Reviews (page 4 of 14)
Top two albums of all time. Thank you Frank please send another
One of his best. It’s an album you where you don’t need to skip songs.
This album is TIMELESS! It's a shame he basically stopped releasing music after Blonde. One of the best R&B albums I've ever heard. Best Songs: Thinkin Bout You, Super Rich Kids, Bad Religion, Pink Matter Worst Songs: Monk
Fav songs -pyramids -lost -crack rock
Pyramids....my goodness.
Was already a fav of mine. Love all the interlude songs. Sierra Leone, Pyramids, Lost all go so hard. PINK MATTER is a forgotten fav. Sweet life and Thinkin Bout you are classics. Such a cohesive album.
good
Genuinely one of the best albums of all time, not a dull moment throughout the album, and has defined a decade of music. Had it not been for MBDTF, this album would define the decade
Vibezzzzz
I want to call him a Prince or Sam Cooke successor but his music is so thoroughly modern & his own, it's too hard to categorize.
This album is fire
One of the best debut albums ever. Stupid good. Silky smooth vocals and incredible instrumentals. Must listen for Rnb fans for sure
One I think I'm going to return to a lot.
This is a modern classic from quite an enigma of the Industry.
No outstanding songs, but high quality across the board
Ok, I'll go 5. This was engaging, entertaining, and a showcase of talent. Revisited multiple songs already.
Very good album 8/10
amazing album
modern classic. i really love frank ocean. i just dont like how he treats with his fans because theres not even some kinda communication but i respect him for dealing everything private. nigga should make more vinyls for this record because timeless music deserved to land a place in my collection!
ok. DISCAZO y eso que lo evité de onda por años pero me encantó realmente... 9/10 🫡
A genreless form of artistry that channel-surfs styles, transcends traditional trappings, and tunes into programming too seldom broadcast.
Frank Ocean PLEASE drop another album.
Beautiful
Absolute banger
A landmark album which I listen to every year. I think I slightly prefer his 2016 album Blonde, but they're both 5's. Hopefully he makes another one soon.
A great album. So many amazing tracks. But I prefer Blonde (which would get a 100/5 from me). Fav tracks: Thinkin Bout You, Super Rich Kids, Pilot Jones, Pyramids, Lost, Bad Religion, Pink Matter, Forrest Gump 4.5 stars (rounded up)
Conflicted between 4.5/5, but this album rocks
As soon I hear the PlayStation startup sound, I know I'm home. This is an obvious homer pick for me (why isn't Blonde on here, by the way?), but Channel Orange is still so unbelievably lush, luxurious, smooth as butter and worried sick about itself ten years after release. Turns out that money doesn't solve all your problems, especially when you're a socially deprived anxious wreck coming into the picture. The centerpiece that the whole album runs around, Pyramids, is solidly up there with the best moments of all time in music-- even compared to the highs that Frank would go to later on. If you hear drum machines and a black bi boy singing and instantly go into a defensive pose... please chill out. I can feel your racism peeking out from the veil. Stop being afraid. Just pop an edible or something and enjoy a beautiful and important record that doesn't need guitar for once. A crystal-clear 4.5/5.
Great singer
Rating: 10/10
Great from front to back. Pyramids is a jam
Light 9
Exceptional. Stevie Wonder and Childish Gambino in one. Love it. 5
Some great shit there. Also loves the downtempo-sounding tracks.
I know a decent amount about Frank Ocean for having never really listened to him. I first saw him on SNL back in 2012 performing Thinking About You (which is his most well known song to me), I know he’s only had a couple albums that have been super critically acclaimed, and that he’s been outspoken for LGBTQ rights, too. Bottom line: this album was awesome and a great discovery. The tracks are great, with strange and amazing music and Frank’s neo soulful voice. From Wikipedia: “ Noted by writers as musically unconventional, Channel Orange draws on electro-funk, pop-soul, jazz-funk, and psychedelic styles, as well as nonmusical sounds such as film dialogue and ambient noise that function as interludes. Vocally, Ocean uses a free-form flow as well as alternating falsetto and tenor registers throughout the album. His songwriting explores themes of unrequited love, decadence, class, and drugs through the use of surrealistic imagery, conversational devices, and descriptive narratives depicting dark characters. He titled the album as a reference to the neurological phenomenon grapheme–color synesthesia, through which he had perceived the color orange during the summer he first fell in love.” A solid discovery and an album I’ll come back to.
A true tour de force, disparate sounds coming together to form a symphony. All hail Frank.
Tää menee mulla vähän samaan sarjaan kuin Lauryn Hillin ja Kanye Westin debyytit, kun tuntuu, että tajuton määrä lahjakkuutta ja luovuutta purkautuu kerralla. Jollain uudella ja hyvin kiinnostavalla tavalla. Mutta samalla niin vaivatonta, luonnollista ja helposti lähestyttävää. Tykkään todella. Hieman ylipitkä, mikä vähän suututtaa, koska levy on muuten niin timanttinen, mutta jääköön sakottamatta. Eli 4,5 pyöristyen ylös.
Frank Ocean is the GOAT. This album is literally perfect from beginning to end. Definitely one of the greatest album to come out in the 2010s. Should have won AOTY. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been said. “A tornado flew around my room..”
10/10
I was twenty-seven and going through a months-long breakup the summer this album came out. Of course I’m biased. But hot damn this album is good. Nothing like it before, nothing like it since.
ну это вау! стыжусь, что раньше не слушал его и, можно сказать, не был знаком вообще с творчеством в е л и к о л е п н о
Вот они люди современности, которые творят сейчас и ты понимаешь как меняется музыка из-за них. Супер классная музыка, если не следишь за трендами музыки, но еще более классная если понимаешь как этот человек повлиял на все вокруг лучше всего рассказано у брокэн дэнс https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUkDAfsnt2o&ab_channel=%D0%91%D0%A0%D0%9E%D0%9A%D0%95%D0%9D%D0%94%D0%AD%D0%9D%D0%A1
Это что-то очень крутое. Не могу понять почему. С одной стороны, это звучит как Кендрик Ламар, с таким же солнечным и одновременно напряженным калифорнийским вайбом. С другой стороны, заменив вокал на женский, мы получим Taylor Swift/Lorde/Adele/ещё какую-нибудь поп-певицу из середины 2010-х с переживанием проблем через слезливые до жути песни. Влад рекомендует посмотреть видом Коли Редькина с Брокен Дэнс: в целом, про музыкальную составляющую там как раз очень мало. Но про культурный контекст и тексты - вполне всё хорошо разъяснено. Это было кайфово.
Frank Ocean takes you on a drive. You discuss relationships, substance abuse, prostitution, the income gap, trade folktales, and encounter characters. At the end, he invites you inside.
I was actually planning on listening to this album today anyways so I’m glad it came on! This album is my personal favorite of Franks. My favorite thing to pay attention too on this album is the drums, and the different tones of voices he uses throughout the project
ah this is is where the “potato flew around my room” Vine came from “Pyramids” is dope, how have I missed hearing the songs on this album for 11 years Can’t explain the musique concrete interludes, but it by no means ruins the flow of the album. Might be too early a call, but I think this is a fascinating project and a great intro to Frank Ocean (besides the random couple of songs I’d hear on the radio) HL: “Pyramids”, “Thinkin Bout You”, "Super Rich Kids", "Pilot Jones", “Crack Rock”, “Sweet Life”
W frank ocean
Classic. Nostalgic. Amazing.
I love this record. One of the few popular contemporary albums I got really into in my adult life.
Absolutely cracking album packed with bangerz!! By 2012 I had kind of moved away from R&B music more into indie and folk music. Otherwise I would have been all over this though from Frank Ocean!! Also explains why I never got super into Frank Ocean back then. Now I am super into this music though I have more space for different music in my life. I was missing out! There's the obvious hits like Thinkin Bout You and Super Rich Kids, but also other highlights Sierra Leone, and Pyramids. Agh it just has really great relaxing, fucking cool, sexy vibes throughout. Never gets boring, no filler, super inventive but also reliably great. Also covers some really interesting/important topics. Love the more conversational elements. Inspired by the meaning behind the name and album cover with his grapheme colour synthesesia - very interesting! Love the interest from pieces of ambient sound and soundbites from films etc. Very creative! It's got to be a 5 from me - LOVED it!
I have a profound love for this album. Frank’s voice is beautiful, I think Bad Religion and Pink Matter are some of his best tracks vocally and listening to them is like massage therapy for my mind. Sweet Life and Super Rich Kids, and conversely Pilot Jones and Crack Rock, are so unrelatable on the surface for opposing reasons but the evocative picture of misery in excess and having contradictory feelings to what is happening around you reflects a sentiment that I feel permeates younger generations right now. The tragedy of loving someone fruitlessly as referenced in Thinkin Bout You, Bad Religion, and Pink Matter define this album in my memory as the de facto “lonely hours” album of the 2010’s. The way the album pivots during Pyramids from the general depression and loneliness of the first half to heartsick yearning, bargaining, and acceptance through the end speaks to Frank’s skills in crafting not just individual tracks, but in curating an album as an experience. channel ORANGE doesn’t seek to advise you on how to find what you’re looking for in life, but it’s success illustrates that it doesn’t hurt to know you aren’t alone in that search.
Brilliant. So good. 5 stars.
LOVE THIS ALBUM
⭐Thinkin Bout You
Best Frank Ocean album
some of the better stuff this list has introduced me to
Back before he went off the rails
5.0 + I've spent many hours listening to this album, even unpacking it with the help of the excellent Dissect podcast series that examines it track by track. And yet I still find myself struggling to wrap my head around its awesomeness. It shares a rarified space with "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and "DAMN." as a record that truly strips the artist to their very core. Just take a deep breath and press play. And press pause when things feel overwhelming. Then, keep going.
A clear 5 for me at the time of its release. Just very strong songwriting - in particular the back-to-back songs Pyramids-Lost. Now listening to it again, I still like the many highlights of the record, but some other songs have become slightly annoying. Still 5 stars, but just about.
Top 5 album of all time for me
Prachtig album. Frank laat me vaak dromen met zijn muziek ookal gaat de muziek soms over niet veel eigenlijk haha. Stay goated! We zullen wss nog wel een album van hem zien passeren
Well. Now I understand the memes. New album when?!?! I need mooooooore. So good.
already listened to it, very good
I am now officially blown away by how many good albums I've gotten in a row at this point. I'm glad to see this album on this list because I've only ever listened to Blonde from start to finish and always wanted to listen to this even if I've heard most of the songs at some point. This shit was great and makes me sad that he doesn't make music anymore because this album is perfect for smoking weed/just chilling/listening on headphones alone/having sex/driving all at once and can basically fit any vibe that you're looking for. Super rich kids, lost, bad religion, and forest gump are my favs
Frank Ocean. So good.
база
Great album, 4.7
WOOOOOO
Blair. like a rock in the middle of the ocean, albums I know and love are lifesavers and refreshing. Its mostly likely gonna be a 5.
It has some stunningly beautiful moments and a great vibe throughout.
Forrest Gump
Yaaaaaaaassssss
The best kind of channel
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
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
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.
A really unique, memorable album that has already proven quite influential
One of my all time favorite albums and a true modern classic.
Best orange album
👍Frank👍
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 album is so good - definitely was trying to remember all the amazing details pointed out in that dissect series
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” 🔥🔥🔥
One of the best albums of the 2010s. Channel Orange was one of the first major albums to openly discuss same-sex relationships sounded fantastic at the same time. Thinkin Bout You is beautiful, Super Rich Kids is good commentary, and Pyramids is an absolute epic. Plus this may be the only time we hear John Mayer on this list and he provides two excellent guitar solos (White and Pyramids). Frank Ocean delivered a classic on his debut and it's a shame that his music was never really this focused again.
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.
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.
Taler for sig selv - en moderne klassiker
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.
Fantastic album, probably one of the most important albums of my musical journey and I would say a front to back masterpiece.
I mean cmon
"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 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.
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.
I didn't get into Frank Ocean until this past December (2021) because he got a ton of universal hype across indie review websites and I would always be almost insulted when I would see him atop "Best Indie Albums" lists. I would think- "Is this hip hop guy's album really more monumental for indie music than the Strokes "Is This It"?" or I would question "Frank Ocean is more indie than Neutral Milk Hotel?". But then in December I heard one of his tracks covered live and I was like "oh man is THIS Frank Ocean? The time has come." Frank Ocean is the Fucking Shit with a capital F and S, and Channel Orange is a masterpiece. To me he has that one magical thing about his voice that he could sing literally anything and it would sound beautiful, hip, emotional, contemplative, and cool. His persona only adds to it- he rarely gives interviews and keeps a bit behind the curtain, he's so cool that he performs on SNL and his guitarist in the back - in the dark - is John Mayer, he even announced his sexuality via his personal Tumblr by just saying "4 Summer ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too." (It's a beautiful short thank you note that you should check out if you haven't and are a fan. I love how frank he is about it in an environment where being gay or bisexual isn't so widely accepted)... he's just a cool guy. "Thinkin Bout You", "Super Rich Kids", and "Lost" are modern classics! This is an album where I would love to have had a rating system out of 100 instead of out of 5. To me it's hard to say that this album is only a 4/5 because that's an 80/100. It's also not a 5/5 or 100/100 like a few others on this list are, but I think that it's closer to being a 5/5 than it is a 4/5 so I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Love this one. There are actually more killer tracks than I remember (Thinking Bout You, Lost & Super Rich Kids are my top 3, but there are 8 or 9 very decent songs here). Even the weaker or interlude-y tracks contribute to the bigger picture though. There's this kinda modern, minimal, slightly spacey thing going on that takes me to some specific place and time it's hard to describe (probably southern California, near future; somewhere affluent and hi-tech but slightly unsettling nonetheless?) 4.5
king
goated. absolute classic. one of my favorite albums of all time by my favorite artist of all time. 0 flaws.
Byrjar á autotune í Thinkin' bout you (mest spilaða laginu) og ég verð fyrir vonbrigðum, en svo lagast það og platan reynist svona líka góð. Mjög gaman að hlusta og ég mun gera það oftar.
4/03/2022 Today's Album: "Channel Orange" by Frank Ocean - This album is dense, extremely well executed, and packed with a ton of instrumental personality, so it definitely took a few days and a handful of listens to really "get" it. This album is phenomenal. These are really expressive and rich R&B tracks that cover a veriety of subject matters with suprising levels of nuance and with tons of layers of meaning in every line. From a surface level listen, you're met with likeable tracks that fuze pop and R&B with fantastic production and suprisingly listenable heavy sub-bass. Frank's vocals are fantastic on every track, the choruses are quickly learnable and given the hundreds of listens on each track, Frank is obviously a big heavy hitter in the pop scene. Going into the tracklist, there are a lot of times where the themes of drugs, past relationships, racism, systematic inequality, etc. that are all over most albums in this genre and the broader hip hop and rap scenes show up, but in a way that is very interesting to the listener. For instance, the first song of the album, Thinkin' Bout You explores the regret of past relationships by asking their first love if they still think about them, but his lyricism makes it hard to determine if this is an ongoing relationship or one that has already ended, adding to the message. The track Fertilizer is a short poppy interlude with only one line of lyrics, but the meaning of it is one of a partner feeling like they must continue with a relationship despite them being treated like shit. The name Fertilizer is also a play on words, implying the only connection in this relationship is when Frank and his partner have love- less sex (Fertilizing Her). The song Sierra Leone covers seemingly all of the emotions surrounding an unplaned pregnancy, with Frank having to come to turns with his immaturity and grow up to raise a child, the financial and familial struggle of dealing with an unplanned child, and even the relationship Frank has with being a father given how his father left him when he was young. The track Super Rich Kids is not only a fantastic sounding song, but it covers the troubles of young wealth and all of the mental, interpersonal, and legal issues related to someone having vast amounts of wealth when they are young. Pilot Jones and Crack Rock both cover the issues related to drugs and homelessness in America in great depth, with the former being from the perspective of Frank dealing with a parter that is dealing/addicted to drugs. The 10 minute track Pyramids is a great examination into the tarnished identity of black women as they were stolen from their home continent and were bastardized by the west. The first part is about the capturing and exploitation of black woman slaves right from the African Population and the second part is about the modern day black woman and how many have been reduced down to hookers and strippers. This track also sounds phenomenal from start to finish and features some amazing instrumental moments. Lost covers the drug industry further, this time with Frank taking the perspective of a man forcing a woman to mule drugs by putting them inside of her Double D sized breasts. It sounds immature and cliche upon first listen, but after understanding the premise it is a story of a young woman who is unable to escape a world of drug trafficing that she is already too far deep within. Monks is Frank examining his fame, but through discribing a drug fueled sexual encounter he had with a handful of groupies from one of his shows. One of the heaviest hitters, Bad Religion, compares a romantic relationship to a religion, as Frank finds this partner he once worshiped gone from him now. Like many tracks on this album, he describes these past relationships in an absolutely heartbreaking way, shedding light to the parts of a relationship that most dont think about. Pink Matter is a beautiful track that uses relationships and specifically a woman's womb to contemplate desire, fantasy, and even existentialism. It is an example of another pattern of this album, where Frank seems to be simply singing a love song, but there are several deeper meanings underneath simply talking about vaginas or boobs. Forest Gump is a light-hearted track from the perspective of Jenny from Forest Gump, being a metaphor for Frank's first love, who he later admitted was male and the final track End ends the album in a similar way it started, with background chatter and noise as Frank is musically switching through memories like TV channels. From an instrumental and musical standpoint, there are some moments that feel a little underdeveloped on this LP, but the diversity of sounds and melodies alongside solid instrumentals and lyricism that are so layered it can take hundreds of listens to fully comprehend make this album just fantastic from start to end. Themes of first loves, past toxic relationships, drugs, pregnancy, status, wealth, and power are all brilliantly meditated on under the guise of an R&B pop album and I really just cannot emphasize how well it is pulled off. This album is getting me really excited to check out Ocean's other music and about 80 percent of the tracks here are going to find their way into my library. Listen to this one if you like R&B, pop, heavy bass, great vocals, smart lyrics, or any/all of the above. Score: 9.5/10 Smart, Beautiful, Excellent. Highlights: Thinkin Bout You, Fertilizer, Super Rich Kids, Pilot Jones, Pyramids, Lost, White, Monks, Bad Religion, Pink Matter, Forest Gump.
What a please to be assigned this album today. This was something I had on repeat back when it was released. Every track is a banger!
Oooo boy now this is a certified classic. Ocean has clearly already established the mainstays of his discography by this point, with the evocative yet sensitive lyrics and achingly beautiful vocals that underpin each song. "Pyramids" is just plain epic. I love this album!!!
Hooked right out of the gate. The hits are massive, drums sound great throughout.
Damn this is good
Catch AF
A great album that seems to keep momentum all the way through. Forrest Gump is one of my favorite songs of the past decade. Pyramids is a 9 minute journey.
This is one of my favorite albums. Almost being 10 years old, it still holds up. By far one of the best albums of this century.
Este álbum me sorprendió mucho, ya que no soy muy fan del R&B, pero me encontré escuchándolo como unas tres veces. No creo que algún otro álbum del género llegue a tener esta calificación por mi. Hay algo respecto de los arreglos musicales que lo hace diferente. No es sólo rap y no me pareció tedioso, además el uso de sonidos ambientales como el Play Station del intro le dio una textura especial. No le presté demasiada atención a la letra, pero después de leer el artículo de Wikipedia creo que debería. Mis canciones favoritas fueron “Pyramids” y “Super Rich Kids”.
The album is just a great vibe. Easy listening and suited to so many occasions.
This is one of my favourite albums, to the point where I was listening to tracks from it earlier today before this glorious website assigned me Channel Orange. If you want Channel Orange to be deep, it can be. You can sort the songs into pairs, consider Mr Ocean's exploration of his sexual identity and his telling of stories from different corners of society, both as a slice of life and a metaphor of his own experience. Or you can just take every song on their own, feeling sad or loved-up or defiant or introspective as the feeling takes you. "Bad Religion" stands as a glorious cornerstone of the album and ever fails to make my eyes leak. And best of all - this isn't even Frank Ocean's best work.
I liked this way more than I thought I would
One of the best albums of the last 20 years
this album is very good I like it I think it is his best
Love this album
Ekstremetelt å jazzaktig
Legendary
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
Really good, would relisten. Couldn't always make out the lyrics but sounded nice anyway. 9
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.
Life-changing. 10
played this once way back but as background noise BUT NOWWWW DAMNNNN BOYYYYYYYYY THIS IS GOOD ASS SHIT MMMMMMMMM
This album is brilliant
Not a bad track. Feels like an unfolding story. Stripped back. Almost perfect.
Great album. 0 bad songs and really high highs. Favorite song: Pyramids
Already love... RnB GOAT, unequivocally
5000000/5 love u frank
Great album
BOMB ASF ALWAYS
One of the top albums of the 2010's and up there in my top 20 of all time.
This is such an amazing album. I'm glad this gave me the reminder to listen through again.
Obviously great
This will always be a great album. Would be a nice one to have on vinyl.
Smooth af. Actually put me in a better mood.
A classic
Gold.
Great
Good!
Classic - Thinkin About You, Sweet Life, Pyramids and Bad Religion are my favorites, but every non-interlude track is great.
Megan get back to work
This is definitely one of the most important albums of the 2010's. It's beyond genre. I can see how people think of him as Prince's successor, but he's also unique. Except for a couple tracks, the album refuses to be background music. It is atmospheric, world-building, storytelling. It is also mellow, perfect for reflection and wanderings of the mind. At first impression, this music seems overly simple, paired down. Looking deeper reveals that it is steeped in emotion, with evocative lyrics and a variety of atmospheric breaks and textures. It's not the straightforward Pop or R&B that some people might take it as. And that's why it's really disappointing to see the ignorant comments here. It's one thing to give 1 star if it's just not your thing, but it's incredibly ignorant to equate this album with a supposed downward trajectory of music. I agree with those who are suggesting racism, because I suspect the motivation for those reviews is bitterness about Rock music petering out and losing mass appeal. As hard as it may be to accept, it should come as no surprise that people will eventually get tired of a genre of music if it doesn't evolve. Ok rant over I'm split between 4 and 5 because it's an album I really respect, but don't quite love. Gonna go 4 because of that hesitation
This album was baffling for me. I had so many mixed feelings about it I was not sure how to rate it. There were moments that I thought were really good and moments that just made me say huh? It had this sort of hip hop meets crooner fusion feel to it and sometimes it gave me modern day Gatsby vibes. It was different and thought provoking. While at times I really was into it I wasn’t always sure I liked it.
still some skips but overall GD not many people do it like Frank
Earl sounds like a baby here! High school throwback big time!
Unique perspectives and song concepts from Mr. Ocean
Pink Matter is one of the best Hip Hop songs of all time.
4,1/5
Never heard of this guy but this is a lush album well produced. A nice chill out LP for after work or a slow weekend. It helps to have Pharrell Williams assisting you too.
He's a gamer? Ew. I really need to get my psychic powers checked because this is the second time some form of portent has foretold what album I was going to get.
Channel Orange was quite a solid hip hop record. I have always heard of Frank Ocean's name with the praise his second album Blond gets and the anger people have with him for doing anything but releasing new music but i haven't been too familiar with any of his songs though. The music for the most part is pretty good bringing in a very Kendrick Lamar vibe with a couple of R&B elements too. There are a lot of intermission tracks with some having a bunch of sounds from the PS1 and one of the Street Fighter games (i don't know which one though). The vocals were also a bit hit or miss at points too. All that is to say this album is fine, just a bit unremarkable. Except for Pyramid though, whole extra star for that track alone. Best Song: Pyramid Worst Song: Super Rich Kids
Start har PS1 start up lyd, mega sejt. Pyramids: 5/5 banger. Lost, Crack Rock og Forrest Gump er også bangers. Er ikke så meget til R&B stykkerne nødvendigvis dog. Albummet burde nok have 4,5 stjerner, hvis muligt.
I had heard Lost before as well as a track or two from Blonde so was looking forward to hearing this given that's its highly regarded. The second half of the record is stronger then the first I'd say with Pyramids, Lost and Forrest Gump standing out. I remember in the years after this first came out it was cited everywhere as a great album but I think it's legacy may have suffered some what from the lack of subsequent material, Kendrick for example has released four albums in the time since Frank has only managed one and seems to have overtaken him as the critical darling in hip hop. Light 4 for me.
I listened to this one 3 and a half times because I couldn't decide how to feel about it. It's definitely an album that's trying to be an album. The songs tell a story. But that story sometimes just isn't very good, maybe. I struggle to relate much to the two "rich kid" songs. But maybe I find it preferable to rap/r&b songs that just gush about having tons of money. Idk. I might be going crazy, but I'm pretty sure the vocal track peaks throughout the album. I don't think it's a stylistic lo-fi thing. It's most noticeable in Sweet Life. When he says "weren't" in the first line. Am I crazy? It makes it seem like they just did one audio take and didn't bother re-recording parts that peaked. Lazy/cynical or amateur/naive? The songs have somewhat inconsistent layered production. It reminds me a bit of Jockstrap. Not so much the end product, but the production philosophy I guess. I like it generally, like they're taking risks. Sometimes it lands and sometimes it doesn't. Through multiple listens, I noticed I was gravitating towards different songs each time. So it's almost random on where it lands and where it doesn't. Except maybe Crack Rock, that's a certified banger for me. It might end up in the vocal stim rotation. I had listened to this album before today, but I didn't really get the hype. The album started as a 2.5 on my first listen, then went up to a 3, and now it sits at a 3.5. Idk where it'll be long-term. I was kinda hoping on the third listen it would spur a bit so I could stop rating things 3 stars. Oh well. I am who I am. W: Crack Rock L: Sweet Life 3.5/5
My favourite Frank Ocean record. Amorphous grooves, ephemeral vibes, loose, aching, sweet, weird.
“Pyramids” is a tour de force, and most of the other tracks are strong too. You can’t hear R & B now without hearing it through the filter of Frank Ocean.
This was recommended to me when it came out, but I didn't have head space to get into it - happy to be focusing on it now (for one day at least). After a run of shallow albums, I'm glad there's heaps to attend to here, in the music, lyrics, vocal delivery. It's creative, ambitious, well-produced, stylish, way more interesting than so much else in the list. But I don't think the effort always lands, eg Pyramids (sketchy concepts, messed-up about history and cartoony about the present). And the vibe and values aren't great fits for me: the lyrics relating to women are often off-putting, which is easy to say but not my whole unease; maybe the whole is a bit too “young Californian” for me. Trying to pick my favourite song of the album, I realise I find the songs interesting and mildly impressive, rather than actually liking them, or specifically wanting to hear them again (apart from trying to put my finger on various uncomfortable feelings about the story/lyrics). I want to get what the people who love this album are getting, but it isn't happening for me. So I'll call it Good, 7/10.
An ex gf tried to get me into this album when it first came out, I wasn't interested at the time. I dig it now, I understand it better in my wiser years. Album has intelligence and depth.
i'm so ridiculous, i keep putting these albums on in the background without paying any real attention to it. i was surprised by how many songs i already knew though. some of these were *such* a throwback. it's a Crafted album that's for sure
This is a great album. Not sure why the blatant incel racist reviews are getting upvoted.
Olipas yllättävän hyvä
It's a really nice vibe, and I really like how groovy some of it is, like the piano in Super Rich Kids and the bass in Sierra Leone, but I'm not a huge fan of the vocals at some occasional times. He's really good, but the lyrics are a bit boring (and I don't really like the personality/themes that come through) and I'd just rather listen to Stevie Wonder for something like this, it's just more consistently what the peaks of this album are like. Ocean is obviously pretty talented, but in music like this I can't help but feel a little bothered it's just listened under "Frank Ocean" when I can hear so many other talented musicians that should be more overtly credited (like drummer and keyboard players on Crack Rock), and yes I feel the same with Kendrick who I glaze, but with albums like TPAB and GKMC, Kendrick feels more uniquely talented in a way that couldn't really have been done by anyone else. Sorry, dumb rant over. The album is genuinely really solid and there's not really a single bad song, although Piramids is a little overrated in my opinion, but I would come back to most the songs here, just not as much as other stuff.
Wasn't convinced at the start but it really grew on me. A few duds but it's outweighed by the bangers. Forest gump, crack rock, lost, pyramids all highlights.
This was way better than Blond, so that was a pleasant surprise. He's got such a good voice and almost all the songs here are smooth as butter. Such a vibe, 4/5
A surprise. I did not expect to like this. The vibe, the beats — they got me before the lyrics did. Channel Orange is R&B that doesn't ask you to be an R&B person. It just creates an atmosphere and pulls you into it. I've listened several times now, which doesn't happen often with albums from outside my usual territory. Sweet Life was the one that landed first — and personally. I posted Aska asleep in the sun with that track running, because the line "my TV ain't HD, that's too real" said something true about where I am right now. Simple things. Real things. That's the sweet life. I haven't fully followed the lyrics on everything yet. I'll be back. 4/5 — already downloaded to my phone, already thinking about the vinyl.
A beautifully leftfield take on soul/r&b/whatever.
Really liked this album. Found some of the lyrics a bit goofy but generally just really enjoyed pretty much all of the songs. Top songs: Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Lost, Bad Religion, Forrest Gump
A potato flew around my room the other day… This was a good album! Some seminal songs of the 2010s.
Good album
Decent album. Some songs with great hooks.
good album.
Thoughts before listening: Outside of the heavyweights from the 60s and 70s, few albums have received the perpetual praise that both of Frank Oceans' albums have gotten. I never really saw the hype if I'm being honest. It's very good r&b, but why have these been singled out from all the other r&b releases of the past 20 years? Maybe this will be the time it clicks for me. Review: Ok so this isn't my normal style of music, but maybe I finally get the appeal. Cool, mostly mid-tempo r&b with production by Pharrell and others. Lots of different elements thrown into these songs, with Frank's evocative, storyteller lyrics and strong vocals. Often this type of music just melds into background noise for me because it doesn't really catch my attention and all sounds the same, but there were multiple times on this album where I put down what I was working on and listened. I'll give this 4 stars.
The rare album that I thought had a better second half than first half, but that could have also been me just acclimating to the sound. Big fan of Monks and especially Pyramids. This isn’t the most immediately attention grabbing album out there but I quite liked this. 3.5.
Unconventional, eclectic, astonishing. These are 3 words specifically made to describe a record that was born after the frustration from his mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra. Frank Ocean wiped out the entire structure and gave these songs a whole new embodiment bringing into the table a cozy, flawless and mellow sound that has his roots in R&B and neo-soul. With Pharrell Williams as one of the producers, and featuring collaborations with Andre 3000, Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler The Creator, and guitarist John Mayer, The californian debuted at number 2 in Billboard 200 making a name for himself with this debut album that still today surprises many people due to to the influences that ranged from Sly and The Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and even Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. From the first track you can tell that these amount of great artists served as an inspiration for an album that even when more than a decade has passed by, we still need to talk about as one of the most amazing pieces in contemporary R&B. Relying also on noise and film dialogues that function as interludes and with lyrics about Ocean's sexuality, you can perceive that there is something that feels somehow erotic and naughty in this anthology of songs. Definitely a collection of sounds you don't wanna miss out if you are new to the genre, or if you wanna explore something outside the standards.
I’ve heard this one before and I still really like it.
One of the best R&B albums of the 2000's. Great beats that lay the perfect foundation for Frank's soulful vocals. Favorite track: Pyramids
Several of these tracks are part of the backdrop of my teenage years, so I'm quite biased. A cohesive and solid rnb album.
Frank Ocean is new to me. I enjoyed this. Didn't notice anything on my first listen that I wasn't fond of but nothing jump out as exceptionally good. Will be listing to this again.
4.5
Frank ocean is a talented man. This was a very fun listen and I will defintely revisit again at a later date. 7.75/10 Top song Thinking about you
Or do you not think so far aheadddd, because I’ve been thinking about foreverrrrrr, oooohhhh…….. So many great alt-r&b-pop hits imbued with Frank’s ingenious sensibilities. I also liked the interludes—I don’t know if that’s a hot take. It gave the album a sense of cohesion where there otherwise might’ve not been. Some vocal and instrumental patterns dragged a little by the end, but it didn’t distract me from the crux of this record: a melange of skillful, melodic, summer-glistened tracks. Call me Colleen Ballinger if you must, but haters need to back off!!! STAND-OUT SONG: “Sweet Life” HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Thinkin Bout You”, “Super Rich Kids”, “Bad Religion”, “Pyramids”
surprisingly enjoyable
Color me surprised when I flipped to this channel
Saved? ✅ Would listen again? ✅ Would recommend to anyone? ✅ Would buy on Vinyl? ✅
okay so here’s the deal. I have previously liked some songs on this album so naturally I was excited to listen. Mr. Ocean’s voice is so beautiful and I enjoyed the theme of the album with the little radio static interludes to tie the songs together. HOWEVER, compared to the other albums I have given 5 stars on this journey so far, I was lowkey thinking this album is NOwhere close to how good other albums are. Some of the lyrics were so trashy that I understood why older generations are disappointed in us. I think in a biased scope of mind this album is good but in the music analyst mode and in terms of other albums on this list this one really does not hold up. It shall be a 3.5 for me.
ya lo escuché lol
Well, I was all set to get on here and leave a mediocre review, but after reading that unhinged post blaming this album for the downfall of western civilization, I just had to give it another chance
Start & Fertilizer very unnecessary in the Album, beautifully songs, great as background music especially in summer, calming, love the messages in the lyrics, high, love his voice, comforting to listen to in the background
I feel this is probably actually about a 3 for me, but nostalgia is pushing it to a 4...
This is amazing. Heard great things about Blonde but not heard as much praising this album. So many bangers on this. Pyramids alone is worth a spin. Thinking About You, Sweet Life and Pink Matter are personal favourites. I love the little intro with the PS2 music
i liked it, first time listening to frank ocean
Highlights: Crack Rock, Bad Religion, Sierra Leone -> Super Rich Kids sequence
Starts silence that gradually eases into an almost mystical technology start is so interesting. Thinkin About You is a summer song in the way that humidity acts on you. Summer allows for you to think longer about things such as relationships, but it leaves a sticky feeling on your skin. Thinkin about you is a reflection on how we'll never know how the ex people in our life felt. Fertilizer is a nice comic relief and has a really happy instrumental, and interestingly it echoes the start of the album. Sierra Leone echoing conversation creates a storytelling effect that’s hard to replicate ; how Sierra Leone shifts into a representation of love for his hometown is a unique comparison. When you hear about hometowns you usually hear about wanting to run away , while Sierra Leone skies serve as a representation of home he feels who Ike having sex with his girlfriend. In the album you also hear about the metamorphosis he undergoes as he acts as an irresponsible teenager to a mature older man. Sweet Life is a surprising call to action and a call out of the wealthy. He describes a sheltered life that the wealthy live in , one that hones in on the fruits of their vine. One of the most poignant lines of the song is “ So why see the world, when you can see the beach?” Showing that the direct people of the song are sheltered away. Not Just Money switches the perspective of money , showing the heartache that money can cause while also simultaneously the stability it can lead to. Super rich kids talk about the carelessness of kids when they have economic resources to be careless. Though he highlights how the kids will never be fulfilled because there are some things that money can just not buy. Pilot Jones talks about the youthfulness of love and first love while comparing it to drugs. Crack Rock also discusses drugs but it shifts it to an empathetic understanding of a crack addict ; while also describing the effects of the crack addicts addiction on other people. Pyramids immediately shift into a whole different universe and have a more disconnected feeling. The song feels so hypnotizing as Ocean details the fall from grace of two doomed lovers , Marc Antony and Cleopatra into a modern couple. With pyramids the common motif is throughout it. Lost details a drug dealer always needing his girlfriend , his drug mule, to complete one last deal. And it’s a really beautiful song. White is a little instrumental track that is another song called the same things. Monks has such vivid imagery that really captivates you the whole song and I just really love this song. Bad religion talks about the almost worship that comes from loving another person unrequited. Pink Matter is a great song that laments his love for another person that turns blue as the song goes on. Frank Ocean talks about having sex with her by fully immersing himself in her, and by doing so he commits a worship towards her . Forest Gump pays reference to the film and crosses film to the feeling of first love. It creates a really beautiful portrait of devotion from a distance. End closes the album by cross referencing and creating a beautiful tapestry of different styles of art. The lyrics “ Our daughters and our sons are staples of the sun” is really magnetic. This album was a really great listen and definitely a staple of modern music. Favs Monks Pink Matter Bad Religon Forest Gump
I don't think I've really heard an R&B album quite like this one before. I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the sound and the longer I listened, the more I enjoyed it.
sierra leon is a bizzare song but like frank ocean is a vibe
A little long, but a lot to really like here. Pyramids and Sweet Life were standout tracks
ermano q buen album
I liked it
Creo que es un álbum bastante completo, las transiciones entre las canciones son muy fluidas y sonoramente es muy variado.
Nothing like some chit chat before the music starts. This feels like an album that's going to be full of these Odd Future guys being....odd in brief interludes and some found sound. Frank Ocean is the D'Angelo of Alternative R&B. I bet Frank Ocean must idolize Stevie Wonder. More talking. And I bet Steve Lacy idolizes Frank Ocean. The difference between the style and the content of Crack Rock is about as disparate as two things can get. His voice and Musiq Soulchild's are virtually indistinguishable. Pink Matter is amazing. I love Andre 3000.
Absolutely seamless genre transcendence and experimentation. A massive artistic statement commanding attention and firmly giving a voice to the feelings, both good and bad, surrounding the early 2010s. "Thinkin' 'Bout You" begins things with a gorgeous pop synth/r&b fusion opening, "Super Rich Kids" is a wonderfully smooth rap soul track with a fantastic feature from a young Earl Sweatshirt. "Pyramids" is INSANE. How have I never heard this before? Great lyrical concept, fantastic synthesizers, and John Mayer's greatest guitar performance ever! "Lost" has a super catchy Daft Punk-esque chorus. Not every song works, but it's aged extremely well. Great album.
nice
I'm gonna come across ignorant here I think, which is okay. I have never listened to a Frank Ocean album despite really loving Earl and Tyler. I've gotten about 3 songs into Blonde before tapping out before. And this is the stupid part, this just sounds like Kevin Abstract to me. I understand now, of course, that Kevin was just biting this entirely, but that's my frame of reference so I'm really thrown off, mainly because I really like what Kevin has done and I don't know Frank's catalogue. Anyways, this album is really great. It has a lot of variety and fun sound collages and all the performances are tight. I just can't quit the nagging of like I could be listening to Arizona Baby instead right now which is weird. Very strong 4. Also wow, reading the second top review, that's insane. This is nowhere near the degradation of music. Let music evolve yadda yah, I hate the dumbass boomers on this site.
Thinking Bout You Super Rich Kids Pyramids Lost
I can get ‘Lost’ in this album.
Started off a bit Sandy but gradually got better and better - lots of sexy metaphors
this like a 3.7 but frank gets the roundup
This album is very relaxing to me. I quite like it. Great singing, smooth instrumentals, good production. The lyrics are thoughtful, though I don’t understand what Majin Buu from DBZ has to do with the rest of “Pink Matter”, but the repeated passionate delivery of the word “pleasure” on that track is my favorite moment on the album, so I can forgive that. 4/5
dare i say... this might have a bit of a sequencing problem. but the songwriting is some of the best of the century so it's kinda moot. somehow "Crack Rock" was my entry point into this great artist and it's still my favorite song on this album
I feel like I to listen to listen album multiple times back in the day before I liked it… and then I loved it. Solid 4.3 for that Frank ocean magic.
A high school classic. Never mad to give this one a relisten
A modernized soul, funk, pop, rap with tunesmith-iness. Quite good, shades of Stevie Wonder. I like the synths. 4.
I liked this recording a lot. Combines elements of Soul and Rap.
Pretty soulful
great vocal work in both registers. the instrumental choices are all pretty good but the arranging is sometimes lacking, and the lyrics are inconsistent. mixing is quite good though
I was looking forward to re-listening to this album. When I think 2012, I don't think of this album. Yet it somehow sounds exactly like that time. Frank Ocean's lyrics and flow combined with some deep bass or jazzy instrumentals work really well throughout. I'd call this album a "vibe" for sure. I have extremely fond memories of driving around my 2006 Chevy Cobalt with the massive subwoofer in the trunk smoking blunts and listening to "Pyramids" with a myriad of people. Ahh 2012....
It’s a near perfect album. As fresh today as when it landed.
always loved that one, that voice is just honey
Mom music type who
I just love this guy’s voice, man. Feels as summertime fresh as the first time I heard it my sophomore year of college. Stevie Wonder through a fishbowl. In love with the earl sweatshirt feature — the king of assonance. Felt like it overstayed its welcome in the back half after Pyramids, but still a great record I’ll always come back to. And ends strong with Forrest Gump, such a sweet sweet song.
Wish it were a little more consistent in the first half but Pyramids and Thinkin Bout You have been among my favorites since they came out
This was some pretty interesting more modern rap. Not exactly my cup of tea but not bad.
Mycket bra! Älskar hans röst. Thinkin bout you är underbar och Pyramids fantastisk. Monks gillar jag också. Ett bra album!
Wasn't really my cup of tea when it came out, but I kinda like it now?
I like lost, good change from the other songs we have been getting.
Frank Ocean is an artist I’ve wanted to dive deeper into. Since my favourite podcast Dissect did a season on his earlier discography. I tried listening to the season a while back. Not really knowing what his music sounded like and couldn’t get into it at the time. I’m mostly just not into the pop genre. But after listening to the Channel Orange intentionally, I’ll have to go back and revisit that season. Maybe listening to the albums before diving into the podcast season. I found Channel Orange
I really liked this album. I feel like I'll need a couple listens through to truly appreciate it. But, I can tell it's a really well put together album
A potato flew around my room before you cameeee Beautiful voice Frank, surprised to see so many hateful reviews here.... Like get a grip. Loved the PS2 intro SFX at the start. 8/10
I really liked this album when it came out. It was a breath of fresh air. You need to scratch the surface a bit. But it pays you back for repeat listens. I personally love the mix of casual rap and arpeggio vocals. You can hear the Prince and Andre 3000 influences through the music. Cool, confident and a new voice for a changing generation. Pyramids of one of the great songs...of all time, in my humble opinion.
Literal art Lyrics speak to the soul Really good chill kinda music Got its lows and highs
I don’t know much of Frank’s discography, but Thinkin Bout You will always be a classic. This album was solid.
4 stars😛 beliebt af aber ist auch einfach gut
I remember liking this more in high school. It's still a good album and Pyramids remains fantastic but this time around it didn't hit as hard. 3.5/5
Classic! And classy! Lovely Melodies 😍
Este ha sido uno de mis albums favoritos, porque tiene unas de mis canciones favoritas de toda la vida, siempre me ha gustado Frank Ocean, me gusta la atomosfera sentimentalista que crea en cada canciones, hay canciones que te hacen sentir mucho, y habla desde su experiencia desde una manera muy existencialista y me gusta como experimenta con diversos géneros, principalmente el fondo de los instrumentos y como juega con su voz, a veces es muy incomoda y muy forzada, pero la da mucha personalidad, creo que es un album muy bueno, que lleva su tiempo escucharlo, con bastantes detalles, me gustaría disfrutarlo mas pero lo he escuchado demasiado
Iconic album with iconic songs
Would give it a 4.5 if I could. The first album that I considered giving a 5
One of those artists I’ve hear about nonstop but don’t have a clue what he sounds like. Perfect excuse to listen given this list and I’m glad I did; such a cool vibe! Will defo check out Blonde at some point as well
It’s been a while since I’ve played this in full. This album was a huge part of my life when it came out. First year of college, plenty of free time, smoking, drinking, playing PlayStation and cards. Great times. We must have played this album nearly 100 times. Like most classics, it holds up very well. I had forgotten what an incredible song Bad Religion is. Powerful and heart breaking.
Whilst I genuinely could not have expected otherwise about this album being in the list considering it is such a lush, interesting, intimate R&B record which of itself does great to represent a generation that is yet underrepresented in this list, it is one of the records that have made me happiest seing it assigned. 9/10 [KEEP]
Reminds me of being a young teenager. I like Crack Rock and Pyramids. “Skin like bronze and hair like cashmere”
One of my first albums ever, pink matter is perfect.
Fantastic album throughout. Perfect for a rusty hangover.
A member of Odd Future I remember hearing and downloading the mixtape and was excited to hear what the album would be like. As I listened his phrasing is like a slam poet or rapper on many songs. The album is really good. His stories fit for the time and area he grew up in. As kid growing in LA I’m sure he felt like many of the lyrics in Super Rich Kids. Also understanding the story being told in Pyramid. He was so good. Even the opening song Thinkin’ About You with the flow just worked. Frank Ocean had his moment. Hopefully one day he will find that desire to write and sing again.
Frank Ocean trying to bait me with that PS1 boot sound and the Street Fighter 2 theme, but this album was pretty good regardless
can i be FRANK with you for a sec? 4.5/5
Abit long but love the production
beautiful i love you frank
A Potato Flew Around My Room 1001 Albums Generator 283 (5/4/2026) Really great neo-soul/RnB. I have so much nostalgia for some of the songs here, especially thinkin Bout You and Super Rich Kids, but I've never given the whole album a listen. It's not as consistent as Blonde, but it's still really good. Around Super Rich Kids, the album catches its stride and doesn't let go. That trip hop on Crack Rock was a nice surprise. The production is consistently sparse, but still spacey and interesting. The interludes don't do much for the album, and it would be better without them. But come on. It's Channel Orange. Listen to Pyramids man. 4.5/5, rounded down to 4 because it's not as generational as Blonde. Favs: Super Rich Kids Pyramids Lost Least Fav (not including interludes): Bad Religion
good album fun. pyramids. peak. but some songs alright 🤷♂️
I was curious about this one, I've been meaning to check Frank Ocean out, as I like a lot of the guys from Odd Future he's associated with, even if he is more R&B/Soul than them. This still isn't my go to style of music, but I definitely enjoyed his "alt R&B" more than a lot of the other examples of the R&B genre I've gotten on this list so far "Thinkin Bout You" "Super RIch Kids" "Lost" and "Monks" were standouts for me here
It's a shame he hasn't released a new album in 10 years. He's a very talented vocalist and lyricist. I think I prefer Blonde, but still a great album. 4/5.
Thinking Bout You - 4.5/5 Sierra Leone - 4/5 Sweet Life - 5/5 Super Rich Kids - 4.5/5 Pilot Jones - 3.5/5 Crack Rock - 4/5 Pyramids - 5/5 Lost - 4.5/5 White - 3.5/5 Monks - 4/5 Bad Religion - 4/5 Pink Matter - 4.5/5 Forrest Gump - 4/5 To the guy who said that this album spawned on SoundCloud rap? I think he got lost in the genres. I had heard of Frank Ocean before, but I, like the narrow-minded reviewer, thought he was more rap. This album is definitely more on the R&B side, and there are so many good songs on here. I think I'm more upset about the number of narrow-minded people who think sparked the downfall of civilization. Go defenestrate yourself if you think that. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Lost, Pink Matter
missing this guy
beauty in simplicity
wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did
4/5. I’ve always been a bit of an outsider to Frank Ocean. I knew he was one of the most respected/acclaimed modern soul/R&B artists and I knew that it’s been forever since his last album (Blonde will be 10 years old later this year), but I’ve never actually fully dove into an album of his until now. And I get the hype, this album was really good. Some fantastic production here which goes well with Franks vocals which are also great. The highlight for me has to be the nearly 10 minute centerpiece of the album “Pyramids.” This is definitely one I see myself returning to.
this is such a jam that i total slept on. still sounds real fresh
la verdad gran album. me soreprendio, nunca habia escuchado frank ocean (nose porque) pero me GUSTO.
coolllll
potato flew around my room
El álbum más horny que escuché en mí vida, Frank Ocean estaba demasiado caliente cuándo lo hizo, y que tenga estas temáticas sumado a el amor y la búsqueda de pertenencia el autodescubrimiento lo hacen muy bueno, con letras bastante buenas en algunos momentos y otras medio goofy, un punto muy sólido es la producción y las bases que son muy chill y pegadizas.
Chill, cool
sounds like hanging around the wrong crowd and loving every second of the steep decline that comes with it. miss being 16. good album
Not quite my bag but impeccably produced and full of very catchy songs. I can now see why this was such a big deal back when it was released.
There's a decent amount of fluff on this but when it hits, it really hits. I still think it's one of the better Alt R&B albums of the 2010's. Light 8/10
First time listening to Frank. A few throw away songs and I hated the skits but every thing else was a fun ride. Soul, R&B, a little hip-hop all blended together.
Such a GREAT album, from beginning to end. Highly recommend if you are not familiar with Frank Ocean.
So many terrible takes in the reviews about any album that's newer or by African Americans.
C'était cool ! Alors, je ne connais vraiment pas le genre, donc je ne saurais pas comment en parler, mais j'ai trouvé que Frank Ocean a un vrai charisme quand il chante (le côté très poli en studio très typique de l'époque me dérange un peu, mais c'est loin d'être le pire). Musicalement, c'est relativement simple, mais souvent très entraînant. Les samples utilisés dans les interludes viennent rythmer un peu plus l'album. C'est pas mon truc et je ne reviendrai sûrement jamais dessus, mais je dois admettre que c'était quand même très bien et je pense que mettre moins de 4 serait injuste.
Did this album aged well? That’s the question
Never really understood the hype, but now when i have listened to the whole album i get it.
Frank Ocean is an artist I assumed I'd like, but have never listened to before. I was glad for this to come up today so it gave me a chance to find out if I was correct. I was hooked from the very beginning of the album. I wasn't sure exactly what musical style this would be, and it turned out to be a variety of them and all exceptionally produced and performed. I loved his vocals, and the lyrics were provocative throughout. Standout songs were Thinkin Bout You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Lost, Pyramids, and Pink Matter. There was not a song I'd skip on this album. After taking a week long break due to being out of town, I've listened to three very strong and very different records the past few days (MC Solaar and Moby Grape came before today). I hope this streak continues.
sgood
Can't believe I missed this album for so many years. Feels like a proto "Because The Internet." Crack rock, crack rock!
Frank Ocean has a very unique sound, and in this album he’s starting to get his footing.
I really enjoyed listening to this all day today. I'd only 'really' heard Thinking About You before now, and the intended studio experience was a lot of fun, for both the song and the album it sits on. On a conceptual level I really appreciate the way the project turns and uses alternate sounds, from the aptly titled Start and End tracks, to the short song divisions that don't even deserve to be called skits. I also really appreciate the use of color as emotion, something about as abstract as sound as emotion, and the album pulls them both off really well. It's not exactly an unskippable effort, but everything is well thought out, and there's complex layers. This must be a really fun one to keep dissecting. When you strip it down, there's only a handful of songs on it that I really want to listen to, so putting the album on frequently feels less likely for me. Just puts into perspective how music works, despite understanding the artist's intentions. 4.2/5
I really really love just about every song on Channel Orange individually, and when I look through the track listing I cannot point to any one song that I don't like. Seriously, everything on here is incredibly catchy, or captivating, or thought provoking, often all at once. But when listening through the album as a whole, I can't shake the feeling that the experience as a whole falls a bit short, like the whole is somehow lesser than the sum of its parts. I'm unsure what it is specifically though that makes me feel this way, as I said I can't point out any one song specifically that falls short. It may be the length of the record, it sits just short of an hour and features 17 different tracks. Or it may be that of those 17 tracks, there are 3 separate intermissions, and two dedicated intro/outro tracks, that put together just drag the album on a bit too long. I'm not 100% certain, but for whatever reason while the tracks themselves are all fantastic in a vacuum (to the point that I struggle to parse one specific favourite), within the context of the album it doesn't quite come together for full marks. I'll definitely be revisiting it some more. Fav Track: 11 - Lost Best Three Track Run: 13, 14, 15
This album is just perfect and yet I wasn't expecting it to be on this list. All the songs work as a love letter to sexuality, freedom and religion.
Nicely produced album with a few cool songs
My 200th album of this project begins with the PlayStation 1 startup sound. I feel like that's a good sign. There's very few sounds in the world that evoke excitement like the PS1 splash screen jingle. It's inbuilt in me like a deep Pavlovian conditioned response. So it's a clever move by Frank Ocean to tap into that nostalgic vibe at the very start of the album. This type of R&B isn't really my thing. That's the big mountain this album has to climb to win me over. There's no real reason behind it, besides growing up with grunge, Britpop, alt rock and a bit of electronica as the main soundtrack of my youth. Soul and R&B weren't really a part of that. But that's the whole point of this project, right? Broaden my musical horizons by listening to albums outside of my usual circle of taste, with an open mind, to hopefully discover a more diverse selection of music as a result. I mean, it gets difficult when I have to listen to some nonsense like Kid Rock, but after 200 albums in a row, I can safely say I'm much more of a fan of jazz, hip-hop and funk than before. I've discovered new artists I had never heard of, and am now a big fan of (Jane Weaver, Minutemen and Joanna Newsom to name but a few). And, I've discovered that I'm much bigger fans of artists that I already knew, like Brain Eno and Black Sabbath. While I've liked a few of the big-hitters of soul that have come up, like Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Shuggie Otis, soul is still a genre that I don't fully, fully gel with. And it's relevant that I mentioned those three in particular, as I can hear their influence all through “channel Orange”. The use of real instrumentation rather than samples, coupled with the 60s equipment that they used, really brings a retro vibe to everything. The first time I listened to this through, I wasn't blown away. But on a second listen, it began to click. The first half of the album really grew on me. “Thinkin Bout You” is a great tune, with down-tempo dark tones and a great vocal performance. “Super Rich Kids” is catchy as hell, dealing with spoilt elites with a sarcastic tone. “Pilot Jones” is hypnotic with its reversed electronic textures and simple upbeat melody. “Crack Rock” has a Hammond organ and fantastic drum beat building up a really great chorus. Using bright, positive melodies to sing about crack addicts is pretty dark humour. The skits and sound effects that break up the tracks on the album add atmosphere and interesting moments. I loved when old hip-hop albums used to do this, and this feels like a throwback to that. I felt my attention waning on the second half of the album though. I really loved “Lost” and “Bad Religion”, but the rest of the tracks from “Pyramids” on was starting to lose me a bit. For an album that's almost an hour long, it kept me engaged a lot more than it didn't though. Frank Ocean did a lot with this album. For me, it’s definitely an album that sold me on what soul and R&B can do. So, after 200 days of this project, my musical taste is still growing, and I'm discovering more and more artists that I wouldn't have stopped to listen to properly myself. Frank Ocean is one of them.
There’s just something about Frank Ocean’s songwriting and delivery that separates him from almost every other artist. Favourite Songs: Thinkin Bout You, Crack Rock, Pyramids, Lost. Least Favourite Songs: Pilot Jones, Forrest Gump.
J’aime pas spécialement le RnB mais c’était sympa à écouter
I understand the concept of this album being like scrolling through TV channels but the more I think on it the more I realize just how messy and inconsistent it makes the project. There are undeniable classics like Pyramids and Lost, but then there are all the interludes shoved into the beginning and lots of ups and downs in quality in the back half of the project. It's full of excellent music with a so-so execution.
I was pleasantly surprised by this album, there were a few songs on it that I would likely add to my rotation.
Nothing like some chit chat before the music starts. This feels like an album that's going to be full of these Odd Future guys being....odd in brief interludes and some found sound. Frank Ocean is the D'Angelo of Alternative R&B. I bet Frank Ocean must idolize Stevie Wonder. More talking. And I bet Steve Lacy idolizes Frank Ocean. The difference between the style and the content of Crack Rock is about as disparate as two things can get. His voice and Musiq Soulchild's are virtually indistinguishable. Pink Matter is amazing. I love Andre 3000.
Liked: Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Pyramids, Bad Religion, Pink Matter Added: Bad Religion
Nothing else sounds like it. Ocean mixes up all kinds of styles & genres on here, but it’s cohesive in the way you might experience a trip through his mind. Gorgeous flows and a wistful, introspective mood - and a deep sadness that comes out in arresting ways. Crack rock. Great late-night album to get high and just ride with. Many haters giving one star sound fucking dumb or racist or both. Fix your hearts or die. Channel Orange.
loved
i think frank ocean is popular for good reason because he really is great. ones that stood out to me were Sierra Leone, pilot Jones, crack rock, monks, and pink matter. i absolutely adore pyramids i think it’s so great and frank ocean has this superpower of making long songs and making it so engaging all throughout and you’re never bored which is rare for me at least. also super rich kids always makes me think of gossip girl lol. all round super cool album; i love playing frank ocean in summer.
Lots of fun sounds here. I love his voice and think I could listen to him sing the phone book.
I remember when this album came out and topped every single year end best of list. I was confused then and still am to a degree. The album is undeniably good, but I just don’t find it transcendent. I think some of the slower more jazzy tracks are just too mellow for me. I particularly think the first five tracks on the album are some of the weakest. The highs (“super rich kids” “bad religion”) are transcendent.
Listens to that a bunch back in 2016 but then forgot about it
I mean, it’s just objectively a dynamic album with so many good songs. His artistry makes each song engaging in its own way
It's a quality lounge album - would work with a comfy couch, a book, and a whiskey. Sweet life is a standout. Super Rich Kids is a bop - A+ beat and rhymes. Lost is great! Pink Matter - A+ Andre 3000 appearance.
Was already A personal favorite. I wouldn’t say a perfect 5/5 but definitely up there.
I liked this a lot - it's musically inventive, but Lost and Rich Kids in particular still have great tunes. I certainly don't think it's a harbinger of the end of society like the second-highest rated review does.
Um daqueles artistas que bancam muito o próprio hype, o disco é criativo e muito vivo, músicas como "Sweet Life" e "Pink Matter" se destacam DEMAIS. Uma escolha mais eletronica do que estou acostumado, poucas faixas pulavéis e as 17 canções terminam antes de uma hora, uma obra coesa!
Start - 3/5 Thinkin Bout You - 3/5 Fertilizer - 3.5/5 Sierra Leone - 3/5 Sweet Life - 4/5 Not Just Money - 2.5/5 Super Rich Kids - 4/5 Pilot Jones - 4/5 Crack Rock - 4/5 Pyramids - 4/5 Lost - 5/5 White - 3/5 Monks - 3/5 Bad Religion - 4.5/5 Pink Matter - 3/5 Forrest Gump - 4/5 End - 2.5/5