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cjostrander · 6 years

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Nine Inch Nails: Bad Witch

Hello everyone! I’ve ben facing some technical issues with my laptop which has been preventing me from putting out reviews last month. Since then i’ve been able to still get my hands on a bunch of newer albums and really need to start scratching a couple of them off of my list. This album is the final of what was supposed to be a trilogy of eps from Nine Inch Nails. From what i read the only reason that they decided to instead turn this into a full album was due to how thrown aside eps tend to be on promotion sites. He definitely isn’t wrong in that regard since they dont usually hold the same excitement on a listener as an album does when discovered. This one from what i have heard is going to be a very unique one in the band’s catalog. Trent Reznor actually has a second official band-mate in his group by the name of Atticus Ross. Musically it does have familiar Nine Inch Nails elements but seems to make the effort to display similarities to other artists that were in his field or admired. You will notice heavy comparisons to David Bowie’s final album “Blackstar” (i reviewed) and Radiohead. The David Bowie similarity was intentional due to his admiration of the late singer and previous work with him in the 90′s. Bare in mind also that due to its initial intention to be an ep; this is the shortest NIN album with only 6 songs and roughly a half hour of runtime. Knowing how full the band’s albums can feel at times; this may not be a bad thing but time will tell.

Shit Mirror: This opening track starts off with some aggressive loops or guitars; never sure which is which with this band lol. It warms itself with its initial rhythm and Trent infuses himself into the mix with a much rougher and muffled vocal style than usual and seems to give a very cluttered feeling on the song. The drums and interesting brass elements certainly will provide the listener with quite a bit of activity to focus on. The song does well in the notion that it establishes a nice party atmosphere for somebody to play in the background. Because of this it won’t capture heavy emphasis from the listener when focused directly on. I still find it to be an interesting opener for this album/ep experiment and hopefully leaves the listener with enough of an impression to carry further on into the album. 7/10

Ahead of Ourselves: Now this song begins with electronic drum loops and immediately screams 90′s era David Bowie. The reviews that i have read have referenced Bowie’s album Outside in particular but i personally feel this initial opening is more in tune to Bowie’s follow work Earthing (which i reviewed). This open seems energetic but pretty simple and Trent centers himself in the back of the mix to further build the electronic rhythm of the song. Brass makes an interesting return to this song but the strongest attention grabber is the aggressive drum bashing combined with harsh screams from Trent. This segment will bring fond memories of Trent’s aggressively gloomy style from his 90′s heyday. Like the previous song it comes off as a song meant to be played in the background rather than as a front and center piece. Definitely not a bad thing but if you were to try and over analyze it; the song is going to feel like it is more empty or formulaic than you may like. If you don’t like that kind of mindset then getting into this band may not be for you yet. I would still check Downward Spiral and With Teeth first before giving it a final decision; but so far this album should be complex enough to get you thinking about his work in general. 8/10

Play the Goddamned Part: This track begins with a low bass rhythm and a rather groovy electronic loop that will make it very interesting to dance along to and enjoy a drink over. Brass fades its way in much more blatantly than on the past songs and will bring further David Bowie elements into the album. This brass component is a very strong element in Bowie’s last album Blackstar so if you like this then make sure to check it out. This is an instrumental piece as well so you will definitely find yourself treated to a much stronger focus on complex instrumentals. I actually really like that he decided to bring brass here because his give’s then band slightly fresher sound and exposes a longtime fan to something risky and new; even if you can point out a few very blunt comparisons. 8/10

God Break Down the Door (Single): Now this is the first and probably only single for the album. Electronic loops and strong jazz drumming begins the song off on an energetic note. You almost don’t even notic that this the start of another song since this sounds like a natural progression of the last song so it gives a nice sense of unknowing fluidity to both songs. Trent experiments with a vocal style that bares elements of big band vocals (think Frank Sinatra) but is most likely another throwback to David Bowie’s style since it is very comparable to Bowie’s base vocal style. This style fits specifically for Bowie in his late 90′s era up to his death since he seemed to take on a more classical approach himself (vocally) during this period. I definitely wouldn’t have picked it as a single for promotional purposes since nobody would think to guess that this is a Nine Inch Nails song. At the same time though; it is a good pick for single because it is just that; a song that isn’t what you’d bring to mind for Nine Inch Nails and showcases probably the biggest risk/experiment that the band takes on this album. That alone should be enough to help give this album a little extra substance to stand strong on. 8/10

I’m Not from This World: This is the second instrumental track on the album and arrives with an eerie extraterrestrial type sound. It is very soothing to the ears and will bring the listener into a rather deep state of relaxation and contemplation. It is a slow building piece so be patient since it is just under six minutes long. The next song is longer at just under 8 so the remaining tracks on the album are going to take their time to make sure you notice them. For an instrumental i really like this one since it brings forth a heavy dose of tension into the atmosphere and would be perfect for a soundtrack to a thriller film. Between the break for the ep project and the last album Hesitation Marks (i reviewed) Him and Atticus were focused on a bunch of film and tv soundtracks. I Believe this lengthy collaboration is what made Trent Reznor grow comfortable to name him as an actual member in the band since everyone before him barely was allowed input on record and were just for touring. Call it a douchebag move for Trent but it’s his project and vision so if he wanted to limit the scope that others could participate; it is entirely in his right and surely they knew what they were singing onto as well. 9/10

Over and Out: This finale piece begins with an 80′s like electronic rhythm and almost flirts with the concept of jazz qualities, Loop wise it has strong comparisons to both Nine Inch Nails’s earlier instrumentals and some of Radiohead’s work on King of Limbs and their Kid A/Amnesiac albums (i reviewed all three). Other than that this one definitely is another slow boil for the listener to focus on; though the softer chime interludes are very soothing and will leave much for the listener to contemplate over. Trent arrives vocally after the first three minutes to deliver more of his Bowie-styled vocals; which are basic but play heavy emphasis on building a deeply moving rhythm on the song. Lyrically substance will be hard to find but it gives a nice push for the instrumentals to liven up a bit. After this it fades away with a soft closing and leaves this short album feeling rather full in my opinion and completed as such. 7.5/10

Overall album rating: 7.9/10

Well this was interesting one to quickly put on and take off of my promotional list. It is short but as i said before his lengthier stuff has had the habit of being a but tiring at times due to the scope of what they have aimed for. This one certainly has that effect as well towards the end but provides to engaging listening music that is good to carry about you day to; party to; and to some small extent contemplate over. I would check it out after having acquired a firm taste for the band’s style since this album doesn’t go out of its way to try and win new fans over. It’s simply an enjoyable experiment that Trent wanted to do and in doing so put out music that he simply wanted to make; nothing more nothing less. Tomorrow i should be pounding out another album for review since i gotta keep up on my anniversary sheet since i haven’t really scratched much off of it this year. Enjoy your day everyone and i will see you next time!

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italicwatches · 6 years

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Comic Girls - Episode 09

Okay, today so far is going better than yesterday. Let’s keep it that way. It’s Comic Girls, episode 09! Here we GO!

-It’s a celebration! Koyume got her first ever color pages! With a hero that looks like Tsubasa cross-playing. …Tsubasa, please, you have to notice at some point that all of Koyume’s heroes look like you. Please. This is getting ridiculous—KOYUME YOU SURELY NOTICED RIGHT oh god they’re denser than a black hole. At least Ruki and Kaos know where they stand as perverted lesbians.

-Opening!

-So Koyume is working hard on those pages, and Kaos tries to motivate herself to step up a level…There’s only one problem. Her brain is fucking cooked and she can’t draw together an idea…! While Koyume has decided to take a break and clear her head. Could this be the secret Kaos is missing?! She’ll come with you! Teach her the Koyumethod of manga!

-Actually, what does Koyume do when she goes out? She meets up with friends, chats about fun stuff, eats yummy stuff, and tries on some cute clothes! …KAOS CAN’T DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS. She is not a beautiful sparkly high school girl! DESPAIR! And Kaos is lost in the Kaospiral.

-To out and about, with the whole gang! Tsubasa got pushed to do a fun slice-of-life chapter by her editor, so she’s out here looking for ideas. So the beautiful princess got captured for a long time, surely the first thing on her mind would be…

-Sweets!

-MEAT

-…No, Tsubasa. So to fancy cafe for ideas, where Kaos has a freakout over her fancy parfait, and Koyume gets herself pancakes, and…

-I’m just gonna quote Tsubasa, word for word, as she watches Koyume eat those sugar-soaked breads. “I think liking sweet things is cuter.” And “Speaking so seriously when you have whipped cream on your face…That’s really cute.” She doesn’t even know how thick and strong she’s laying it on.

-To clothes. And…Look, real talk, at this point if I quote every incredibly sapphic line out of Tsubasa’s mouth I’m gonna be here all fuckin’ day. And Tsubasa doesn’t know the first thing about fashion so she’s lost in trying to make it work, and is just leaning on Koyume’s wis—

-KABEDON

-KOYUME JUST KABEDON’D TSUBASA

-What were we talking about

-And then Koyume drags Tsubasa into a changing room and suddenly their roles are entirely revKOYUME IS TAKING OFF TSUBASA’S SHORTS THIS IS NOT A DRILL THIS IS NOT A DRILL RED ALERT ALL HANDS ON DECK

-Okay it was just to find her sizes. And soon Koyume has Tsubasa dressing up and Kaos is watching all of this with a mighty thirst.

-We’re seven minutes in. We’re seven minutes in, there’s a 90 second OP, and this might be the most sapphic the show has ever been and that is including the episode that spent half its runtime focused on how Glasses Girls are Best Girls. (The show is correct about this, for the record. Glasses Girls ARE Best Girls.)

-Tsubasa found a clock shaped like a baby chick and the gap moe is overwhelming. I think you killed Kaos. We need her for the show. But Ruki, Ruki is just seeing the old Tsubasa shining through. Back when Ruki first met Tsubasa, when they were kids, Tsubasa wasn’t nearly so…performative about being a tomboy. She loved her shonen manga, but was really girly, too. She was small and adorable! But the deeper she got into manga, the more stoic she became, and the more she just started dropping everything that took effort…And, well, being a frilly sort of girl takes effort, so it became pants and hoodies and short hair.

-Until everything went stoic and functional. But Koyume’s drawing out some of her old passions and desires…All at the heart of the Koyumethod! The what now.

-Back the dorm! Tsubasa got right to drawing, full of inspiration. …And also she keeps cosplaying as she draws, in multiple costumes, switching as she goes. Which is eating up a lot of her time. But, I mean, if it works…

-Indeed, after her next meeting, Tsubasa’s all excited. And Koyume got good reviews from her work, too! They’re linking up wonderfully! Ruki and Kaos are so happy to see it. A true, proper senpai/kouhai duo. …Unlike them. …OH GOD KAOS SHE’S FAILED YOU SHE’S SORRY

-But later that night, Ruki’s got to be the one to notice that Koyume’s time with Tsubasa has meant less running around. And yet her sweets intake hasn’t slowed. And, well, she’s getting a little…soft around the middle. Koyume thus begins to panic as she realizes her many sins against slimness…And that’s when Tsubasa gets back with cream puffs! Oh god, Koyume is caught in the middle.

-And thus begins the debate. On the one hand, Koyume’s cutesy demeanor works just fine with a little softness, and Tsubasa don’t care. On the other, Ruki uses her as a model and you can’t model graceful shoujo waifs if you have a tummy. And on the gripping hand, Ririka points out how hard it is to keep the weight off as you get older. And they’re all just squishing and squeezing Koyume!

-Who cannot seem to focus on her manga later because of this weight panic. …She’ll wear something cute to cheer herself up! Like this favorite dress! …Oh god it won’t zip up. OH GOD

-Episode 09: Kaospiral

-Eventually she’s in the bath with Ruki and trying to figure out what to do…Ruki likes to use muscle massages in the bath to help keep things trim. There’s even ones for improving your bust size and anyways that’s how they get into a grope battle. And Kaos just listens with a mighty thirst while she does dishes.

-After bath. Koyume turns to her Tsubasa-sama. Senpai. Sensei. Something with an S. Who thinks the answer is you’ve just got to fuckin’ work out. Calories out has to be bigger than calories in. That’s all there is to it. So that’s how Koyume gets roped into Tsubasa’s morning run.

-Very early morning run.

-There’s a six in the morning now?

-Also Koyume overdoes it so when Tsubasa gets back, she’s carrying the stupid dork. But eventually, Koyume is on the right track, and just needs a little bit of dieting and portion control…Except now her lust for snacks is causing them to appear in very odd places in her art. That boy is wearing a cake for a hat. Okay, okay, fix it! Gotta be diligent, diligent, delicious, she ate the page.

-And when Koyume goes to her editor meeting…Her editor is disappointed. It feels…Like something’s missing. It’s a bit lifeless. Not like your usual work…And Koyume almost keeps a straight face, right until she runs into Tsubasa. And then it all spills out.

-Koyume’s caught in a thick mess of a conundrum, as they end up stopping into a little restaurant to talk. There’s her yearnings and urges. There’s her desire to be thought of a certain way by Tsubasa. And there’s the path to her manga. All of them spinning and spiraling against each other, until finally, he decides there’s only one thing she can do…

-Lean into the passion. She’s gonna have herself this delicious looking pie, redo her pages, and clear her head. And go on the next morning run with Tsubasa to try and keep things under control.

-And she ends up pulling a whole all-nighter to completely and utterly redo the chapter from top to bottom, with her real true self properly expressed in the work! And it might be a bit fluffy, but in the end it worked out that she burned so many calories(and dropped enough water weight) pulling that all-nighter that she still lost that last kilo. She’s even got her manuscript with her at school so she can turn it in to her editor after school…Be careful you don’t lose it!

-Which is when Tsubasa has a panic, because guess what happened.

-So before we go any further, I’m about…75% sure Miharu stole it to read it before anyone else.

-But okay, first they’ve got to check back in class! Tsubasa was working on it during class, but that should also mean it wouldn’t have disappeared from the classroom…Fuuuuck, that entire chapter…! Koyume’s an expert in losing and re-finding things! I’m not sure how great that sounds either, Ruki. Okay, first, what classes did you have that took you out of the normal classroom? Well, there was science…TO THE SCIENCE LAB!

-Which is as barren as the desert. Okay, next plan! The lost and found! No luck, but Koyume found a bunch of things she was missing. Okay, last ditch effort! To Nijino-sensei to ask for help! She’s got a simple plan. She’ll describe the booklet as something she lost, which should get them to respect her privacy and hand it over without looking into it. You four should split up to look through the school while she starts asking around.

-And off everyone goes…With Miharu secretly hoping she can find it so she can read it first, before anyone else! Okay so my theory was wrong. But soon everyone’s charging through, with Tsubasa and Koyume trying to find any sign of things, and Tsubasa so obviously cares deeply for finding those pages…She pours her heart and soul into them, from her very core…!

-While Kaos and Ruki try the library…And Ruki spots something between two shelves! A space too narrow for Ruki to fit. Come on, Kaos, squeeze in…And grab onto it, while Ruki pulls her free!!! And this is not Tsubasa’s manuscript case. Then whose could it possibly be? It looks old, too…

-Cue Miharu. …Oh god they found her high school manuscript she hid. HOW DID YOU FIND THAT?!!!!

-Oh god THEY FOUND HER OLD YAOI DRAWINGS

-Kill her now. Just kill her right now. She’s…Going to put that in the lost and found! For whatever other student, entirely unrelated to anyone you know, to find it! Please go keep looking. Far away from here. Other end of the building. Go go go!

-Eventually the sun is low in the sky, and they’ve still had no luck…And at this point, Tsubasa’s ready to give up. To let her life be over. The manuscript will be leaked. The identity of Wing-V will be revealed. All she can do now is let it happen, and keep as many people out of the crossfire as she can. …No. They’re sticking by you and they’re making this work. They’re gonna find that manuscript!

-And cue Suzu who found it earlier in the science lab and has been looking for Tsubasa all day to get it back to her. And looks quite cute when she’s not playing full spookum. Enough that they don’t even recognize her…But then she unpins her hair, goes full spookum, and chases the girls across the roof. Naturally.

-Credits!

Man, these things get dense. And that, was, a lot of sapphic stuff in the first half. I never thought I’d see Koyume pulling a kabedon. But with all that said, now that we’ve had some Koyubasa, it’s time for some Rukaos, next time in episode TEN of Comic Girls! Wait for it!

#where I watch #recap #anime #comic girls

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glumvillain · 3 years

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GlumReviews #1

Todays first “Old New Album” is from Mississippi-born singer, guitarist and harmonica player, Howlin Wolf. With a unique and sometimes haunting vocal style, Howlin Wolf could be considered a progenitor of the screamo grunge era of the early 90s. This man didn’t come to croon a tune into your ear about a love lost--no. He came to play some damn blues and howl into the night. On my first ever listen thru I was transported to an era of smoky blues clubs and sweltering afternoons sitting on the porch, waiting for a pissed off lover to come back home.

And if you’re asking yourself if this is my first time doing this, then that answer is yes, so bear with me, as we dive into Howlin Wolf’s first compilation album titled “Moanin’ in the Moonlight” a collection of a decade’s work (1951-1959), and a perfect first album for nascent Blues fans who would like a nice jumping off point to blues appreciation.

We begin with Track 1:

1.Moanin at Midnight

We enter with the trademark “howls” as harmonica and guitar pickin’ chug us along into an upbeat little jam about nothing in particular, to an amateur such as myself this song appears to me as just a nice little jam to showcase what you’re in for with the rest of the album, I’ll refrain from calling this one of the weaker songs on the album, it does have the toe tapping jaunt of a good blues track, and its only the beginning of a journey into the life of a bluesman beginning his rise to blues stardom in Chicago.

2. How Many More Years

Proto-rock at its finest, with crunchy guitar pickin’, and rolling blues piano, by the time HW croaks in his throaty vocals with “How many more years have I got to let you dog me around/ I’d soon rather be sleeping six feet in the ground”, you know this is what you came to listen to, real blues, a story about a man being treated wrongly by his lover. Shame. When you know you’re not being given the best you can get, having no choice but to retire to separate quarters of the house to salvage peace. Oh and if anybody asks about Ol’ Howlin’ Wolf, just tell ‘em he walked out on ya

3. Smokestack Lightnin’

This is it. Not gonna bury the lead here, this is why you put on this album, if there was ever any song that made a statement about why the singer is named “Howlin’ Wolf” this is it, a 3 minute blistering ballad of a man wailing his soul out. “Why don’t you hear me cry” he wails into the night, as harmonicas pickup the groove, you cant help but dance a little while this guy is just...being emo essentially, but its GOOD emo music. And all respect to where its due, this is just good fucking music, and it only exists to amplify emotion. All captured in this track here, the heartbreaks and ordeals of another lost lover. Don’t skip this track.

4. Baby How Long

Winding down into some fine driving music if I say so myself, leaving the emo trail behind a bit, a nice upbeat tune about waiting. Awakened to his lover having just left him, Ol’ Howler only does his best work on days like this, another vocal delight on the album and his harmonica work is not to be underestimated either, both skills on beautiful display as he wails “Well when you leave home/ You can call me on your phone”.

5. No Place to Go (You Gonna Wreck My Life)

Leaning a little more RnB here, Howlin’ Wolf begins with a clean vocal that gives way to his croaks, and I gotta say I’m reminded of the clean/heavy switch off with grunge bands and later emo screamo bands, just in a blues format. Very chill song about the inner thoughts of another down and out day, lamenting the time spent with someone whose now a stranger to you. Possibly how one has wasted their best years with someone “Now I’m old and gray, got no place to go”, this is a leaving song, this is when he packed his bags, headed into a great unknown.

6. All Night Boogie (All Night Long)

Ok put out your cigarettes and get on the dancefloor, you could call this the song he played after Track 5′s scenario at his local venue, while an upbeat danceable tune we stay on the topic of scorned lovers. Just another worrisome bluesman wondering where his woman is all hours of the night, but instead of wailing his heart out on this one, we get some great harmonica work, if you like harmonica, this is the jam for you, sometimes the ol’ mouth harp can convey emotions better than “I cried, I cried, I cried, all day long”

7. Evil (Is Goin On)

Another benchmark in the album as we get deeper into these soulful RnB sounds, a little ballad about a man who likes to visit your woman when you’re away from home. Bass led and vocal heavy, this is just another notch in HW’s belt for his many styles, if you started from track 1, you could essentially call that bare bones as we progress thru the compilation (spanning 10 years as mentioned before), you can really chart progress of an artist and recording quality, another track you shouldn’t skip. A highlight of this track is definitely that ragtime piano.

8. I’m Leavin’ You

Bet you can’t guess what this songs about. Well if you can’t then it’s just another day in the life of Howlin’ Wolf as he explains to his woman that one day will be the day he finally packs it up. “meanest woman I ever seen/ No matter how I try to treat you right/ Still you’s a mean little thing” he sings to a rambling blues chord progression-- which it’s worth noting that HW has penned several blues standards and if you’re interested in the history I advise you to check out the wikipedia article. Nothing relatively noteworthy in this track but it keeps the album energy at a moderate pace and never once are you taken out of that momentum once it starts.

9. Moanin’ for my Baby

Step back into that swelterin’ blues bar with me for a sec because we got more Howlin’ to do. The soulful blues tracks give way to the OG sound of the first few tracks that started the compilation, a repetitive toe tappin blues jam session. I sense gospel singing that slowly gets bent into blues. The light giving way to dark, pure rivers running into muddy water swamps. Ramblin’ man blues, that damn Howl is just poetry, an instrument unto itself, apart from the singing, apart from his guitar work, and apart from his harmonica, his voice becomes the perfect tool to not only sing but to emote the blues in dissonant wails and vibratos.

10. I Asked Her For Water

“I asked her for water/ She brought me gasoline“

--ok come on wouldn’t that lyric fit just as well before the breakdown drops from any number of your favorite Emo era bands?

nearing the end of this journey, we find that the theme visited heavily in this album is the theme of home and homelessness, he has no sense of home and anywhere he has found a home...isn’t a big fan of his presence. His lady is gone all night when he’s home, wants him gone when she’s home, and whenever he’s gone from home, she’s worried about what he’s up to, and vice versa. NOT to mention, that whenever he’s gone from home, apparently there’s some guy waiting for men to leave their women alone so he can entertain them. What a fucking world.

11. Forty Four

I get a real gospel/pop vibe from this, mixed with a little marching band. The scenario set is a pretty neat little story about once again, being away from home, the pawning of possessions and a need for a direction to travel to. I wanna be vocal and say that if I truly believed a song was worth skipping I would say it, and so far no track has lost my interest, with an average song time of about 3 minutes each track this is a nice slice of blues, each with a different bend to the sound, nothing is duplicated in this journey, the theme is essential and it really does set up that perfect bluesman story, minus the crossroads.

12. Somebody In My Home

We made it. You made it. And for that, I thank you.

wrapping up this first of what I hope is many reviews to come is this sludgy blues ditty and while it appears as just another run-of-the-mill blues song -- This is what I’ll have to say is his most lyrically strong song in this entire album “Colors dont bind, oh no/ What do they know? They speak falsely”

It feels as if this is him personally sitting down in a chair across from you and just cutting straight to the chase about life, like if he had to boil everything down into one nugget of wisdom to impart, then this would be it. A personal chat from a man who was born in 1910. A slice of history told thru music.

In Conclusion:

“Moanin’ in the Moonlight”, clocking in at around 30 minutes, an easy choice to make if you’re looking for a nice introduction into blues, and I’ve said it before but a large takeaway from this album is SEVERAL styles of blues being presented here and none of it gets repetitive, I am sure guitar beginners could become some decent blues pickers studying the techniques on display here as well.

rating system [subject to change]

1-bad

5-good

The rating system for now is kinda arbitrary as there is nothing to base it off of until I’ve made other reviews to weight it against, but based purely on the album runtime and the contents of the album I’ll give it:

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I was gonna go with 3, but with the help of Spotify (not an ad), it led me down the rabbit hole of some great blues guitarists as well. Gave it a little bump for being a beginners blues album.

#howlin' wolf #moanin' in the moonlight #music review #album review #RnB #Blues #Chicago Blues #glumreviews #glumvillain

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youngboy-oldmind · 4 years

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ALBUM REVIEW: Revival

“It’s true, I’m a Rubik’s. A beautiful mess/At times juvenile yes. I goof and I jest/A flawed human I guess”

Detroit legend and highest-selling rapper of the decade, Eminem, releases his eighth (ninth if you count Infinite) album Revival: a project that is over hated, yet plagued with cringey lyrics, inconsistency, and an excessive runtime (77 minutes), propelling his decline and mainstream hate that’s haunted him since the late 2000s.

Overall thoughts

I say this with pain because I genuinely think this project could’ve been comparable to Jay-Z’s 4:44. Both rappers have been successful since the 90s and they both know their best is behind them. However, Jay-Z hit the mark where Eminem vastly missed. BUT, this isn’t a review of 4:44. Unfortunately, this is a review of Eminem’s controversial 2017 project: Revival.

Revival misses the mark for several reasons. First, the songs he chose for pre-release singles turned off fans from the jump. He pre-released “Walk on Water”, which captured the interest of fans who appreciate Eminem’s calmer, more introspective side. However, his second single release “Untouchable” made me hesitant to expect this album to revive Eminem’s career. This song isn’t strong enough to headline the album. At best, it’s a little annoying. And at worse, its skippable in 60 seconds. Furthermore, it was a political song, so any listeners that disagreed with his message immediately disassociated from the project.

Second, his lyricism is weak throughout the album, downright offensive at some points. Not offensive like its edgy or has shock value. Offensive like I can’t believe he made me listen to such shtty similes and metaphors. Contenders for the worst lines include but are not limited to:

“Instinctive nature to bring the anguish to the English language/ With this ink you haters get rode on (wrote on), like a piece of paper”

“I’m looking at your tight rear like a sight seer/ Your booty is heavy duty, like diarrhea”

“I just bodied the beat, so that hole must’ve been dug/Cause it just died, like food coloring does”

Along with weak metaphors, he also uses his signature play-on-words style to create painstaking lines such as

“The plan’s to bring her to my house/You’re drinking Jack and Beam, I’m thinking soon this tramp’ll lean (trampoline) so we can bounce”

“From the first time I saw you, I actually/Said to myself, ‘I gotta meet her’ (meter) like a taxi”

“I ask does she want a computer lodged in her vagina/Said my dick is an apple, she said put it inside her (in cider)”

Some of the vocal performances were painful as well. On “Chloraseptic” and “Untouchable”, he straight up lets out ridiculous drawn out yells. I have difficulty accepting that the producer of those tracks and long-time friend of Eminem, Denaun, heard him make those noises and didn’t tell him on how bad it sounds.

Third, and most importantly, Eminem’s tone is extremely inconsistent throughout the project. I wouldn’t be as critical towards the goofy songs if Eminem set and maintained one tone. He began the album with “Walk on Water”, discussing the stress of constant scrutiny and how unrealistic expectations make him doomed to fall short. This is a great topic to talk about as someone who was 18 years into his fame. But then, he begins topic ping-pong for almost an hour, switching back and forth between maturity and childishness, (with some high spots that I’ll discuss later). You cannot complain that people stress you out with high expectations, and then make songs that’s just punchlines revolving around breasts, butts, and vulgar sex.

Logic has great examples of priming your expectations and tones. He makes it clear when a project is a concept piece, like Incredible True Story or Everybody, or when he’s just having fun, like Bobby Tarantino I & II. Because Eminem keeps switching between serious songs and dumb songs, it makes everything seem disingenuous. For example, on the song “Like Home”, he basically rips Donald Trump a new one, going so far as to compare him to Hitler. But on the song “Heat” he makes a joke that he agrees with Donald Trump that women’s privates are supposed to be grabbed, which is why “they call it a snatch”. You can’t criticize the president in one song and then agree with them in the next, even if you’re joking. You can have fun songs and serious songs, but they should keep the album’s tone consistent.

Okay, I’m done criticizing, cause there are some great things about this album. “Walk on Water” was a great intro to the album. “River” is great collab between Ed Sheeran and Eminem. While the content of “Remind Me” is unremarkable, Rick Rubin delivers on the beat, creating an entertaining chorus that samples Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock n Roll”. I will give credit to “Offended”, which is ambitious to say in the least. I skipped it on first listen but it actually grew on me. And of course, the final two tracks “Castle” and “Arose” are the album’s peak.

If Eminem would’ve shaved the track list to 9 songs instead of 19, weeding out the childish/forgettable songs and making it more tonally consistent, this album would be much better. My ideal Revival album would be:

1. Walk on Water

2. Believe

3. River

4. Like Home

5. Tragic Endings

6. Nowhere Fast

7. Offended

8. Castle

9. Arose

This would bring the runtime down to 40 minutes instead of 77 minutes. At 45 years old, 8 albums into his career and 18 years in the game, Eminem doesn’t have 77 minutes’ worth of material to talk about. And it shows.

I mentioned earlier that this project is over hated. Although there are things I strongly dislike about this project, it isn’t nearly as bad as media and music reviewers describe it. Two of his previous projects, Encore and Relapse, were much worse than Revival. I think it’s an exaggeration to call Revival the worst of his career, but it is definitely indication of a decline.

Album Breakdown

“Walk on Water” ignites the album with an emotional piano ballad, Beyonce’s beautiful vocals on the chorus, and Eminem’s surprisingly self-exposing verses. He talks about the pain of having a section of hip hop disregard him, while having another section constantly hold him to a standard he feels like he’ll never reach again. It’s more melodramatic than what I expect from an Eminem song, especially the dramatic pause at the beginning of the first verse where he dramatically asks “why.........?”. Seeing Eminem express vulnerability instead of constantly acting like a god gave me hope.

But then...I heard the last 5 seconds, and I knew I was in trouble.

“Cause I’m just a man/

But as long as I got a mic I’m godlike/

So me and you are not alike/

B***h, I wrote ‘Stan’”

This transitions into “Believe”, a track that carries on the topic from the previous song but establishes that he is not self-conscious and knows he’s superior in the rap game, asking the audience if THEY believe in him. It’s disappointing to see him abandon vulnerability so quickly. It took five minutes and four seconds for Eminem to backtrack and basically say “Nah, I can reach every height. You guys just need to believe in me”. Like he’s blaming critics and fans for his decline, not his skills or style. I did not care for this shift. And speaking of shifts, we hear Eminem’s first attempt at a trap beat, which sounds off with his rapping style. He’s constantly taking odd pauses to squeeze in rhyme schemes. Not the worst song, but already starting the contradictions to the initial tone of the album.

Eminem’s second attempt at a trap beat, “Chloraseptic”, was painful. I can’t sugar coat it. Half of the time I had no clue what he was saying, and the half that I could understand had no substance. He mocks Migos’ style, using adlibs, shouts, and voice bites that make him sound old and desperate to fit in modern trap music. Over his career, Eminem’s best tracks have either a rock sample or a piano melody. But this is clear evidence that very few Eminem tracks should be trap songs.

As I mentioned earlier, “Untouchable” was released early as a single. This song was painful because I knew what he was going for. So it sucks to be distracted by the subpar delivery. The rock guitars and harmonized vocals in the chorus hit my ears too hard, making me wince and decrease the volume at the chorus. Eminem’s verses have him shouting/teasing “white boy, white boy” “black boy, black boy” which is too immature for someone of his status and stature. And there’s a line in the first verse where he says “then we wonder why we see this side of youuuuuuuuuuuu”, drawing out the last word in this painful, awful voice that definitely should’ve been scrapped. In the second half of the song, the instrumental switches from a hard rock sample to a piano melody that illustrates a sense of anxiety. Also, in the last verse, he switches perspectives and talks as a black person under systematic oppression. While I appreciate the effort, it doesn’t really translate into anything emotionally because his solutions to these problems are shallow.

He talks about police brutality and systemic racial issues. The problem is it’s all surface level. Someone with his age and experience should be able to add more to the discussion. But he comes through with messages like “We need to hire black cops and stop putting cops in neighborhoods they are unfamiliar with. This country was built on slaves. It’s unfair Kaepernick got hate for kneeling during the national anthem. Racial profiling is the cause of violence”. These are things I was able to articulate as a middle schooler. But he delivers these thoughts like he’s speaking from the woke-est perspective the world’s ever seen. When in reality, there are tweets that hold more substance. And because of this, Eminem’s yelling doesn’t feel like anger. It just feels loud and misguided.

Fortunately, we then transition to one of the stronger songs on the album, “River”. He discusses a toxic relationship filled with cheating, lies, and an abortion. Eminem has always delivered good bad-relationship songs, so I’m not surprised another one is one of the best on the album. Ed Sheeran’s singing on the chorus is dope, especially at the end when the instruments drop at the end and Sheeran’s tender vocals cap off the track. Cannot complain; its easily the best track so far.

“Remind Me” is the first goofy track on the album. Eminem is taking a break from serious topics like meeting other’s expectations, success and failure, police brutality, and a devastating relationship, to talk about a girl with “implants so big” she could hang him up on her rack, with her “big ol’ tits”. This song is only tolerable because Rick Rubin’s sample was fun to hear. Otherwise, this song is unbearable.

“Like Home” is his next political song. He takes a patriotic stance while criticizing President Trump. And that’s about it. Pretty much a diss track where he spent 8 lines setting up a Hitler punchline and then calling Americans to unite against Trump. Alicia Keys sings the chorus but its nothing heart stopping. Definitely one of the more forgettable songs simply because it wasn’t painful to listen to.

The thing about bad songs or forgettable songs is that if you string too many together, they become more difficult to tolerate. So I’m coming off the heels of the annoying “Remind Me” and forgettable “Like Home”, when I get to “Bad Husband”. Here, he’s talking about how bad he was to Kim, his ex-wife. This song seems good on paper, but two things make it bad: X Ambassadors on the chorus and X Ambassadors on the chorus. X Ambassadors and Eminem do not fit well. Their loud style doesn’t fit the quiet, soft vocals that Eminem implements. It’s also hard to take Eminem’s apology seriously. On the chorus, X Ambassadors call him a 1) lord 2) good father 3) good dad 4) great father. No genuine apology contains repeated self-appraisal. Imagine if someone hits you with their car and says “Wow, I’m such a bad driver. I’m a great manager. Great parent to my kids. I donate to the local homeless shelter. And I baby sit for free. But I’m such a bad driver.” Is that really an apology?

And to that note, I’d take being hit by a car over hearing X Ambassadors on the chorus.

“Tragic Endings” picks up the album. Skylar Grey is amazing on the chorus. The entire song sounds like a sister of “Love the Way You Lie”. This talks about a toxic relationship with someone who doesn’t encourage him. I’m not surprised he once again hits a high point with a bad relationship song. Eminem’s verses are alright, and the instrumentation carries the same tragic-ness that surrounds the content of his verses. Skylar Grey and Eminem have collaborated on multiple songs over the years and they tend to compliment each other well.

Side note: There’s a curse in this album that’s wreaking havoc. After a certain number of bad songs, my appreciation for a song comes from the fact that it doesn’t make me want to take off my headphones. I’m approaching every song with “it can’t get worse than its already gotten”.

Then it got worse... “Framed”. With an instrumental possessing a western, cowboy-saloon vibe and a chorus that creates a “cowboy please shoot me in the head and end it all, this album is torture” vibe, “Framed” is a storytelling track where Eminem is framed for a murder. Apparently, some of his gruesome lyrics are so incriminating that he could be considered a suspect for a murder. Now, I love story telling tracks. One of my favorite records of all time is The Great Adventures of Slick Rick. But Eminem is too old and passed the point of his career where associating with assault, kidnapping, or murder is entertaining and/or interesting. It was shocking in 1999 when he talks about dumping his wife in a pier so he can be with his child without her interference. I would never condone that, but I was highly attentive. But 18 years later, saying you have Ivanka Trump in the back of your car is just creepy. Definitely the worst song on the album.

“Nowhere Fast” features Kehlani on the chorus and exciting violin strings that accompany Eminem’s commentary on the rap game. Kehlani is definitely talented, but I don’t think her style matches Eminem. Overall the song is middle of the road. Not horrible, not amazing.

Now that he’s dissed Trump, talked about a bad relationships, his “killer” lyrics, and the rap industry, it’s time to go back to a fun song and make more jokes about butt & boob implants. “Heat” is very similar to “Remind Me”. They both use a rock and roll sample and discuss the same shallow content. The sample isn’t as entertaining as “Remind Me”, so that makes it harder to tolerate the excessive double entendres and play on words just to illustrate offensive commentary on a woman. I try not to overuse quotes, but I had to save the worst line.

“Girl, you’re just gonna have to put them other chumps on the back burner/You got buns, I got Asperger’s (Ass burgers)”

I mentioned earlier that this next track “Offended” grew on me over time. The issue with tonally switching back and forth is it’s difficult to tell how seriously Eminem takes himself. How can I know Eminem is actually self-conscious about others’ expectations of him, when he immediately calls himself godlike and makes multiple songs about boob jobs? Here, Eminem makes it clear he is trolling and wants to offend and irritate a hater. Once I understood that, I was able to just enjoy it as a dumb track. The instrument is fun and bouncy, and the chorus is extremely childish, but purposely done so that it’s hard to criticize it seriously.

I can sum up the next two tracks, “Need Me” and “In Your Head” as forgettable. “Need Me” is another track about a toxic relationship ft. P!nk’s amazing vocals. Although the ratio of P!nk to Eminem on the song makes me think it should’ve been a P!nk song featuring Eminem. And on “In Your Head” Eminem simply describes his displeasure with past decisions, the most notable part of the song being The Cranberries sample on the chorus, which ended up being wasted on a take it or leave it track.

“Castle” comes outta left field as a MAJOR upgrade from the rest of the album. It almost feels like it belongs on a different album completely. The chorus is slow building with these subtle organ keys and a bassline where the instrumental doesn’t quite kick in but it hints at a explosion about to occur. Liz Rodrigues on the chorus helps Eminem deliver this song; a series of letters that Eminem writes to his daughter, apologizing for things in her life that are impacted by him and his decisions. They’re written in 1995, 1996, and 2007.

The first verse talks about his excitement about having a new baby daughter. The second verse talks about his failed album Infinite and how he’s not sure how he’s going to provide for them, but he’s stumbled onto an idea (The Slim Shady LP, which thrusted him into mainstream success). The third verse is in 2007, where he states his guilt for her life being thrusted in public light, his distaste for fame, his pills addiction. During that time, Eminem was suffering from drug addiction and nearly died from an overdose. The song ends with him taking pills and audibly collapsing onto the floor.

“Arose” picks up where “Castle” leaves off. Eminem talks over a piano ballad and an echo-ey drum that makes you feel like you’re in an empty dark room. Eminem is currently in the ER hooked up to life support machines, talking about the things he’ll miss if he dies in the hospital bed. Amongst other goodbyes, he tells his daughters to take care of each other and he’ll always be in their memory. Truly heart wrenching. But as he says goodbye to everybody, he suddenly fights to stay alive, his heart starts beating, and he recovers. As he recovers, he mentions rewinding the tape of time. Rewinding to before he made the mistake of overdosing.

Then, in an expert display of technical skill and creativity, the track rewinds to the instrumental for “Castle”, and Eminem delivers a final verse that has a much more “onward and forward”, positive outlook. It brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it. He describes shredding the old letters and not letting the past hold him back. And that the first half of the song is what he would’ve wrote to his daughters if he had made it 2 hours later to the hospital, which is about how long the doctor said he would’ve lived if he hadn’t checked in. In this masterpiece of a closer, Eminem connects back to the concept of reviving. Without question, the best song on the album and the best outro of any Eminem album

Final Thoughts

The Intro “Walk on Water” and outros “Castle”/”Arose” feel like they belong on a completely separate album; they’re totally different from the tracks that encompassed the middle. So while those three are great, the album ultimately suffers from inconsistent themes and messages. If Eminem would’ve stuck with vulnerability and maturity, this album would’ve been great. Overall, the project isn’t horrible. But besides the few high points, I’m disappointed.

Top 3 Songs:

1) Arose

2) Castle

3) River

Overall Grade: C-

#music review #album review #hip hop review #hip hop #eminem

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wandringaesthetic · 7 years

Text

Thoughts about Beauty and the Beast (2017)

So I went into this movie not expecting to like it. I really debated on seeing it at all. I think I ultimately decided to see it so that I could pick it apart.

Because I saw all these movies as a kid, man, and Disney is repackaging and reselling their old catalogue. And it’s cheap and it’s tacky and I fucking wish they would do something else.

But I am curious

And while I didn’t leave the theater in a towering rage the way I did with Cinderella

The movie has a couple of really great moments, but other than that has no real reason for existing.

Looking back on the Disney Renaissance movies as an adult, the true beauty of them is the viciously tight storytelling. No moment is ever wasted, no song is unnecessary, there is no scene that could be cut without leaving the film a lesser whole.

Gotta streamline, man. Gotta fit into that 90 minute runtime. The scientifically proven maximum number of minutes you can get a kid to pay attention.

Which is beautiful because it leaves these movies just incredibly dense. There are moments that just ache because there is so much in them and they are gone so fast.

And like The Lion King and Mulan feel epic despite not really being that long.

So what I’m saying is, this story is not improved by fleshing it out. It really only creates more questions.

But I’ll come back to that

I was 5 years old in 1991, and while Beauty and the Beast wasn’t the first movie I saw in theaters, it’s one of the first I have clear memories of.

You know what blew my mind about Beauty and the Beast when I was 5 years old? The ceiling in the ballroom. That someone would paint a ceiling was totally novel to me. And that it would be this artistic representation of opening to the heavens... Like, I think that was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life up to that point.

I also loved the opening flashback and all that stained glass.

I think the character I wanted to be was The Enchantress.

And the end where the castle transformed into being bright and beautiful.

But going back to it after I had hit puberty....

(human) Beast is like the most attractive Disney Prince to me.

I realize this is not a popular opinion.

But that hair. That facial structure. NNnnng.

Oh, and like every other tiny nerdling, I pretty much would have dropped to my knees and cried at that many books

(And in such a beautiful space!)

I think ultimately what I’m seeing here is

Back in the present, it’s not really surprising that what I find most intriguing about the live action version is the damn castle

The change from the fairly well stocked book shop in the animated movie versus the guy with about a dozen books Belle borrowed from makes that scene all the much bigger

Like I imagine Belle thinking “this is more books than I ever expected to see in my entire lifetime, much less all at once”

Emma Watson is not much of a singer

She is a good actress, though.

Gaston (I don’t know the actor’s name) is a motherfuckin great singer

But it doesn’t much matter, because the way his song is done in the movie it just.... loses all momentum several times

And the Beast’s voice is a rumbly mountain of rumbling

Okay, in this version, the Beast’s torso is more or less human, but too big and also furry. Because, you see his mostly naked chest after he’s injured

and I feel a bit like a furry

Which Belle seems to also, based on the delivery of “New, and a bit...

.....alarming.”

Which is one of the two moments which made the movie worth it for me.

The other is La Fou’s lines in “Mob Song”

There's a beast running wild, there's no question But I fear the wrong monster's released

On the whole I found La Fou’s gradual turning on Gaston satisfying.

As big a deal was made of La Fou’s Big Gay Crush on Gaston, it’s almost plausibly deniable

Almost. I can’t read the scene where he switches from trying to convince Gaston to go back for Maurice to taking his side and lying for him as anything other than La Fou turning into a big pile of goo because Gaston is touching him.

Ewan McGregor is of course Ewan McGregor and I love him, but “Be Our Guest” is really just A Lot.

Though I suppose the original is as well.

And I always like new songs, even if some of them are fragmentary.

There’s a couple things I want to try to unpack.

So the original tale is more or less agreed upon to be a parable about young brides learning to love their older/agressive/disagreeable/ugly husbands.

Like... just love him and use all your charms and I’m sure there’s good in him deep down!

Which, you know, ugggggh

Whereas the 2D animated version and I guess this one... are well, fairy tales.

A girl rescues a prince from a curse.

But princesses got it a lot harder rescuing princes than princes do rescuing princesses.

I mean you just gotta kiss the girl, usually, right? I mean sometimes it’s a bit more effort than that. Phillip had to fight Maleficent as a dragon or something? (I’ve watched Sleeping Beauty approximately once)

But what actually does the curse-breaking is the kiss.

Belle had to love her prince, and he had to also love her back, and that’s a lot more difficult and more complicated

What does that mean? I don’t know.

Another thing:

In this version you could read Gaston and La Fou as a kind of Foil to Belle and Gaston

Like through the first half of the movie, La Fou’s kind of reigning in Gaston’s behavior to something socially acceptable, something less beastly, because he likes him, but also because he likes him.

La Fou looks through Gaston’s flaws to see what he admires about him.

But it doesn’t change him. Gaston doesn’t love him back, not even as a friend.

Whereas Belle looks through the Beast’s flaws to see what she admires about him and.... the Beast eventually meets her in the middle.

Which has some unfortunate implications because gay but

*shrug*

That’s all I have to say about that

Finally.

#beauty and the beast #blah blah blah

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