether her longtime partner stays or goes. "After The Earthquake" follows, with a gorgeous but also nostalgic view of the good times of the past that the singer spent with someone else, with a mix of dreamy instrumental parts and vocal harmonies. "Tom Verlaine" appears to be a reference to someone who is like the late singer, with a discussion of the singer's fondness for him as well as her apparent knowledge that when the person walks away it's going to be for good, which sounds right. "Pressed" is a beautiful and pointed commitment on the part of the singer not to apologize for something she is not sorry for, which is the right attitude to have, although not always for the reasons the singer seems to think of. "Many Mirrors" offers a bittersweet look at a relationship where the love has died, but it is imbued with a sense of melancholy beauty that seems to be a hallmark of the album as a whole. "Very Online Guy" portrays the singer's realization that a particular guy is always close and convenient to contact with, but the fear to turn away from that convenience. "Velveteen" offers a beautiful but sad look at a young woman who is convinced that the person that her friend/beloved is infatuated with cannot be her, so she wants to know who in fact that he is in love with. "Tile By Tile" offers what appears to be a song of devotion but also of admission that one has given the wrong impression to someone and that one should never have called someone, because it gave someone the wrong idea of what she was like. "Pomeranian Spinster" features rapid-fire lyrics about someone who doesn't want to be alone, which is precisely what one would expect from someone who is in danger of being a German spinster. "Belinda Says" offers a look at someone who is deciding to move into the country to have her baby in the hope that no one will gossip about her and find a quiet job and find her way, apparently in the absence of a relationship or marriage. "Bored In Bristol" offers a lovely but all too brief look at another character sketch, something which appears to be a common element on this album. "Lottery Noises," tells the audience of the song to take another shot at some sort of gambling (in love) as the narrator finds herself viewing love as a risky but worthwhile endeavor. The album then ends with a brief outerlude of barely a minute in length with "Fourth Figure."
It's hard to think of this album as a concept album, but there are definitely some threads that tie this album together. For one, the album is filled with the same kind of sound in terms of the bittersweet but lovely vocals as well as the tone of the instrumental palette of the songs, even though there is variation between the songs that keep the material from being monotonous even if the sound is consistent throughout. Another thread that seems to unite the songs together is a consistent tone of unhappiness or dissatisfaction with the state of one's relationships. The songs portray people who are afraid to try again in love, who are distant from their partners, who are frustrated at having wasted years of their lives, or having gotten pregnant, or to be unmarried as they are getting older while wanting to be with someone. To be sure, these are certainly relatable concerns to many people (including this listener, which is why I thought this album was so excellent), but this is likely an album that would not appear to be obviously appealing to those who only listen to the sweet tone of the music and the voice and not reflect on the Abbaesque material within.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Mar 15, 2023 0:33:34 GMT -5
Unlimited, by Reba McEntire
One thing that one can appreciate about the albums of the 1980s in country is that they did not waste your time. As I somewhat dread listening to a certain hour and a half long album and trying to review it while having something creative to say about so many songs, all of which charted this week on the Billboard Hot 100, I look back to a simpler time when an album had a quarter of the length and a quarter of the number of songs, with the expectation that the artist would release another such album the next year, all of which would have a few hit singles on the country charts. And that is what one has with this album. If I have been rather slow to listen to a lot of albums in 80s country, I suppose it is at least partly because I grew up listening to so many songs on the radio and there were so many albums by these artists to listen to that it was impossible for someone like me who generally likes to pay attention to the hits and singles to devote as much time for albums unless they were greatest hits albums. And while this album does mark a period of increasing success for the singer, it certainly is not a Greatest Hits album. How good is it? Let's find out.
This album comes in at ten songs and under half an hour. It begins with "I'd Say You," a gorgeous and rather traditional 80's love ballad of devotion between the singer and her partner. This sounds like the sort of thing that would play at rural proms and church dances, so it hits the right spot. "Everything I'll Ever Own" has a choir as well as lyrics full of longing about the narrator's desire for a loving relationship with a particular someone that she didn't fully appreciate when she had him. "What Do You Know About Heartache?" provides a midtempo song about heartache from someone whose heart breaks as she serves as her best friend's confidant as he deals with heartbreak but does not see her love for him that sets the mood for a good read of Mansfield Park, for example. "Out Of The Blue" features a sweet mid-tempo musical background for a country pun song about how a relationship came out of the blue to save the narrator from the blue life of sadness and loneliness, fitting the general tone of the album as a whole so far. "Over, Under, Around" serves as another punning sort of country song that reflects on someone who is over a bad relationship, no longer under the spell of infatuation, and no longer interested in being around such a person, an upbeat sort of leaving song. "I'm Not That Lonely Yet" provides a slow and gentle waltz that lets a would-be partner know that she is blue and willing to dance with him but not interested in having a relationship with him. "Whoever's Watchin'" reflects on the divine providence of happiness in love and relationships that the narrator celebrates thanks to her blessed state, vindicating her life choices. "Old Man River (I've Come To Talk Again)" is a moody song about seeking advice about a departing lover from a river, which is a surprising subgenre of country music that is not nearly as popular now as it used to be. "You're The First Time I've Thought About Leaving" is a slow waltz number about the uncertain flirtation that takes place between a person in a relationship that she is not fully satisfied with and someone else who is putting a smile on her face, and filling her with doubts. "Can't Even Get The Blues No More" reflects on the increasing lack of depth of sadness and hurt that the narrator feels in being in a dysfunctional and hostile relationship, making a humorous but dark tale of an unhappy relationship where someone's attempts to cause pain end up being monotonous and repetitive.
For an album titled unlimited, it sure is limited in terms of its emotional range, which all of these songs being about some aspect of romantic longing, either a melancholy desire for love and relationships in the present, or a reflection on the heartbreaks of the past or a celebration of the love in the present, or even the uncertainty of whether that love will last in the future. A couple of the songs are about being over someone, but that person is still around causing all kinds of drama, and so all of the songs in some way are tied up in what we might think of that highly pitched strain of romantic melodrama that runs so rich through country music. With none of these songs being about drinking, none of them being about family or friends, and only one of them even hinting at being about God, there is just not a lot of emotional range to these songs. It is easy enough to see this album as being full of potential singles, each of them aiming at a different slice of a country audience when it comes to their particular feelings and experiences about love and relationships, but this isn't really a concept album as much as it is a well-produced and highly professional collection of tunes that tend to run over very consistent ground over and over and over again.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Mar 15, 2023 1:35:09 GMT -5
The Last One To Know, by Reba McEntire
Having listened now to a few Reba McEntire albums (this is the fourth album of hers in the 1980s I have listened to at this point), there are at least a few things that seem pretty consistent about her career. For one, her songs have always had a somewhat narrow and limited emotional and topical range, and one that seems to reflect the way she lives her life. As someone who does not appear to indulge in problem drinking or drug use, she is not going to write about whiskey glasses or taking pills like some other country artists do, reflecting their own more troublesome lives. McEntire's songs are almost always about love and relationships. Sometimes those relationships are going well and she sings happily about them. Sometimes she sings about wanting to be in a relationship but having one sort of difficulty or another in having them, and sometimes she sings about relationships that are in trouble for one reason or another. Different albums may have different proportions of these sorts of songs, or they may be expressed in one way or another, but by and large the material is pretty consistent through all of them. Whether or not this is something that one enjoys depends on what one is seeking from one's music. How does this album fare when viewed against McEntire's body of work as a whole? Let's find out.
Like a great deal of the artist's output in the 1980's, this album, released in 1987, is ten songs and takes up about half an hour or so of material. The album begins with its title track, a well-produced but melancholy take on a relationship that burned out when the narrator was the last one to know that the fire had died and that the relationship had lost its spark and passion, leaving her to mourn the loss of a relationship. "The Girl Who Has Everything" gives a mid-tempo song that is nonetheless melancholy about what a woman gives the girl who took her man and is about to marry him, drawing the point that the singer considers love and relationships to be everything. "Just Across The Rio Grande" contains a touching story about a man with a wife and child and unborn child in Northern Mexico that longs for and dreams of a better life on the other side of the river in the United States, wondering about the improvement his life and his family's lives would have if they immigrated. "I Don't Want To Mention Any Names" is a humorous and somewhat lighthearted look at a woman who is rather tired of the games and efforts of a woman who is trying to insert herself between the narrator and her partner and stirring up romantic melodrama. "Someone Else" gives the defense of a woman whose man is suspicious but for no good reason, because she tells him that there is no one else in her life, with some dark music and a rather pointed hook that deals with the negative effects of jealousy on a relationship. "What You Gonna Do About Me" provides a sad tale of a broken family and what they are going to do about their little child who is concerned about the effects of the breakup on her life. If the song is relatable, it's not particularly pleasant, and points to the negative effects of breakups on children and on why adults are so short-sighted in their behavior. "I Don't Want To Be Alone" reflects on the embarrassment that can threaten friendships and family relationships when one makes mistakes when it comes to love, with the honest admission that the narrator doesn't want to be alone. Again, like so much on this album, this is relatable but not necessarily pleasant. "The Stairs" provides an unpleasant and melodramatic tale of a battered woman with an alcoholic husband who has to lie and cover for the abuse that she suffers at his hands because of her inability to leave the relationship. "Love Will Find Its Way To You" provides encouragement and hope to someone who longs for love but hasn't found it, the sort of cheerful and upbeat song that is something that a lot of people would respond to, which makes it unsurprising that this is among the most popular songs on this album for people to stream even to this day. "I've Still Got The Love We Made" is a downbeat closing song to the album where the narrator notes that she has lost or given up a great deal of the things that reminded her of him but she maintains the memory of the love that they shared together, even if they no longer are.
With the striking exception of "Love Will Find Its Way To You," this album is a strikingly downcast album about longing. One of the things that this album does well, though, is to broaden the range of that longing and make the songs a bit deeper than was the case on previous albums. This does not make the songs necessarily more enjoyable than they were before, but the added depth of songs like "The Stairs," which reflects on spousal abuse, as well as "What You Gonna Do About Me?" with its reflection of the sadness of a child caught between two divorcing parents--a sadness I know all too well personally, I might add, as well as the longing of the possible future immigrant for a better life in "Just Across The Rio Grande" as well as the forthright response to a partner's jealousy and insecurity in "Someone Else" provide this album with enough depth to demonstrate that McEntire's focus on longing is enough to deal with material beyond merely romantic longing, but also other kinds of longing that are often not met by people in this cruel world. If this album is not a happy one, it is one that strikes at the heart of the lives that so many of us live, and what makes country music enduring in its appeal.
|
|
bboat11
Moderator
Pulse's Resident Martina McBride Expert
Joined: February 2013
Posts: 27,251
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Staff
|
Post by bboat11 on Mar 15, 2023 4:42:50 GMT -5
Having listened now to a few Reba McEntire albums (this is the fourth album of hers in the 1980s I have listened to at this point), there are at least a few things that seem pretty consistent about her career. For one, her songs have always had a somewhat narrow and limited emotional and topical range, and one that seems to reflect the way she lives her life. As someone who does not appear to indulge in problem drinking or drug use, she is not going to write about whiskey glasses or taking pills like some other country artists do, reflecting their own more troublesome lives. McEntire's songs are almost always about love and relationships. I just discovered this thread now that I'm posting some reviews of my own lately!
I just have to say, the bolded could not be further from the truth in terms of Reba as an artist, but I can totally see how you would arrive at that conclusion from her '80s albums. She is an artist who really came into her own at the start of the '90s and has never looked back since, so it's a shame you missed out on our journey through those phases of her career! She's the master of emotions
Pretty much starting from 1990 her albums are one perfect release after another, and run the gamut in terms of emotions and topics. You should check out her most recent album, Stronger Than The Truth, if you're looking for an example of how cohesive yet emotional her later material has become! Also, her #1s album provides an excellent wholistic view of her career. I don't know how anyone could ever fully appreciate Reba if all they know are her '80s albums, lmao.
Edit: I mean, there are plenty of great singles from the '80s. But as an albums artist, she is soooooo much more noteworthy once you get from 1990 to the present :)
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Mar 15, 2023 18:50:56 GMT -5
I respect that, and I have to say that The Last One To Know definitely added some emotional depth to what I had seen before in the earlier albums, which made for a more pleasant listening experience. That's good to know that she came into her own and her albums got a lot deeper, that's for sure.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Apr 7, 2023 17:15:22 GMT -5
Heartland, by the Judds
One of the things that one finds when one listens to the country music of the 1980s as opposed to more recent periods is that country albums were far shorter then than they are now. This country album was released towards the beginning of 1987, and contains hits that lasted into 1988, and has nine tracks. Nowadays, an artist would scarcely think that to be a sufficient number of tracks even to consider something an album instead of an EP. Yet in the 1980s, as one sees when one listens to albums from this era, 9 or 10 songs was considered to be perfectly acceptable for a full-length album, and one that could have an era of one or two years before another collection of similarly professionally written and well-produced songs was released. The question is, are these songs any good? Let's find out.
The album begins with a glacially slow version of "Don't Be Cruel" that thankfully speeds up after the first couple of phrases but which is generally acoustic with odd verbal phrasing. "I'm Falling In Love Tonight" is a more gorgeous and traditional country ballad about falling in love, an easy song to appreciate and something that would sound good for a slow dance. "Turn It Loose" is one of those country gatekeeping songs that seeks to add a bit of R&B to traditional country and is a well-produced song that is full of instrumental production even if the lyrics are a bit basic. "Old Pictures" is a lovely and nostalgic song about reflecting on love and the importance of memory in reflecting on our lives with other people. "Cow Cow Boogie" is a song that one could probably dance to and have a good time with but which is pretty stupid lyrically speaking. "Maybe Your Baby's Got The Blues" is a somewhat melancholy song that urges men to love their partners going through the blues, which is a sensitive enough point if again, rather basic in nature. "I Know Where I'm Going" offers an invitation to the listener to follow where the narrator is going, though it is easy to doubt, given the song's production, whether in fact the narrator knows where she is going. "Why Don't You Believe Me" is a straightforward and pretty basic song that questions why it is that the would-be partner of the narrator doesn't believe her when she offers love and a relationship to him, a fair enough question but one that has no answer given or a voice to provide that answer. "The Sweetest Gift" offers a melodramatic portrayal of devoted, if somewhat naive and deluded, love for a son by a loving mother. Perhaps some people will be moved by it, but I was largely unmoved by the effort myself.
Ultimately, this album is not a bad one. Of the nine songs on this album, the first is an unnecessary cover, another is a dumb dance song, and most of the rest are pretty basic songs about love of one kind or another. The fact that this album is pretty basic is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does limit the replay value that this album would have for me personally. As a listener, I would likely not change the station if most of these songs were playing, but at the same time I would not be motivated to seek these songs out. That is what I can say about a fair amount of the country music of this particular period of time in the 1980s when country music existed in a bit of a silo, where no physical singles were released that would have demonstrated which songs had any genuine popularity with people and where there was a focus on selling a few hundred thousands of copies of generally accomplished but frequently unimpressive albums as this one is.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Apr 10, 2023 22:30:38 GMT -5
Greatest Radio Hits, by Bruce Hornsby
It is often the case that when an artist is leaving their record label in the aftermath of a flop era that the label seeks to gain at least a little bit more income out of an artist by releasing a greatest hits compilation. As someone who tends to enjoy radio singles and find it far easier to appreciate singles than deeper album cuts, these sorts of albums are a goldmine in that they offer a chance for enjoying the peaks of an artist during their peak commercial success. There are understandably debates about whether or not Bruce Hornsby's best work was with the Range or in his solo work (itself often with other artists or groups) or even as a somewhat underrecognized songwriter or sideman with the Grateful Dead. This particular disk seeks to more or less split the difference between his work with the Range and his first few solo albums by having ten songs with the Range, his most commercially successful work, along with a single from each of his first few solo records and a new song to make it appealing for those longtime fans.
The album begins, appropriately, with Hornsby's biggest hit, "The Way It Is," which more or less set the touchstone for Hornsby's career as a popular artist. The song shows Hornsby's accomplished work on the piano, always a highlight, as well as socially conscious lyrics that seek to present him as an ally of the civil rights struggle. This is followed by hit single "Mandolin Rain," with more tasteful piano work, a melancholy mandolin, and a message about heartbreak that is relatable in all the saddest ways. This is followed by the third and final hit single Bruce Hornsby & The Range's first album, "Every Little Kiss," which like "Mandolin Rain" is a beautiful song full of longing about the love of one's beloved partner who is nevertheless far away. "The Valley Road," was the first single from the second album and it too manages to combine romantic melodrama about a woman good enough to have but not good enough to marry along with some delicately coded lyrics about abortion, subtle enough to become the band's third and final top ten hit. "Look Out Any Window" was a popular enough song to hit the top 40, and it has some gorgeous instrumentation including a truly lovely piano intro, even if the song's message was about pollution. This is followed by two songs that are most famous for being written by Bruce Hornsby, although they were massive hits for other artists, "Jacob's Ladder" for Huey Lewis & The News and "The End Of The Innocence" for Don Henley. Both songs, unsurprisingly, are beautiful piano ballads here in tasteful live versions that demonstrate the songwriting skill as well as the leftist politics of the songwriter. Two songs from the third and final Bruce Hornsby album follow. The first, "Across The River," is another gorgeous piano ballad with its longing for freedom in the aftermath of failures to leave one's past behind, and was the last top 40 for Bruce Hornsby to date. Second single "Lost Soul" was a minor hit, and it offers a sad story of someone who didn't fit in anywhere he went, featuring some lovely duet vocals. The tenth song on this album, and the last by Bruce Hornsby & The Range here, is "Set Me In Motion," an album track from their second album that was a single for the early 1990's film "Backdraft," an upbeat song that is a pleasant enough song if an anticlimactic way to end the career of a hitmaking band. The remainder of the songs are from Hornsby's solo career. "Fields Of Gray" was a minor hit from "Harbour Lights," a beautiful piano ballad about devotion and overcoming the sadness of life. "Walk In The Sun" has a similar tone, as a minor hit single from "Hot House," a beautiful story song about a man in love with a dancing girl. "See The Same Way" is somewhat upbeat but the lyrics are rather heavy-handed and political and it's not surprising that it was an unsuccessful song as far as popularity goes. "The Good Life" shows Hornsby opining about the sort of things that allow him to enjoy life, and it's an okay song, but not up to his usual single level. The album ends with a previously unreleased track, "Go Back To Your Woods," which indicates (correctly) that Hornsby was done trying to get radio hits and would go back to making the sort of music that he wanted to make.
It is unsurprising that in this album most of the strongest songs are at the beginning of the album and the weakest tracks are the last three solo tracks and the live versions of the hits that Hornsby wrote for others. Still, there are a lot of songs on this album that are not as famous as Bruce Hornsby's biggest hits that are still worth knowing. If you come to this album liking the big hits of Hornsby and want to hear the rest, this album will be easy to enjoy. That doesn't mean that this album is necessarily going to be everyone's tastes. In listening to this album, one can understand readily that Bruce Hornsby was a deeply political writer. Whether or not that is something you like or not depends on a lot of factors. I find his politics a bit tedious, unfortunately, but there is not much that can be done about it, as it is a pretty characteristic aspect of his songwriting that all too many people enjoy. Still, if you don't think too much about his political worldview, his piano playing and strong focus on instrumentation and solid production can still be enjoyed.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Apr 14, 2023 1:58:46 GMT -5
Speak, by Lindsay Lohan
At this point, it is somewhat difficult to remember that Lindsay Lohan was once a fresh-faced actress whose career had been built on family-friendly films where she played a spunky and cute kid who could act and sing and was a part of a generation of stars that sought to move the music charts as well as the box office charts with their often interconnected product. As it is, throughout her entire career to date, Lindsay Lohan has released exactly two studio albums of her own, and this is the only one that was relatively successful--having a top ten debut and selling hundreds of thousands of copies. This particular album was released at an interesting time, when the rumors about Lindsay Lohan's less than exemplary and indeed highly disordered personal life had reached a level beyond mere gossip and was about to derail her career in a spectacular way, and it appears as if at least some of the album deals with this context. Is it any good though? Let's find out.
The album begins with "First," which features some relationship drama with Lindsay being jealous of a partner's ex, with irritating production and singing that seems to frequently miss the beat during the verses before a passable chorus that sounds like a second-tier Hillary Duff song. "Nobody 'Til You" offers lyrics that claim that the singer's current partner is the first one to make her feel loved and special, but this mood is undercut by minor keys and a somewhat dark tone to the production. "Symptoms Of You" offers up a pretty basic ballad that compares the singer's love for someone to an illness. The production is decent enough this time, but the lyrics are lamentably subpar. "Speak," the title track of the album, affirms the right of people to their own opinion while also having a somewhat aggressive perspective that assumes that she is going to successfully woo someone by calling upon that person to speak their feelings. Again, though, the production is appealing enough but the lyrics are pretty bargain basement. "Over" features Lohan mourning the end of relationship that seems to be happening, calling on her partner for communication and a definite break. The lyrics are definitely the weakest part of the song but here they are passable at least, and this is a high point of the album, to go along with some decent music. "Something I Never Had" offers an acoustic pop number that laments her disconnection with a loved one that she wishes would stay with her. Again, the lyrics are pretty painfully basic, but the mood is sufficiently nuanced and relatable that this song is enjoyable, especially with its production. "Anything But Me" offers a complaint about the lack authenticity in what other people want from the singer, even as she tries to be true to herself. As might be imagined from this album, the production is excellent and the sentiment is relatable enough but the lyrics are cringeworthy. "Disconnected" explores the most basic of polarities in a way that Ava Max would be ashamed to put to paper, even if the production is acceptable and the mood is relatable, as the kind of material that an Avril Lavinge would have turned into a more memorable song. "To Know Your Name" offers another dark tale of a secret love that Lindsay Lohan is trying to keep under wraps and private while seeking to escape from the fame monster that she was simultaneously dependent on for her income, even while buckling under the pressure of the cameras and the gossip. This is, of course, expressed in the most basic way. "Very Last Moment In Time" offers a picture of the singer clinging on to a loved one as if it was the last moment in time, with the most basic expression of her desire to linger in the sensuality of the love in a way that seems like the poor woman's version of Hilary Duff's "Come Clean," which is nonetheless a standout track here. "Magnet" is a pretty basic song about attraction, but it's pretty convincing as a picture of attraction that seems to be contrary to reason but that comes from nature, a pretty common enough feeling in song and in life. "Rumors" offers another call to the press for privacy that reflects Lindsay's personal life and the contradiction between being a star and seeking to live a very private life. This is a pretty powerful song, but it shows a marked lack of self-awareness that seems to characterize the life of a great many celebrities.
In reading the credits of this album, it is almost embarrassing that quite a few of the songs were written by professional songwriters and only some of the songs feature lyrics from Lohan herself. Most of this album sounds as if it was written by Lohan and produced competently by professionals. It is not a bad album, but it is an album that is markedly lacking in self-reflection or self-awareness. Lohan sings about various aspects of love and relationships as she struggles to find a release from the pressures of her life while also profiting from being a star by being in movies and seeking a career as a pop starlet, unaware that her desires for freedom and her career ambitions are directly at odds, and that no one who covers her is going to let her increasingly chaotic personal life go without comment. All of this makes for a heady album that shows a singer at the beginning of her career as a pop musician but already in full crisis mode. This context is sufficient to make the album an interesting one as a picture of a career just about to implode in the face of bad decisions, and no amount of professional production can cover that sort of disaster. As far as a singer goes, Lohan here sounds uncannily like Hilary Duff, only not quite as appealing and innocent-seeming, and the composition of these songs is below the level of a Miranda Cosgrove, Mandy Moore, Ava Max, or any other number of B-list pop princesses that would serve as suitable comparables to Lohan as pop stars.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Apr 21, 2023 1:05:00 GMT -5
The Diamond Collection, by Post Malone
Those who are aware of the record label drama between Post Malone and his label over the release of Twelve Carat Toothache will likely rightly view this short album of only nine songs as having the distinct air of contractual obligations about it. And there is nothing unreasonable about this view. It is common for labels to produce greatest hits albums in various shapes and sizes for past musicians whose masters they hold, and this is likely to be only the first and not the last for Post Malone. Indeed, no other artist has yet had eight diamond singles. This achievement seeks to frame Post Malone as one of the most notable artists of the last few years, and it is indeed an immense accomplishment. It is no surprise that Post Malone would seek to turn such success into a lucrative recording contract with the label that saw his greatest success, but it appears that is not to be, and this album will likely make Post Malone a free agent a bit past his peak success. By all accounts, Post Malone has been good about providing at least a few hit singles to his albums--even his last album had a couple of hits, and this collection has a new song to drive some interest in "Chemical." Is this compilation a worthwhile one? Let's find out.
This album, as mentioned before, is a short song of only nine songs. The songs are taken from Post Malone's first three studio albums as well as one new song. The collection begins with Post Malone's first hit, "White Iverson," whose moody spoken word lyrics and braggadocio were easy to make fun of at first, but whose melancholy and drive make a lot more sense in the context of Post's career. "Congratulations," featuring Quavo, is a that might be viewed as more empty flexing, but it takes a dark view of the hard work and dedication needed to succeed and the envy and hatred such success causes. "I Fall Apart" is an honest and touching piano ballad featuring a lot of effects on Post's voice that portray the heartbroken nature of Post Malone when dealing with matters of the heart. "Rockstar," featuring 21 Savage, is another moody and atmospheric song that seems to portray being a rock star as being a joyless experience marked by drug use, promiscuity, violence, and conspicuous consumption. "Psycho," featuring Ty Dolla $ign, provides an atmospheric listening experience with lyrics that show Post Malone in a feeling of paranoia fueled by alcohol abuse, expressing the belief that money doesn't solve the problems that afflict the singer, but spending money on diamonds and cars and other items out of the absence of any better solutions. "Better Now" shows a thoughtful Post Malone reflecting on the fallout from a bad relationship where both partners are claiming that they are better now, even though there are still regrets and reflections on the past with continued dependence on drugs and alcohol to cope with life. "Sunflower - Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse" is one of the perfect soundtrack songs where Post Malone and Swae Lee combine to make a song that is often viewed as a devoted long song but which is a far darker song about broken people seeking solace in other broken people, but with a fear that love is not enough to make life better. "Circles," one of the biggest hits of all time, as hard as it is to believe, is a beautiful but downcast song on a doomed relationship that it is impossible to let go of nonetheless. "Chemical," the lone new song on this collection, features some lovely autotune and more reflection on the way that the chemical nature of attraction and the chemicals of smoking with someone draw people together, even those ill-suited to successful relationships.
To be sure, this collection is the absolute bare minimum of the greatest hits of Post Malone over the last five years or so. There are at least several other songs not included here that would have been easy enough to add and that may make their way to future collections. A couple of songs off of Hollywood's Bleeding have more than a billion streams and may make the 1.5 billion streams soon enough that are required to earn diamond certification, and if that happens it would be good to see them added to this particular collection to make it a more sizable album, though it is unclear if that sort of plan is what the label has in mind. Listening to these songs allows one to reflect on the essential continuity of Post Malone over the course of his career in having made songs that express hopes for wealth and success but that are uniformly downcast when it comes to areas of mental health, the ability to cope with life's struggles, or relationship melodrama. For all of the success that Post Malone has found in his career, one thing that is lacking in any of these songs is a sense of joy or real happiness. The lyrics and music of songs exist in a drug and alcohol-induced haze, but without a sense of uplift or progress, something that appears all too common when one looks at the careers of many artists of the past decade or more. Yet for all of the lack of progress, Post Malone's desire to come to grips with and honestly express his state of mind and state of feeling is admirable in its honesty; rather than feeling angry at him as is the case with some other artists of this age, I just feel a sense of compassion for him and a desire that he might find peace and happiness.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Apr 26, 2023 2:27:09 GMT -5
Renaissance, by Beyonce
I am not nor have I ever been a particular fan of Beyonce as a solo artist. For the most part, I generally enjoyed the music of Destiny's Child and have enjoyed much of what I have heard in the solo material of the non-Beyonce members of the group, but for a variety of reasons of Beyonce's music herself has not been as appealing for me personally. There are a variety of reasons for this--she has an imperious mood about her which makes her less appealing for me personally and which undercuts the enjoyment I would have in her music were she a more relatable and approachable sort of person. Similarly, her rabid fanbase is a less than desirable aspect of her superstardom that puts her in the same lane as other overrated artists that are dragged down by the antics of their supporters, which in the case of the Beyhive involves a lot of harassment. On top of this there is also the content of her music, which fails to please me to a great degree because she leans so heavily on misandry, which is something I am particularly hostile to. Given all of this, I was invited to listen to and rank down this album with some curiosity, but with a great deal of concern as well. Is the music any good? Let's see.
"I'm That Girl" opens the album with Beyonce's characteristic lack of humility as well as her lack of good taste, with annoying production and a repetitive non-hook. At least there are beat switches to make it less monotonous, even if the anti-American mood is unwelcome. "Cozy" at least features appealing production, while also providing a song about self-love and self-respect which fails to understand why it is that people would dislike her, ascribing it (incorrectly) to racism and unacknowledged desire. "Alien Superstar" has driving production and lyrics that seek to paint Beyonce as a creative and unique person with an alien perspective, which is at least okay, even if her wordplay isn't all that impressive. "Cuff It," the second single from this album, is the sort of song that makes sense as a New Year's Day sort of dance track with appealing production, even if the lyrics are the weakest point of the song by far. "Energy," featuring Beam, is a song let down by lyrics that fail to match the energy of the words used, along with some farty production that is a bit irritating to listen to. In contrast, if "Break My Soul" is not a great dance song it is at least an appealing one with a good beat and sample as well as populist lyrics that are definitely appealing. "Church Girl" is a song that doesn't love up to its name, with repetitive lyrics about dropping it in a club like one was a sex worker, but without trying to hurt anyone. "Plastic Off The Sofa" is more of an R&B sort of song, definitely better than the average, with breathy lyrics that focus on love and mutual pleasure. If more songs were like this I would like this album a lot more. "Virgo's Groove" is a somewhat long song that sits on a great 70's groove and again, is above the average for this album and one that makes this an appealing part of the album, with a focus on love that is better when Beyonce tries to point out how appealing it would be for the partner rather than for herself. "Move," featuring Grace Jones and Tems, goes back irritating production as well as terrible lyrics with racial and gender themes. "Heated" is another song that reflects the sort of chemistry and attraction that one can find at a dance club, but the production isn't particularly good and Beyonce focuses too much on herself, which is a common flaw. "Thique" focuses more on herself, with pretty stupid lyrics, and mediocre production. "All Up In Your Mind" has better lyrics than usual because the singer focuses on someone else for a bit, but the production is really irritating, unfortunately. The author returns with obnoxious production and misguided lyrics for "America Has A Problem," which focuses on the supposed desirability of Beyonce and shows her in an unflattering light. The production is similarly unflattering in "Pure/Honey," which features Beyonce bragging about her mediocre to bad technique and more basic wordplay. The last part of the song is better, because it features Beyonce singing, even if it's still about her supposed sexiness. The album mercifully ends with "Summer Renaissance," which has uneven production and more discussions about Beyonce about how good her lovemaking is, which is a pretty tired and tedious theme, admittedly.
This album was, admittedly, a pretty big disappointment. A great many dance albums feature singing by generally anonymous singers, and in listening to this album one can see why that is the case, in that while such singing may be undistinguished, it is certainly pretty relatable. One could listen to the slew of 90's dance acts that this album samples from or emulates and recognize that while they were only passable singers, that at least they were interested in making music that appealed to an audience. Here, though, Beyonce is mainly concerned with letting everyone know how sexy that she is and how irresistible she is and how awesome she is, and quite frankly that is not interesting enough to sustain interest over an entire album. This album isn't worthless--there are about five tracks here that are enjoyable to listen to, mostly thanks to the combination of good production and Beyonce aiming at a more populist and relatable point of view--but it is a tedious chore to listen to for the most part. Interestingly enough, the singles chosen to promote were two of the five tracks here I found at least modestly enjoyable to listen to, suggesting that the people choosing singles had good ears at least. Apparently, this album is the start of something, but it doesn't look like an artistic renaissance, at least not yet.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Jun 1, 2023 19:29:20 GMT -5
A Little More Personal (Raw), by Lindsay Lohan
About a year after releasing a generally successful first album, Lindsay Lohan released her second and so far last-album to date, A Little More Personal (Raw). This album did not fare as well commercially as her previous album, but given that I had mixed feelings at best about the first album and the way that it made Lohan seem like a third-rate pop princess, perhaps an album that was more personal and more intimate would better suit my own listening tastes. Aside from having covers of "Edge Of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks and "I Want You To Want Me," by Cheap Trick, most of the songs are written by some combination of Lohan herself with Kara DioGuardi, producer Butch Walker, Greg Wells, and others. A lot of reviewers were pretty savage about the album in reviewing it, viewing the effort as being vapid and self-absorbed despite claiming to be intimate and personal. The two ideals are not necessarily contradictory, as a personal and raw album by a self-absorbed celebrity with daddy issues is going to reveal that to others. So, aside from what was said about this album, how does it sound?
The album begins with "Confessions Of A Broken Heart (Daughter To Father)," which is a touching ballad that begins with a heartbroken song about the feelings of an abandoned daughter, which indicates the depths that someone goes to feel the presence of their father and his love. "Black Hole" continues the theme of waiting for the postman to come in a midtempo piano and guitar-driven song about a relationship with someone who appears to have disappeared into a black hole. It is unclear whether the love talked about is the love of the father or that of a departed lover, but the ambiguity makes the song more intriguing. "I Live For The Moment" gives a passionate portrayal of someone who wants a reversal of the situation where someone is going to break down and be desperate for the narrator, with some excellent instrumental production. After this, an energetic but inessential cover of "I Want You To Want Me" follows that hits the same sort of power pop mood as the original had, but certainly with enthusiasm. "My Innocence," follows with a downtempo song that returns to the album's theme of the troubled relationship between Lindsay Lohan and her father, reflecting on the loss of his absence and the way that she feels that he robbed of her innocence, which has ominous undertones. "A Little More Personal" has Lindsay Lohan talking to someone else about talking in front of songs before presenting a mid-tempo pop punk by numbers song that purports to be personal. It is highly ironic in an album that seeks to be more personal and raw that this is the least personal song of the lot so far. "If It's Alright" offers a picture of Lohan as being clingy to a partner in a relationship that she feels might be a bit doomed and is clearly co-dependent and more than a little bit dysfunctional. "If You Were Me" offers a tell-off of an unfaithful partner in the same sort of jerky spoken-word method that reminds me of Whitney Houston's "It's Not Alright But It's Okay," but at least the instrumentation is solid even if the lyrics are a bit cliched. "Fastlane" is an up-tempo song that lives up to its name, and even the lyrics are a bit trite, there is a sense of energy and enthusiasm in the song that makes it enjoyable anyway. "Edge Of Seventeen" is an energetic cover that at least manages to fit in with the album's theme of trying to come to terms with the transition between childhood and adulthood, even though as a cover it might be seen as less intimate than most of the songs on this album. "Who Loves You" is a gorgeous song about infatuation and the feeling of being attracted to someone and wondering if they feel the same way about you, with plenty of seductive singing and ad libs. "A Beautiful Life (La Bella Vita)" closes the album with another meditative song that demonstrates Lohan's commitment to make the best of her beautiful and complicated life full of ups and downs, a fitting conclusion to the album.
This is precisely the sort of album that it is best to listen to for oneself rather than contenting oneself with reading critics' reviews on the album. This is by no means a perfect album, but I liked this album a lot better than her first album, and the move to rock and pop-punk as well as more intimate piano ballads rather than pop was definitely a good move as far as the production and mood of the album was concerned. This album is by no means a boring unplugged album where Lohan sings dirges over melancholy and spare pianos, but is a mix between touching ballads that demonstrate Lohan's own personal wounds from romantic and family relationships as well as more up-tempo songs that show Lohan's energetic refusal to let herself be chained down to sorrow and unhappiness and to seek the happiest life she can. This is an album whose spirit and forthrightness are commendable, and if the album is not quite as personal as it claims to be--not least with two covers and a few songs which are brought down by somewhat trite lyrics--it is definitely a massive step in the right direction and an album that can be wholeheartedly enjoyed by someone who finds Lohan and her struggles to be relatable, and I do.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Jul 5, 2023 23:34:42 GMT -5
Tangled Up (Deluxe), by Thomas Rhett
It is probably no surprise that I have never listened to a full Thomas Rhett album before. In general, unless I am invited to rank down an entire album, it is pretty rare for me to listen to entire country albums. My attitude towards the genre in general is that I like singles, and enjoy listening to hits, and if an artist interests me creatively, I might then listen to their whole albums apart from the greatest hits and best of compilations that I am most fond of. Concerning Rhett himself, while he has definitely made songs that I enjoyed, I have never thought of him as having the sort of consistency in his musical career that albums were all that appealing to me to listen to, although since I was invited to listen to this album, I figured that it would be an enjoyable chance to test out how his music sounded in an entire era. The fact that this album is a deluxe album makes it even more interesting as a test case. Is this a worthy album? Let's see.
The album begins with "Anthem," which is an attempt by Rhett to show some swagger, but the production is a bit irritating to me rather than appealing as it is meant to be. "Crash And Burn" is musically rather repetitive but is at least somewhat appealing as a post-breakup anthem, so that works well enough. "Southside" is the sort of song where the writers thought that they were being so clever, but the production is pretty inorganic and the song pretty inessential. "Die A Happy Man" is a pretty basic acoustic love song with a guy and his guitar, but there is a reason why this was a smash hit--it's an appealing song with appealing production and simplicity and space in the recording. More like this would be pretty welcome. "Vacation" is the sort of bargain basement song that tries to present itself like a fun vacation jam but it ends up sounding tedious and try-hard, which makes it pretty mid for this album. "Like It's The Last Time" is an appealing mid-tempo anthem, with enjoyable music. It's pretty basic, but this is enjoyable, at least, so this is worth celebrating. "T-Shirt" is a song that has moderately irritating production and lyrics that want to think that it's far more clever and original than it is. "Single Girl" is an enjoyable enough song to listen to on its own terms, but as an effort to encourage single girls it seems particularly misguided in its message. "The Day You Stop Looking Back" doesn't happen to say anything new about moving on, but what it says is true enough and appealingly produced, and that makes it a pretty solid track here. "Tangled Up," the title track, has the sort of production that would be more appealing in an album aimed at Adult Pop or Hot AC with its gimmicky electro-pop production than it does here. This is a track he should have given to the Jonas Brothers rather than keep for himself. "Playing With Fire" is at least labeled as a pop track and the duet is an appealing with Jordan Sparks. I would have liked to have heard this one on pop radio, and it matches the album's theme, which is a nice bonus. "I Feel Good" is a pretty mid song that I could rather take or leave, but it's laid back enough to be inoffensive, featuring LunchMoney Lewis. "Learned It From The Radio" is a pretty basic song, but a song that is so obviously aimed at Nashville radio might as well give it some honor, since Rhett appears to learned a lot from the radio. "The Star Of The Show" is a basic but lovely enough song in praise of the singer's significant other, and certainly a pleasant enough tune to enjoy. "American Spirit" gives a namecheck of Bud Light that was a populist-aiming sentiment in 2016 but is woefully misguided in 2023 and indicates the sort of song this is, basic but mostly harmless if you don't think too much about it. "Background Music" is an unintentionally funny song that, like most of the album, is acceptable background music that aims to be a hit single but is too basic to be truly amazing. The deluxe album ends with two remixes. "Playing With Fire" is a pretty good duet, but not quite as enjoyable as the pop version, at least to me. The remix of "Die A Happy Man" fills up some of the negative spaces that made the original appealing, and adds Tori Kelly as an unnecessary duet partner, but it's still enjoyable enough to listen to.
Overall, this is not a bad album. If there are a lot of songs on here I think to be somewhat on the unoriginal side, the song is self-consciously made to be full of radio hits that aim not only at Nashville but at pop audiences. This crossover effort was not immediately rewarded, but in the blend of pop, dance, slight hip-hop, and country influences, this particular album comes off as a slicker and more upbeat version of the template of the sort of country music that rules Nashville to the present-day. This album is at its best when the production lets the songs breathe and cuts down on the inorganic elements, although even at its best there is little here that is particularly original or definitive in nature. Those listeners who hate contemporary pop-country will find a lot to despise in this album, and even those inclined to enjoy pop country will likely be able to see this album as not nearly as good as other albums in this lane.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Jul 6, 2023 23:04:34 GMT -5
This Is Why, by Paramore
Like many people, I have been familiar with Paramore since their second album, and enough of a fan of theirs that I have bought their cds and paid to see them perform live in concert. If the group has not been as prolific as I would prefer when it comes to releasing material, largely thanks to frequent personal drama within the lives of the band, as well as issues within the band itself, the music that they have released has generally been very enjoyable. If I have been less rapid to listen to this album than I have with some of their other material, it is largely because they have fallen a bit off the radar when it comes to releases. At this stage in their career, Paramore is not releasing crossover hits, but there is no reason to disregard their material because it comes with a lower profile. What should matter when listening to an album like this one is not whether the album will sell well or whether it will have hit singles, but whether it is any good. Is it? Let's find out.
The album begins with its title track, and "This Is Why" is a lovely but also pointed song that calls on people to keep their bad opinions to themselves, rather against the spirit of the times to share one's criticisms as widely as possible. "The News" offers some trenchant criticisms of infotainment that, if not particularly original, are certainly pretty valid. Here again we see another way that contemporary trends lead to the unwelcome fixation on of information sources on that which is distressing or bothersome. "Running Out Of Time" has a great bass grove and some reflective lyrics that show Williams reflecting on the gap between her good intentions and unpleasant reality. "C’est Comma Ça" has a somewhat repetitive chorus, but its lyrics reflect on the isolation and loneliness and anarchical tendencies that the narrator faces in her life as she reflects on reality. "Big Man, Little Dignity" is a surprisingly gentle sounding kiss off to a man that Williams is criticizing that is way better than its title would indicate. "You First" is another song that deals with Williams' spiteful and somewhat vengeful nature and indicates self-awareness, if not necessarily having shown the work to overcome her own negative tendencies. "Figure 8" continues the theme of Hayley Williams reflecting on her struggles with dealing with other people and her tendency to get involved in repetitive bad situations and her inability to stop. "Liar" finds Williams in a reflective mood about her dishonesty with someone she loves, even if that person recognizes the truth all along, because she is embarrassed about the truth, and the song matches the tense and pensive mood of the lyrics. "Crave" finds Williams pondering her addictive nature and reflects on her overemotional nature and the negative repercussions of those tendencies and her acceptance that she wouldn't want to be any other way. "Thick Skull" ends the album on a familiarly reflective note, with fuzzy guitars and lyrics that show the singer's awareness of her lack of insight into her life and its patterns with regards to relationships.
It is not necessarily a surprise that this album has not spawned any hits. There are certainly a few songs that would be obvious singles in Alternative and AAA formats, but the album's relentlessly critical mood might turn off some listeners. Given that the album mixes self-criticism with criticism of others and of aspects of our larger culture, it is clear that this album is meant as a way for Williams and her bandmates to deal with negativity in their lives, hopefully with the aim of growth and improvement, although there is a general tone here of being trapped in a negative situation without escape. This album is ten songs at a tight 36 minutes and the music here is consistently good. This is an album that may not attract the same attention as the band's earlier material, but those who seek this album and are able to reflect on its material and engage in the sort of self-criticism that the album demonstrates may find it to be among their favorite albums of the year. Overall, this album continues the late-career renaissance that the band found with "After Laughter," and if one hopes that the group will be able to find more positivity in their life, one can continue to expect the band to explore their feelings and thoughts with honesty in the future.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Jul 14, 2023 19:54:09 GMT -5
The Kick, by Foxes
The Kick was released in early 2022, less than a year after an EP release and about five years after her previous album. An album gap of that long suggests that a singer is no longer interested in playing the music chart game and it is little surprise that despite the fact that this album was critically acclaimed and that nearly half of the songs on it were released as singles, that the album itself never even charted on the main UK album chart and apparently none of its singles charted anywhere either. None of this is any indication of the worth of the album, though it admittedly does dim my enthusiasm a bit to listen to an album that has no real popularity, nor any songs that I have heard before, from an artist I am not particularly familiar with, aside from here work on Zedd's "Clarity," a song I happen to like well enough, I suppose. Will this album be as a good or even have any songs as good as that one was, even if it's pretty clear that nothing on this album was remotely successful as a single, probably because Foxes is now an independent artist without a lot of promotion? Let's find out, I suppose.
The album opens with "Sister Ray," a cautionary tale of a woman who is dancing and moving too fast to fall in love, along with a clear and pulsating dance beat that sounds like it would the sort of song that would work both to dance at the club with as well as to listen to in the lonely nights in one's own home. "The Kick," the album's title track, follows, and it too has the sort of beat and sound that would have fit in nicely alongside "Clarity," and another message that reflects on somewhat darker times about how to cope and deal with struggling with the world's problems. "Growing On Me" reflects a somewhat ambivalent situation where someone wants communication but simultaneously doesn't want to talk to others, a relatable but ultimately frustrating situation, with a somewhat basic sort of beat. "Potential" reflects again on a relationship with potential that is nonetheless filled with anxiety, impatience, and concern and a minimalistic dance beat. "Dance Magic" explores a dysfunctional relationship full of drama and alcohol abuse that both partners appear to prefer to a sane relationship, where the dance of romance makes everything else seemingly easy enough to take despite the lack of stability. "Body Suit" is a gentle and jazzy dance ballad that expresses the singer's vulnerability in letting her partner inside her titular body suit, symbolic of her walls and armor that shield her from emotional intimacy. "Absolute" is a somewhat repetitive song that celebrate the intoxicating feeling that the singer feels with a partner that leads her, strangely, to feel dissociated from her body. "Two Kinds Of Silence" is a post-breakup song that muses in a melancholy way on the silence of poor communication and the hurt that comes from a breakup, an obvious single that somehow wasn't released as a single from the album. "Forgive Yourself" is a lovely and energetic song that reflects on healing and self-kindness and the need to escape from the suffering in dance. "Gentleman," perhaps somewhat predictably, gives a verbal dressing down to a man who was anything but a gentleman in playing with the singer's heart and not intending on staying for the long haul. "Sky Love," one of the album's singles, appears to reflect the singer's view of a heavenly love that is able to overcome the singer's general numbness and leave her completely changed as a result. "Too Much Colour" ends the album on a melancholy note, with a somewhat moody ballad that reflects on a disturbing sort of dream.
In some ways, this album seems like it came a bit late. Not only does its sound harken back to an earlier time in Eurodance where the beats were usually clean and polished, but the approach of this album, with its themes of anxiety and the struggle for intimacy and the experience of trauma, sound much like they would have fit in on a Covid-era sort of dance album where people are dancing alone in their rooms because they are not allowed to assemble together and dance within six feet of others. Fortunately, even if the album lacked hits, and even though the album as a whole has not been streamed or sold to a great degree, this is an album whose critical praise mirrors its quality, at least to my own ears. I was surprised and pleased at how much I liked this album--not every song is great, but at least the top eight or so songs on this album are extremely good, and a few of the songs are great, including "Two Kinds Of Silence," "Body Suit," and "Forgive Yourself." This is a rare dance album that makes you feel a great deal of compassion for the singer and makes you think about the effects of trauma on intimacy even as it seeks to make you dance, and that is a rare combination of achievements.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Jul 21, 2023 20:37:54 GMT -5
....And Justice For All, by Metallica
As someone who has now listened to the earlier albums of Metallica, I have at least some appreciation for their early material, and if some people saw them as sellouts for their guitar numbers, I have to say that in general I prefer their more melodic and generally their less "hard" material. This is perhaps unsurprising, given my own tastes in melodic rock and pop and other related genres. With this album, we come to a controversy in that the band had suffered the loss of their original bassist and had replaced him with a new player, and for whatever reason, his part was reduced in the mix to the point of largely being absent. As someone who frequently likes songs and acts because of their strong bass parts, this is certainly worrisome, and though there are some songs on this album that I anticipate listening to, as a whole this album is not one that I was enthusiastic about when compared to other albums of theirs. So does it manage to overcome my initial concerns about its lack of instrumental balance? Let's find out.
"Blackened" begins the album with driving guitar and drums along with lyrics that reflect themes of a post-apocalyptic world where there is nothing left to kill or burn. It certainly sets a mood, that's for sure. The instrumental bridge is a highlight. Title track "....And Justice For All" begins with some excellent melodic guitar before transitioning into a deep pessimism about the injustice of society that is lost in the face of oppression. Again, the instrumental bridge is a highlight here as well. "Eye of the Beholder" tries to overcome subjective differences by the narrator calling on others to trust his own vision, which others might be unwilling to do. "One" is simply gorgeous, and despite the song's length (shared with the entire album, which is over an hour despite being only 9 songs long), it is not surprising that this song was the first Metallica single to chart on the pop charts. "The Shortest Straw" returns to themes of justice and communication and the struggle against injustice and discrimination. If this is a hard rock album, so far at least it appears to be very melodic nature and certainly not sludgy. "Harvester Of Sorrow" features more melodic guitars and driving drums with some intriguing vocal effects on the admittedly pretty repetitive lyrics. Still, this is a dark song that again returns to themes of misery and destruction as well as injustice. "The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" continue the mix between driving guitars and vocal effects that seek to portray a person and even a world at the end of its tether and succumbing to madness. "To Live Is To Die" is another gorgeous song, this one in honor of their fallen bandmate who had died in the making of this album. Despite its rather specific topical message, the music begins really beautifully before transitioning into a harder second intro, lyrics in honor of their fallen bandmate, and then a gorgeous outro that mimics the introduction. Dyers Eve, the only song on the album to be noticed as having explicit lyrics, closes the album out with a pretty driving and hard intro sound, some slowing drums, and then more thrash sounds before lyrics that strike familiar anti-authority and anti-parent notes, and then the album ends somewhat abruptly.
This is the sort of album that a band can only make when they are still somewhat young, and it is seldom the sort of album that ages well. This is not to say that the music included here is not excellent--the melodic and orchestral bridges and intros here demonstrate that the band could have made much different music if they had wanted to, but they wanted to play thrash metal at least at this phase of the band. More to the point, this album suffers because its lyrics talk a good game about justice but while the band was performing driving songs speaking out against injustice, the band itself was simultaneously being unjust to its own bassist by burying his instrument in the mix and giving bogus reasons for this act. Little comes easier to people than to talk about justice while being unable to be just, but few examples in music are as glaringly obvious as this one. Still, if you don't think too much about how the band behaves and you don't miss the bass too much, there is still much to enjoy here, if you like the sound. The musicianship--at least that which you can here--is certainly excellent, and the band was demonstrating that it could not only make compelling metal albums but also approach the mainstream.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Aug 1, 2023 2:10:46 GMT -5
Tunnel Of Love, by Bruce Springsteen
In 1987, Bruce Springsteen found himself at a serious personal crossroads with the collapse of his marriage, and also at a professional crossroads with his decision to break from the E Street Band. His previous album, Born In The USA, had been a smash record both commercially and critically, having seven top ten hits among its songs, and one would have expected Springsteen to be riding high in its aftermath. Unfortunately, Springsteen found himself to be in a deeply troubled place, turning inward in his focus. Despite, or maybe because of the downbeat and self-critical tone of the album, the album has long received a great deal of critical praise and the album was also commercially successful at the time, being certified 3x platinum and spawning several hits, including the title track, a top five hit in "Brilliant Disguise," one of a short list of my own favorite tracks from The Boss, and a top twenty hit in "One Step Up." For all of its success at the time, though, this album is not particularly well-streamed, which suggests that it has not received a great deal of attention from contemporary audiences. Are these audience missing a classic, if perhaps underrated, Bruce Springsteen album or is it overrated by oldhead critics? Let's find out.
The album begins with the brief and perky "Ain't Got You," which reflects on the strange juxtaposition between Springsteen's material and popular success on the one hand and his personal discontents on the other. If the song seems a bit light on the surface, it sets up many themes that we will be hearing later on in the album in a more serious and unpleasant light. "Tougher Than The Rest," the best streamed song from the album, changes its focus to heartbreak and Springsteen's efforts to woo a woman on the rebound by pointing to his own being tougher than the rest, showing the public face of his bravado even in the face of personal disaster. "All That Heaven Will Allow" shows Springsteen portraying a smooth-talking man seeking to enter a bar to enjoy a date and then reflecting on the path of romance from its uncertain beginnings to marriage and the enjoyment of whatever time is provided with a loved one by divine providence. "Spare Parts" is an evocative and bluesy mid-tempo portrayal of the results of fear of commitment, where a woman gives birth to a son after his father runs away from a shotgun marriage and misses the fun of party life. "Cautious Man" provides a slow and poignant portrayal of a slow-paced, decent, and careful person who finds love working away his temperamental caution born of fear. Unfortunately, he finds himself troubled by betrayal and darkness in his heart. "Walk Like A Man" shows Springsteen reflecting on his marriage and what has happened to it, and to his struggle to be an honorable and responsible man in his life. His own troubles lead him to wonder if people are ever happier in marriage than on their wedding day and to pray for the strength to be a good husband himself. "Tunnel Of Love," the title track, one of two top ten hits from the album, and the fourth most streamed song from the album, begins with somewhat dated production and provides a narrative of passion and lust and fear of intimacy related to the distorted funhouse atmosphere of a carnival. The guitar solo here is definitely welcome, before a closing that focuses on the grim responsibility of man to cope with what we cannot overcome. "Two Faces" shows Springsteen reflecting on the painfully two-faced nature of his character, sunny and willing to make promises on the one hand, but unhappy, moody, and fickle on the other hand, admitting the way that his troubled marriage has attracted people interested in trying to win the love of his estranged wife. "Brilliant Disguise," the biggest hit and second-most streamed song from this album, is a gorgeous but agonizing song that shows Springsteen staring deep into the abyss of his troubled marriage where he and his wife are both betraying each other and pretending to be loving to each other in the shambles and ruins of their relationship. "One Step Up," the third biggest hit and third most popular song on streaming from this album, vividly portrays the futility of people struggling in a failing relationship where nothing seems to work, not even the effort to encourage oneself to think of oneself as anything other than a failure even as one is traveling, going to the bar, or fighting with one's partner. "When You're Alone" provides a downbeat and slow-tempo examination of the way that a broken relationship leads to intense loneliness. One really feels the isolation of this track as Springsteen looks forward to a personal and professional life cut adrift from those he had been bound to. The album then closes with "Valentine's Day," a waltz that portrays Springsteen missing his girl and his home as he has been cut adrift from what he held dear, a clearly ironically named view of a man who is experiencing the dark side of love in heartbreak and loss.
Listening to this album led me to ponder the value of self-examination and reflection. What is it that makes this album so great to me in a way that other albums that offer a similarly unsparing view of themselves--like, say, Taylor Swift's Midnights or Adele's 30--leave me cold and unimpressed? There is something more than merely self-criticism going on here. Springsteen is certainly unsparing about the flaws of his estranged wife and his dissatisfaction with the wreck of their marriage. He is also equally, if not even more unsparing, about his own failures to live up to what he knows to be the right course of conduct in his life. But Springsteen manages to affirm the rightness of a way of life that he nonetheless does not uphold. It is that standard of right or wrong that prevents this album from descending into mere melodrama, even if there is plenty of melodramatic material here about lonely men who are divided between fear and longing, who know what is right but struggle to do what is right, who stare into the darkness of their souls and find it staring back at them. Few people have either the musical ability or the personal integrity to make music like this, and even to appreciate this album requires one to be willing to reflect on the ways that we may not be so unlike the unpleasantly honest singer-songwriter at the heart of this dark set of songs that encourage painful reflection and its proper response, repentance.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Aug 14, 2023 1:31:50 GMT -5
Footloose: Original Soundtrack, by various artists
As strange as it may seem, the Footloose soundtrack is one of the most successful soundtracks of all time, distinctive as one of only a handful of albums to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 during 1984, which was a year dominated by massive albums like Michael Jackson's Thriller, Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA, and Huey Lewis & The News' Sports. Besides being a big seller on the album charts, seven songs out of the nine songs off of the soundtrack were released as singles and had at least some success on the Billboard charts. Two of the songs--the title track from Kenny Loggins and "Let's Hear It For The Boy," by noted balladeer Deneice Williams (who took the chance on an upbeat song to avoid being typecast as such)--hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and were both nominated for Academy Awards for best song from a film, though neither song won. Another song from the album, "Almost Paradise," a duet between Loverboy's Mike Reno and Heart's Ann Wilson, hit the top ten. Three other songs hit the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, Shalamar's "Dancing In The Sheets," Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For Hero," and another Kenny Loggins number, "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)." A seventh song, "Somebody's Eyes" by Karla Bonhoff, was successful on Adult Contemporary radio. Only two songs from the album--not coincidentally the last two--were not released as singles. But how does the soundtrack hang together as an album, especially considering that all of the songs on the soundtrack were co-written by the writer of the film's screenplay? Let's find out.
The soundtrack opens with the title track, which even after decades over overplay is still a compelling and peppy number that encourages people, even those in rural Oklahoma, to kick off their shoes and dance. Kenny Loggins has rarely sounded more energetic than here. This is followed by another energetic number, "Let's Hear It For The Boy," which for me has always stood out as its own song, and is not one that I tend to associate with the film, whatever the reason, even though it's funny to hear the modest praise of the song being directed towards Kevin Bacon's character. "Almost Paradise" is a sweet duet that contains a hint of melancholy along with its obvious beauty and the vocal chemistry of the singers. "Holding Out For A Hero" gives all of the bombast that you would want from a Bonnie Tyler song and it is not surprising that this song has been well-remembered despite not being a very big hit at the time. "Dancing In The Sheets," by Shalamar, is a pretty forgotten minor hit, but it hints at the connection between dancing and fornication that leads dancing to be viewed by some with a great deal of moral suspicion. "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)," a second hit from Kenny Loggins from this album, is not nearly as catchy as the title track, but it's still a lovely song with a message about freedom and responsibility and the question of the context in which one can expect divine providence, which is a surprisingly poignant question for a mainstream pop single to ask. "Somebody's Eyes" reflects a rather pointed view of a dysfunctional love triangle where someone seeks to profit from a rebound relationship where the ex is still interested and jealous. "The Girl Gets Around," a driving rocker from Sammy Hagar, is another song that more than hints at the leading actress' sexual experience, further driving home the connection between dancing, teenage rebellion, and fornication, if it needed to be pointed out further. Moving Pictures closes the soundtrack with "Never," a pleasant enough sax and synth driven song about needing to overcome one's past, a song that could easily have been released as a single.
One of the advantages of having a soundtrack that is co-written by a movie's screenwriter is that the songs really match the theme of the movie. And these songs, when put together, tell an interesting and complicated tale. While many people look at Footloose and think of the triumph of young people over restrictions meant to hem them in, this album reminds us that the rebellion of youth carries with it a certain cost. There is a good reason why the wayward preacher's daughter is drawn to the rebellious outsider, and that is because of her own history, which makes her less desirable to the decent people of her own town. If Footloose as a movie has received mixed reviews for its teen melodrama approach, the soundtrack itself is pretty stellar and has definitely stood the test of time. Even the album cuts--both of them--are songs that very easily could have been top 40 hits had they been released and gotten promotion. Not only are the songs on this album pretty catchy, but they also deal with questions of the relationship between dance and sexuality as well as the nature of heroism and what it is that God rewards in human character and behavior. If the answers that the movie provides are not necessarily the best answers, the questions are still worthy of being asked.
|
|
|
Post by nathanalbright on Aug 30, 2023 2:30:09 GMT -5
The Barbie Album (Best Weekend Ever), by Various Artists
From time to time, I am asked to review soundtrack material, and this material is often of interest to me whether or not I have ever seen or ever want to see the movie. In the case of Barbie, I do not wish to see the movie and have not seen it, but the music from the album appears to be the sort that has attained considerable popularity, with five of the songs from this album hitting the Hot 100, two of them hitting the top ten, and three of them likely to end up on the 2023 Year End Chart. This is not too surprising for a movie as successful as this one, and so even if this album does not include the original version of Barbie Girl, which I recently listened to and ranked down as part of a collection of Aqua's material, this album is certainly one that I have some interest from the point of view of someone who enjoys pop music and listening to culturally significant music, as well as soundtrack pop in general. Does this album stack up to the hype that it has been surrounded with? Let's see.
The soundtrack begins with "Pink," by Lizzo. Lizzo has had a rough time recently, but this song is a smooth nu-disco song that plays up to Lizzo's message of female affirmation which is lamentably at odds with her own life. "Dance The Night," by Dua Lipa was the first single from this album and it is a nu-disco song that fits right along with her songs for the last three years or so, a worthwhile hit that focuses on her resolution to dance regardless of the emotional turmoil that she faces. "Barbie World," an all-too-brief pop rap song by Nicky Minaj, Ice Spice, and crediting Aqua for the interpolation of their original, is another song of female affirmation that plays up to the pink and to the supposed beauty of the barbies. "Speed Drive," a hyperpop tune by Charlie XCX that has charted in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 for a few weeks, is not particularly original or appealing, but it has a recognizable interpolation of Hey Mickey to make it more accessible, and also plays to Barbie as beauty icon. "Watiti," by Karol G f/Aldo Ranks, adds some Latin and dancehall-influenced material that focuses on dancing, which is at least on brand here. "Man I Am" is an dark and ominous dance-pop song by Sam Smith, which seeks to present Ken as a sleazy but unstoppable man in a thematic that reveals the gender conflict at the heart of the Barbie World. Tame Impala's "Journey To The Real World" is a gorgeous synth pop interlude that again appears to be related to the plot of the movie about the relationship between Barbie World and the real world. Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" has a suitably epic sound with its obviously amateurish vocal production, and it is the sort of guilty pleasure song it is easy to enjoy. "Hey Blondie" is a rather repetitive indie pop song where the singer tries to charm and flirt with Barbie, which comes off as slightly irritating. "Home," by HAIM offers a reflective ode to Barbie's desire to seek home because of the gloominess and unhappiness of the outside world. "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish shows a sensitive and thoughtful if somewhat self-absorbed reflection of the sadness and existential crisis that Barbie faces in examining her purpose as a toy. "Forever And Again" from Kid Laroi is a surprisingly enjoyable song from an artist I don't normally like that promises devotion and gives appreciation, which is a nice touch. Khalid's "Silver Platter" provides a generally enjoyable song that shows the struggle for affection between Ken and Barbie that is again pretty thematically connected to the movie. "Angel," by Pink Pantheress, is a lovely indie pop song that reflects on love with a high degree of fondness and sweetness. "Butterflies," by GAYLE, manages to take a familiar song and mostly cover it and somehow make it considerably worse than the original. "Choose Your Fighter," from Ava Max, adds something that sounds like video game music and which fits in with her general body of work, generally enjoyable. "Barbie Dreams" by Fifty Fifty f/Kaliii brings the listener a k-pop number with an obvious sample and a perfunctory rap verse that fits in with much of the plastic and fantasy attitude of much of this soundtrack, at least the happier side of it. After this Ken Gosling sings a remarkably faithful cover of Matchbox 20's "Push" which definitely fits the mood of the movie, at least the darker side of it. The album closes with a somber but beautiful cover of "Closer To Fine" by Brandi and Catherine Carlile.
Overall, this soundtrack is definitely a mixed bag. With two notable exceptions, the singles to this soundtrack are definitely among the songs I enjoy more on the album, and there were definitely some surprises that I found to be very interesting and worthwhile as well. Many of the songs on this soundtrack were either covers are had particularly obvious samples and interpolations. Sometimes this was the situation for faithful covers that fit the tone of certain scenes or themes of the movie, while at other times the covers and samples were immensely irritating and detracted from my enjoyment of the soundtrack as a whole. Similarly, some of the originals of the album are strong, with wide representation concerning the different elements of theme and characterization that the album has concerning the plastic world of Barbie with an irritating and insistent form of female empowerment and affirmation that tends to disrespect men. The songs dealing with the misandry of Barbie were, on the whole, very good, even if the space between the various singers responsible was wide. Ryan Gosling does a good job of conveying frustration with Barbie's disrespect, and this bodes well for a potential future spinoff for his character.
|
|