Hello, all! It's been a while! I just decided to take a short break from reviewing albums to actually try and enjoy them. But, since this is a hobby of sorts, I figured I should still get back to reviewing albums.
Since the year is almost over, that means my "Favorites Of the Year" lists will be coming in soon! Stay tuned, y'all!
Since the year is almost over, that means my "Favorites Of the Year" lists will be coming in soon! Stay tuned, y'all!
Ellie Goulding - Delirium
Ellie Goulding is probably one of the first popstars I really got into. Her 2010 single "Lights" was a sleeper hit in 2012, and I loved the sparkling electronic instrumentals as well as the raspy qualities of Goulding's vocals. After that, I decided to check out some of her other songs, such as "Starry Eyed", "Anything Could Happen", the 2014 hit "Burn", and my my now personal favorite Goulding track, "Goodness Gracious". I was pretty much sold on her as an artist.
Three years have passed since the release of her sophomore album Halcyon as well as its expansion Halcyon Days. Goulding is now a genuine superstar, taking prime spots at festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza; 2016 is looking like a great year for Goulding to paly at festivals, too.
The first track we all heard from this new album was the song "Love Me Like You Do", which was featured on the soundtrack for the Fifty Shades Of Grey movie. While the song was a huge hit for Goulding, she did not have any involvement at all, with writing being left to hitmaker Maz Martin as well as my favorite Swedish popstar Tove Lo, among others. I personally didn't really like the song myself. In the context of the film, it was a song I found difficult to take seriously. However, being a huge Goulding fan, I still wanted to wait for a whole album.
I wasn't disappointed, either.
Goulding's vocals have remained largely unchanged, but the production has improved by miles. Aside from the song "Don't Need Nobody", where the production sounds like it was ripped off from a crap DJ Snake song, the production doesn't sound nearly as synthetic as it has on previous albums and songs.
I think if there were a few things I'd change about this album, one would be removing "Love Me Like You Do". The song just doesn't seem to fit in the general feel of the album.
Also, the standard version of the album has sixteen songs. I see no reason why the album couldn't be shortened to about 13 songs. I think that it would make for a much more cohesive album.
All that being said, it really is a great album, and I'm always happy to see Goulding back in the mainstream.
Overall: 7/10
Favorite Tracks: Aftertaste; Something In the Way You Move; Keep On Dancin'; Codes; Devotion
Three years have passed since the release of her sophomore album Halcyon as well as its expansion Halcyon Days. Goulding is now a genuine superstar, taking prime spots at festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza; 2016 is looking like a great year for Goulding to paly at festivals, too.
The first track we all heard from this new album was the song "Love Me Like You Do", which was featured on the soundtrack for the Fifty Shades Of Grey movie. While the song was a huge hit for Goulding, she did not have any involvement at all, with writing being left to hitmaker Maz Martin as well as my favorite Swedish popstar Tove Lo, among others. I personally didn't really like the song myself. In the context of the film, it was a song I found difficult to take seriously. However, being a huge Goulding fan, I still wanted to wait for a whole album.
I wasn't disappointed, either.
Goulding's vocals have remained largely unchanged, but the production has improved by miles. Aside from the song "Don't Need Nobody", where the production sounds like it was ripped off from a crap DJ Snake song, the production doesn't sound nearly as synthetic as it has on previous albums and songs.
I think if there were a few things I'd change about this album, one would be removing "Love Me Like You Do". The song just doesn't seem to fit in the general feel of the album.
Also, the standard version of the album has sixteen songs. I see no reason why the album couldn't be shortened to about 13 songs. I think that it would make for a much more cohesive album.
All that being said, it really is a great album, and I'm always happy to see Goulding back in the mainstream.
Overall: 7/10
Favorite Tracks: Aftertaste; Something In the Way You Move; Keep On Dancin'; Codes; Devotion
Grimes - Art Angels
Canadian producer/singer Grimes is possibly one of the weirdest artists in music, and I say that as a compliment. Having received critical acclaim for her works since her 2010 debut Geidi Primes, it's not easy to put her into a certain category, as she has fans in pop music and indie music. While I haven't really followed her for her whole career, I appreciate her weirdness and musical creativity, as it's part of the charm.
While she's been relatively active outside of music, she hasn't released a whole lot of music since her 2012 album Visions, aside from a 2014 single called "Go", which fans were supposedly not very receptive to. Still, it didn't change the fact that she's still one of the more unique pop musicians of our time.
Because 2012's Visions had so many unique sounds on it, I was curious as to how this new album would sound. I didn't want to spoil it by listening to a single, so I just decided to wait for the album. Judging by reactions on Reddit, 4chan's /mu/ board, and other places across the Internet, I was thinking I'd hate it... but I didn't. I actually liked it quite a bit.
...Ok, I really liked it. A lot.
While it's definitely out there, it's still a very fun pop album. It's distant enough for the indie fans, and catchy and hooky enough for the pop fans. It's also very well-produced, with Grimes' high-pitched vocals blending almost seamlessly with her quirky production.
Aside from a decent Aristophanes appearance, the only guest spot on here is the Janelle Monae appearance on "Venus Fly", and man, that track BANGS. Monae and Grimes both mesh their sounds wonderfully on the track, and it truly sounds like a collaboration rather than just Grimes having Monae on the track for the heck of it.
It's still crazy to think that she scrapped a whole album to release this, similar to what Dr. Dre did with Detox. She didn't think the album sounded good at all, so she scrapped it and started over. Props to her for being so straight-up about it, and even more props for releasing a great album in its stead.
Overall: 8/10
Favorite Tracks: California; Scream (feat. Aristophanes0; Flesh Without Blood; Kill V. Maim; Artangels; World Princess part II; Venus Fly (feat. Janelle Monae
While she's been relatively active outside of music, she hasn't released a whole lot of music since her 2012 album Visions, aside from a 2014 single called "Go", which fans were supposedly not very receptive to. Still, it didn't change the fact that she's still one of the more unique pop musicians of our time.
Because 2012's Visions had so many unique sounds on it, I was curious as to how this new album would sound. I didn't want to spoil it by listening to a single, so I just decided to wait for the album. Judging by reactions on Reddit, 4chan's /mu/ board, and other places across the Internet, I was thinking I'd hate it... but I didn't. I actually liked it quite a bit.
...Ok, I really liked it. A lot.
While it's definitely out there, it's still a very fun pop album. It's distant enough for the indie fans, and catchy and hooky enough for the pop fans. It's also very well-produced, with Grimes' high-pitched vocals blending almost seamlessly with her quirky production.
Aside from a decent Aristophanes appearance, the only guest spot on here is the Janelle Monae appearance on "Venus Fly", and man, that track BANGS. Monae and Grimes both mesh their sounds wonderfully on the track, and it truly sounds like a collaboration rather than just Grimes having Monae on the track for the heck of it.
It's still crazy to think that she scrapped a whole album to release this, similar to what Dr. Dre did with Detox. She didn't think the album sounded good at all, so she scrapped it and started over. Props to her for being so straight-up about it, and even more props for releasing a great album in its stead.
Overall: 8/10
Favorite Tracks: California; Scream (feat. Aristophanes0; Flesh Without Blood; Kill V. Maim; Artangels; World Princess part II; Venus Fly (feat. Janelle Monae