Lorde - Melodrama (2017)

surprisingly the SNL performance made me like Green Light a fair bit more, the chorus percussion comes through much stronger in that performance. verse is still really weak though

I sat with my excited 11-year-old (who's pretty musically sophisticated) at the kitchen table this morning and we ran both performances after each other on repeat until it was time for school. Both awesome.

Yeah, I think she sold those songs surprisingly well on SNL.

Agreed. If I had first heart them via the SNL performances I would have been sold from the get go. She gave them the boost of energy they needed.

I know about what you did and I wanna scream the truth
She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar

not enough energy in the damn world

i am lorde yah yah yah lorde lorde lorde yah yeah

she handled that SNL performance very well

I missed the second song but I thought "Green Light" was great. Also makes me wonder why they picked the takes they used for the studio version when she sounded much more comfortable in her lower register live.

It was a good SNL performance - I always had the idea she wasn't a good live performer, I was wrong - but it just makes it more clear how superior the 'house piano' section on the pre-chorus is to the rest of the song. I always forget the verses and the chorus annoys me a bit but for a brief moment in there it feels like the song is going to do something amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0Np2bup9I

another new song. it seems like she's throwing a bone to fans who wish she hadn't strayed so far from her Pure Heroine sound, but I don't care, it's a good bone with a nice texture

Jesus, how many songs in the last 15-20 years have been called "Sober?" And were there any before then?

really like the record! it's meticulously po-faced with the occasional playful interruption (childlike explosion noise on "Homemade Dynamite", the way the reference to being immortalised in the Louvre is phrased, the absurd likeness to The Dreaming-era Kate Bush on "Writer In The Dark")

I am forced to admit despite my apathy that this is pretty good

meticulously po-faced

A fair description but I did laugh at "They’ll hang us in the Louvre/Down the back, but who cares—still the Louvre."

First impression: good album, stronger than the first overall but maybe not as many hooks. Some of the songs will take a few listens to sink in.

I agree about the onion rings. Thank god there's someone speaking truth to power on this subject now. The whole industry needs accountability.

I like this a lot. It sports the second good song with Louvre-as-metaphor in less than a year.

I have never cared about her and the little I heard previously I didn't like but surprisingly I like this album. I have only listened to it only a couple times but so far I find it quite good and moving. It's catchy/mainstream yet feels intimate.
It's big and expensive but as noted by others there are some unexpected and charming moments (the explosion sound she makes, the way she says "anyway still the Louvre"). Also there are great songs but also some parts that make the whole cohesive as an album.
Actually I said quite good but it's very good, thinking about it (I write this while listening to the final song of the album) !

Echoing everyone else, I enjoyed this album a lot; I also look forward to her eventual duets with Selena Gomez.

Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who went "whoa when did she become Kate Bush" when the chorus to Writer in the Dark came around.

Like this album a lot. Favorite tic that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is the scream in Supercut. Also anyone else get Echo + TB vibes at the end of The Louvre?

This was a huge surprise for me. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

the last line in Perfect Places that goes "What the fuck are perfect places, anyway?" feels super familiar to me. The phrasing and sentiment and use of the word anyway remind me of another song but i can't quite put my finger on it. Any ideas? or am i just crazy?

Yeah the Kate Bush aspect is endearing. Right now "liability" is crushing me.

Yeah Louvre final is great too and EchoTBesque indeed

The verses in "Liability" remind me of "All the Young Dudes."

Definitely, same chords progression. It's so simple and almost throwaway but very touching

"Liability" is the only song I'm not really feeling.

are you saying compared to the rest of the album it's a

song that's somewhat lacking

i wanted to say, i like the cover art on this album.

I wasn't impressed with "Liability" on SNL so I'm surprised how much I like it on the album. Guess I needed to hear it a few times.

Have now played this a few more times at work today and really enjoyed it all the way through. I like how she and Antonoff refined and expanded her sound without losing the sense of intimacy from the first album. Still kind of feels like Lorde alone in a room, just a bigger room with nicer furniture.

Good listen indeed. "Supercut" is my standout.

the only track i don't really care for is "sober II (melodrama)," but besides that, the record is really good

I have yet to listen to this album, but I find her onion ring interest relatable

Good listen indeed. "Supercut" is my standout.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, June 16, 2017

For me too. Good lyrics!

Blowin shit up with homemade d-d-d-dynamite!

the only track i don't really care for is "sober II (melodrama)," but besides that, the record is really good

I'm on that track! I wish they'd let me cut loose, but they had a specific thing in mind

whaaaaaat

whoa

Nice ! What do you play ?
Re:"Homemade Dynamite" there's a little imperial phase Timbo feel imo.

Playing what? Strings? In any case, congrats! That's really cool.

Xp

this is a big step up from her debut and it's quite pleasant overall but mostly it's not really grabbing me yet either

the only track i don't really care for is "sober II (melodrama)," but besides that, the record is really good

I'm on that track! I wish they'd let me cut loose, but they had a specific thing in mind

― fgti, Saturday, June 17, 2017 6:03 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah, nice! would've loved to have heard what you wanted to bring to the table

were you provided onion rings?

Really liked my first run through of this album. This would sound great on a late night drive.

sounds good but I still can't get with her pronunciation, sounds like she's pouting all the time

she does come off as wise beyond her years and quite sympathetic in recent RS feature though:
http://i.imgur.com/U46jMq9.png

eh if she was wise beyond her years, why does she hear wisdom in Don Henley?

sneaky passive voice "might be considered uncool"

I thought you heard wisdom in Don Henley?!

Don't look back
You can never look back