.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Jun 10, 2022 19:54:20 GMT -5
Heard "Hate My Heart" on the radio today and it sounded great! 😍
It, "Velvet Heartbreak," "Burn," "Pink Champagne," and "She Don't Know" would be my single pool to pick from. They can't go wrong with any of those.
After more listens to the album, I've decided that "Faster" is probably my least favorite cut. Every time it comes on even when I'm listening passively, I kinda feel the same reaction of 'this is a bit of a buzzkill' and then realize it's that one, lol. Still better than my least fave song on any of her albums except for Storyteller ("Clock Don't Stop").
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fearlessarrow
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Post by fearlessarrow on Jun 10, 2022 19:59:17 GMT -5
I definitely agree with everyone saying this is a way more consistent effort than Cry Pretty (and most of her other albums). The highs on Cry Pretty weren't even that high for me, so this beats CP by miles. "Poor Everybody Else" and "Hate My Heart" are standing out to me as early favorites but I feel like with the baseline quality being much higher this time around things could definitely shift around.
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recordyear
Diamond Member
album listener
Joined: January 2017
Posts: 14,686
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Post by recordyear on Jun 10, 2022 23:02:47 GMT -5
Anyone surprised there are no album reviews by large publications online?
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Troublemaker
4x Platinum Member
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Post by Troublemaker on Jun 11, 2022 0:08:25 GMT -5
Anyone surprised there are no album reviews by large publications online? I’ve been wondering the same, could it be they weren’t sent advanced copies to reduce leaks?
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recordyear
Diamond Member
album listener
Joined: January 2017
Posts: 14,686
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Post by recordyear on Jun 11, 2022 0:24:41 GMT -5
I’ve been wondering the same, could it be they weren’t sent advanced copies to reduce leaks? Usually the leaks come from CD stores and early mailed vinyl copies rather than advanced copies.
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3chords
New Member
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Posts: 339
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Post by 3chords on Jun 11, 2022 0:27:01 GMT -5
Anyone surprised there are no album reviews by large publications online? Was wondering the same thing. Rolling Stone is always out a few days early. I’ve seen nothing but a couple random websites. I’m sure AllMusic will be up at some point over the weekend. Pitchfork never reviews her so that’s not strange, but RS was at least one I was looking for.
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lipe
New Member
Joined: February 2018
Posts: 364
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Post by lipe on Jun 11, 2022 11:11:35 GMT -5
I loved the album! It's still soon for me to rank it but I really enjoyed it. Out of the new songs, I love "Pink Champagne", "Wanted Woman", "Velvet Heartbreak" and "Hate My Heart".
Unpopular opinions: I don't dislike the choice of "Ghost Story" as the lead single and it's one of my favorites on the album. and I'm really not feeling "Poor Everybody Else" even though it sounds like something I would like.
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Jack
8x Platinum Member
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Posts: 8,511
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Post by Jack on Jun 11, 2022 12:16:29 GMT -5
I was gonna do a track-by-track, but that seems ill-advised. The good news! Ghost Story is much better than it seemed at first, and would have made a strong album track for her pre-2016. There are glimpses of the ‘old’ Carrie’s quality (or a step forward into a future version of quality) on tracks like Burn and Garden. It’s nice to hear her inject a bit of personality, with the all-round good Something Bad re-tread Poor Everybody Else. Wanted Woman’s Fleetwood vibes are a promising sign of where she could go with that palette, and I hope she does indeed go there, moving forward. I’ve picked up that in the lead up to D&R, Carrie’s online fanbase like to do a bit of ‘in joking’ and ‘trolling’ with comments like “ended the 1980s!” or “greatest living entertainer on planet earth” (or was is it in history? ) so I’ll take some of the bending over backwards to proclaim this as her masterpiece with a pinch of salt. That said. Lyrically, the whole thing is just awash with Country clichés and predictable juxtapositions/dichotomies - presumably ones that feature some type of fabric - that one could just throw into a random phrase generator. Alexa, insert some ‘shimmery’ and/or heartbreak adjective coupled up with some sort of ‘yeehaw’-association noun!: RESULTS: Satin lies and silk sins glitter in the wind!
Polyester promises bleed the colors in the broken washing machine of my sparkle heart.
Chiffon dangers and shining daggers! etc. etc. etc.It’s extra jarring compared to how, lyrically, the Country genre (at its best) excels with the best. The insult to that injury is Carrie’s own lyrics and stories have been amongst the best of their kind. It seems abandoning any kind of storytelling, anything shooting for an original sonic soundscape (who cares, the QUEEN is here to have FUN, mmkay!) is taken as read, nay a good thing. But the vocals! Christ. Anything resembling versatility, light or shade, anything impressive technically, or small, or raw was clearly glittered out with a glue gun in the recording studio. Underwood’s vocals have two settings on here; ‘safe’ or ‘loud’. Influence-wise, as Pop music continues its evolution blending with either the 70s or the 00s, and fashion carries on taking its cues from the 90s, here comes Carrie (non-conformist Queen!!!) doing 80s cosplay about half as good as the best fifty artists who did it five years ago. The descent into faceless, bland, boring Malibu Country Barbie is complete and while the Care Bears couldn’t be more thrilled about it I, as you can tell, am not. Denim & Rhinestones is more consistent than Cry Pretty, but it’s also her dullest and least ambitious project to date, which is quite a feat. Country music’s history of freezing/locking out women, and letting a precious few share limited bandwidth makes Carrie’s continued (if diminishing) success within it is all the more galling. Miranda, Maren, Carly Pearce, Caylee Hammack, Ashley Monroe, Ashley McBryde, Cam, Hailey Whitters, Mickey Guyton, Kacey Musgraves are all doing far better work (most of them with far less opportunity or success), and I hope the continued democratization and accessibility of music renders mediocrity like this album as obsolete as it deserves to be.
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bigd79
Gold Member
Joined: February 2019
Posts: 802
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Post by bigd79 on Jun 11, 2022 12:34:33 GMT -5
I like to think the only reason they kept it 4 deep last era was due to the mediocre radio reception. Now she’s with a new label I hope they grant her more than just 4 cause this album has it. Considering she could've gone 5 deep on like... every album of her career and chose to only do it once with Carnival Ride, I would not get my hopes up at all for more than 4 singles, lol. That said, she's always done at least 4, so I think we can all bank on getting 3 more hits off the record once "Ghost Story" peaks, and they definitely have a lot of great choices. It would not shock me at all if about a year from now she puts out a deluxe edition with like 4-5 more songs included which would prob line up for single #4. Labels seem to be loving this strategy lately.
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CoJoFan
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Joined: December 2013
Posts: 7,414
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Post by CoJoFan on Jun 12, 2022 9:56:33 GMT -5
“Hate My Heart” would be my choice for the next single. Although there’s many great choices for singles on the album. This is a lot better than Cry Pretty.
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schnetzka
2x Platinum Member
The album that never ends... I mean 'THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY' out now!
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Post by schnetzka on Jun 12, 2022 10:21:27 GMT -5
Okay but like the album has been out for two days and there is still no Metacritic score. Stores can't get CDs, big publication reviews apparently don't know the album exists - what a way to start an era lol.
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zdm1998
2x Platinum Member
Sometimes love slips away, and you just can't get it back, lets face it
Joined: August 2020
Posts: 2,009
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Post by zdm1998 on Jun 12, 2022 10:38:48 GMT -5
Eh I don't care about critics anymore. Almost all of them have the baseline that they don't like Carrie to begin with so they go in with that point of view. Storyteller should've had at least an 80 or above when it was reviewed, but didn't. Not to bring other's up, but if Miranda released Storyteller I guarantee it would have had a higher rating since she's more industry supported. The fans are who matters anyway.
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recordyear
Diamond Member
album listener
Joined: January 2017
Posts: 14,686
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Post by recordyear on Jun 12, 2022 10:44:03 GMT -5
Also I got a feeling this will have a worse first week performance than American Heartbreak's first week.
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gardyfan
2x Platinum Member
Bad Mother Trucker
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,725
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Post by gardyfan on Jun 12, 2022 11:44:57 GMT -5
I got it delivered this morning so there should be no reason it hasn't gotten into stores now.
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daddy
Platinum Member
Joined: November 2017
Posts: 1,288
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Post by daddy on Jun 12, 2022 13:22:17 GMT -5
Anyone surprised there are no album reviews by large publications online? The label probably couldn’t find any copies to send them.
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zdm1998
2x Platinum Member
Sometimes love slips away, and you just can't get it back, lets face it
Joined: August 2020
Posts: 2,009
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Post by zdm1998 on Jun 12, 2022 13:22:20 GMT -5
Moves back to #1 on all genre iTunes.
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3chords
New Member
Joined: July 2020
Posts: 339
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Post by 3chords on Jun 12, 2022 13:27:24 GMT -5
Carrie will be fine. Didn’t her Gospel album shift like 65k pure just last year. The review thing is weird though. Maybe the critics saw she said she just wanted to have fun and they lost interest idk.
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daddy
Platinum Member
Joined: November 2017
Posts: 1,288
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Post by daddy on Jun 12, 2022 13:27:56 GMT -5
I was gonna do a track-by-track, but that seems ill-advised. The good news! Ghost Story is much better than it seemed at first, and would have made a strong album track for her pre-2016. There are glimpses of the ‘old’ Carrie’s quality (or a step forward into a future version of quality) on tracks like Burn and Garden. It’s nice to hear her inject a bit of personality, with the all-round good Something Bad re-tread Poor Everybody Else. Wanted Woman’s Fleetwood vibes are a promising sign of where she could go with that palette, and I hope she does indeed go there, moving forward. I’ve picked up that in the lead up to D&R, Carrie’s online fanbase like to do a bit of ‘in joking’ and ‘trolling’ with comments like “ended the 1980s!” or “greatest living entertainer on planet earth” (or was is it in history? ) so I’ll take some of the bending over backwards to proclaim this as her masterpiece with a pinch of salt. That said. Lyrically, the whole thing is just awash with Country clichés and predictable juxtapositions/dichotomies - presumably ones that feature some type of fabric - that one could just throw into a random phrase generator. Alexa, insert some ‘shimmery’ and/or heartbreak adjective coupled up with some sort of ‘yeehaw’-association noun!: RESULTS: Satin lies and silk sins glitter in the wind!
Polyester promises bleed the colors in the broken washing machine of my sparkle heart.
Chiffon dangers and shining daggers! etc. etc. etc.It’s extra jarring compared to how, lyrically, the Country genre (at its best) excels with the best. The insult to that injury is Carrie’s own lyrics and stories have been amongst the best of their kind. It seems abandoning any kind of storytelling, anything shooting for an original sonic soundscape (who cares, the QUEEN is here to have FUN, mmkay!) is taken as read, nay a good thing. But the vocals! Christ. Anything resembling versatility, light or shade, anything impressive technically, or small, or raw was clearly glittered out with a glue gun in the recording studio. Underwood’s vocals have two settings on here; ‘safe’ or ‘loud’. Influence-wise, as Pop music continues its evolution blending with either the 70s or the 00s, and fashion carries on taking its cues from the 90s, here comes Carrie (non-conformist Queen!!!) doing 80s cosplay about half as good as the best fifty artists who did it five years ago. The descent into faceless, bland, boring Malibu Country Barbie is complete and while the Care Bears couldn’t be more thrilled about it I, as you can tell, am not. Denim & Rhinestones is more consistent than Cry Pretty, but it’s also her dullest and least ambitious project to date, which is quite a feat. Country music’s history of freezing/locking out women, and letting a precious few share limited bandwidth makes Carrie’s continued (if diminishing) success within it is all the more galling. Miranda, Maren, Carly Pearce, Caylee Hammack, Ashley Monroe, Ashley McBryde, Cam, Hailey Whitters, Mickey Guyton, Kacey Musgraves are all doing far better work (most of them with far less opportunity or success), and I hope the continued democratization and accessibility of music renders mediocrity like this album as obsolete as it deserves to be. 🥴
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Active Aggressive
Moderator
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 36,087
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Post by Active Aggressive on Jun 12, 2022 13:37:41 GMT -5
I had to cancel my order from Amazon twice - once because my original pre-order said I wouldn't receive it until June 24th (when I pre-ordered it in during the middle of May, LOL) and then because the delivery just didn't happen as scheduled on Friday (as promised with my second order of the CD) and then, it was 9:45 PM on Saturday when I realized it wouldn't come then either, so I just went to Target and hoped for the best because their website said they had in stock (which...means shit) but I got it. I had to cave and listen to the Apple Music Atmos version on Friday night anyway (and I'm glad I did) but hey, I'm glad I got the CD anyway. The booklet is cute, as are the stickers. I'm debating on actually using them in open support of this album or am I gonna just preserve them in the case.
Anyway, I continue to love this album, the more I play it. It's expertly produced and Carrie sounds fantastic. Hate My Heart really grew on me. That chorus is so catchy. Crazy Angels is a killer too. The whole damn album goes hard but if I had to pick a least fave, it would be Garden. Love the message but not crazy about the execution. The clear top 3, for me are: Poor Everybody Else (I would rather type that out 10x than type that unfortunate acronym even once), Pink Champagne, and Faster. Faster punches me in the feels. What a beautiful song. Giving me Instagram or TikTok proposal video vibes or even first dance at wedding vibes. I wasn't expecting an 80's R&B slow jam but I am glad we got it. It also gives me, oddly enough, Wilson Phillips vibes too. It's just...gorgeous. The use of instrumental fadeout also just..makes my heart beat faster.
I hope this album kills at all the award shows.
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Kanenrá:ke
Moderator
ethereal eternal nonexistent
she left her briquettes out in typical heaux fashion.
Joined: January 2009
Posts: 12,246
Staff
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Post by Kanenrá:ke on Jun 12, 2022 15:52:29 GMT -5
I had to cancel my order from Amazon twice - once because my original pre-order said I wouldn't receive it until June 24th (when I pre-ordered it in during the middle of May, LOL) and then because the delivery just didn't happen as scheduled on Friday (as promised with my second order of the CD) and then, it was 9:45 PM on Saturday when I realized it wouldn't come then either, so I just went to Target and hoped for the best because their website said they had in stock (which...means s**t) but I got it. I had to cave and listen to the Apple Music Atmos version on Friday night anyway (and I'm glad I did) but hey, I'm glad I got the CD anyway. The booklet is cute, as are the stickers. I'm debating on actually using them in open support of this album or am I gonna just preserve them in the case. Anyway, I continue to love this album, the more I play it. It's expertly produced and Carrie sounds fantastic. Hate My Heart really grew on me. That chorus is so catchy. Crazy Angels is a killer too. The whole damn album goes hard but if I had to pick a least fave, it would be Garden. Love the message but not crazy about the execution. The clear top 3, for me are: Poor Everybody Else (I would rather type that out 10x than type that unfortunate acronym even once), Pink Champagne, and Faster. Faster punches me in the feels. What a beautiful song. Giving me Instagram or TikTok proposal video vibes or even first dance at wedding vibes. I wasn't expecting an 80's R&B slow jam but I am glad we got it. It also gives me, oddly enough, Wilson Phillips vibes too. It's just...gorgeous. The use of instrumental fadeout also just..makes my heart beat faster. I hope this album kills at all the award shows. Wilson Phillips!! That’s what ‘Faster’ reminds me of!! I was listening to the album earlier and trying to figure out why it sounds so nostalgic! Perfect!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2022 17:09:26 GMT -5
Mmm, I think Cry Pretty was a great album. I also thought Storyteller was incredibly weak, and it's my least fav Carrie album. This one is nice, but after two listens I would most likely place it closer to Storyteller. My favorite Carrie album so far is still Blown Away.
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Post by tim on Jun 13, 2022 3:05:24 GMT -5
Despite some of my earlier comments regarding this era, Denim & Rhinestones just happens to be one of my favorites in quite some time (go figure!). It's must too early to rank every song, but here are my early favorites in order: Velvet Heartbreak Crazy Angels She Don’t Know Pink Champagne Hate My Heart Poor Everybody Else Much like .indulgecountry mentioned in an earlier post, "Faster" is one of the weaker links and sonically sounds a bit out of place amongst the rest of the album. While I still wouldn't rank "Ghost Story" amongst the top 5 songs from the album, it has grown on me since and continues to do so. I too am surprised at how well it seems to be testing, though.
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g8erboi
4x Platinum Member
Joined: September 2015
Posts: 4,143
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Post by g8erboi on Jun 13, 2022 7:50:53 GMT -5
Holy s**t this album is banger after banger. She really served like that. 😭 Pink Champagne needs its moment, that is the ultimate smash in an album full of smashes. This is by far my favorite Carrie album.
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Ling-Ling
Diamond Member
Kill Kill Kill Kill! Die Die Die!
Joined: September 2003
Posts: 13,525
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Post by Ling-Ling on Jun 13, 2022 8:10:20 GMT -5
She has quite a few single choices on this album. It's alarming to me they went with "Ghost Story" first. I like the song and it looks to be doing decently so far, but who listened to this album and thought "yep, that's the lead." And with songs taking so long to peak these days, we'll be lucky to get to single #4. "GS" feels like they wasted a slot. I just hope we don't end up with another Cry Pretty situation where they go out of their way to get it wrong.
"Velvet Heartbreak," "She Don't Know," "Burn" and "Pink Champagne" (in whatever order) would be my single choices.
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zdm1998
2x Platinum Member
Sometimes love slips away, and you just can't get it back, lets face it
Joined: August 2020
Posts: 2,009
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Post by zdm1998 on Jun 13, 2022 9:42:05 GMT -5
I think Pink Champagne is almost a guaranteed single. It's one of Carrie's favorites and is also connecting well. My ideal singles from the rest of the era are
Velvet Heartbreak Burn Crazy Angels
It really sucks because I know at least one of those probably won't get released, because I just know she's going to put out Pink Champagne, which is fine, but doesn't match my obsession to the other three. I have a strong feeling Crazy Angels will be a single as well. She might save Burn for the fourth single like she did Drinking Alone, given it's kind of making a name for itself as the fan favorite.
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taylor
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Post by taylor on Jun 13, 2022 12:25:57 GMT -5
Honestly, outside of "Faster," the title track, and "Garden," they truly can't go wrong (although some choices would certainly be smarter than others). Every single one of the nine remaining tracks would smash in some form or another, because this record is filled past the brim with infectious hooks and undeniable melodies. I am so excited to see how this era unfolds at radio.
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daddy
Platinum Member
Joined: November 2017
Posts: 1,288
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Post by daddy on Jun 13, 2022 18:36:38 GMT -5
She has quite a few single choices on this album. It's alarming to me they went with "Ghost Story" first. I like the song and it looks to be doing decently so far, but who listened to this album and thought "yep, that's the lead." And with songs taking so long to peak these days, we'll be lucky to get to single #4. "GS" feels like they wasted a slot. I just hope we don't end up with another Cry Pretty situation where they go out of their way to get it wrong. "Velvet Heartbreak," "She Don't Know," "Burn" and "Pink Champagne" (in whatever order) would be my single choices. These would be my choices as well! Although I have a feeling “Crazy Angels” will be a single (and likely a successful one). “Burn” is my current favourite of the bunch, but I think “She Don’t Know” could be a big hit.
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Ling-Ling
Diamond Member
Kill Kill Kill Kill! Die Die Die!
Joined: September 2003
Posts: 13,525
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Post by Ling-Ling on Jun 13, 2022 18:44:28 GMT -5
These would be my choices as well! Although I have a feeling “Crazy Angels” will be a single (and likely a successful one). “Burn” is my current favourite of the bunch, but I think “She Don’t Know” could be a big hit. "She Don't Know" is the one I want to be a single the most. It's such a refreshing outlier in her catalog in terms of the production. And her cool vocal delivery is perfect.
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zdm1998
2x Platinum Member
Sometimes love slips away, and you just can't get it back, lets face it
Joined: August 2020
Posts: 2,009
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Post by zdm1998 on Jun 13, 2022 19:06:52 GMT -5
Estimated first week currently at 28-33k. :(
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recordyear
Diamond Member
album listener
Joined: January 2017
Posts: 14,686
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Post by recordyear on Jun 13, 2022 19:08:41 GMT -5
That's colossal flop tbh. I thought 50k pure sales and 60k SPS.
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