Poppy's third studio album sharply scratches your ear through psychedelic heavy metal exploits, exhuding bipolarism through radical sound shifts executed in the most teen-pop feasible key.
First track is Concrete, which apparently sets the thematic atmosphere with a darkly alarm siren synth filling the intro. As the song progresses, the whole structure becomes confusing. Sure, it is purposefully motley, but, as for Madonna's God Control, the different sonic units do not feel connected by any criteria, they just come across as a patchwork with no glue. As an opening track, it lives to its task in giving an imprinting of craziness and showcasing as in a party buffet the several formulas that are going to be used in the rest of the album. It just feels chopped and therefore not really memorable. Interestingly enough, a section of this track is incredibly similar to Family of Me by Ben Folds. Last note: you can't close a track like this with a faded outro. I mean, c'mon...
5.5/10
I Disagree, the title track, follows dispelling any fear of unfocusness left by Concrete. We got a fluid but well-defined structure, a nice chord progression, a thank-god neat outro, a rebellious distorted pre-chorus and an interesting contrast between the masterly mastered metal guitars and the feminine vocals that render the chorus tasty through several glissandos.
7.5/10
The best thing about Bloodmoney is that it is as instinctive as well conceived. Production is very impressive, in terms of arrangement, mixing and mastering too. The alternation of the heaviest and the softest parts of the track is the key for both to shine. White Shadow can only dream about this being on Lady Gaga's Born This Way.
8.1/10
Anything Like Me's structure is literally split in half. The first half (which winks to Billie Eilish's Bury A Friend) progressively grows as in a long climax, closing with a mesmerizing electro-metal guitar solo, leaving place to a feeble second half. But, since this album is all about "calm before the storm", you are destined to have a heart attack with an ultimate crash of thunders. The track has its highlights, but overall I'm not a fan of this kind of structure. Might suit better in a Fergie-licious Double Dutchess concept (?)
6.4/10
The basses on Fill the Crown's intro are nothing but pure eargasm. Unfortunately, that is about to last only a few seconds, leaving place to another unfocused structure. This time I may be disappointed in terms of composition as well. Also, the male voice is overfilling in regard to Poppy's. It was not a good idea as it turnt out as an odd kind of duet hook, she probably wanted to give us Die Antwoord, but it sounded more as if that were Marilyn Manson & Taylor Swift singing along together "in the shallow, sha-a-allow..."
6.2/10
Nothing I Need is supposed to be refreshing. In part, it actually is. On the other hand, there is a strong R&B influence on this track that partially happens to be out of tune with the rest of the so far experienced by the listener. As the chorus comes across, one could easily get this mistaken for an Allie X signed track from Super Sunset. Overall the song is pretty, has a pleasant Tame Impala vibe, but it really does not add substance to the album, placing as some kind of some unlikely form of prolonged interlude.
6.6/10
Sit/Stay starts and here we go again with the rock n roll. The song is one of the album's highlights. It manages to be strong and evocative at the same time, and it does not sacrifice the fluidity element in its bipolarism. The trance-ish pulsing rhythm and the emergence of the outro help in the making of a stand-out as well.
7.8/10
Bite Your Teeth tries to impress really hard in so many different ways. The percussion is even more aggressive than the previous track. While this is going to reveal as another "patchwork" in terms of structure, the shifts are so theatrical that you might happen to appreciate them. I would point out some moments are afftected by overproduction.
6.9/10
Sick of the Sun is Nothing I Need's younger sister. A chillwave/R&B with country elements that gives another breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, I can't enjoy it as much as I could, as my soul is constantly expecting a bazooka that is not going to shoot, leaving me with some sort of disappointment. Under this perspective, the final howl almost sounds like a mockery declaration.
6.7/10
Don't Go Outside is the closing track and undoubtely displays some of the brightest ideas and executions of the whole album. Still that doesn't save it by being overly long, though. As the end gets closer, I became so curious about the definitive ending, waiting until the very last second and I can say with a grin that those last seconds represented the first time this album came predictable. Thanks to a triangle. A solemnly ironic, iconic triangle.
7.3/10
Taken as a global entity, I Disagree has a strong and unique identity, that's for sure. Paradoxically, when it comes to analyze each track, this overall cohesive idiosyncrasy crumbles in some localized pindaric ideas that eventually sound as manufactured, partially ruining the unfiltered aspect of even the most rebel segments. The main merits of this album are two: the production is remarkable, especially given the fact that only a couple of producers were involved in the whole making, and still it sounded variegated within its unmistakable brand. That's where the second point ranks: I Disagree represents the first salient example of such a crossover between teen-pop female music and heavy metal psychedelia. Sure, there have been a handful of women exploring this fusion in the past (see Porcelain Black) but Poppy's soft vocal texture is a new ingredient in this context, occasionally providing exciting cuts. It's a shame these are also as ephemeral as.
Highlights: Bloodmoney, Sit/Stay
I Disagree, the title track, follows dispelling any fear of unfocusness left by Concrete. We got a fluid but well-defined structure, a nice chord progression, a thank-god neat outro, a rebellious distorted pre-chorus and an interesting contrast between the masterly mastered metal guitars and the feminine vocals that render the chorus tasty through several glissandos.
7.5/10
The best thing about Bloodmoney is that it is as instinctive as well conceived. Production is very impressive, in terms of arrangement, mixing and mastering too. The alternation of the heaviest and the softest parts of the track is the key for both to shine. White Shadow can only dream about this being on Lady Gaga's Born This Way.
8.1/10
Anything Like Me's structure is literally split in half. The first half (which winks to Billie Eilish's Bury A Friend) progressively grows as in a long climax, closing with a mesmerizing electro-metal guitar solo, leaving place to a feeble second half. But, since this album is all about "calm before the storm", you are destined to have a heart attack with an ultimate crash of thunders. The track has its highlights, but overall I'm not a fan of this kind of structure. Might suit better in a Fergie-licious Double Dutchess concept (?)
6.4/10
The basses on Fill the Crown's intro are nothing but pure eargasm. Unfortunately, that is about to last only a few seconds, leaving place to another unfocused structure. This time I may be disappointed in terms of composition as well. Also, the male voice is overfilling in regard to Poppy's. It was not a good idea as it turnt out as an odd kind of duet hook, she probably wanted to give us Die Antwoord, but it sounded more as if that were Marilyn Manson & Taylor Swift singing along together "in the shallow, sha-a-allow..."
6.2/10
Nothing I Need is supposed to be refreshing. In part, it actually is. On the other hand, there is a strong R&B influence on this track that partially happens to be out of tune with the rest of the so far experienced by the listener. As the chorus comes across, one could easily get this mistaken for an Allie X signed track from Super Sunset. Overall the song is pretty, has a pleasant Tame Impala vibe, but it really does not add substance to the album, placing as some kind of some unlikely form of prolonged interlude.
6.6/10
Sit/Stay starts and here we go again with the rock n roll. The song is one of the album's highlights. It manages to be strong and evocative at the same time, and it does not sacrifice the fluidity element in its bipolarism. The trance-ish pulsing rhythm and the emergence of the outro help in the making of a stand-out as well.
7.8/10
Bite Your Teeth tries to impress really hard in so many different ways. The percussion is even more aggressive than the previous track. While this is going to reveal as another "patchwork" in terms of structure, the shifts are so theatrical that you might happen to appreciate them. I would point out some moments are afftected by overproduction.
6.9/10
Sick of the Sun is Nothing I Need's younger sister. A chillwave/R&B with country elements that gives another breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, I can't enjoy it as much as I could, as my soul is constantly expecting a bazooka that is not going to shoot, leaving me with some sort of disappointment. Under this perspective, the final howl almost sounds like a mockery declaration.
6.7/10
Don't Go Outside is the closing track and undoubtely displays some of the brightest ideas and executions of the whole album. Still that doesn't save it by being overly long, though. As the end gets closer, I became so curious about the definitive ending, waiting until the very last second and I can say with a grin that those last seconds represented the first time this album came predictable. Thanks to a triangle. A solemnly ironic, iconic triangle.
7.3/10
Taken as a global entity, I Disagree has a strong and unique identity, that's for sure. Paradoxically, when it comes to analyze each track, this overall cohesive idiosyncrasy crumbles in some localized pindaric ideas that eventually sound as manufactured, partially ruining the unfiltered aspect of even the most rebel segments. The main merits of this album are two: the production is remarkable, especially given the fact that only a couple of producers were involved in the whole making, and still it sounded variegated within its unmistakable brand. That's where the second point ranks: I Disagree represents the first salient example of such a crossover between teen-pop female music and heavy metal psychedelia. Sure, there have been a handful of women exploring this fusion in the past (see Porcelain Black) but Poppy's soft vocal texture is a new ingredient in this context, occasionally providing exciting cuts. It's a shame these are also as ephemeral as.
Partial scores:
ASS (average songs score) = 6.9/10
Overall composition = 6.2/10
Overall production = 8.4/10
Overall songwriting = 7.1/10
Creativity = 8.8/10
Cohesivity = 6.7/10
The final score is obtained using the FUXYA FORMULA:
(ASS x 2 + composition x 2 + production x 2 + songwriting x 2 + creativity x 1 + cohesivity x 1)/100 =
72.9/100
I Disagree's final score falls within the category pretty good albums.
0-30: DISASTER
30-40: VERY BAD
40-50: BAD
50-55: PRETTY BAD
55-60: MEDIOCRE
60-65: JUST ENOUGH
65-70: SATISFACTORY
70-75: PRETTY GOOD
75-80: GOOD
80-85: VERY GOOD
85-90: EXCELLENT
90-95: VERY EXCELLENT
95-100: PERFECT
You nailed every comparison.
ReplyDeleteTHAT SONG FROM OVER THE HEDGE
ReplyDeleteTo be really honest, most of the album was disappointing and borderline decent. But I think the few highs are very high.
ReplyDeleteBeetch leave God Control alone.
ReplyDelete