Melodrama

I understand why people would like this album, but I don't. Maybe some of Lorde's other albums would be more appealing to me. Good lord! This all feels like generic, soulless, radio-pop music that's trying to be super deep. I made it straight through a few songs, then I hit my pain threshold and had to start cutting songs short. For me, no song stood out more than the others and there was no real highlight to any of the album.

I enjoyed this but/and "Melodrama" is a good title--it feels a little adolescent.

“Hey Lorde can I copy your homework?” “Sure Taylor just change some of the song titles so no one notices.”

Like most late-twenties white women, I was obsessed with this album as a teen and it still hits so, so, so hard nearly a decade later. Praise the Lorde!

Pretty good. There's some interesting little things here and there in the background that reminds me of a bit of Björk, but Lorde isn't quite on Björk's level.

OK. 2/5

It just...fell flat? Lorde's vocals are fine, the production is clean, and the songwriting is decent, it just didn't do anything to impress me as a listener. A lot of the emotional beats of the album didn't grab onto me except for Liability, so much so I started getting bored. The anthemic feeling of Supercut felt pretentious? I got a little offended that it was trying to do something interesting after it couldn't get my interest with the climax and beat switch of Hard Feelings/Loveless, and after that I could only feel apathy for this album.

no. just no

The thing about Melodrama is that it is a club album and club music is stupid. You can sort of tell immediately with Green Light, a song I like quite a bit. But the thing about Lorde that was so appealing was that dark sparseness, that wise-beyond-her-years tiredness. She lived in a city we never saw on screens! And now she is in the same club everyone else is, chanting “I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it.” and this album becomes a bit less adult because of it. Pure Heroine was special because of that ch-ch-changes vibe… the children we spit on being quite aware what they're going through. This is the young adult who got richer and now is wasting away in dance clubs. (It's probably no surprise that the zeitgeist loves the club album and not the Kids Taking Control of Their Narrative album. This definitely has nothing to do with, say, the misinformation coming out of Europe right now, for example). It's not necessarily bad music. Lorde had an innate ear and sensibility that is missing from her army of clones (i'm looking at you, eilish). So you still do get layered harmony vocals in single “Homemade Dynamite” (d-d-d-dynamite chaaanges), but where Pure Heroine would have been reflecting a revolution of some sort, this is a club romance. Every pop album is a romance album trying to be different. So you get the flat out heartache song Liability, which again, isn't bad for what it is. But it's not Pure Heroine. It's barely even Solar Power, which reveled back into the personal, enjoying her Lordeness, commenting on the falseness she's seen as a big star now. Melodrama isn't Virgin, which still leaves me flat, but it is absolutely the easiest and safest and least threatening thing she's released in her young life. It's not the album that deserves the nod. You do get a little bit of that cleverness in the Louvre. The almost deadpan and dispassionate way she expresses making them all dance to the boom boom boom of her heart does make it a more complex idea than the youthful defiance that comes from youth dance culture nonanthems, and there is a bit of me that cannot help but be charmed of that self aware “who cares, still the louvre”. Perfect Places captures a little actual joy and a little glimmer of what a relationship song might have looked like in her earlier work. But you also get two reprises, and the absolutely childbrain coded “Loveless”, once again a regression. Even the melody goes nowhere, but the lyrics are a childs-first-crush level mantra on rough love sung to an interminable fade-out. The girl who wrote Royals was older than the woman who wrote Loveless. You kinda can't help but feel the negative influence of Taylor Swift here. Again, not badly done as such. Just banal and doubly banal when considering her other work. It lives in the ⭐️⭐️⭐️ bucket. But only just.

Fun pop listen. No standout hits here for me but yeah it served its purpose.

обычный поп про тусовки, среднее. не мой вайбик

It's fine. Nothing too good or too bad in my opinion.

radioslop

The ugly face of shameless greed

Loved it for a long time

Melankolisk pop. Många låtar låter likadant men är ändå ok. Har lite svårt för hennes röst. Supercut och Perfect Places bäst. 3,25 av 5.

I love this album. Lorde is her. 9

As the title suggests this is dark, broken relationships territory. The lyrics are literate and thoughtful, but the techno-pop music may match the mood, but it is too processed for me.

Well done.

Probably a pretty decent pop album, but didn't really move me all that much. Very neutral on this.

Well I LOVE LORDE. I heard her last year live and it was absolutely amazing. Her strong voice and energy always whether it’s green light where we’re all partying og or if I’m weeping alone to liability. Gotta say writer in the dark and the louvre are two of my favourites on this album!

It’s well produced pop, but i didn’t find it interesting

The only Lorde worth praising. ★★★★

Increíble

- Musica da ragazza bianca - Armonia banale e testi pure - Prodotta in studio da un laureato alla Bocconi (strategie di marketing) per massimizzare gli ascolti alla radio - tra il corporate e “giuro la mia musica è unica e speciale!” (non ci crede nemmeno lei) - artwork bello però

5/10 L’album non è sicuramente un pop mediocre; sia musicalmente che per testi non ha molto da invidiare ad altri giganti del settore, come Billie Eilish o Taylor Swift. Si stanzia quindi, grazie a una voce effettivamente molto piacevole (e soprattutto una produzione di qualità) che rendono molte delle canzoni alquanto catchy, come uno scoglio che, tra un’onda e l’altra, sembra riuscire a riaffiorare tra una marea di album simili. Alcune canzoni, come “Green Light”, “Sober” e “Homemade Dynamite” sono orecchiabili ed il ritornello resta facilmente in testa, ma non riesco davvero a trovare, oltre alla semplice qualità di voce e produzione, qualcosa che lo differenzi in modo rilevante da altre canzoni pop da club, che non rientra certamente nei miei generi preferiti. Certo, questo album parte svantaggiato in quanto il suo genere non sia propriamente il mio pane quotidiano, ma credo che mi sarei potuto ricredere sulla mia valutazione, se solo avessi colto una particolare profondità di temi e testi, o se le scelte musicali fossero state talmente innovative da lasciarmi sorpreso. Da ascoltare in un appartamento spoglio di qualsiasi mobilio, sdraiati sul pavimento alle 3 di notte, cercando di indossare le cuffie nel modo più confortevole possibile con la testa appoggiata sul fianco al cuscino, un po’ come Lorde nella cover dell’album.

My parents once went to a Lorde concert, I think it was wasted on them this is awesome

Breathy Lordy. Some good stuff.

It’s a messy album but some b excellent highlights. There’s 4 or 5 all timers on it but really slow/half baked moments too. It’s prob a 3 but it gets a nostalgia 4.

I’ve only ever had interest in Lorde in her collab with Charli XCX. Otherwise, her voice annoys me. I don’t like her delivery and how she chooses to expresse whatever music ideas she conveys. I just don’t vibe with Lorde. The way she pronounces her “T’s”, the “Boom boom boom” and the “D-D-D-Dynamite” “Pooh” is not my thing. I’d give it a light 2.

i love this album. while it’s no pure heroin, it still slaps. its full of honest lyrics about growing up and becoming a young woman in a society where you don’t know exactly how you fit in quite yet. i love it.

Aside from her big hit "Royals", I think this album is the only music by Lorde that I've knowingly listened to. "Royals" set a pretty high bar, and while I'm not sure she climbs to that level on this album, it's still a very solid pop album and she seems to be able to carve out her own sound pretty well. Highlights for me were probably "The Louvre" and the first half of "Hard feelings/Loveless", and "Writer in the dark" was the only real dud. Her songs are definitely more interesting when she's not pushing for straight Taylor-Swift-style pop tracks.

This was very not so good. All the songs sounded the same and they were very cringey.

Taylor swift if she was gay or something idk

Sometimes it feels like she was just saying stuff to say it but it still made sense or at least sounded good. She has strong vocals and a very clear but breathy voice. There was a wide vocal range, like seriously she'd go from low and breathy to high and emotional, it was quite impressive. The songs mainly focused on her vocals, so there wasn't much instruments featuring but there was a good balance. Each song reflects the album name well. I feel like some of these songs would be good party songs. My favourite song from this album was Sober II (Melodrama) Also I LOVE LOVE LOVE the album cover, such nice art with strong contrast which makes it eye catching. All laughs aside, all I could think about was that Southpark meme with Randy. I am Lorde ya ya ya

This was a good album, the music sounded nice and dident drag on, it felt like each song had its own good vibe, lyrically I thought it was good too. It wasent my favorite album and I would give it a 3.5 if I could

First impression is that I do like the breathy sort of vocals and the overall sound of the songs. I found a fair amount of variety between the songs, and the album didn't blend in too much with each other. I particularly liked the songs Liability and Writer in the Dark, and Perfect Places felt like an appropriate end to the album. I found the lyrics very powerful and the overall emotion that she was able to convey in her voice very impressive. I wanted to enjoy the album as a whole; however, I was not a large fan of Supercut, as the lyrics and the beat did not seem to mix in a cohesive way Overall 3.75/ will listen to it again, but may skip some songs

gets 1 star for the absoluteuy beatiufl album cover. other than that this is album like the eqivalaent to a soggy cardaboard box that has some cinnamon sprinkdle on it. if u dont get that or udnertand then i sont have time to eplxain to u

I'm a pop fan but I've never really understood the love for this album. And in 2026 I am very tired of that Jack Antonoff pulsing synth sound.

Cool album; I didn't love it, but it was good. Very easy to listen to, and stays interesting throughout. Best tracks were Green Light and Homemade Dynamite.

Solo por Green Light ya merece la pena. Parecía que se iba a comer el mundo, todo halagos y ni un paso atrás. Pero su papel lo ocupa Billie Eilish, en cierto modo. Ella, tan feliz y recuperada como muestra en sus siguientes discos: el controvertido y subestimado Solat Power y Virgin. Produce Jack Antonoff, lo que le da ese punto Lana del Rey (NFR!) que le queda tan bien. The Louvre es fabulosa. Liability es otra gema. El disco entero es brillante e imperecedero. Hard feelings/Loveless, todo..

Listen. I understand music of all shapes and stripes and sonic variations is for everyone and no one at the same time. You’ll either like something or you won’t, nothing is designed for every person walking the earth. But looking at the reviews calling Melodrama radio slop or shallow pop music I don’t think some people even tried to give it a chance or engage with it in any real way. That’s fine, it’s their prerogative. Comparing her to Taylor Swift however, a not untalented songwriter whose stylistic pivots can be oft pinpointed to whichever pop artist she’s currently friends with, and a pop star that I vacillate between greatly enjoying and greatly wanting to punch, just isn’t done. Melodrama points to so many pop trends to come, the walk of sad girl pop to Miss Swift’s perpetual run. But it’s a run that doesn’t have the same blisteringly naked honesty and asks for aggressively underlined emotional frills. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s simply just not where we started in the 2010s. I adore Melodrama, I go months to years without listening to it and each time I come back I am floored once again by how meticulous, emotionally messy and (at the time) experimental within the confines of pop music it is. It’s a creatively crunchy album for Lorde and for Jack before he became firmly ensconced in the gloss of the Swift machine, the wayward romantic americana of Lana Del Rey and the catalog of pop stars thereafter. It’s surprising that I leave this album alone long enough for Melodrama to still impact me like this, but I do. And I am rewarded with the melodic frisson each and every time. Now Solar Power, that album is a different problem…

I dunno man I guess this is fine, fun pop music?

I think it has been the newest album I've received so far in 1001, all of the modern music tropes were present to my ears, the and ones I mean, it's been a while since I found an album I couldn't finish but here we are again

I've really only heard a couple of Lorde's songs and I thought they were pretty good, so I was looking forward to listening to this when it poipped up. Sadly, This album isn't nearly as interesting as I thought it would be. I'm not saying it's bad, it's fine, I guess, but it's just sort of a standard pop album. To me, it doesn't really stand out as being special, or worthy of inclusion on a list that purports to be albums you NEED to hear before you die. Would I rather hear this than another goddamned Beatles album, or a seventh Rolling Stones album? Absolutely.

A little repetitive, but she's managed to carve out a somewhat distinct style of her own. Catchy pop album.

Didn't love. She does that cursive singing that just bugs me (instead of "bar", she sings "bawyyyhh"). i tried. nothing really hooked me on this one. Liability was good. I don't want to be a guy who only likes when the girl pop singer is sad and mournful, but... here we are.

I just do not have the time and patience to listen to a whole Lorde album. and yet, I did. and yes, it was radioslop.

I'm glad I'm not going out every thursday/friday/saturday anymore. This reminded me of how garbage it was 90% of the time. Musically, not my lane. Synth, or synthy piano, breathy affected drawling vocals, excessive reverb... Unlike many other albums I could make those criticisms of though, I can see why this would hit some people. Standout was probably Liability.

"Mum, can we listen to Taylor Swift?" "We have Taylor Swift at home" ... Yeah. This.

Pretty great!

Probably more of a three and a half. It’s good, won me over a bit more at the end, she finished the album strong.

tough to beat Pure Heroine

Fav song: Supercut

I really liked this album. It could definitely be a go-to for listening to on repeat during a break-up. The lyrics are very strong and the contrast of the pain in her words and voice are in stark contrast to a lot of the pop and up-tempo instrumentals. I really only know Lorde for “Royals” (which was not a fave) and one other song from a more recent album. I would go back to this record though, especially “Supercuts” and “Perfect Places.”

7.9/10. I enjoyed this album, Lorde is very talented. She brought such a unique voice and song-building methodology, and the album was filled with deep topics and lots of emotion. She combines grand vocals and layered harmonies with simplistic instrumentals that help showcase her ability to create good music. I'm really impressed Randy Marsh had the time to create this while cosplaying as a woman, while working as a geologist/marijuana farmer.

The album isn't available in my country

Electropop, synth-pop, art pop.

Missed Lorde - too busy raising the boys. I've heard Royals. Not that it is here though. ----------------------------------------------------- Taylor slow. The beat/synth heavy passages have a sleek modernness about them that make for an easy listen. It feels like a nigh time car-ride. The taxi ride after a good night out? Just taking it all in. Otherwise this is very generic pop, that has never seen a musical instrument in it's life, but has seen hundreds of "producers". The vocal intonation is frustratingly forced, like a Kate Bush cosplay with mouth full of rocks. The song structures have been done a thousand times. The lyrics are a teenager's wet dream. There slow, whispery songs evoke naught in me. 2* (Add a Lordi album instead)

It's a pretty solid pop album from the late 2010's, it's a bit more moody and downtempo than other albums of the time, but otherwise this is pretty typical of the period. It's a bit too generically "produced by Jack Antonoff" to give the full 5 stars to, but I certainly enjoyed it.

"Gone With The Wind".

Somehow I knew Green light already. I love the general vibe of the album. 3.8/5

No notes

Actually pretty strong. Ironically sounds from a different time even though it's relatively new. I guess that's pop. High 2s.

C’est vraiment pas pour moi, j’ai réellement essayer d’aimer (principalement car Lorde me fait penser à Randy de south Park et je trouvais ça honteux de ne pas aimer ses musiques du coup) mais j’y arrive franchement pas, je trouve les musiques répétitive, et vraiment vide, inintéressante. Je pense peut être tester son album le plus récent, mais pour le moment c’est un grand non pour moi

I just kinda refuse to believe that anyone could rate this higher than a 3 or so without a poptimist outlook to overlook how... bland it is? I get that this was obviously part of the 2017 zeitgeist, but I'm pretty shocked at how this is like, #5 for ALL of 2017 on RYM.

After being shot out of a cannon at a tender age and putting some of her best work on other people’s albums, her sophomore album is cohesive with a theme and a bunch of good songs.

I LOVE the jam Supercut…the rest was more syrupy pop than I expected.

This felt as mid as mid could be. 2.5 stars, rounded down

Green Light was a fun single but I didn't really get into the rest. 2017 was a weird year for music.

I am Lorde

This album is OK, I prefer Pure Heroine. Still this has a fantastic lead in.

I liked it more than I thought I would

I've listened before. It's a great album, but not my particular taste usually

Not my favorite album produced by Jack Antonoff

I really don't have much to say on this one. Most of it faded into the background for me immediately. I tend to listen to these albums while doing at least something else; I don't think many of us have the luxury of taking 30 minutes to an hour out of our day every day to give an album our undivided attention. I enjoyed the first song well enough, everything after that I could barely muster up the ability to pay attention to it, and after a while I must have stopped trying. Pop is definitely not my thing by and large, so it's only the genre's exceptional stuff that will hold my attention. So far on this list I am yet to find such an album. I'm sure you'll get more out of this if you're more well versed in pop, and your mileage may vary generally, but I didn't find this anything other than unremarkable and not my thing. I'll take Lordi over Lorde every time.

Pretty good tunes

Lorde builds on the subdued, nocturnal pop of her debut album by adding in some more traditional pop hooks. Songs like "Green Light" and "Sober" start off quiet but build to big moments, with some nice horns on the latter. While the songs pay off in the end, the softer moments are largely uninteresting, lacking in the little details that would make them pop. "Supercut" is an exception with its bubbling synth lines. Songs like "Liability" and "Writer in the Dark" are hard for me to take, as kind of melody-less ballads that strip even the small highlights away. This is further by the fact that I don't like Lorde's style of whispered, involved vocals; I don't think she's a bad singer, but she is a kind of singer I don't like. The album ends strong on "Perfect Places" but besides this and other highlights it doesn't really rise above the alternative pop wave it helped spawn.

before listening to this I had no idea why Lorde was huge in tumbler but now I can get it her song writing is so millenial, and honestly this is my first time I got a modern album from this site so extra point for that.

Not my vibe

I hate this haha

More less.

It's like signing up for the spin class with the Y's coolest instructor. At first it is fresh and inspiring, but after 30 min I'm ready to bail.

There’s an intimate quality to this album that appeals. The backing musical tracks are quiet, sparse and restrained, not bombastic like so much modern pop music, meant to frame Lorde’s storytelling and sophisticated reflections on adolescence (she was 20 when this came out). Her dry speak-singing voice, while limited in its range, conveys vulnerability to go with her highly interpersonal, literate lyrics and storytelling. She’s a unique talent.

This was fine, but since there's 3 Kate Bush records from her early, middle and late career on the list, do we really need to hear the sophomore effort of a literal sophomore whom she influenced?

no me interesa este tipo de musica

Ok

It's fine? I didn't really enjoy it back when it was released, and that has not changed with time. I really liked her first album but none of her work since has really connected with me. I also find Lorde's voice kind of grating in a way I didn't used to so maybe I'm just a grump.

Rating: 4.8/5 Short Review: God, this is good. Messy emotions wrapped in gorgeous, explosive pop production. Lorde makes heartbreak, jealousy, loneliness, and reckless nights feel almost euphoric. The album moves beautifully between huge dance-floor moments and quiet vulnerability. A few tracks hit harder than others, but there’s barely a wasted moment. Favorite Track: Supercut

Lorde is a more than decent songwriter, able to be relatively confessional and still reach someone like me who’s come from very different lived experience. If I were you I’d try this out.

Una cumbre indiscutible del art-pop contemporáneo que ha envejecido bien como una de las disecciones líricas y emocionales más lúcidas del desamor y el tránsito a la vida adulta. En el plano de diseño formal, la producción alcanza una claridad tan abrumadora en su precisión y contundencia sonora que sobrecoge; sin embargo, son sus silencios milimétricos y sus pausas calculadas los que oxigenan la mezcla y realzan el dramatismo escénico, permitiendo que la respiración, el piano desnudo y los estallidos sintéticos impacten con peso físico. La presencia de Ella Yelich-O'Connor se consagra a través de una de las voces más enigmáticas, hechizantes y resonantes de la música moderna, portadora de una fuerza y calidez que transmiten autenticidad radical. Lejos de un relato lineal, Lorde desdobla sus timbres vocales para encarnar personajes que entran y salen de la realidad: comenta en segunda persona, se erige en voz de la propia conciencia o confiesa desde una primera persona descarnada, imponiendo una autoridad superior como narradora psicológica. Obras capitales como la catarsis rítmica de "Green Light", el pulso tenso de "Sober", la genialidad submarina de "The Louvre", la fragilidad devastadora al piano de "Liability" y la aceleración nostálgica de "Supercut" consolidan un documento profundamente conmovedor, crudo y real que opera como un sutil llamado a la conciencia sobre la soledad urbana, la idealización afectiva y la futilidad del escapismo festivo. Por su amplio rango dinámico, la obra ofrece múltiples usos, prestando su nervio rítmico tanto al ejercicio vigoroso y a la conducción despierta como su intimidad a una honda reflexión solitaria y al trabajo creativo.

singer-songwriter

Great single for the opening track but falls into the same issues I have with most pop albums, the album tracks feel so weak compared to the single and it makes the album feel a bit long. I do like Lorde's moody miserable teenager vibe though. 3/5.

Muy girlie....

Ruim demais

Vier Jahre nach „Pure Heroine“ legte die Neuseeländerin Ella Yelich-O’Connor, die als Lorde auftritt, am 16. Juni 2017 ihr zweites Album vor. Es erschien in den USA bei Lava und Republic Records, lizenziert von Universal Music New Zealand. Aufgenommen wurde es an mehreren Orten: in den Electric Lady Studios, im Rough Customer Studio, in den Westlake und Conway Studios sowie in den Jungle City Studios, gemischt wurde es unter anderem bei MixStar. Das Ergebnis ist Pop mit Indie- und Synth-Einschlag, der weniger nach Charts klingt als nach Schlafzimmer, Taxi und Tanzfläche. Das Album erzählt von einer Trennung und der Nacht, die darauf folgt. „Green Light“ beginnt mit Klavier und kippt in einen Refrain, der fast gegen die eigene Strophe anrennt. „Liability“ dagegen kommt mit Stimme und Klavier aus und handelt davon, selbst die Zumutung für andere zu sein. Dazwischen liegen „Homemade Dynamite“ und „Supercut“ als die auffälligeren Popmomente. „Hard Feelings/Loveless“ dauert über sechs Minuten und wechselt mittendrin von Wehmut zu Sarkasmus. Nicht alles zündet gleich stark. In der Mitte hängen einige Stücke im ähnlichen Tempo, und die Texte sind dichter, als es der Popkontext verlangt. Das Album hat dadurch aber eine Handschrift, die nach dem Hören wiedererkennbar bleibt. Zu den Stärken zählen Lordes Stimme, die sich zwischen Flüstern und Chor bewegt, und die Arrangements, die Lücken zulassen. „Perfect Places“ beschließt die Platte nicht als Triumph, sondern als Achselzucken. Als Album über eine einzige Nacht und ihre Nachwehen ist „Melodrama“ bis heute ungewöhnlich geschlossen.

repetitive and i didn't love her voice

7/10

Not my thing Why is every review of this the most pretentiously written thing you’ve ever seen

Moody minimalistisk pop, hvilket er meget cool (og lidt nostalgisk). Men det er lidt svært at abstrahere fra Lordes bizarre stemmeføring