jesus christ "Can't Stop Won't Stop" is the worst fucking thing, holy shit
who in their right mind puts this on the album, let alone makes it the lead track
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:17 (11 months ago) Permalink
this album is pretty good, but it's getting overrated real fucking quickly right now
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:18 (11 months ago) Permalink
Looking 4 The Kind Of Critical Attention Beyonce Got With 4
― some dude, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:19 (11 months ago) Permalink
altho tbf i'm not sure i could even name the last halfway decent pop album off the top of my head
4?
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:20 (11 months ago) Permalink
lol
the bieber album is gonna kick this one's ass, we'll see what the reaction is tho
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:21 (11 months ago) Permalink
OTM. And the "he put out a dance-leaning pop album that isn't terrible" narrative is really sad. That's the standard now?
― Evan R, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:23 (11 months ago) Permalink
okay yeah "Climax" is great
I think I would have hated "Scream" had I not heard "Can't Stop Won't Stop" right before it
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:24 (11 months ago) Permalink
the gulf between Usher's vocal talent and Bieber's is so wide that i'm not sure if the latter's best could top the former's worst (which this is not)
― some dude, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:25 (11 months ago) Permalink
And the "he put out a dance-leaning pop album that isn't terrible" narrative is really sad.
this is the narrative, really? half the album isn't dance-pop though.
i haven't listened to the whole bieber album yet but from the bits i've dipped into it seems much on a par with this.
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:28 (11 months ago) Permalink
is it just me or is usher in permanent oversinging mode these days?
what is meant by "oversinging" here, because Usher is an artist who spends so much time in his falsetto that it's impossible for him to be a 100% all the time shoutmonster
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:28 (11 months ago) Permalink
"I Care For U" is astonishingly good, like I'm kind of taken aback by how much I like it
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:30 (11 months ago) Permalink
i really like his use of falsetto here - when he's not in it he seems to strain really hard for the same kind of forced euphoria that's the default on the big dance-pop monster numbers - "say the words" really shows this up, cuz he suddenly goes completely restrained on it
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:30 (11 months ago) Permalink
Felt exactly that way about Bieber's "Boyfriend."
― old people are made of poop (Eric H.), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:31 (11 months ago) Permalink
I don't get the complaint he's oversinging and if so only in bits ("What Happened to You"). If anything he's subtler now that he's not relying on club bangers.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:33 (11 months ago) Permalink
o_O wtf is happening, it's 2012 and I'm really enjoying an Usher album
about halfway through "Show Me" and he hasn't started shouting yet (I expect him to by the end); this whole performance is an excellent example of how you can use mannered to convey emotion
I don't really hear any more abuse of that in what he's doing now and what he's done in the past; have you listened to "Caught Up" or "Yeah" recently?
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:34 (11 months ago) Permalink
who's overrating this btw? has it been called a masterpiece in some quarters?
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:34 (11 months ago) Permalink
oh I really thought I was going to like "Lemme See" but that pre-chorus is fucking stupid
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
god I hate "Yeah," mostly for how he forces him to harmonize with that awful synth squawk.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
what is Rick Ross's appeal btw
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
he's big meech
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
the "lemme SEE lemme SEE" bit is so irritating
I'm so annoyed by his dumb-ass Drake impersonation in the pre-chorus that the chorus comes across as a relief
okay "Twisted" is fucking great, wau
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:39 (11 months ago) Permalink
i like "lemme see" but rick ross's trayvon martin reference nearly wrecks it in a single line
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:39 (11 months ago) Permalink
as far as i can tell it's because he's popular and ergo important
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:40 (11 months ago) Permalink
idg what this backlash is all about, the "he put out a dance-leaning pop album that isn't terrible" narrative is p fun and worthwhile compared to "washed up r&b classicist puts out a by-the-numbers brick for the moms" ad nauseum
― r|t|c, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:44 (11 months ago) Permalink
"Dive" is also fantastic
it's nice after years of enduring "Let's Make Love In This Club"-style bullshit to be reminded that Usher is actually capable of singing a song
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:45 (11 months ago) Permalink
o_O "What Happened To U"!
If you'd told me several years ago that in 2012 I would be totally loving new Usher ballads, I would have hurt myself laughing at you
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:48 (11 months ago) Permalink
I don't know why the Drake imitation on the pre-chorus of this song doesn't irritate me, although I'm guessing it's because it's undercut by the falsetto riffing floating over it
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
http://soundcloud.com/matchstick-1/usher-scream-exemen-remix
good little wookie mix of 'scream' for filing under more rehabilitative ukg magic btw
― r|t|c, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:50 (11 months ago) Permalink
... why does "Looking 4 Myself" sound like a discarded Pink song
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 19:51 (11 months ago) Permalink
i was wavering on "looking 4 myself" until i saw someone compare it to phoenix, at which point i was just like "yes, i'll take it!"
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:32 (11 months ago) Permalink
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, June 13, 2012 3:39 PM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark
it's obviously a weird fit, but hey, he threatens to kill george zimmerman, so i'm okay with it
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:33 (11 months ago) Permalink
kind of got distracted but the back half of the album was pleasant, not overly arresting
I am still kind of shocked that I just enjoyed a post-2004 Usher album
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:34 (11 months ago) Permalink
btw "lemme see" is one of the best usher singles in a long while
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:34 (11 months ago) Permalink
did you listen to the version w/the bonus tracks dan?
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:35 (11 months ago) Permalink
"Lemme See" is terrible, much prefer the other new Ross/Usher single
― some dude, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, June 13, 2012 3:34 PM (59 minutes ago) Bookmark
masterpiece, but generally very positive reviews in the voice, SPIN, gawker etc
idk, i guess i understand why people feel good about it, just seems like they hype accelerated very quickly for an album that is very imperfect
that said, rtc's rebuttal has plenty of merit
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:36 (11 months ago) Permalink
that doesn't automatically carry it into the realm of "good song", Usher has been releasing tons and tons of bullshit for almost 8 years
Yeah, it seems like Spotify only has the deluxe version
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:37 (11 months ago) Permalink
i can't even picture any scenario in which there aren't at least three Raymond Vs. Raymond era singles that aren't better than "Lemme See"
― some dude, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:39 (11 months ago) Permalink
the one thing that's really sticking w/ me here is usher's arbitrary substitution of numbers for letters and letters for words
the album is called 'looking 4 myself', but we also get an "i care for u" and a "what happened to u" and "i.f.u."
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:39 (11 months ago) Permalink
i like to think that he didn't go with "i care 4 u" out of respect for aaliyah but i can't figure out his reasoning at all
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:40 (11 months ago) Permalink
See, that's the brilliance of the album. It only seems arbitrary, but it's very deliberate, because this is a record about trying on new hats, searching for the one that fits best. Usher sweats the details.
― Evan R, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:45 (11 months ago) Permalink
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:48 (11 months ago) Permalink
but Prince and Sinead already own those hats.
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:48 (11 months ago) Permalink
xp
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
might be time to take my meds again but cant help but feel like 'lemme see' owes a debt to loggins 'danger zone' somewhere imo
― r|t|c, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:49 (11 months ago) Permalink
I suppose it's churlish to complain when this is a grown man who released a song called "OMG."
right on cue i just read this vg article about this multiple-personality bloated pop album trend - crystallises my thoughts well
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/06/whats-behind-pops-multiplepersonalityalbum-epidemic/258466/
― kanye kardashian (lex pretend), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:50 (11 months ago) Permalink
not having read that yet, I feel like pop albums have been like this since the turn of the century
― Victory Chainsaw! (DJP), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 20:52 (11 months ago) Permalink
ppl these days seem to refuse to believe that pharrell is still kinda trash
― dead cera (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:16 (4 months ago) Permalink
tbf his Kendrick Lamar collab gave him a new lease.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:17 (4 months ago) Permalink
that's the worst beat on the album
― dead cera (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:17 (4 months ago) Permalink
the beat on the kendrick album is like pharrell copying tyler the creator copying pharrell
otm. pharrell grandfathering his way into a run of appearances on significant albums this year was a total fluke.
― some dude, Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:19 (4 months ago) Permalink
think "Real" is the least interesting beat but you know
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:20 (4 months ago) Permalink
― some dude, Wednesday, January 2, 2013 8:19 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark
when you consider his placements on albums by frank ocean & kendrick lamar that are mostly pretty tightly run ships, it leads me to believe that pharrell is getting placements from these dudes off of neptunes nostalgia. they're both right around that age where they would've been pretty formative. but it's not like those productions are clear standouts.
― dead cera (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:29 (4 months ago) Permalink
Weird year for Pharrell. He hit some of the highest highs of his late career with those Ocean and Lamar albums, but a lot of his other shit was even worse than usual this year. That Curren$y song, yikes
― Evan R, Thursday, 3 January 2013 01:35 (4 months ago) Permalink
i was definitely too rough on the Usher album back when it dropped and it seemed like him getting any critical attention at all for an album was just belated and ill-placed. but now that he's been basically ignored in most of the big 'year in R&B' pieces aside from "Climax" in favor of some (mostly) better albums i'm like oh wait this was an alright record, probably could've fit it into my albums list.
― some dude, Thursday, 3 January 2013 02:20 (4 months ago) Permalink
I spent a lot of time with Confessions and Here I Stand this break, next to which L4M sounds particularly fraught if not schizophrenic; but it still placed in my top twenty. If any interested writer still needs a year-end idea for What's Happening in R&B, then L4M is a good example of a fiscal cliff-esque compromise between the crassest of commercial aspirations and an instinct, however muddled, to look beyond the usual influences.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 January 2013 02:30 (4 months ago) Permalink
and lol "Twisted" is NOT a career highlight. Sorry, thread.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 3 January 2013 02:31 (4 months ago) Permalink
yeah L4M is definitely more 'the whole year of the genre in a nutshell' than any other record, for better and for worse
it's all about 8701 imo
― some dude, Thursday, 3 January 2013 02:33 (4 months ago) Permalink
i was surprised there weren't more records that did the whole bloated every-trend-in-one-album thing that nicki and usher did this year, it looked like it was going to be a thing there for a minute
― lex pretend, Thursday, 3 January 2013 08:24 (4 months ago) Permalink
pharrell made one of the best beats on kendrick's album and one of the worst on usher's
― lex pretend, Thursday, 3 January 2013 08:25 (4 months ago) Permalink
THIS ALBUM IS SO GOOD WHY AM I JUST REALISING THIS
― buenos noches, do not approach us (uberweiss), Monday, 20 May 2013 20:11 (5 days ago) Permalink
it actually is a really good album. for me there are about 2 or 3 tracks i would rather do without but the rest are quite strong.
― dyl, Monday, 20 May 2013 23:52 (5 days ago) Permalink
otm. I returned to it a couple weeks ago a bit nervous but still stand by my original assessment.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 May 2013 23:53 (5 days ago) Permalink