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Maroon 5: Overexposed

6/27/2012

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Album review.
Likes: One More Night, Sad, Beautiful Goodbye
Overall:  Disappointing. Commercial success is clearly the goal here; not musical artistry.

Diversely blending rock, pop, funk and R&B, Maroon 5 was a slightly gritty band that maintained musical integrity while having mass appeal. Over the last two albums, however, it seems Maroon 5 has lost their way and sight of what made them great to begin with. The previous record, “Hands All Over,” was underwhelming, a bit bland and lacked cohesion in sound; singles from “Hands” did not perform as well as earlier hits. Apparently only concentrating on single chart performance versus what made “Hands” a disappointment overall, Maroon 5 went into the other extreme direction of making a purely pop record seemingly designed to generate commercial attention. “Overexposed” could be regarded as a fun album because of its upbeat nature, but to me, it’s as underwhelming as its predecessor. It’s distinctive, but not for the right reasons; it stands out because it’s such a poor departure from great M5. The crime is not that “Overexposed” is pop; it’s that it’s generic dance pop 2012 with over-processed vocal effects, synthesizers and watered-down live instrumentation (which is definitely a crime for a BAND). It’s even more obvious that the band is reaching for the top 40 on “Fortune Teller;” the opening sounds like that of Britney Spears’ “Hold it Against Me” (which shouldn’t be too surprising as the group enlisted Spears hitmaker Max Martin for this album). The only thing missing on this project is a Nicki Minaj feature. Remnants of prior Maroon 5 exists the lyrics, still covering the dark and painful side of romance with potent angst, but the angst is less poetic and mature than before. “Overexposed” is a good album if you don’t expect much, but for core fans of the group, I’m not sure they’ll be too thrilled. 

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Justin Bieber: Believe (Deluxe)

6/18/2012

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Album review.
Likes: Boyfriend, Right Here, Catching Feelings, She Don’t Like the Lights, Maria,
Dislikes: All Around the World, Beauty and the Beat, One Love
Overall: Enjoyable pop album.

There are negatives to Justin Bieber’s new album, “Believe.” The lyrics are largely uncomplicated, as is the production on the sprinkled throughout techno-dance tracks (ex. Thought of You, Beauty and the Beat), and Bieber’s voice is still quite boyish, limited and unmoving (because he’s freshly 18, I’ll let him slide with the boyishness this time, but I’ll be looking for a stronger vocal in a few years). However, there are enough positives to where you might have to admit to having a few Bieber songs on your IPod. The material, although mostly simplistic, has an embraceable and endearing sweetness. For example, on “Fall,” Bieber croons ‘He fell in love for his best friend…she was already broken, and it made her blind…she could never believe that love would ever treat her right…but did you know that I love you? (“Fall” is also one of the few songs with more developed subject matter)’ For those wondering if the teen would get his “Billie Jean” on and address last year’s paternity accusations by Mariah Yeater, check out “Maria.” Outside of the dance songs, the music production is pleasantly surprising as it pulls from unexpected influences, like 90’s R&B (ex. “Right Here”) and 60’s soul (i.e. “Die in Your Arms). Other tracks are smooth and melodic; there might be a little overuse of acoustic guitar, but it isn’t bothersome. All in all, “Believe” might not turn you into a Belieber (the name for hardcore Bieber fans), but it may get your attention. I’ll definitely will be looking for the next album to see how Bieber progresses.

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Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel

6/18/2012

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Album review.
Likes: Valentine, Left Alone
Overall: Great writing, boring music, harsh vocal.

After 7 years, Fiona Apple has returned with “The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do.”  For those familiar with Apple’s work, extensive, literary album titles are not unusual. What is unusual, however, is the musical and vocal production. The lyrical content is still very strong, alluring and poetic, as Apple gives us more self-reflective and self-critical material than ever before, taking responsibility for her pitfalls, particularly in relationships. Unfortunately, her profound epiphanies are not supported with the dramatic and melodic musical arrangements heard on her previous albums. The production is dull, without the slightest decoration.  Apple’s vocals sound a little worn and harsher than normal. I never thought I’d see the day I didn’t thoroughly enjoy a Fiona Apple record. The wearing vocal and boring production took away from the brilliant writing and kept “Idler Wheel” from being worth the wait. 


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Usher: Looking for Myself

6/11/2012

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Album review.
Likes: Climax, Show Me
Overall: Immature, weak lyrics, not worth the listen.

For the last 3 albums, Usher Raymond has had the same issue. Instead of sounding like an established 18-year artist who arguably influenced the career of Chris Brown, he comes off like a Brown contemporary who’s just arrived. Let’s talk about the music production 1st. Although there’s some appealing moments (ex. “Twisted,” “Looking for Myself”), most of the production is mundane and so contemporary that “Looking for Myself” will sound dated a short time from now. “Lemme See,” featuring Rick Ross, struck one of my pet peeves, as producer Jim Jonsin so obviously tweaked and recycled his Kelly Rowland hit “Motivation.”

The lyrical content is equally uninspiring, if not childish; it just seems like there was no thought or effort put into the material at all. Songs intended to be heartfelt or romantic have no genuine emotional affect. The most offensive and frustrating aspect of the songwriting is what I call immature “locker-room banter”: language and expression resembling that of egotistical and hormonal high-school athletes. With Usher’s cheap and tacky lyrical approach to sex on such songs as “Scream,”“Lemme See,” “Dive” & “Lessons for the Lover”, you can hardly tell that Raymond is a once married, 33-year-old man with two children. Go listen to Barry White or Marvin Gaye, get your ‘baby-maker’ game up and start over. “Lessons” is especially agitating, as it encourages staying in a bad relationship because the trouble can make for good sex: ‘just ‘cause he gives you pain, that don't mean he ain't the one…just let that argument turn you on.’ Forgettable songs and lack of sophistication and artistic growth make this album not worth listening to. Send out a search party, Usher is ‘looking for himself.’

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