Alex Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 i only heard grimes and megan's albums. I personally loved MA although the rollout was messy especially with releasing over 1/2 of the album before it's release which probably ruined the album experience for most. Megan's album was definitely a disappointment although there are definitely still some solid tracks.
Blue Rose Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 (edited) I agree with Tame Impala but Grimes & Sufjan both delivered top20 worthy albums Also Video Game is the weakest on Sufjan’s album Edited December 2, 2020 by Blue Rose
Psycho Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 Don't check for Sufjan Miss Anthropocene wasn't as bad as I expected but I didn't use it much besides Delete Forever. Art Angels > Good News was trash. The Slow Rush was a step down from Currents but not at all bad imo
mokitsu Posted December 2, 2020 Author Posted December 2, 2020 40 minutes ago, Blue Rose said: I agree with Tame Impala but Grimes & Sufjan both delivered top20 worthy albums Also Video Game is the weakest on Sufjan’s album i think video game definitely stood out for me because it's such a straighforward pop song among so much noise, even if the lyrics are a bit MEH. although i get that if you like the album's sound, you wouldn't like video game 9 minutes ago, Psycho said: The Slow Rush was a step down from Currents but not at all bad imo i wouldn't call it bad either, just don't have any desire to revisit it. a slog i heard lost in yesterday the other day in the radio and it was cute tho.
Psycho Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 1 minute ago, mokitsu said: i wouldn't call it bad either, just don't have any desire to revisit it. a slog i heard lost in yesterday the other day in the radio and it was cute tho. Yasss, my fave sing aside from Borderline. Please anticpate it in my Top 100 Songs list
Blue Rose Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 12 minutes ago, mokitsu said: think video game definitely stood out for me because it's such a straighforward pop song among so much noise, even if the lyrics are a bit MEH. although i get that if you like the album's sound, you wouldn't like video game True
Sunderland 4ever Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 Being a Tame Impala fan myself, I have to agree with you there. I think I listened to the album for the first 10 days and then completely forgot about it, not looking forward to coming back to it. His first two albums are still my favorites from Kevin, as you will see on my decade countdown. Neat graphics!
Rotunda Posted December 2, 2020 Posted December 2, 2020 Grimes and Meg were both disappointments Tame Impala is always kinda "just there" for me so I didn't check it out
ATRL Moderator khalyan Posted December 2, 2020 ATRL Moderator Posted December 2, 2020 Yeah I agree with those disappointments tbh
K$Ellie Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 I can see why people were disappointed with Grimes and Tame but I loved them personally totally agree with Megan, I thought she was gonna DELIVER with her proper debut album but quality wise it was only marginally better than her mixtapes which I found to be full of filler with a handful of bops, expected a more experimental sound too after the singles but oh well
potent Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 So many people are expressing disappointment with TSR but I liked it Maybe gets kinda repetitive but the material is quality nonetheless.
ATRL Moderator Legend E Posted December 3, 2020 ATRL Moderator Posted December 3, 2020 okay idc about any of those albums, only listened to megan and tame impala and both were quite boring
Pink Matter Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 Lana, Tinashe, Billie, Ari Weyes Blood and James were cute. Who's the artist under James? Edit: I kinda don't get The Slow Rush hate it's no Currents but it's not that bad album of an album Sufjan's album was nice for one listen but I could never muster up the strength to go back to it so no loss there. Haven't listened to Good News so yet but I'm worried I won't like it since I don't particularly care for Meg in general outside of a few songs.
Ewan Chaos Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 I actually like the Grimes/Tame Impala/Sufjan Stevens albums, BUT I 100% understand the disappointment. Megan, we are in agreement there I'm sad to say :/
mokitsu Posted December 3, 2020 Author Posted December 3, 2020 whew the polarizing reviews 12 hours ago, Sunderland 4ever said: Being a Tame Impala fan myself, I have to agree with you there. I think I listened to the album for the first 10 days and then completely forgot about it, not looking forward to coming back to it. His first two albums are still my favorites from Kevin, as you will see on my decade countdown. Neat graphics! Lonerism is such a classic. TSR really pales in comparison to the rest of his discography. Thank you! 4 hours ago, Pink Matter said: Who's the artist under James? that would be Julia Jacklin, she's an Australia indie rock artist and I really connected with her album last year. This is one of the more explosive and fun tracks but most of it is really subdued with great lyrics and storytelling
mokitsu Posted December 3, 2020 Author Posted December 3, 2020 anyway this is the second and last round of disappointments, i'll be busy today so i'm only posting honorable mentions and tv show + movie tomorrow, and then we'll kick the main show over the weekend allie is VERY hit and miss with her projects, but after loving super sunset, i figured she had found her sound and a full album would be just as good. "cape god" isn't bad - just falls flat and lacks the punch of her previous releases. i like the consistent themes of feeling like an outsider and being an introvert, but i found the album to be too mellow and the production too basic and derivative to be impressed. all in all, it's just an album that's... there. i don't hate it, it has highlights, but it hasn't aged the best and whatever it offers, i can find something better in other releases. i was SO excited when i heard that ariana was working with r&b producers for this record, especially London on da Track, who produced one of my favorites records of 2019 "over it". instead of that we got... the female "changes"? i don't know. i feel like ariana was just... not inspired for this? it's supposed to be a sexy album, but most of the songs are way too mellow for that, when she tries to be sexy i either feel like she's bored or (un?)intentionally funny (34+35, six thirty). the lyrics, when they're not silly and head-scratching, are just surface level and one dimensional. i do think that she pressured herself to make an r&b record, but she doesn't really have the chops or soul to pull it off - you can definitely hear the kehlani and even summer walker influences, but they're so painfully obvious and not expanded upon that i would just rather hear those albums. anyone who knows me knows i love katy (i'm wearing a CTTR sweater as i'm typing this). and it pains me to say this, but it's obvious she gave up on the music industry after they gave up on her and is just releasing music to keep her name out there. preceded by three great singles in 2019 and a Zedd collaboration that didn't suck, it shocked me that katy dropped the ball so hard with her comeback album. it's one of the most painfully generic, bland and uninspired albums of the year - and it's true katy is a generic artist, but it's undeniable her ear for hits was unmatched during her golden years and even witness was interesting and quite left field for the 2017 pop landscape. smile is completely devoid of personality, every song sounds like cheap spotify playlist filler and her voice is more unbearable than ever. there are some highlights, but Smile is an atrocity and an undeniable dud in katy's discography. @BlackoutZone got it.... after a eight year break from fiona, expectations were definitely high when she (and the pesky little twitter music insiders) announced she would be coming back with a full length album in april, shortly after worldwide lockdowns had started. "fetch" is probably fiona's most challenging listen - and one i'll probably never challenge myself to like again. despite how emotional and personal it is, i can't really connect with fiona's almost spoken word, beat poetry lyrics, and the home production begins to sound grating and annoying after a couple tracks. it's eccentric but at the same time very bare-bones, with each track having a different set of weird pots and pans percussion over her voice. the most redeeming quality of this album is definitely the lyrics, and even those begin to get annoying with so much repetition (see: relay). i'll take "fetch the bolt cutters" as a poetry book, because the album is just a massive letdown.
dreamofyou Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 (edited) i love the graphics... but not smile the way that's one of my faves of 2020 positions, some songs were great and some are meh so i agree Edited December 3, 2020 by dreamofyou
fcreverboy Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 9 minutes ago, mokitsu said: anyway this is the second and last round of disappointments, i'll be busy today so i'm only posting honorable mentions and tv show + movie tomorrow, and then we'll kick the main show over the weekend allie is VERY hit and miss with her projects, but after loving super sunset, i figured she had found her sound and a full album would be just as good. "cape god" isn't bad - just falls flat and lacks the punch of her previous releases. i like the consistent themes of feeling like an outsider and being an introvert, but i found the album to be too mellow and the production too basic and derivative to be impressed. all in all, it's just an album that's... there. i don't hate it, it has highlights, but it hasn't aged the best and whatever it offers, i can find something better in other releases. i was SO excited when i heard that ariana was working with r&b producers for this record, especially London on da Track, who produced one of my favorites records of 2019 "over it". instead of that we got... the female "changes"? i don't know. i feel like ariana was just... not inspired for this? it's supposed to be a sexy album, but most of the songs are way too mellow for that, when she tries to be sexy i either feel like she's bored or (un?)intentionally funny (34+35, six thirty). the lyrics, when they're not silly and head-scratching, are just surface level and one dimensional. i do think that she pressured herself to make an r&b record, but she doesn't really have the chops or soul to pull it off - you can definitely hear the kehlani and even summer walker influences, but they're so painfully obvious and not expanded upon that i would just rather hear those albums. anyone who knows me knows i love katy (i'm wearing a CTTR sweater as i'm typing this). and it pains me to say this, but it's obvious she gave up on the music industry after they gave up on her and is just releasing music to keep her name out there. preceded by three great singles in 2019 and a Zedd collaboration that didn't suck, it shocked me that katy dropped the ball so hard with her comeback album. it's one of the most painfully generic, bland and uninspired albums of the year - and it's true katy is a generic artist, but it's undeniable her ear for hits was unmatched during her golden years and even witness was interesting and quite left field for the 2017 pop landscape. smile is completely devoid of personality, every song sounds like cheap spotify playlist filler and her voice is more unbearable than ever. there are some highlights, but Smile is an atrocity and an undeniable dud in katy's discography. i completely agree with you on the takes with positions, smile & CG, the problem i find with positions is that its more trap-pop rather than r&b imo, with smile it does sound outdated and aged on arrival BUT there are some excellent songs on there (*cough* Not the end of the world, cry about it later & Resilient *cough*). The industry truly has left Katy in the dust and i don’t think they’ll focus on her anytime soon, and with CG i mostly liked the singles more than the actual album tracks which is really disappointing to say.
Bubble Tea Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 I disagree with Cape God because it's full of BOPS. But I have to agree with Positions - a snoozefest, and Smile... ugh it's so painful for me to admit it's not great but it's just not.
BlackoutZone Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 I feel like your description of Cape God is very accurate, but the pros you mentioned dominate the cons and therefor I like the album more. It fits the overall "mood" of 2020, longing for better days, better things. Fresh Laundry honestly remains by favorite Allie song to date and the overall highlights are the slower tracks/mid tempos contrary to her previous projects where the biggest synthpop bops would be the stand outs. Positions is simply effortless and not in positive meaning of this word, but I have like 2 highlights I'm obsessed with so let me give Ariana a pass Yeah Smile is such a filler album, NRO remains the best song. Witness is so much better nnn I knew you weren't sold on Fiona, but I didn't expect the DRAG! Surprisingly it wasn't the most challenging Fiona album to me, I had more trouble with When the Pawn since I couldn't distinguish any personal highlights (I will get to that eventually). Fetch didn't hit on first listen, it felt exactly like you said home made, too rough and too raw for me as a very casual listener and not a Fiona fan, but on my second listen I was already obsessed with first 5 songs and spending more time with every track, focusing on lyrics and her vocal delivery it just kept blooming. This album feels like a feasting in the inn - there is a lot of storytelling, anger, miscommunication, but in all the chaos I found joy.
mokitsu Posted December 3, 2020 Author Posted December 3, 2020 7 minutes ago, BlackoutZone said: I feel like your description of Cape God is very accurate, but the pros you mentioned dominate the cons and therefor I like the album more. It fits the overall "mood" of 2020, longing for better days, better things. Fresh Laundry honestly remains by favorite Allie song to date and the overall highlights are the slower tracks/mid tempos contrary to her previous projects where the biggest synthpop bops would be the stand outs. i LOVE fresh laundry and love me wrong, even if it's a bit LDR'd - the breakdown near the end is so emotional and it's probably her best vocal performance i think she could pull of an EP or album of midtempos with that kind of production, but the spotipop bops don't do it for me. 12 minutes ago, BlackoutZone said: I knew you weren't sold on Fiona, but I didn't expect the DRAG! Surprisingly it wasn't the most challenging Fiona album to me, I had more trouble with When the Pawn since I couldn't distinguish any personal highlights (I will get to that eventually). Fetch didn't hit on first listen, it felt exactly like you said home made, too rough and too raw for me as a very casual listener and not a Fiona fan, but on my second listen I was already obsessed with first 5 songs and spending more time with every track, focusing on lyrics and her vocal delivery it just kept blooming. This album feels like a feasting in the inn - there is a lot of storytelling, anger, miscommunication, but in all the chaos I found joy. ugh i listened to Pawn yesterday after writing this and it just hit so hard Fetch is definitely an angry and chaotic album. it got a second wind from me in june when all hell broke loose internationally and even here in Portugal and i felt so angry and hopeless that it helped channel my emotions, if that makes sense. but now, it just doesn't have that effect anymore nn.
taemin Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 Yeah, I had the same problem with Cape God fffff the album has amazing songs that I love and still play to this day but it should've been an EP.
Mezik Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 I say I must agree about 'Positions'. Ariana served three quality albums back-to-back-to-back, and the expectations were quite high. It's not that I found it a bad album, but just very safe and no personality to it? Also I find with all her albums there's a distinct identity/theme to it, but this one there was just nothing. Katy's been disappointing me since PRISM, what else is new. I loved Megan's album, but I only really started giving her a listen this year so I guess I can't judge since I am not all that familiar with their old work.
Mr. Blue_Shirt Posted December 3, 2020 Posted December 3, 2020 Whew Fiona in the dissapointments list? I honestly shocked nnn But i mostly agree with the list so far. Even though i really like their new albums but there's something about them that make me wanting more. Maybe because of their previous albums that are good that expectation from a lot of people including myself are so high and they didn't meet that expectation
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