Justin Timberlake in 2013

i actually have a lot of respect for beyonce after sasha fierce - diving headlong into adult contemporary like that wasn't the obvious pandering no-brainer it's being painted out to be here, and personally i resisted it til she waterboarded me into it. furthermore, a huge part of that is down to how great and almost maniacally theatrical a performer she is throughout the album: granted i might not be the one pressing play on it but in 10 years i guarantee i'll be enjoying "remember those walls i built well baby theyre tumbling ~ DOWWWNN ~" way more than i will be reminiscing about a promo ad campaign that preceded some rub pseudo-edgy dubstep cobblers.

― r|t|c, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 6:54 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^ post that has always summed up the appeal of "Halo" for me

at least, unlike half of 20/20, it has a melody at all

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Sunday, March 24, 2013 6:36 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

this is a pretty dumb criticism. giving a piece of music credit for having something even if that something sucks is pretty damn limiting.

Sasha Fierce is the one Bey album I just plain never wana return to

Srsly Lex every time you criticise these songs for lacking melody or structure you're just showing yourself up as not really having listened to them.

yeah. the album is not a masterpiece, perfect or anything and liking it or not depends on one's taste but saying there are no melodies, compositional ideas or work on the sounds and textures seems pretty wrong to me...
it's not an album with 3min pop hits. so what ?
there are other ways to approach music...

regarding Lex and the lack of melodies and structures, he had the same statement about the Grimes album, if I remember well. Which seemed crazy to me at the time, for the opposite reason, since that album was filled with hooks and short pop hits !

I've not heard this yet, but I revisited FS/LS over the weekend, and "Timberlake and Timbaland do digital <i>Voodoo</i> for 2013" sounds pretty good, to me.

Damn html eejit.

'no outros' edit of the album: http://ahouseoflies.com/post/46218344075/justin-timberlake-the-15-20-experience

Are the outros predominantly instrumental?

at least, unlike half of 20/20, it has a melody at all

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Sunday, March 24, 2013 6:36 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

this is a pretty dumb criticism. giving a piece of music credit for having something even if that something sucks is pretty damn limiting.

― A$AP Rovi (J0rdan S.), Monday, March 25, 2013 3:34 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it wasn't really a criticism so much as a throwaway line in lieu of "i think you're completely wrong about the halo melody and also you didn't read the bit where i said it worked despite all these legitimate criticisms of it"

also complaining about the aimlessness of 20/20 tracks IS NOT THE SAME as whining that it isn't full of 3-min radio bangers! FFS

not really, usually there some refrains and vamping (xp)

Refrains and vamping is fine and dandy by me. Will probably pick this up when I get paid.

the thing with "halo" is that all the criticisms of it as trite hackwork are not off the mark, but there's a point at which you crumble - usually hearing it with someone else or in a communal setting - and once you crumble you can't really go back

those walls you built etc

i nearly referenced that line but thought it might be taking the corniness too far

i really love B's vocal performance on "halo" regardless, esp the low notes. she really sells it.

helps that it's something of an anomaly in her discography, too

I agree with lex on "halo". Esp. the low notes, and the phrasing of "down".

Although maybe it's just that I heard "Stop and Stare" so much everywhere that it was like I was stuck on a boat in The Voyage of the RyanTedder until one day I just fell off the edge of the world and into some weird zone where... I don't viscerally object to his ploys??? Which is objectively wrong I know.

ya lex otm that's why i said "i might not be the one pressing play on it" in the quoted bit; 'halo' is not really a tune you'll ever bust out on your own but the way some people slam it you'd think they only live in their lil itunes bubble

'no outros' edit of the album: http://ahouseoflies.com/post/46218344075/justin-timberlake-the-15-20-experience

― some dude, Monday, 25 March 2013 12:13 (23 minutes ago) Bookmark

btw if this dude is contactable someone get him to re-up, would be mildly interested in hearing this

that was a good thread where we chopped it up about tedder, just reread

k i asked him (xp)

Halo is awesome fuiud.

there's also an "edits only EP" version of the album which sounds great to me

Halo is awesome fuiud.

ya seriously

it's kinda weird/sad that "Halo" is her most recent big multi-platinum pop crossover hit, and is now 4 years old, though

i feel like the disconnect between album sales and single performance has been as profound recently as it's ever been so it will be really interesting to see what beyonce's numbers look like. with her cultural relevance at an all time high, will she do big album sales numbers without a crossover pop hit? seems pretty possible.

i think B/Jay/Kanye/a few others have proven at this point that they will never sell less than a million of an album, unless they go into a major commercial decline unlike any of the bumps in the road they've experienced so far. their brand is stronger than any song, just like Flo Rida's brand is so weak that he can have 4 massive pop hits on an album that will never go gold.

I have this sinking feeling that B's entering the Dionne and Friends phase of her career.

http://the2020experience.bandcamp.com/album/the-20-20-experience-no-bullshit

haha yeah he might have wanted to be juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a bit less conspicuous with that

Suit and Tie Shit (Tie SHIT) 04:50

by Not Justin Timberlake

lol yeah am linking it now cause who knows how long it'll last. the OTHER person who responded to my request for outro-less edit on twitter kept putting it on mediafire and rapidshare or w/e, where it'd get pulled immediately.

playing this for the first time, man those strings that open "Pusher Lover Girl" are overbearing and stupid

not scanning through this whole thread, you guys talked about the massive Prince pastiche going on here right

when i first listened to the record i thought they were a bad omen. now i think they're enjoyably stupid

not scanning through this whole thread, you guys talked about the massive Prince pastiche going on here right

"pusher love girl" doesn't recall prince exactly to me but i guess the contorted guitars are "darling nikki"-ish

"Pusher Love Girl" is by far my favorite song, and also the one most hindered by the outro. really hope it becomes a radio single and i eventually forget what it sounds like after the 5 minute mark.

i only like the outros on this record really

also timbo sounds real old rapping on one of the bonus tracks

like seventy years old

kinda like if kendrick's dad was rapping on the answerphone skits on that record

agree pusher love is the best. love the strings

not scanning through this whole thread, you guys talked about the massive Prince pastiche going on here right

On my first couple of listens I wanted to compare it to Around the World in a Day but couldn't place the referents; it was just a vibe I got.

yeah i def get a chilled-out prince vibe

kinda like if kendrick's dad was rapping on the answerphone skits on that record
― schlump

man this is so sadly otm but may apply to his entire career

The whole arrangement and performance is very "Prince smacks you with a bomb-ass ballad on track 3", particularly with the vocal phrasing and the guitar riffs. There are shades of "Darling Nikki", "Adore", "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?", "Shh", and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" in there, among other things; not so much that you could say "oh, this is [specific Prince song] Part 2" but there is a strong nod to the way Prince used to write ballads going on here

idk i got the feeling of like swirling curtis mayfield ballads, particularly with the heavy moving strings, but it's not like that wouldn't also be a layered prince reference

I am definitely more familiar with Prince than Curtis Mayfield

Forget it, Jake. It's indie R&B.

man this is so sadly otm but may apply to his entire career

― i petted a bodega cat today. (forksclovetofu), Monday, March 25, 2013 4:06 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha idk i like a lot of his rapping but there's a verse with this kinda ad-lib chuckle that is just the voice of age, it's like a guest verse by johnny cash

as he is now