Album Review.
Likes: Legendary Lovers, Birthday, Ghost, Double Rainbow, It Takes Two
Dislikes: This is How We Do
Overall: Cohesively sweet & airy, not as catchy as expected, good lyrics on half the album

You might look at me crazy and think I’ve been living under a rock, but “Prism” is the 1st Katy Perry album I have ever listened to in full and reviewed. Guess I’m tardy to the party in trying to hear what all the fuss is about. “Prism’s” strength is that it’s so incredibly atmospheric and consistent musically and lyrically; the focus being exhilarating, mesmerizing love with occasional remarks on self-discovery. I appreciated how the album operated like an orchestral film soundtrack in that majority of its elements seemed custom made for the theme. On average, an album’s lyrics can be predominately on one topic, but either the songs don’t tie together in story form or the music could easily be attached to another set of words. The production (mostly provided by Max Martin, Dr. Luke & Cirkut) is definitely mood-specific (light and airy), and doesn’t seem disorganized even though it includes notes of international music (ex. “Legendary Lovers”), hip-hop (ex. Dark Horse), throwback 90’s dance (“Walking on Air” made me think of Cece Peniston’s “Finally”) and 80’s pop (ex. “This Moment”). Since Perry is a mainstream pop artist, I expected a techno-based album, but even though the digital effects were there, this thankfully wasn’t the case.

Pluses in tow, a snag is that “Prism” is so sweet and chill, it might lose your attention. It took a week of repeat listening before I caught myself humming the tunes or remembering the words. Additionally, the 1st half of the record is somewhat weak lyrically, with the exception of “Lovers,” which doesn’t help. Vocally, Perry is just as blended as the stylistic influences on her album; sometimes her voice is high, a little shrill, seemingly limited in range and speak-singing (like you would hear in generic pop), other times, it’s deeper, fuller, raspier and more emotional with a rock essence (I’m not all that familiar with how she sounds live, by the way). Lastly, the well-written, enhancing deluxe tracks (“It Takes Two,” “Spiritual” & “Choose Your Battles”) should’ve been included on the standard edition of the record. Collectively, I enjoyed “Prism” and think it’s a solid piece of work. If you’re looking for radio-friendly, pepped-up jams, however, this wouldn’t be the album for you. Sidebar: considering Perry collaborated with some of the production team that Britney Spears was supposed to have for the upcoming “Britney Jean” (it was rumored that Martin, Dr. Luke & Danja, the men behind some of Britney’s most successful/or critically acclaimed albums, were going to work on “Jean;” Will.I.Am is now the head producer), I wonder if “Prism” will end up being the better album between the two. “Jean” will likely be catchy, but will it have depth beyond that? Questions I have. 

By @EddieJSays, Contributing Writer

On October 21st, VH1 finally premiered the highly publicized and anticipated TLC biopic “CrazySexyCool: A TLC Story.” Being one of the biggest fans of the group there is, I was SO excited to hear about it. I know just about everything there is to know about each TLC member and their personal struggles, so the idea of seeing it play out in cinematic format had me on the edge of my seat…at least initially. 

There was much promise upon the beginning of the film, leading right before Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes got discovered, signed and moved through the process of finding a new member (which ended up being Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas; more on that in a moment) and recording their 1st album. The 150 minute (including commercials) movie was great for those who didn’t know TLC’s back story and it gave a little insight on the climate of the music industry at that time. The performances from lead actresses Drew Sidora (T-Boz), Lil’ Mama (Left-Eye) and Keke Palmer (Chilli) were surprisingly good (with Lil’ Mama shining through as the best actress of the film), in addition to Rochelle Aytes, who portrayed the group’s 1st manager, Perri “Pebbles” Reid.

The movie was a great summary of the ladies’ perils and triumphs as one the best-selling female groups of all time, however, my qualm as a fan was the fact it was just that—a summary. Its brevity of their most successful album eras (i.e. “Crazy.Sexy.Cool” and “FanMail”) and over-magnification of somewhat interesting, yet trivial conflicts made the movie come off as a dramatized, cliff-notes version of “Behind the Music” (TLC’s “Behind the Music” debatably did more in 1 hour than this film did in 2 and 1/2 ). It ultimately left certain facts seem more elusive and not clarified, than express the whole truth for what it was.

Firstly, the movie was extremely biased. In Left-Eye’s absence, T-Boz and Chilli were the ones who constructed and pitched the TLC story to VH1 script-writers, and that, ironically, was probably more of a minus than a plus because aspects of their background were told from a limited perspective and presented as truth without further explanation. For example, the firing of Crystal Jones (the original “C” in TLC) was attributed in the film to her inability to sing/perform in front of L.A. Reid and Pebbles during an audition. However, according to Jones, the reality was since she was the original lead of the group (she called auditions to form a group to begin with), Pebbles privately presented her with the contract first and when Jones insisted on showing the contract to her mother for further review, Pebbles later encouraged T-Boz and Left-Eye to oust her. To put it in perspective, if Jones was such a poor performer, how did she get the chance to exclusively audition for her own group before introducing the group to Arista Records/Pebbletone? How did the group record demos under the name of 2nd Nature with producers like Jermaine Dupri if she was so terrible? Maybe T-Boz got the impression that Jones’ singing was to blame because that’s what she was told or maybe there was an instance where Jones bombed a performance. Jones’ story wasn’t the only one that fell prey to the limited perspective.

Album Review.
Likes: Maybe You’re Right
Overall: Not as awful as expected. Cool music, but just okay lyrics and annoying vocal.

So, guess what? “Bangerz” isn’t the flaming, hot trash mess one might think it would be, given the gimmicky “shedding my child-star image” antics Miley Cyrus has been up to lately. That said, it’s that much more confusing why Cyrus would go to such headline-making lengths to promote the album. Musically, the base of the record is far from her pop and country roots, therefore “Bangerz” would’ve stood out on its own without the silly hoopla. The musical production (Mike Will has majority of the production credits) is quite interesting and is what got my attention first. There’s definitely use of synthpop and techno elements and effects, but it isn’t applied in the usual, formulaic way. Often swinging from quietly sad to charging, the tones are glum, deeper and rougher with southern hip-hop as a main influence (although in the realm of hip-hop, the tracks may come off as generic). The biggest tastes of pop come from “#GetItRight” and “Maybe You’re Right.” I love the melody of “#GetItRight,” but ill-corresponding lyrics and vocal ruin it for me. It’s supposed to be a “stop what you’re doing and get in this bed” song, but the tempo is just too fun and giddy; it’s more joyous and “feel-good” than sexy. Couple that with the gradually rambling lyrics and the acquired taste that’s Miley’s high-pitched and somewhat whiny smoker’s voice and you’re nowhere near wanting to take your clothes off. Her voice is the main reason I wished “Maybe You’re Right” was sung by Pink instead. Pink’s voice is husky, but it’s sexier because it’s not as high and more soulful.

In my opinion, Cyrus’ stronger ability in the past was song-writing, but she faltered (Cyrus co-wrote most of “Bangerz”). The brainless moments are few (even the bump-down-the-street-able “Love, Money, Party” has some sort of meaning), but the lyrics (mostly about failed love) aren’t as fleshed out as they could be. You’re hit with assorted pieces of imagery that never tell a full story, which is disappointing, because there was so much potential. The best example of this is “My Darlin’.” 1st, you get there was a hope to married, followed by making a movie in 3D, a plea for the person to stay, then an ultimatum to accept things a certain way. There are no transitions between these ideas to connect them or inform the listener on what exactly happened in this relationship. The most concept-coherent songs are “Wrecking Ball,” “Drive” & “Maybe You’re Right.” Other tracks that could’ve been delicious if the lyrics were more developed were the theatrical “FU” and the Cotton-Eyed Joe-ish “4X4,” featuring Nelly. The pop-epicness of a fellow Disney brat (i.e. Britney Spears) recording a Salt-N-Pepa sampled song  with a younging (i.e. Miley) who is clearly trying to mimic her career steps, never came into fruition on “SMS;” it is the most forgettable cut on the record.

One of the more annoying things about “Bangerz” is Cyrus’ attempt at rapping and her constant cursing. The rapping was just campy and I couldn’t take it seriously. The incessant cursing was unnecessary, didn’t emphasize or enhance any particular point and it just translated as her trying too hard to be, well, hard. The album is kind of difficult to listen to in its entirety. There isn’t anything smooth or pleasant enough in Cyrus’ voice to complimentary counteract the gravel in the music and the lyrics leave much to be desired. I liked the music, I loved that she branched out stylistically and it all fit her better than I anticipated, but it didn’t flatter what Cyrus is working with. Her voice isn’t going to change, so the music will have to be softer in the future. Maybe try R&B-techno instead of hip-hop techno.