Forced Witness

I see a lot of reviews mention that he's playing a character and I guess I just, fundamentally..... don't get it? 🤷 Like, at all? The music is kinda mid, fine, but the lyrics are just fucking awful. Really, really grating - especially in the back half of the album. The joke is that he writes lyrics like an edge lord? The joke is that he isn't actually an edge lord, but I still have to listen to lyrics that sound like they were written by an edge lord? Through gritted teeth, I gave this a second listen, and I just don't.... get it. Am I just humorless? Is the "comedy" not actually the point? In which case, what is? Eh, I can't properly tell whether my confusion about what I'm not seeing is the same as outright dislike, so I guess I'll spare it a 1, but ugh. 1.5. 😒 Fave track - "True Lies", I guess. Everything that came after that was eyerolling territory.

Alex Cameron's "Forced Witness" toys with the styles of Bruce Springsteen and The Killers (even getting an assist from Brandon Flowers), but nothing is as catchy or undeniable, forcing you to carefully witness Cameron's songwriting. And that's where it falls apart. We're forced to witness Cameron create a variety of unpleasant scenes and characters, sprinkled with edgy language.

The moment I started this off I had to recheck the year. It's surely from 1984? It's ok but nothing special. The question is what raises it above anything from 1984 or 2017?

I think there were ups and downs to this. I see it’s unique ness, but I wouldn’t say it was like necessarily meant to be put on this list. I just didn’t really see anything good.

I thought I would enjoy this way more than I did

It was ok but not really my thing overall. A Unique and an interesting addition to the list nonetheless.

ok buddy, lets take it easy with the cheese tones on that synth. What is Runnin' Outta Luck. Is this homage or is it derivative? "Love is a dragon dressed in suede and leathery?" What in the hell?

I wasn't hating he bland retro 80s style so much, but this definitely lost a point for some of the lyrics. Ew.

Unlike other folks with filthy lyrics that manage to be clever, these are just filthy without the clever.

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

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.

Bland 80s worship. Doesn't do anything interesting or new.

“I’m waiting for my lover She’s almost seventeen”

The music is OK I guess, but the lyrics are appalling. Not sure if written by an AI or by a horrendous human being (precocious privileged prick) who thinks they can say what they want and use irony as a shield. Makes me sad that these people exist and that people listen to them.

"she has seen me naked, she knows I'm packing heat" really??? Ughhh. What an insecure Chad lyric. You're no Lou Reed bro, fuck off.