Forced Witness

A very welcome discovery. Brilliant synth pop that puts you in a good mood and has effervescent melodies. It's the main reason I kept up with this "challenge". With such a cheesy cover and such a bland image, I never would have come to Alex Cameron on my own. Very grateful

This grew on me immensley throughout its runtime. It is the exact mix of sincerity and tongue-in-cheek that I love. The beats and grooves are genuine enough, though!

My first reaction: This is pretty lame, generic throwback music that borders on easy listening. But as the album went on I really started appreciating the clever lyrics, interesting songs, and quality production. By the end he pretty much won me over. Happy to have heard this and will listen again. 4 stars.

8/10. I thought this was pretty cool, really enjoyed the sound, and the lyrics were well crafted, and often a little jarring compared to everything else going on.

Recently, I was at karaoke and I watched a drunk man get up, and sing the lyrics from "Never Gonna Give You Up" with "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails as the backing track. He kept a straight face the entire time, breaking maybe once near the end after maybe not realizing how many times the chorus on "Hand" repeats. I kind of feel the same way about this record, it feels like 80s Springsteen with absolutely no filter (especially on "Marlon Brando", where he casually drops the f-slur and, later in the song, muses that maybe he shouldn't be saying that). It's a weird album that constantly finds new ways to shock you (I think my biggest surprise was the lyric that said something along the lines of, "Love never taught me how to vote"). It's an album that makes you want to figure out what the fuck this person is on, or if they're that deep in their persona. The instrumentals fucking slap, too. Genuinely fascinating record. Favorite tracks: "Runnin' Outta Luck", "Studmuffin96"

Fun throwback 80's sound with some pretty funny lyrics, but the songs themselves weren't lovable enough as a whole to really enjoy it as a full album experience.

Appropriate choice, as this is as long-form as Cameron gets in his hyper-modern crooning. The songs all have a wonderful sleazy LA patina; The turns of phrase that come but once will make or break the record. The kind of album to sit with a cup of coffee spiked on the sly.

Found this a little perplexing... the sort of 80s yacht rock/new wave feel of the music, periodically jarring in combination with the casually profane lyrics. Not the strongest singer, though his vocals get the job done. It was unique, I didn't dislike it, but I'm not sure it's something I'd seek out.

It's like if you mashed Bruce Springsteen and The Killers together with an 80s throwback with more profane subject matter. I can see why people would be into it, but not my shtick.

Cynical hipster shit with a "lol, it's so 80s hey" backdrop. I always wonder whether these cunts actually like the music they're sending up, or if it's just a vehicle for maximum *irony*. Either way, 2/5 and fuck off.

1. Why so many Aussie entries on the user list??? 2. This sounds good, but kind of indistinguishable from a lot of the 80s entries on the list.

So weird..but wonderful

Really good! 4

Come back to this one.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Country figs, Runnin’ outta luck, Studmuffin96, Marlon Brando, Candy may

Catchy little bops with sax?

Mixed feelings about this one. Music was alright, but I lost attention from time to time

Indie pop music crossing over with Beck and simple guitar pop. An 80s feel with quirky lyrics that strangely remind me of John Grant for some reason.

I can hear the link with Brandon Flowers. Unfortunately not the Brandon Flowers from the Killers' debut album. No, this gives me the same cringeworthy feeling as "Are we human or Are we Dancer?". A song which almost drives me to puncture my eardrums. Alex Cameron isn't _that_ bad, but still this doesn't do anything for me.

This was not kinda bad, but not really good either. Middle-of-the-road is the propper name for it. Easy to listen to, but also easy to forget.

Yea... IDK

This is some kinda meta-level irony that I don't have the time or the patience to come to appreciate.

This album is almost an homage to soft rock and synth pop while remaining lyrically interesting. It took me a while to get into the album, but once I did, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s unique while still feeling familiar.

I came to like this more as I listened to it but the more I listened the angrier I got about there being no Weird Al on the list. I'm glad that there was a decent number of comedic albums on the main list and this was a good user pick but I hope someone chose any weird al album at some point. Sure his music is more outright parody but if Beatles ripoffs can make the list why can't he. Anyway, this had some great 80s pop production with basically every song being morally gross in one way or another, mainly predatory on underage girls. Studmuffin96 is a banger of a song that I feel bad enjoying so much but hey it's obviously a joke and plenty of the albums on the list were made by people who actually did the things in these songs so who cares.

But it's not Alex Chilton.

Well-produced pop-adjacent tunes with lyrics about fucked-up weirdos? Stop me if you've heard this one before. In all seriousness, I think Alex Cameron somewhat carries on the Steely Dan legacy but I'd be inclined to listen to him more often if his instrumentals were a bit more funky and his lyrics just a little less messed up. 8/10

Indie rock, pop. Está bien. Un 4, venga.

A nice easy listening 80s-esque electro pop album. Nice songs and stories. A very pleasant 40 minutes. Rating: 3.5 Playlist track: Stranger's Kiss Date listened: 28/08/24

80s throwback, well executed. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this, but as others have said, the album grows on you through its duration, and by the end I'm sold

Loved it, good vibes makes me want to wear leg warmers

It has a distinct 80s sound but it was released in 2017. Some of the lyrics were humorous. I probably won't listen to it again but I will round up.

Enjoyable

Quite funny in places. He loves the word pussy.

Alex Cameron is one of those artists that Spotify is always trying to make me listen to. I've never felt much either way for his music that I've heard, but this album was pretty good. Musically, it's highly listenable and Cameron's vocals are fine, if unremarkable. I get what he's doing with the scuzziness of the lyrics in contrast to the general pleasant sound of the album; I just don't particularly care for it. Fave Songs: Runnin' Outta Luck, Candy May

Easy to approach, and has a very “Killers” vibe to the sound. Nothing stands out as too memorable or catchy, and tracks like Stranger’s Kiss seem a bit forced to me. What I caught of the lyrics doesn’t particularly work for me which seem to hold it back a bit. Overall OK.

Some of the rhymes are a bit... underwhelming.... "hell" and "well"... "good" and "could"... The music is easy to listen to, melodic. Something that I wouldn't mind listening to again.

I got it towards the end of the album

This was a decent album with a modern alt pop sound with some retro sounds. I thought it sounded a bit like the killers but maybe that was just Brandon flowers. It does have a good indie pop sound with that modern weirdness that makes newer music interesting. Pretty decent. 6.8/10

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On the one hand, the 80s synths combined with the outre subject matter is quite fun. On the other, after 40 minutes it feels like 6th form post modern edgelord silliness.

Wanted to like this one but it just didn’t leave a mark – the arrangements feel dated and unoriginal, and while Cameron alludes to many genres in the instrumentation, none of them really stick and the whole thing ends up feeling a bit lost for a core sound.

It just feels like the same joke over and over again.

Sucks ass dawg!