Channel Orange

February 10, 2013: I'm sitting in the living room of our college apartment, watching the Grammys on my giant box TV. Not sure why, I guess I was bored. I saw that Mumford & Sons were nominated quite a bit for their Babel album, which had been a favorite of mine over the previous year. Near the end of the broadcast, a guy named Frank Ocean gets up to perform a song called "Forrest Gump." He's standing behind a keyboard, and there's a screen displaying his legs running, and he ends the song whistling and running down behind the keyboard, off into the distance. I was intrigued. This same guy beat Chris Brown for the suspiciously racist "best urban contemporary album" award, but he lost AOTY to Mumford & Sons. I went to sleep with "Forrest Gump" stuck in my head. Next chance I had, I downloaded the album from [REDACTED] and began listening. It was gas. Our grandmother had passed away a day before the Grammy performance, and in the late nights between then and our flight to Chicago for the funeral, I absorbed this album like a sponge. I was trying to get all of my grieving cousins to listen to Frank Ocean. I loved most of the tracks, but was obsessed with "Bad Religion." I realized very quickly that this should've beat Mumford & Sons. I bought a bootleg vinyl on eBay (pressed on orange wax of course), and Alex and I would listen to this in the dark in that apartment. I put it on a CD in my car and played it over and over until it became scratched and skippy. I learned the in's and out's of this project like a treasure map. This album didn't just put me on to Frank Ocean, it made me a fan of music in a way I'd never been before. I started looking for acclaimed albums I'd never heard, started downloading playlists of Pitchfork's top 100 songs of each year. Paired with Yeezus a few months later, these albums opened my eyes and ears to the point where they may never close again. Without this album, there's probably no obsessive record collection, no year-end albums and tracks lists, no semi-famous youtuber, and almost certainly no participation in this 1001 albums journey. This album really changed my life and it means the world to me. Favorite tracks: Every song on here to some degree. Album art: It's orange baby. That's enough. 5/5

This music is the soundtrack for the beginning of the degeneration of music and society as a whole. This goes hand in hand with instagram slut culture and signifies the move away from the rock and indie movement into the faceless, pointless RnB/hip hop and mumble rap of the current age. Paving the way for morons like Takeshi 69, Post Malone and Travis Scott, It has also spawned a social acceptance for hyper feminism such as Meghan thee Stallion and Cardi B. Nasty Ass Pussy. Music is an 808, syncopated, hi-hat/snare arrangement away from utter devastation and failure as a concept.

I haven't really delved into Frank Ocean's music before, there's only a couple of songs that I knew before listening to this album. But this album is SO good! I can't get over how good it sounds, from start to finish. Highlights were Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Pilot Jones, Pyramids, Lost, Bad Religion. Definitely rate it 5/5 stars. If I could give more than 5 stars I would. This might very well be my favourite album I've been given to listen so far. I'm definitely going to be listening to more of his music after this.

This is the answer to the question, "What would Stevie Wonder sound like if he had no talent for singing or song writing?"

Legit mad that I'd never listened to this before now. Incredible from start to finish. The run from Pyramids to Pink Matter is *chef's kiss*. As soon as it was over, I wanted to listen again - a first for me in about 120 albums. Didn't even mind the long run time. Can't believe I missed out on 9 years of listening to this.

I'm sure people love this for many reasons, but I am not sure what they are. This album was just meh for me. Sounds like old school R&B at times, but with a rapper who can't sing and tries to be "creative" with voice effects and sound effects.

Just boring. It took me about 1 minute per each track to be sick of it.

This is in the 1001 top albums?

great album to cry to - ‘thinkin bout you’ is a masterpiece - his voice is gorgeous - arguably more honest and raw than Blonde - incredibly produced and composed.

Effortlessly cool. Talking about a past lover, kids who just don’t understand living life and it’s troubles, a girl having to go work the strip club...none of it feels forced. This album rules

It's as good as people were saying at the time isn't it? It feels like the sort of album Prince might have made had he been born 30 years later. Thinking, Pyramids and a few others are very impressive. I wish it had a little less of the "I'm up in my penthouse feeling alienated" crap in there, the curse of 2010s music - leave that to Drake and his army of simpleton fans to simp over. But other than that, a work of a very clever musician.

Absolutely horrible. Words cannot express how much I hate this music. Something about the R&B wharble is like nails on a blackboard to me. I can't listen to it.

The dire ramblings of someone with too much time and not enough tune

im a frank ocean hater

5/5. Sometimes people are right

Listening to this brings me back to being 16. For some of us, this album was one of the biggest deals in all of high school. I first heard of Frank Ocean when my friends told me about this album and how it had dropped a week early. What an event this record turned out to be. We all had our favorite songs off of it. I gravitated towards the Elton John sampling "Super Rich Kids" and it's narrative of decadent ennui, the epic "Pyramids," with it's multiple phases and fried-beyond-recognition John Mayer guitar solo, and the simple bliss of "Forrest Gump." And of course, "Thinkin About You." We all loved that song. It closed out prom that year. I'll always be more of a Blonde guy if we're looking at complete albums, but Channel Orange, to this day, has some of my favorite songs ever on it. And, maybe more importantly, it's one of those albums that acts as a time machine for me, back to a time of halcyon togetherness. Can't be go lower than a 5.

Not my cup of tea. Sounds like a million and one other 'artistes' of the last 10 years. Utterly pointless songs. Says nothing to me about my life.

Channel Orange is an amazing album and Frank Ocean is incredible. Flawless production, Frank Ocean's voice is so full of depth - the sound, the raw emotion, the range. Even the lyrics in this album are amazing, he really knows how to literally put you into his shoes as the listener and feel like you're experiencing the songs as you listen.

Good music but not my style. Would listen again and revise.

An incredible album made by one of the greatest R&B artists of his generation and it was very important to me in my formative years. No real misses on this album for me. My favorite song is Sweet Life but you can't really go wrong with any of them. I think the weakest track on here for me have to be White but it is still okay (like a 5-10). The rest of the songs range from a like 7-10.

An album that I would not have listened to without it being suggested, which I guess is the whole point of the platform. At first, I found it to be a little bland and uninvolving, far too preoccupied with samples, microbeats and other musical gimmicks. But then I began to "hear" the pleasing quality of Frank's voice and it became more of an enjoyable listen. By the time I reached "Lost", I realised that I would need to listen to the whole thing a couple more times before I settled on a judgement. Being tenacious in order to experience new music has been rewarded.

I was enjoying it for the first few songs but by the end, I felt like I was listening to the same song over and over again. 3.5.

I find this album overall boring? It doesn't sound bad at all! His voice is beautiful and the general sound is as well, I just don't find it exciting. I think I don't have nostalgia related to this album which makes my enjoyment less intense. Some very high highs and it was a relaxing nice listen. The Andre 3000 feature was awesome

Squeaky Usher. Like R Kelly, but without all the noncing (probably).... I mean, we don't know the real reason Ocean's 11 was called that. Still, ...better than Ocean's 8. Both in terms of the film and the connotations that I'm trying to imply, which are, that Frank Ocean nonces 8 and 11 year olds.

Seriously I was just anxious for it to be over the whole time. I did not find it interesting or enjoyable.

1. ztart - 0 2. thinking about you - 1 3. fertilizer - 0 4. zierra leone - 1 5. zuueet life - 1 6. not juzt money - 0 7. zuper rich kidz - 1 8. pilot jonez - 0 9. crack rock - 1 10. pyramidz - 1.5 11. lozt - 1 12. uuhite - 0 13. monkz - 1 14. bad religion - 1 15. pink matter - 1 16. forrezt gump - 1 17. end - 0

I was excited because I had heard good things about him but nope, no, not again. Raw dog, DD tities just the start of the mysigony all over this album. Rich people are bad unless it's him, drugs are bad except when he uses them, woman are beautiful when they do things for him. I was originally confused by the collaboration with John Mayer but by the end it made perfect sense.

I completely hate this. There's no grit or emotion, every song floats from nothing into nothing. I don't know what genre this is, but I can't stand it. The singer's voice is much too high and incredibly annoying. There's no power in any of the tracks. It's thin and uninspiring. I do not understand why this album was selected, I could have happily skipped this before dying.

I fully agree with the hype! Lyrics and songwriting miles ahead of anyone in the genre and a well put together album beginning to end

I'll be honest, I had very low expectations, and half of this album met those on the nose. But once we got past the usual misogynistic dross, there were a few tunes in here that I kind of enjoyed - Super Rich Kids had me humming along, Bad Religion I liked. Enough to come back to it? I doubt it, but I don't regret listening.

This wasn’t for me at all. I felt nothing while listening except boredom, and disappointment when it failed to end, until I finally felt relief when it was all over. Even a song about Forrest Gump couldn’t take this to 2 stars.

this is considered the greatest? it is barely music.

Oh dear Frank. Not sure what all the hype was for. An album bereft of any musical originality, a dirge of insipid tracks, conspiring to build an album of the mundane and banal. Amongst the dirge, Bad Religion is just about listenable. If he made money out if this dross fair play to him. There's millions of infinitely better musicians and artists out there struggling to make a pay check. The unfairness of it all stinks.

Heavy bias here because I've spent hours and hours with this album (and Blonde) and good ol Cole Cuchna via the Dissect podcast. Everything about this album - the open letter coming out backstory, the double meanings, the skits, the instrumentation, the album cover, the song sequencing, the themes - is considered and layered with meaning. But its also not tedious or cold. Restrained, surreal storytelling. Unique production. Cleopatra in a strip club. Features are sparse but exactly where needed- numb rich guy iambic verse from Earl S, extremely tasteful John Mayer interlude, show stealing Andre 30000. If I didn't have a deep history with Frank I'd probably score this lower, but I do so A+

masterpiece

It's a great groove, I like how he creates worlds in his lyrics. I don't think it's quite a 5, but there's a lot of dumbasses in the reviews thinking that if there's no guitars is terrible so here's my little bit of help with that.

GOAT

Oh yes

Common Themes: Frank Ocean brings personal and intimate vocals to this album. Shorter "intermission" songs provide a short break from longer tracks. Reminded me of Adult Swim commercials in between shows. Latter half of the album discusses themes of love and being loved, once again intimate and sensual in a way. I wonder how Blonde innovates upon this formula.

It’s Frank…

Me gusta mucho, aunque no sé bien explicarlo. E igual me asombra que haya gente que lo eleve tantísimo a Frank Ocean, pero quizá sólo sea mi ignorancia. Mientras, lo disfruto. Entre mis favs: "Sweet Life", "Pyramids", "Lost" y "Bad Religion" 9.5/10

This album is almost ten years old which is WILD! I listened to it a ton driving around LA when I was there for work. I remember how revelatory it was at the time that Frank Ocean was bisexual—it was a first and was considered pretty dramatic. And here we are 10 years later and it doesn’t feel like a big deal at all. And this album? Such a boo from top to bottom. I hope Ocean makes more. Sometimes we have to wait for good things.

Best frank album

5/5 you already know i fucking love this album right here. frank comes alive and tells us stories via song. W. No skips. Pyramids is prob my favorite but idk man its hard.

I’ve always wanted to listen to Frank Ocean. 2. This Song is fantastic 5. I really love this 7. Love this too. It’s interesting contrasted with the previous track 14. Obsessed with this I’m not sure I really get this album but it was good.

Real good. Great production. Could cut off the last few songs and it might be better, but the run through the middle of the album is killer. I don't know enough about the genre to speak definitively, but hard for me to imagine a much better version of what this is.

when i first listened to this i felt like i was missing too much musical context to truly "get" this album like so many people do but it's still very clear to me how "good" this is regardless of what you know about this kind of music it's clear to me when songs of a more familiar musical vocabulary to me like Lost come in

Love Lost! Overall, a delicate feeling album.

7/10 - Upbeat, jazzy, funky, spoken word. Some Stevie Wonder influence. Large range of styles.

Sexy and swanky. I already knew/liked "Thinkin Bout You" and other favorite track was "Sweet Life." A lot of sexy talk which isn't typically my vibe, but it was fun to listen to at a low volume.

I’ve tried a couple of times. It’s pretty, great voice. But not for me.

Cool vibe throughout …. Considered this new school R&B back in the day but it’s a bit more unique than that …. Vocals are definitely R&B with the music has more of a jazz/funk leaning to it. Really cool collaboration between the vocals and music throughout the album. Not a whole lot of variety in the album’s vibe tough to argue with staying in that lane.

p923. 2012. 2 stars. Formulaic, bland, uninspired plastic high pitched vocal "R&B". Background music when shopping at Monsoon. Big Joe Turner must be turning in his grave.

It's good in the background and pretty boring if you actively listen to it.

Millennial music. The guy has a good voice but there is a lack of cohesion and energy on this album for me. So far I am having trouble understanding the structure of the melodies and I can't get past the sound of what seems to be some type of auto tune or pitch correction on his voice in some songs. There seems to be a lot of abstract feel throughout the album that is making it hard for me to get into. It's a little rambling for me. Very cool that Andre 3000 makes an appearance but I found his verse kind of unexciting. Seems like there are a lot of r and b albums like this that come from younger generations. Toro y Moi is an example of a younger guy that keeps r and b interesting when he does it. Alabama Shakes is another. Maybe I am showing my age in associating r and b with the solid musicianship of people like Earth, Wind and Fire, Anita Baker, Prince, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Hi 5, Sade, Al B Sure and so many other heavy hitting r and b artists. I feel like I see what he's going for. Some of the songs echo Prince's 'Insatiable', EWAFs 'Reasons' and Elton John's 'Benny and Jets' but the creativity and innovation just isn't there for me. Frank raps in some parts, but I'm coming from the school of Busta Rhymes, Tribe Called Quest, Method Man, KRS 1, Immortal Technique, Biggie, and Mos Def so its hard for me get into a more Xanax type rap delivery. I hear Jimi Hendrix 's 'Little Miss Lover' drum intro in 'Crack Rock'. Best song for me on this album is 'Lost'.

So R&B – and whatever derivatives of it that I’ve been exposed to over the years, are most definitely NOT my wheelhouse… That said – if this is some sort of “Alt-R&B” that he has created, then I can say that it is better than any other R&B out there… The sound it very unique and original, and I like the diversity throughout the album – as clearly Frank is quite talented… No songs really jumped out though as being exceptional, but there weren’t any throwaway’s here either… Solid 2 for me, and I’d listen to another of his albums if it comes down to it…

Hugely not my thing but it was nice enough while it was on in the background while playing Quadratanks with my daughter. Probably won't listen again but I didn't dislike it to the extent I expected when the first tracks started and I recognised the genre. Enjoyed the start with the opening Playstation 1 sounds.

El disco no solo es una mierda si no que además es terriblemente aburrido.

This album is a white, middle aged, music critic's wet dream as it gives them a chance to pretend they're still down with "tha kidz" as they obviously love this album so they can play it for their daughter's friends to show they're still cool. "He's black and gay! I'm so open minded." I bet they tell people that they're often mistaken for sisters! Not mother and daughter! For me, it's dull modern R&B, decent neo-soul vocals but with nothing interesting to say, dull plodding drum machines, melodies that don't go anywhere. Awful. Best Tracks: Thinking Bout You; Super Rich Kids; Lost

like what im so confused this is straight up awful i was really excited to check out frank ocean, i heard a lot about him. and then i tune into this album and Im just confused? is there something i missed, some joke or is this a wrong album? it genuinly sounds like a first demo of an album, i mean, fuck, there is a song titled Crack Rock??? what the fuck is this shit?? this is awful even for 2012 jesus christ. flacid boring instrumentals like im listening to a dream pop album and out of tune whacked out vocals NNN

What do the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Arctic Ocean have in common? They're all way more enjoyable to listen to than Frank Ocean.

ugh, it's modern r&b/rap. I have no idea what the appeal of this is. There are some very minor parts that have Stevie Wonder-ish vibes, but mostly it sounds exactly like the reason people hate modern r&b: lack of musical substance, ten thousand interludes, album length of an hour... what's not to dislike? 1/5.

better than I remember

silky voice, real life

Was not expecting this album to be on this list, just due to the amount of garbage on this list. One of the easiest five stars I can give. This album is a defining one as my brother Stevie used to listen to this allllll the time in college. He had a bootleg vinyl that we would rock in our apartment and while driving arong town or back home on the weekends. So many classics on here and songs like Pyramids that just go incredibly hard. I remember singing Crack Rock with him and some of our cousins while we were going to our cousin Taryn's wedding, too. Frank Ocean isn't one of my favorite artists, some of his other albums I am not as big a fan of but when it comes to singular albums, I'd call this one some kind of masterpiece. Songs: Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pilot Jones, Crack Rock, Pyramids, Bad Religion, Forrest Gump

A really unique, memorable album that has already proven quite influential

One of my all time favorite albums and a true modern classic.

Lots of love for this album. It's not something you can listen to at any moment, it requires a certain mood. When that mood is there it's absolute gold. The Andre 3000 verse it the cherry on top

I knew way more of these songs than I thought I would, and I can't believe they came from his debut album. This continues to sound fresh. Love his style.

Best orange album

Ekstremetelt å jazzaktig

Omg. A ptoato flew around my room

25th October 2022 Listened a couple of times while working in the office upstairs. Tom and Anna came round, tv evening. Soulful rap, achieves that rare thing nowadays of rapping and being soulful and hard.

This will always be a great album. Would be a nice one to have on vinyl.

Though I prefer Frank’s next album, Blonde, which is a bit more experimental, I can’t deny the quality of this album. Frank’s voice and song writing are top tier and there are so many classic songs on here. I just want everyone to take a minute to appreciate Earl Sweatshirts poetic wordplay on Super Rich Kids. “Alright, close your eyes to what you can't imagine We are the Xanny-gnashing Caddy-smashing, bratty assy He mad, he snatched his daddy's Jag And used the shit for batting practice Adamant and he thrashing Purchasing crappy grams with half the hand of cash you handed” 🔥🔥🔥

Great

The best kind of channel

👍Frank👍

This album is so good - definitely was trying to remember all the amazing details pointed out in that dissect series

Legendary

Obviously great

5000000/5 love u frank

9/10. This was pretty good. He has a nice voice. Beginning of Super Rich Kids had me worried because it sounded like Benny and the Jets for a moment.

Already love... RnB GOAT, unequivocally

Taler for sig selv - en moderne klassiker

Amazing soulful, clever song writing and performance - I don’t know how I had passed on Frank Ocean but I sure do regret it. This album is great, end to end, and gets better with every listen.

This album has definitely grown on me hard since I first heard it, I think in large part due to my own expanding musical palette. As a born-and-bred classic rock kid this album just did not work for me years ago. Now, with the experience of listening to a much wider array of genres, I can not only appreciate Frank's excellent songwriting, but how he blends so many disparate sounds into his RnB style. Pure excellence.

Oh no! It isn't indie rock or music made in the late 60s/70s! What will we do! All music is ending as we know it! Some of the reviews here are hilarious. Maybe we should have stopped evolving music when the first caveman struck two bones together and called it a xylophone. Banging album, took the trends around the time and distilled it into a coherent masterpiece of modern music.

Holy shit, 5 easy. Reading the reviews we've clearly got a lot of boomers and/or racist homophobes listening to this list.

Fantastic album, probably one of the most important albums of my musical journey and I would say a front to back masterpiece.

Really good, would relisten. Couldn't always make out the lyrics but sounded nice anyway. 9

Gold.

"Channel Orange" is the debut studio album from Frank Ocean following up his previous year's mixtape album "Nostalgia, Ultra." Frank wanted a song structure change as he didn't wanted to solely rely on mixtapes. He primarily co-wrote and co-produced with Malay but also had collaborations with Om'Mas Keith, Pharrell Williams and Tyler the Creator. Quite the company. That probably also partially explains the vaiety of styles. The music was noted as unconventional for R&B drawing electronic, funk, pop-soul, jazz, pyschedelic, film dialogue and ambient. All those styles are heard. The themes, and this is important for the flow of the album, are unrequited love, decadence, class and drugs. There is an order to the songs as they are pretty much grouped into the thematic categories listed above. The songs within each category are connected with interludes including spoken word or everyday sounds or sometimes go from song to song. This is quite a big but rewarding listen. A lot of times, the story is told in narrative style from different points of view and it's obvious a lot is taken from Frank's personal experience (or is it). The album begins with an interlude of noises including video games and doors opening into the first of the five singles released, "Thinkin' About You." Electronic, funk, a ballad, a slow atmospheric drumbeat, soulful singing. This reminds right away of Stevie Wonder which is heard frequently throughout the album. Frank goes from his tenor to a falsetto and back, another technique heard throughout. The song was originally written for Bridget Kelly and was about Frank's admitted first attraction and love to a 19-year old man. "Sweet Life," is the third single and in the area of the album whose theme is mostly about class and in particular about living and wasting your time on the beach in Southern California. Great keyboards, soul, jazz. No doubt it's influenced by his collaborator Pharrell Williams. The ghost of Stevie Wonder is heard again. "Super Rich Kids," the fifth single continues the class theme with young, wealthy characters and fake lives. Earl Sweatshirts contributes in this more soulful song. The second half of the album starts a more drug-themed focus. The nearly 10-minute epic and second single single "Pyramids" uses the imagery of Cleopatra, pyramids and strip clubs for a love story of a pimp and one of his lovers. Great, great production and maybe the centerpiece of the album. More dance and EDM sounding. Pyschedelic, soulful. Quite a song. "Lost" immediately follows and is my favorite song on the album. A more traditional rock and pop structure. Great synthesizer and vocal chorus and drumbeat. It is about a relationship and mentions his cocaine-smoking girlfriend. Heavy stuff lyrically. This album is quite the achievement. It is not only considered by many as one of the best albums of 2012 but of the 2010's. Getting into this the album is a lot ( a lot here) but days like this makes ths challenge rewarding, especially when you get into and listen to something like this.

one of the GOATS. endlessly listenable.

This is such an amazing album. I'm glad this gave me the reminder to listen through again.

This is simple. Frank Ocean writes some of hip-hop/ R&B’s sexiest stuff. Two standout all-timers inhabit a total package that brilliant and really quite lovely.

Great album. 0 bad songs and really high highs. Favorite song: Pyramids

Huge album, I love basically everything about it but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to give it a perfect score, I think because I want it to be more cohesive than it is. 9/10

Wheeew I listened to this one about five times in a row and I think it's actually a masterpiece. Like, he makes legitimately artful music without taking himself too seriously. The beats draw you in, the lyrics are thought-provoking, and his voice is like buttah.

Great album