5 fácil. O álbum é super bem produzido, vocais do Liam são como esperados então nesse ponto né nenhuma surpresa. Os solos de algumas faixas são absolutamente satisfatórios.
Lord, this album is so opulently rich and fun! From the grandiose Seaside Rendezvous to having '39, I'm In Love With My Car, AND Bohemian Rhapsody, this damn album work so well. Then comes the 8 minute The Prophet's Song transitioning to Love of my Life it's a feeling.
Being honest, this was my first time hearing Beck. As a Brazilian and huge MPB fan, I was surprised and impressed by "Missing." I could immediately tell by the instrumental, it's my personal favorite on this work, alongside Broken Drum. That one hit me, the longing and sadness mixed with the rage of the guitar is absolutely perfect.
Scarecrowcould easily be part of a soundtrack. It reminds me of those intense moments when a character is on rush. The same goes for Go It Alone (you can really feel Jack White's contribution here). The sound is quite dirty, but it matches the general idea of the album.
In general,it's a decent album, but I might say it's not for every mood or taste. I can see myself revisiting it in the right moment. I felt more connected to the production and atmosphere than to the lyrics themselves. Not my favorite, but not bad at all.
I love 80s synth, so it was a vibe. In general, I could describe the sound as Kate Bush meets The Police in a giallo book in the middle of space. Morten Harket's voice is absolutely incredible. The higher notes are so satisfying in a song like Living a Boy's Adventure Tale.
Not revolutionary, but it's pretty good. All together, it's a really solid, atmospheric piece of its time.
I personally will revisit it again
Songs in the Key of Life, what can I say without being too biased? I used to hear this album on my way to my previous job, the instrumentals with headphones are so immersive.
People usually talk a lot about his artistry as a singer and pianist, but this album is a solid reminder of his phenomenal skills as a songwriter.
I remember I started listening because I loved Isn't She Lovely (an absolute classic), and ended up discovering an album where it's hard to pick a single favorite track. For highlights this time, I'd choose Village Ghetto Land (lyrically), I Wish, and Saturn.
Now I get why Bob Dylan's name is on the cover. Jeez, he was an absolute influence. Listening to this just reminds you how so many of those massive '60s rockstars were basically just blues fans with louder amps. You can hear it in the storytelling bones of every track.
It’s interesting that the most famous track, Sympathy for the Devil, doesn’t really encapsulate the general mood of the album at all. For instance, in Street Fighting Man, I felt a certain Beatles influence, mostly from the Revolver era... But I could be wrong.
Not my favourite Stones album, but a decent one. Great songwriting and consistent themes.
I discovered 2026 will be the 100th year of Miles Davis's birth what perfect timing.
I first knew him from My Funny Valentine. Hearing a full jazz album like Birth of the Cool is a moment where your thoughts can flow with the rhythm. It's the perfect music to simply enjoy. It leaves space for appreciation without overwhelming you. Pure emotion!
I can't describe it technically, but the slow sound from Moon Dreams into Venus de Milo was so good… and the vocals in the last song… an incredible way to close.
Nice instrumentals and production. But no my cup of tea... i guess
She's a great singer, the themes are universal and none of it moves me. Not because I'm "not the target" ,I'm exactly the target. I'm close to the age she was.
The singles are undeniable. Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You, Set Fire to the Rain, these are events. They're the reason she became Adele. But outside of those three? It's wallpaper. Beautiful, well sung, Grammy winning wallpaper.
Here's the thing about relatable music, it often forgets to be specific. Adele sings about feelings everyone has had. And that's fine. But the best art or the stuff that lasts, sings about feelings only you could have had, and somehow makes them feel universal.
21 is a good album. It's well made, well sung, well received. But it's safe. It's the musical equivalent of a cashmere sweater, comfortable, warm, expensive, and completely unthreatening. There's no risk here. No moment where you think, I can't believe she went there. Because she never goes there. She keep beautifully in the space where everyone has been. And that's fine. But let's stop pretending it's more than it is. It's not raw. It's not dangerous. It's not hungry. It's a very good album by a very talented woman who learned exactly what worked and never deviated from it.
Good? Yes. Essential? No.
Listening to it instantly takes me back to that era. Artists like Fleetwood Mac. The Vocals are warm and pleasing. Nothing flashy, but perfectly suited. Harmonies hit in all the right places reminds me of the Beach Boys at times.
I love the production choices. Early in the Morning pairs a chill instrumental with medium-to-higher vocals. The Moonbeam Song goes softer. Sometimes the lyrics blend so deep into the production they almost drown not in a bad way, just becoming part of the whole texture.
This is the kind of album that reveals itself over multiple listens. Without You is my favourite track, even though I kept hearing Mariah the whole time.
He opens by asking if he can stay awhile inviting the listeners to hear his thoughts. What follows is a meditation from someone observing himself, trying to put feelings out into the world. The energy shifts effortlessly between tender and soaring, intimate and anthemic. It moves like a real emotional journey does quiet then bursting. And beneath it all? Yearning. Beautiful, welcome, universal yearning. The word that has always defined this album is Capolavoro.
Sou absolutamente apaixonada por esse álbum. Como brasileira, em algum momento me deparei com Garota de Ipanema e, de coração, ouvi esse trabalho que apresenta ao mundo a irmã (high society) do samba.
Mesmo preferindo as narrativas do samba tradicional, vejo essa fusão com o jazz de forma positiva. É bonito. É uma vertente que trouxe ótimos compositores e intérpretes ao nosso conhecimento João, Tom e seus contemporâneos e tantos outros que se tornaram grandes nomes do país. Pode não ser meu álbum favorito do gênero (Elis e Tom 👀), mas guardo comigo sua importância. É daqueles discos que a gente não só ama, mas respeita.
Look, Adele's vocal ability is beyond question. She has one of the great voices of her generation. But the music it serves? I've never been able to connect with it.
With all due respect, 25 felt like 21, but part II, the same core concept (heartbreak, reflection, moving on), just polished to a higher sheen. It's very common human emotions, sung by a magnificent voice, but I struggle to see the artistic evolution. I'm left with a recurring question, aside from being a supremely gifted vocalist, what makes this an Adele album? What is her artistic signature? If you took her voice off these tracks, what's to stop them being recorded by anyone else? (Nothing).
All I Ask is the undeniable highlight. And it's telling that it takes a co-writer like Bruno Mars to inject that level of drama and structure. It feels like an outside vision finally matching her vocal power.
What I don't hear in her work is rage. Or hunger. The sense of an artist with something to prove, pushing against expectations. Commit fully to a vision. If she don't have one, find a collaborator who can help you build it. Don't settle for this level of polished mediocrity. Because true greatness demands you give it everything you have.
And that brings me to the Grammys. 25 won Album of the Year. Over Lemonade. You may not be a Beyoncé fan, but you cannot deny she took similar theme, infidelity and forgiveness and transform into something sonically new. She took a risk. Adele won with... the piano ballad album. Again.
Isn't it wild she used to be compared to Amy Winehouse? Beyond the British passport and a vague jazz inflection, the comparison falls apart. Amy wrote from addiction, from a love so consuming it destroyed her. Her music is a scar. Adele writes from feelings that are sanitised. There's value in that relatability. But it's not the same artistic weight. It's not Back to Black. It's albums so meticulously safe they feel like they could be sung by anyone.
We know, she'll keep winning Grammys for albums that sound magnificent in the moment and dissolve from cultural memory the next.
But damn. What if she stopped playing it safe?
Very unimpressed. This is an album that mistakes aggression for depth, and length for ambition.
The riffs are there. The anger is there. But the creativity? The dynamics? The willingness to take you somewhere instead of just pummeling you? Missing. For a fan of long, adventurous tracks, this isn't adventurous. It's repetitive. It's exhausting. And it's not nearly as smart as it thinks it is.
The bass is invisible. Drums sound like typewriters. Guitars just chug the same riff for an hour, shifting tempo occasionally and calling it progress. Vocals? Zero dynamics. Just the same shout from start to finish. Lyrics try to be deep about corruption, injustice, the system, but they're buried under music that never earns its length.
It's like listening to that colleague who thinks his opinions are revolutionary. You know the one. He's so smart, so groundbreaking. Until you actually hear him speak and realize he's just another guy who doesn't understand that the problem is structural, that it needs to be cut at the root. And for that, you'd need to be brave enough to ditch the same tired "let's pretend to hate the system" phrases. But he's not a political person. He just plays one on coffee breaks. Even a jazz singer takes bigger swings, with better lyrics, vocals, and production.
For an album this long, there's shockingly little imagination. One is the only track with real melody. And even that's not groundbreaking.
1/5. And that's being polite.
What if Tim Burton made a beach movie about a drunk Johnny Depp character who thinks he's an innovative artist and because he's rich and people call him eccentric.
That's this album. Weird, theatrical, self-conscious, wearing strangeness like a costume. The voice is objectively bad but works for the vibe. The songs feel like a soundtrack to a low budget indie fantasy-sci-fi movie.
Let's be real: he's a good musician who chose to make something weird, quiet, and fundamentally unserious. It's folk weird Pink Floyd. Warm production, messy, alive. Still not great. Confused? But not in a good way.
Interesting like a conversation with a stranger on a bus. You'll forget it by the time you get home.
After a week of awful suggested albums, I'm finally back to listening to good music. Lord, what a beautiful voice... and you know what? It's not overpowered by the instrumental, it flows with it. The backing vocals are placed so perfectly in the mix that they blend right in and sound like another instrument, complementing the keyboard and guitar instead of competing with them. This is exactly what I mean when I say you don't need lyrics full of arabesques to make something great. This is just solid work.
That first note on Secrets hit me and I knew, this was the album. It's like the cool father of Silk Sonic, no question. The voice just flows higher and lower effortlessly with the melody. Like he says in the lyrics, "China Silk can't match it" that's the energy.
This man has serious control. Listen to Just My Imagination, he organizes his vocals so well to match what the song needs, never overshadowing the bigger picture. One thing I'm sure of: he loves talking about love, hear those ballads. Some well done groove, reminds me of some early disco tracks.
this is what soul music should feel like, effortless confident.He wasn't trying to impress anyone with tricks, he just let his voice sit right in the pocket and trusted the music. And it worked.
Look, with George Clinton's resume, I went into this with higher expectations. My first thought? I can hear why some producers would sample tracks from this to bring a certain texture, there's definitely sonic richness here.
But I gotta keep it real: the lyrics aren't the best. The vocals might trick you into ignoring that fact if you're just vibing, but I read along while listening so... yeah, impossible to miss. And here's my thing, if you're gonna be silly, commit. Embrace the unserious vibe, be proud of it, lean all the way in. That doesn't quite happen here.
Also, some of these tracks could've been shortened. Maybe the length was intentional, I don't know, but personally it feels like a producer having fun in the studio showing off everything he can do. Which is fine, except when the excess starts overshadowing the brilliant parts. The repetition makes it feel monotonous, honestly the opposite of what the album's premise promised. A shame.
This is an album with plenty of ideas and good elements, but it comes across a bit pretentious and lacking objectivity.
Great concepts, messy execution. Needed someone to tell George "less is more" and mean it.
First time hearing Boy George, and I gotta say, I love when the voice doesn't match the body. There's something about that disconnect that just works.
For some parts, this felt like boyband-type music... until Church of the Poison Mind. That choir background? The instrumental? Perfect. Same goes for Mister Man and Mystery Boy. The lyrics are decent too, nothing groundbreaking, but they serve their purpose. But here's the thing... it's missing that something to make it wow, you know? It's good. Solid. But it's too reminiscent of other '80s work to really stand out on its own.
Romance Revisited is the best one. Truly beautiful, I love instrumental tracks, and that one hit different. Boy George's voice is the standout, genuinely nice. The production is tight, the backing vocals are on point, and there are moments of real brilliance. But the album plays it safe in a decade full of safe playing. Good, not groundbreaking.
The thing is... it's good. Well done and perfectly curated, but lacks depth. Decent, but not a capolavoro. A perfectly nice album I'll probably forget in a week, except for Romance Revisited.
This experience was quietly different. I couldn't find lyrics translations anywhere, and honestly? That made me pay more attention to everything else, the rhythms, the textures, the feeling. I'm actually glad the album forced that.
I could be wrong, but I hear a certain resemblance to Brazilian music. It made me so happy to spot those similarities and kind of trace where some of my country's sounds came from. The track Toro specifically, the bass with the percussion, that's exactly what made me realize it. Reminded me a lot of mangue beat and Axé music. There's something in the rhythm that connects. African continent influence in Brazilian music, it's more than obvious.
His voice compliments the instrumentation so well. Really well. And I think I hear some Arabic scales in there? Pure speculation though, I'm no expert. Not understanding the words took me somewhere else. It reminded me of being a child, when I only knew my mother tongue and had to rely heavily on feelings to understand things. There's something intrigued and positive in that return.
I love the instrumental choices. Nothing overwhelming, very well produced, cohesive as hell. I wish I could've understood the lyrical part, I know something was lost there. But music really is a language on its own.
Classic case of "objectively nice, but the singles carry the album."
It's a bit repetitive for my taste, but the vibe is good. The kind of album I'd throw on while I'm driving,windows down, not thinking too hard, just letting it rumble in the background.
Does what it needs to do. Doesn't do much else.
Solid. Predictable. The singles are the singles for a reason.
Good album... for Elvis.
I like him very much, don't get me wrong. But this is one of those cases where the album is good, but you can tell it was probably bigger and hugger in its time. The context, the moment, the man himself,all of that carried it further than maybe the music alone would today.
Solid voice, solid production, solid songs. But it didn't hit me the way it must've hit more during the release.
I'd heard about this one before, but I was quietly intimidated by the 2 hours... gotta be honest about that. I like the general idea,an album of love songs exploring the many faces of it. I mean, come on, it's literally the feeling that gets explored most in music. But lyrically? Quietly surprising. I wasn't expecting it to be this good.
Let's be real: holding 2 hours of anything is complicated. If I listen again, and I will,I'll divide it up, pay more attention piece by piece. Because it can get overwhelming all at once.
This one needs another listen. In pieces. With focus and time.
I Respect the ambition, surprised by the lyrics, overwhelmed by the length.
My first hip-hop album in this 1001 Albums challenge, and damn, this is how you open a freaking album. This is conceptual. Creative. Art. Take notes: this is not that trap shit some people like to call "work of art." The production is on point. Insane flow that rides perfectly with the vibe. Smooth transitions, actual storytelling, it's not "look at me, I'm a big deal," it's more like "look, I've got something consistent here."
Great use of samples too. Not that lazy shit some producers do, this is well thought out, enhances the work instead of carrying it. Hip-hop done right. If this is my first entry in the genre for the challenge, I started in the right place.
My very first exposure to his work, so this was a curious one.
I'm not a US citizen, and as a Latina, I always associated his persona with like... the singer the mid father would hear? Front and center, you know? So I was genuinely surprised to hear a pleasing voice. He reminds me of Elvis and Lindsey Buckingham in a such good way, the type of storytelling, maybe.
Nothing insane, but pretty good. I like the dynamic. You can tell he enjoyed singing,it's noticeable in the vocal variation on Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out. I can't relate much to the stories, being who I am and where I'm from, but it's so nicely done.
Oh, and Jungleland? The guitar? Fucking dope. Loved the production overall,I will hear this one again.
Didn't expect to like it this much. Still not my story, but I respect the craft and felt the heart. That guitar solo alone earned a second listen.
First time hearing her... literally.
Girl... what are those harmonies? This is rich as fuck. I love neo-soul, contemporary R&B, it's so full of breath and space to exist. Maybe not innovative for its time, but it's solid, well done and pleasant.
One note: usually it's hard to like a rapper in such a fairy/magic vibe, but Lil Wayne? The man got the vibe.
This album is a warm room with good lighting. But it's a bit repetitive,I don't know if that's intentional, like a meditative thing, but it made it feel monotonous at points. A little more dynamic range would've taken it further.
Extra point for Elevator Queen, luv anyone who punches Jay-Z.
the vocalist? weird. like genuinely weird. i don't even know if i liked it or not, but i can say it's too distracting. but man… the instrumental is insane. genuinely liked the lyrics too, very suitable, nothing too crazy, but cool.
this album screams the rocky horror picture show and other cool cult movies. very theatrical. has a nice flow, nothing too extreme, but very nicely executed.
100% sure if i listen more i'll end up obsessed. i loved the guitar, it's dirt but not disruptive, everything matches. this is what if the clash, bowie and black sabbath had a funny child. That voice is sitting on the fence for me right now. the rest of the album is begging me to fall in love, but the vocalist keeps playing hard to get. if the weirdness clicks on repeat listens, this becomes a 5. for now, it's a "respect but not obsessed", with a heavy side-eye toward obsession.
i can be totally wrong, but i believe alex turner is trying to bring this energy to arctic monkeys, it resembles something in the delivery.
first listen vibe was weird, but not in a good way. very “wtf is that.” then i realized it’s electronic music, and personally… i just don’t live very much for that.
the energy to me is a weird mix of the matrix meets the crow, like it’s trying to be cinematic and rebellious at the same time, but it just didn’t grab me. vocals? samples? didn’t care much. The whole firestarter thing, just not my lane.
i’ll give it this: the beats are nice, and it’s not overproduced compared to others in the genre. i can see why people lost their minds over it. but for me? nah. not my thing. straight 1.
the first shift in track one? loved that. i literally stopped when it went low, then bang, up again. that’s how you grab someone.
when an album runs over an hour, it’s a trick: either you’re really good or really pretentious. this one? truly a diamond. i usually don’t vibe with country, but this is too damn good to ignore. cohesive as hell.
jeff tweedy’s voice just matches the vibe. genuine. good to listen to. it melts seamlessly into the general work, smooth like in "why would you wanna live," then more chill chat in "say you miss me." no ego, just serving the song.
the instrumental it1s perfect. like, c’mon. the ragged country rock, the ballads, the noisy moments, it all lands. some lyrics are a bit too much here and there, but it's fine it match the vibe. and the country tracks are interesting enough to make this album damn cool. like, pick that damn banjo, bro.
this is the kind of album 90% of rock bands wish they could pull off, but usually can’t. it reminds me of troubadourism, very bob dylan, johnny cash, fabrizio de andré. the “sit here, i’ll tell you a story” type of music. and the upbeat tracks like "monday"are great, very let’s go out for a drive and sing along energy, but without forcing that radio-friendly formula.
let me add: this is the kind of thing that shaped artists like john mayer and others who give folk a shot. maybe even some alternative bands. you can hear the DNA.
i’ll hear it again for sure. 100%.
i already passed the moment of caring about dylan’s voice. like it or not, it’s whatever. the man can write. he’s in that group of musicians who pull off only their tracks, and this album? goddamn.
from this i only knew track 9, “make you feel my love.” simply one of the best things i’ve heard lyrically. but listening to the whole thing now, i see how it fits. it’s still a beautiful track, but it’s not alone up there, it belongs to the body of work.
this album is hauntingly effortless cool. slightly dirty like a desert, but very contemplative, like driving at 2 am. “standing in the doorway” is pure chill, that contemplative vibe i’m talking about, almost 8 minutes of yarning and sadness. and i don’t believe i’m saying this, but it’s very cowboy outlaw type of album. funny enough, the whole album embodies that persona: the dusty atmosphere, the lyrical imagery, an old man who’s seen too much but still standing.
dylan knows his limits. he’s perfect for his genre, for his lyrics, for his music, but in a very objective way he couldn’t pull more challenging vocal songs. he knows it, so he rests doing his thing. that honesty? i respect it. his pronunciation too is fucking cool, “my eeeeeyes begin to bleeeed.” he works with what he has and makes it hit.
and the lyrics… goddamn, man. as a non‑english native i pay a lot of attention to it; this dude almost made me cry a couple of times. it’s not just clever, it cuts. like:
“Well, I don’t dare close my eyes and I don’t dare wink / Maybe in the next life I’ll be able to hear myself think”
only problem is that 16‑minute track at the end. didn’t get why. but fine. also lyrically the dude carries a cynical vibe, not a huge fan of that usually, but here it works with the whole dusty, 2am thing.
it's good, but not enough to hold anyone's attention. some moments of brilliant execution, like in track 2, buried in the middle of an ocean of boredom. felt a bit too bland to be considered more than nice background music. i still hold the idea: if you're gonna do an 8 minute track, you better bring the full banquet to the table.
no emotional honesty that grabs you and definitely no lyrics that are brilliant. what saves it are the small moments where the guitar shines with the drums, but that's not enough to drag this out of the "meh" pile.
I knew it would be good from the beginning. I was a bit familiar with Bowie, but it's different to stop and listen with attention. I love how he knows what to do with his references, he knows how to make them fit in order to bring a correspondence. Very smart and well done.
I liked the general instrumentation. I hear early jazz, rockabilly with a futuristic feeling, rock, a bit of cantautore, reminds me a lot of Fabrizio de André, a certain resemblance to music theater, a bit of blues in some tracks but with a punk energy, very dirty at times.
The narrative of some songs is still very modern and reminds me that we're not learning much as a society over the years. It's political but not preachy. It's so interesting that it makes you stop and read the lyrics to pick up his ideas. The tracks about human decadence are the highlight here, using characters like an old actor was very interesting. Even in The Prettiest Star, a song about his wife at the time, it blends very well with the general feeling of distance, lovelessness, and discomfort that is perpetual until the very end.
Favorites: "Aladdin Sane", "Cracked Actor", "The Prettiest Star", "Let's Spend the Night Together", "The Jean Genie", "Lady Grinning Soul". And the second half is definitely the best part.
Not a 5 because the first half of the LP didn't catch me like the rest.
already saw the vibe coming with the opening track. god, i love when the album just presents the mood from the first note. this reminds me of city pop mixed with super classy r&b, like a party being played during a lazy afternoon. i wish it had a little bit more backing vocals supporting his voice, because when they are there? soooo good.
nothing too revolutionary, but well done. pleasant to the ears, nice to play while you're chilling.
the instrumental is a bit dreamy without losing grip of reality. the bass brings the groove forward, and that's what holds the whole thing together. maxwell has a nice voice, raspy in certain moments, but matching the nonchalant quietness the songs need. and on "ascension (don't ever wonder)" and "dancewitme" goes so smooth, i loved.
I can see small details that could be improved overall, but this is a solid album. worth listening to again.
i tried. i really fucking tried. but this is too myspace indie core for me. you know the type,, 2010s hipsters with thrift store cardigans and fixed gear bikes. The vocalist and the backing vocals are straight bad. like, lord, they must be nepobabies because there's no way a label listened to this and thought "yes, let's burn studio hours on this."
It's the kind of album where you can feel them trying to be genius and clever, but it just lands as annoying. the harmonies don't harmonize, the rhythms jerk around like a nervous tic, and not once did i feel any emotional honesty. Just save your ears. this ain't it.
This reminds me why i dislike bjork and her so called avant-garde weirdness, because of people like this, that kind of noise gets normalized. just imagine the type of pretentious people who hear this and pretend to find it good.
alright, good one. well presented, well executed. i really liked the lyrics,genuine. i'm a bit suspect 'cause i love british 90s rock, but still. this is friendly enough to be pleasant but cool on the other side without losing the grip of the proposition. this is literally the sound you hear 2000s indie rock bands doing, but less polished.
i liked how in tracks like "lose it" they play with the vocal production choices—from the beginning scream to the vocalist. the track "alright" is truly the best choice for a single: ironic, easy to sing along, and relatable enough without being too obvious.
i truly liked it. the type of thing i would play at a party.
Genuine... what the fuck is this supposed to be?
I tried the first few tracks, but this thing is beyond bad. People need to understand that avant-garde is something that gains recognition over the years for being a foundation, not for being weird for the sake of being weird.
But you know what? This is the type of shit your young, strange cousin listens to just to get on their parents' nerves, but all it really does is testify that he's unstable and needs to touch grass.
Pretentious bullshit that some pretend to like so they can say they're better or smarter. But guess what? They're just idiots. If you offer me lottery winner tickets? I'll hear it again.
Gonna start by saying I fully expected this to be a Spanish album. Anyway. The production? Loved it. Creative, clean, cohesive as hell. Then I read the lyrics, and oof. Too personal, too simplistic in spots. The kind of thing where you're like "cool, this clearly meant something to you, but it does nothing for me."
Not sure I'd revisit. But those instrumentals and that production? Solid.
This is a surprise. Vocals aren't perfectly organized, the voices unfortunately don't compliment each other. It's like the two vocalists are contrasting too much. The harmonies aren't the best, only worked in "Louise Louise." It reminds me of indie bands like Wallows and some reggae. Not bad quite curious.
Pleasant but not life-changing. Good but not incredible. I don't know if I'd consider it an essential album.
Also, it confirms a thought I had years ago: Edwyn sounds like Bowie. Like, crazily similar.
Alright, for the quantity of times I see them in festivals here in Brazil, I knew it would be either very ok or very pretentious.
It's the second option. This is a big what if Florence + the Machine wasn't a good vocalist and lyric genius with identity. Seriously, it's good baroque pop, but with a weak singer and bland lyrics, and the vibe is a bit weird for some reason.
Apparently it's supposed to be inspired by some big names according to Wikipedia... Is Dylan, Elvis or Springsteen with us in this work? I can't see.
Win Butler said he "watched a lot of TV preachers, get-rich-quick schemes on YouTube." Like buddy, believe me, you could explore this serious problem of greedy exploitation of faith in better terms. This is not as good as it could be. I wish a better songwriter would challenge themselves with this theme.
I give it a 1 for imagining Florence doing this theme.
Too country for my taste. And look, as a foreign woman, this is the sonic equivalent of watching a cowboy stare into the sunset or an old man parked in a rocking chair, replaying every mistake he ever made.
Relaxing? Sure. Overwhelming? Never. So I won't drag the production, it's competent, safe, inoffensive. But boring is a good definition. The orchestra is the one thing that made me sit up, beautiful, dramatic, actually interesting. Loved that choice.
Everything else? Didn't connect. Didn't care. Didn't engage. It's not bad enough to hate, not good enough to love. It's the musical definition of "whatever." I'll forget it.
I know it's supposed to be this big confessional thing. Didn't hit me. The only tracks I'd maybe spin again are "Heart of Gold," "There's a Word," and "Words (Between the Lines of Age)."but I probably won't.
Reminds me of generic mid-70s folk. No one specific, because it's too forgettable to even bother making the comparison.
Rate : 2 (maybe 2.5, but I'm rounding down and honestly, 2 feels generous)
