Hello!
Welcome to the first of many album reviews!
If you didn’t see my last blog, click HERE to go to it, and
give it a read.
That will get you up to date with what I’m doing, and why!
Done?
That will get you up to date with what I’m doing, and why!
Done?
Good! Not much more to go – I just wanted to say that I will
lay the review out starting with the artwork, then moving through each song and
a summery at the end – these are of course all my personal opinion, and
shouldn’t be taken too seriously!
Anyway! Let’s get to it!
So – the first album I listened to this year (simply because
I bought it on 31st December and I think the artwork is
cool!) is ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’ by The Weeknd.
I’ve seen the album advertised on telly and all over the
internet. Now, I haven’t ever listened to The Weeknd, so didn’t really know
what to expect. I’d only heard 1 song from The Weeknd before then. That song,
of course, was ‘Can’t Feel My Face’. The song which has been played on radios
and in the charts for a few weeks, and weirdly, I thought it was really good! (I
tend to like more musically complex stuff, but I liked the funkiness of it!)
I obviously won’t start with that one, I need to talk about the key part of a CD – the part that catches your eye when you look at the hundreds of CDs in HMV….
I obviously won’t start with that one, I need to talk about the key part of a CD – the part that catches your eye when you look at the hundreds of CDs in HMV….
Let’s
discuss the artwork.
I really like it!
There, done – next?
Only joking!
I really think it’s important, especially for solo artists, to have their face on the front cover. It seems really self obsessed, but it means people can scan across a rack full of albums and see a familiar face!
Of course, if every band and artist did this it would be a sea of faces – moody black and white, cheesy smiles and pouts going from the top shelf to the bottom.
But for newer artists, who haven’t been popular for very long, but are in their own music videos and are the ‘face’ of their music, it’s a key part of advertising!
The cover they’ve done for this album is a great example of taking a simple black and white photo of the main singer, and giving it a grungy feel – it’s like those mix and match ‘perfect boyfriend’ collages that stereotypical teenage girls do in 90s American films. Cutting Justin Timberlakes hair out of NME, Tom Cruises smile out of TIME and Zac Efrons eyes out of Entertainment Weekly, and then glueing them together on a piece of card, and looking into the mutants beautiful eyes and imagining being with them forever. It’s LIKE that, but a bit more like a blindfolded 5 year old tried to cut his eyes out, but then gave up and just stuck the whole face on a piece of card with cuts and rips all over the place.
I really like it!
There, done – next?
Only joking!
I really think it’s important, especially for solo artists, to have their face on the front cover. It seems really self obsessed, but it means people can scan across a rack full of albums and see a familiar face!
Of course, if every band and artist did this it would be a sea of faces – moody black and white, cheesy smiles and pouts going from the top shelf to the bottom.
But for newer artists, who haven’t been popular for very long, but are in their own music videos and are the ‘face’ of their music, it’s a key part of advertising!
The cover they’ve done for this album is a great example of taking a simple black and white photo of the main singer, and giving it a grungy feel – it’s like those mix and match ‘perfect boyfriend’ collages that stereotypical teenage girls do in 90s American films. Cutting Justin Timberlakes hair out of NME, Tom Cruises smile out of TIME and Zac Efrons eyes out of Entertainment Weekly, and then glueing them together on a piece of card, and looking into the mutants beautiful eyes and imagining being with them forever. It’s LIKE that, but a bit more like a blindfolded 5 year old tried to cut his eyes out, but then gave up and just stuck the whole face on a piece of card with cuts and rips all over the place.
But
with that in mind, and the title of the album – ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’, I
actually think that’s the kind of thing they’re going for. Mix matched cuttings
out of magazines glued together to make a mutated perfection. But this time,
the teenage girls only have 1 photo to use.
But do I think the cover matches the music? On some songs, yes. But it’s a very diverse album, with lot’s of genres floating around. A lot of it is electronic rock, so they’ve kicked out the classic acoustic drums and overdrive guitar sound for electronic drums and dubstep whooping and buzzing sounds, but there’s a lot of piano and string sections, and the majority of the album is very old school R&B with a modern twist.
For instance, ‘Often’ sounds a lot like Mario – ‘Let Me Love You’ at half speed, and instead of the boy band style of backing vocals, replace those with wubs and buzzes...and then get Moby to remix it – oh, and just making it sound a lot better.
But do I think the cover matches the music? On some songs, yes. But it’s a very diverse album, with lot’s of genres floating around. A lot of it is electronic rock, so they’ve kicked out the classic acoustic drums and overdrive guitar sound for electronic drums and dubstep whooping and buzzing sounds, but there’s a lot of piano and string sections, and the majority of the album is very old school R&B with a modern twist.
For instance, ‘Often’ sounds a lot like Mario – ‘Let Me Love You’ at half speed, and instead of the boy band style of backing vocals, replace those with wubs and buzzes...and then get Moby to remix it – oh, and just making it sound a lot better.
I
actually own a R&B compilation CD from the early 00’s (which is how I know
all the words to ‘Let Me Love You’….), and this CD really takes me back to
those days, listening to that kind of music, but with a very modern twist.
Amongst
the R&B songs, there’s a couple of real treasures! ‘The Hills’ being one of
them.
It’s a really simple song musically. With only a couple of instruments going at
one time, then with vocals laid on top. I can imagine if you hear this in a
club, with the bass boosted through the roof – it would be a pulsing shake
going through your chest. Of course, it’s not fast enough to go down well in a
club, so I guess I’ll just have to turn all the lights off, lay on my floor and
put my subwoofer on my chest to get a similar effect – it’s a lot like having a
midi keyboard, and just holding one note. (or just try and sing “bvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbvbv” in the lowest
voice you can). The lyrics are really catchy, yet hard to understand exactly
what he’s singing. I keep singing “I only
call you when it’s half past five” in my head and then do a small body roll
when the music (also in my head) drops.
Another stand out song is one I’ve already mentioned – ‘Can’t Feel My Face’.
This one starts like all the others sound – ambient wubs and vocals on top. But then it drops and just goes to drums and bass with catchy vocals on top (which almost forces you to dance like he does in the music video!) I am really tempted to actually play along to this song, because it’s such a straight beat, and really cut back, so it’d be possible to fill it out with some rolling bongos.
One critisism with the song, because I’ve listened to it a few times, it does get boring very quickly. It’s very VERY repetative, and that makes it feel a lot shorter than it is (coming in at a reasonable 3:34!), although for the whole time I’m trying to work out what he’s singing about – love? Lust? Cocaine? Meth? A skin disorder that causes his face to hurt when he’s not with ‘them’? Who knows.
One more song which really stands out (and that I keep going back to listen to) is ‘Dark Times’.
For this one, Mr Weeknd has brought in the world famous (who grew up only 2 villages away from me!), Ed Sheeran.
I don’t know who wrote the song, I’m guessing it was a collaboration, but mostly written by Ed (the lyrics sound like he wrote them – “Waking up, half past five, Blood on pillow, one bruised eye, Drunk too much, you know what I'm like, But you should've seen the other guy”)
I love the groove it has going on with quickly muted guitar. Slow blues. Mmmm delish!
The 2 male vocals mix really well – not too sure about the ‘AAAaaaaaAAAAaaaa’s going on in the background – sounds like someone tripped over in the studio.
I also think it could’ve gone even bigger towards the end, and turned into something really epic. But that’s a very small critisism!
Another stand out song is one I’ve already mentioned – ‘Can’t Feel My Face’.
This one starts like all the others sound – ambient wubs and vocals on top. But then it drops and just goes to drums and bass with catchy vocals on top (which almost forces you to dance like he does in the music video!) I am really tempted to actually play along to this song, because it’s such a straight beat, and really cut back, so it’d be possible to fill it out with some rolling bongos.
One critisism with the song, because I’ve listened to it a few times, it does get boring very quickly. It’s very VERY repetative, and that makes it feel a lot shorter than it is (coming in at a reasonable 3:34!), although for the whole time I’m trying to work out what he’s singing about – love? Lust? Cocaine? Meth? A skin disorder that causes his face to hurt when he’s not with ‘them’? Who knows.
One more song which really stands out (and that I keep going back to listen to) is ‘Dark Times’.
For this one, Mr Weeknd has brought in the world famous (who grew up only 2 villages away from me!), Ed Sheeran.
I don’t know who wrote the song, I’m guessing it was a collaboration, but mostly written by Ed (the lyrics sound like he wrote them – “Waking up, half past five, Blood on pillow, one bruised eye, Drunk too much, you know what I'm like, But you should've seen the other guy”)
I love the groove it has going on with quickly muted guitar. Slow blues. Mmmm delish!
The 2 male vocals mix really well – not too sure about the ‘AAAaaaaaAAAAaaaa’s going on in the background – sounds like someone tripped over in the studio.
I also think it could’ve gone even bigger towards the end, and turned into something really epic. But that’s a very small critisism!
Going
back to the beginning – ‘Real Life’ which is the opening track, has a really
impacting first 20 seconds of what I can only describe as the sound the Jaegers
make on Pacific Rim, and then brings
it down to vocals and what sounds like a over-drived cello. The lyrics are the
key part of the whole song, but I think the over use of “oh yeah” takes away from it.
I think it really sets the scene for the whole album. With the albums I’ve worked on, it’s always been a stuggle to decide which song should go first. Because that’s the song that people will listen to to decide whether they like the CD or not.
If you put your worst song first, you’ll lose a lot of possible buyers. But then if you put your best song first, the listeners will get bored quickly.
What you put second and third are also key, and I think they chose good songs to start off the CD.
They didn’t go straight for their most well known material, because they saved that for later, so you have to listen to 10 of their other songs before you get to the one you bought the CD for.
‘Losers’ which is the second track is still keeping to the same quality as ‘Real Life’, and starts up the R&B piano and drums – I don’t know what it’s trying to express, but the first line is “Only losers go to school” – I can see why a parental advisory is given!
I think it really sets the scene for the whole album. With the albums I’ve worked on, it’s always been a stuggle to decide which song should go first. Because that’s the song that people will listen to to decide whether they like the CD or not.
If you put your worst song first, you’ll lose a lot of possible buyers. But then if you put your best song first, the listeners will get bored quickly.
What you put second and third are also key, and I think they chose good songs to start off the CD.
They didn’t go straight for their most well known material, because they saved that for later, so you have to listen to 10 of their other songs before you get to the one you bought the CD for.
‘Losers’ which is the second track is still keeping to the same quality as ‘Real Life’, and starts up the R&B piano and drums – I don’t know what it’s trying to express, but the first line is “Only losers go to school” – I can see why a parental advisory is given!
This is followed by ‘Tell Your Friends’ which is typical 00’s R&B, but with much more complex rhythms and instrumentation. The lyrics are typical R&B with about the same amount of cursing. One line I particularly enjoyed was “I'mma spend it all on b*****s, And everybody f*****', everybody f*****'. P***y on the house, everybody f*****’.”
Bet he thinks he's so cool!
Moving on.
‘Aquainted’ is one of the songs on the album which just kind of passes me by. I can listen to the whole album on loop (which I do for these reviews), but I seem to phase out when it gets to that song. Maybe it’s the point of the album, or the fact it’s placed between the 2 biggest songs – ‘The Hills’ & ‘Can’t Feel My Face’. It’s just nothing special – I do like that they put a Phil Collins style drum roll 17 seconds in to go from the same ambient start into the same cut back verses they have in other songs, and then put it in randomly throughout the song.. Maybe that’s why I seem to just phase out when it comes on – it’s like I’ve heard it before, 3 songs ago.
Moving on.
‘Aquainted’ is one of the songs on the album which just kind of passes me by. I can listen to the whole album on loop (which I do for these reviews), but I seem to phase out when it gets to that song. Maybe it’s the point of the album, or the fact it’s placed between the 2 biggest songs – ‘The Hills’ & ‘Can’t Feel My Face’. It’s just nothing special – I do like that they put a Phil Collins style drum roll 17 seconds in to go from the same ambient start into the same cut back verses they have in other songs, and then put it in randomly throughout the song.. Maybe that’s why I seem to just phase out when it comes on – it’s like I’ve heard it before, 3 songs ago.
Another
of their well known songs; ‘Shameless’ is one I’ve previously heard – but only
a bit of it.
It’s got a nice feel to the music, it’s something about the chords and rhythm that makes me want to burst into improvised dance! Swaying back and forth. Feeling as if I’m swimming, moving through the water. And then the wah wah guitar / theremin sound comes in for the middle eight – it’s nice to hear an instrumental solo in modern music. No matter what instrument it is! It just doesn’t happen very often anymore! In the good old days (I was born in the 90’s, so this is just from what I’ve been told) songs used to be about 4 minutes of solos, and 1 minute of lyrics.
Next up – ‘Earned It’. A song which was apparently in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ (I only know that because it’s in brackets behind the title of the song). It does have a BDSM kinda vibe to it I guess….
But looking past that, it’s a really good track. It’s verging on being a big band number, but doesn’t quite get there. Even though it has mostly a string orchestra doing the music, using the same jabs as there is in ‘Dark Times’ – but this is R&B with classical instrumentation. Which is a refreshing and interesting mix. Even though it feels like a DJ mixing with every Bond theme tune ever.
It’s got a nice feel to the music, it’s something about the chords and rhythm that makes me want to burst into improvised dance! Swaying back and forth. Feeling as if I’m swimming, moving through the water. And then the wah wah guitar / theremin sound comes in for the middle eight – it’s nice to hear an instrumental solo in modern music. No matter what instrument it is! It just doesn’t happen very often anymore! In the good old days (I was born in the 90’s, so this is just from what I’ve been told) songs used to be about 4 minutes of solos, and 1 minute of lyrics.
Next up – ‘Earned It’. A song which was apparently in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ (I only know that because it’s in brackets behind the title of the song). It does have a BDSM kinda vibe to it I guess….
But looking past that, it’s a really good track. It’s verging on being a big band number, but doesn’t quite get there. Even though it has mostly a string orchestra doing the music, using the same jabs as there is in ‘Dark Times’ – but this is R&B with classical instrumentation. Which is a refreshing and interesting mix. Even though it feels like a DJ mixing with every Bond theme tune ever.
‘In
the Night’ flips the album around with it’s electronic ‘bop’s and synth
clapping and manages to make me bop a bit too!
It does sound very 00’s pop – I found myself almost being able to hear Girls Aloud while listening to it. Which was a very strange experience. They’re probably nothing a like, but it was just that feel – it feels like it’s from the same decade. This is another song where I don’t know what it’s about. A girlfriend leaving in the night? Prostitution? The possibilities are endless!
All I know is, I’ve never heard anyone put ‘riveting’ in a song, let alone sing it as greatly as he does – “it’s riiiii-vet-ting”.
Following ‘In The Night’ is ‘As You Are’ – personally, this one kinda passes me by.
The lyrics are quite hard to pick out, and it feels like I’ve heard it somewhere else in the album, even when I go back and realise it isn’t like any of the other songs.
I think it’s the mix of drums, synth and reverbed vocals (which have all featured throughout the album), and the fact that when I read the title, all I can think of is Nivarna – ‘Come As You Are’.
It does sound very 00’s pop – I found myself almost being able to hear Girls Aloud while listening to it. Which was a very strange experience. They’re probably nothing a like, but it was just that feel – it feels like it’s from the same decade. This is another song where I don’t know what it’s about. A girlfriend leaving in the night? Prostitution? The possibilities are endless!
All I know is, I’ve never heard anyone put ‘riveting’ in a song, let alone sing it as greatly as he does – “it’s riiiii-vet-ting”.
Following ‘In The Night’ is ‘As You Are’ – personally, this one kinda passes me by.
The lyrics are quite hard to pick out, and it feels like I’ve heard it somewhere else in the album, even when I go back and realise it isn’t like any of the other songs.
I think it’s the mix of drums, synth and reverbed vocals (which have all featured throughout the album), and the fact that when I read the title, all I can think of is Nivarna – ‘Come As You Are’.
Almost
there!!
‘Dark Times’ (still love it!!) comes in after ‘In the Night’, but I won’t drool over it again.
Afterwards, ‘Prisoner’ came in, entering with it’s strange bird calling / ‘oooowwwaaaa’-ing at the beginning – which I find really charming, and I nice little catch which makes the song instantly recognisable.
The title says it features Lana Del Rey – which immediately made me nearly skip the song – I was in a happy mood and didn’t really want to be depressed right now.
Yep – it has quite a depressing feel to it, but the really interesting timing and music distracts for it, and it’s nice to have a female lead vocal in the mix, which it’s lacked throughout the album.
There’s been others feature (Labrinth & Ed Sheeran), and I think the collaborations have paid off – because this is a much catchier song than the previous one. And when I say catchier, I won’t be driving around singing this at the top of my lungs, but at least I can remember bits of it!
‘Dark Times’ (still love it!!) comes in after ‘In the Night’, but I won’t drool over it again.
Afterwards, ‘Prisoner’ came in, entering with it’s strange bird calling / ‘oooowwwaaaa’-ing at the beginning – which I find really charming, and I nice little catch which makes the song instantly recognisable.
The title says it features Lana Del Rey – which immediately made me nearly skip the song – I was in a happy mood and didn’t really want to be depressed right now.
Yep – it has quite a depressing feel to it, but the really interesting timing and music distracts for it, and it’s nice to have a female lead vocal in the mix, which it’s lacked throughout the album.
There’s been others feature (Labrinth & Ed Sheeran), and I think the collaborations have paid off – because this is a much catchier song than the previous one. And when I say catchier, I won’t be driving around singing this at the top of my lungs, but at least I can remember bits of it!
Last
but no means least:
‘Angel’ – Honestly, when I first heard this, I thought I’d accidently started listening to a rock ballad from the early 90’s. “I don’t remember Bryan Adams writing this!”
Opening with what can only be described as an angelic choir boy, and then BOOM! Kick drum and sliding bass into an organ riff. But then Mr Weeknd’s voice came in – but it’s still going along to the chord progressions found in those classic songs, which a few modern tweaks.
All together, this is a unique song to end the album – but one thing that I don’t like, and that could’ve been avoided if the writers weren’t so….lazy? They repeat almost every line twice in the same line. “Cause all I see are wings, I can see your wings. But I know what I am and the life I live, yeah, the life I live.” And don’t even get me started on the chorus! It’s just the same 5 words repeated again and again, and even got the choir boy and his mates to join in! To give you an idea of the chorus, just imagine the sentence ‘I hope you find somebody’ repeated 1, 2, 3……24 times!
‘Angel’ – Honestly, when I first heard this, I thought I’d accidently started listening to a rock ballad from the early 90’s. “I don’t remember Bryan Adams writing this!”
Opening with what can only be described as an angelic choir boy, and then BOOM! Kick drum and sliding bass into an organ riff. But then Mr Weeknd’s voice came in – but it’s still going along to the chord progressions found in those classic songs, which a few modern tweaks.
All together, this is a unique song to end the album – but one thing that I don’t like, and that could’ve been avoided if the writers weren’t so….lazy? They repeat almost every line twice in the same line. “Cause all I see are wings, I can see your wings. But I know what I am and the life I live, yeah, the life I live.” And don’t even get me started on the chorus! It’s just the same 5 words repeated again and again, and even got the choir boy and his mates to join in! To give you an idea of the chorus, just imagine the sentence ‘I hope you find somebody’ repeated 1, 2, 3……24 times!
Anyway! Moving on.
I think all together, it’s a really good attempt at a ballad! And a good close to the album.
Aaaaaand
Fin!
After 1 week of religiously listening to ‘Beauty
Behind the Madness’, I’ve realised why so many people like The Weeknd. I still
have no idea if it’s just one artist, or a band. But I don’t care!
Train has done pretty well for himself!
Train has done pretty well for himself!
This album is a refreshing break away from the current
norm. Over the past few years, when an artist who writes electronic music (and
let’s be honest, that’s pretty much everyone in the charts), and they then
release an album – it’s normally the same boring stuff throughout. But this
isn’t! It’s a really nice mix of genres and instruments to go along with the
brilliant vocals. Yes, some of it’s a bit sketchy – but I don’t think I’ve ever
come across an album without something wrong with it (apart from my girlfriends
– hers is amazing and you should all go buy it right now! www.fernteather.com/shop
;) ).
I will definitely be leaving this album on my iPod,
‘Can’t Feel My Face’ and ‘Dark Times’ are now amongst my most played, just
because I leave it on repeat and keep listening to them both!
And because I bought this album because I liked the
artwork, I really do think it reflects the music behind the picture!
Do you agree/disagree with anything I said? Like / dislike the review? Any constructive criticisms? Please
leave a comment below! Would love to hear from you. Also, if you have any
recommendations of albums I should listen to and review (as long as the artwork
is awesome), let me know.
Thanks for reading, keep tuned for the next blog.
I’ll be reviewing National Flower –
‘Farewell Michael Meanwhile’
Don’t forget to check out my website, Facebook,
Twitter and Youtube below.
I’m doing these blogs alongside my better half; Fern
Teather – she is listening to a new albums (doesn’t matter about the
artwork, she’s trying to expand her musical knowledge and listen to new
artists!). She’s also keeping a blog, and it’s nowhere near as long as this
one, so go give it a read!!
Check it out here: 52-albums.blogspot.com
Check it out here: 52-albums.blogspot.com
See you next time!
Sam
Sam
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