...only Shaun and I on the dream road trip, then...:laugh:...I thought it was a really accomplished album, which isn’t fully appreciated on first listen...

The Slow Rush Review

Tame Impala had a lot to live up to after Currents and whilst on first impressions TSR didn’t blow me away, it’s definitely been a grower. Whilst their 2015 hit went for a more psychedelic sound, they seemed to have returned to the roots laid out by their first two albums with this one. Whilst I didn’t care for One More Hour and found that a couple of tracks overstayed their welcome, there’s some really good stuff here. Glimmer definitely feels like a missed opportunity (as did Disciples from their last album) and the endings being switched up on Posthumous Forgiveness/Breathe Deeper felt a bit disjointed, but Lost In Yesterday is probably one of their best songs yet. Overall, pretty good!

Highlights: Lost In Yesterday / One More Year / Borderline / Breathe Deeper / Is It True / It Might Be Time

Album Rating: 8/10

Okay, after five reviews Tame Impala end up with a decent score of 71. As always, late reviews are welcome and will amend the score.

I originally had Grimes pencilled in for this week but given one of the biggest popstars in the world has just surprise-released an album, it seems only sensible to hop aboard that train whilst it's still hot and get her out of the way. Therefore, this week's album is "folklore" by Taylor Swift, and will be edited into the OP shortly!

This better not push back La Roux!!!

irrelevant Taylor had to randomly release folklore now :idc:

...would it be okay to add Phoebe Bridgers/Punisher to the future list also as its one that I’m listening to a lot right now, so already quite familiar...:laugh:..

yeah I need to get around to listening to that at some point, so I guess that'll be album #12 :eyes:

It's a very listenable album, there's few tracks as catchy as your typical Taylor Swift earworm but it's pleasant enough. There's a handful of tracks I've added to my Liked Songs but there's a lot of filler on this album. I feel like I have this criticism for every album but the tracklist could have done with some editing since there's a few songs that sounded so similar to each other that they melded into one.

I think the lyrical quality is quite underwhelming across the board too, you can tell this was her attempt at a prestige album but the more lowkey sound doesn't really mesh well with her lyrics a lot of the time.

When it comes to Taylor's albums, it's better than most but I don't think I can rate it higher than a 6/10.

....so..what can I say, I’m really bad at music/album reviews but Shaun will hit me if I just give a rating/score...Taylor Swift is an artist that I confess, I’ve rarely listened to...well, only her chart songs, I’ve never listened to a full album of hers before...and Folklore is FULL, with 16 songs...but I’ve been having a Taylor morning and have listened to each and every one...with each individual song, I would say that it’s hard to find a stand-out, an exceptional one..?..and yet, every one of them is really quite lovely and as an album, it would be hard to choose a favourite because they all flow so beautifully and tell a story...there is an American artist who is a favourite artist of mine...Edward Hopper...and his art was famous for showing isolated figures ...looking at them through a window or a doorway etc...they showed loneliness and nostalgia and human touch and contact and so many emotions in a nostalgic American way...for me..?...that’s what this album is, it’s a listening version of an Edward Hopper painting and it leaves you feeling so much and very thoughtful and thought provoking and all of that jazz...and yet, no real stand out, exceptional track...?...how can that be...



...I will say 8/10...


...edited to give a special mention to tracks and in no particular order...August, Peace, Invisible String and This is Me Trying...

Where do I stand on Taylor Swift? 1989 and Red were great, and were looking likely to be her peak since Reputation was garbage and Lover was just 'fine'. All of the thinkpieces written about her are, largely, a boring waste of time - I cannot really understand why so much hate or love is expressed about a popstar so...plain and boring? Neither of those are insults by the way, she's not really done anything objectionable since the "write about my celebrity ex" days where everything was an annoying flouting of victimhood by Kanye West, Harry Styles and whoever else. She's obviously grown up and is able to craft a song without the intention of it being covered by Entertainment Weekly, now.

Certainly, her shift towards more vocal politics is interesting and the most obvious example of her breaking from the shackles of record label expectations - I'd imagine her legal issues over her back catalogue and Scooter Braun being a colossal dickhead helped fuel this "no ****s given" approach - and I guess, in turn, that's made her more of an artist with something to say than just a singer lamenting their romantic issues.

But all of that out of the way... I have to say the critics may have oversold this to me. I went into this expecting a Norman ****ing Rockwell-style return to form, and whilst it's not bad, it's... not blowing me away. There are some very, very nice tracks that have a captivating quality that'll keep me coming back for repeated listens (see: the highlights below), but there are some that just pass me by without making an impression. I was under the illusion that 'Cardigan' was the main single from this... but why? It's one of the least memorable tracks.

It should come as no surprise that Jack Antonoff is behind most of the highlights for me; his work with Lorde, Lana, St Vincent and Carly Rae Jepsen in recent years has made for the best chunks of pop. Unfortunately, of his contributions, 'Mirrorball' sticks out as a particular misfire... just doesn't do anything for me. I expected a little more of 'Exile' too, since I love Bon Iver, but it's not going to stand the test of time as a high point in either of their discographies.

The two clear standouts for me are Epiphany and My Tears Ricochet. The former is simple and beautiful, a real time-standing-still moment that's bound to be used in at least 10,000 fanmade videos of Twitter users' favourite film and TV heartbreaks, whilst the latter feels the most like a standalone single that should've been the lead.

Highlights: My Tears Ricochet, Invisible String, Seven, This Is Me Trying & Epiphany
Avoid: Cardigan, Mirrorball, Mad Woman

I'm not sure if it's an 8/10, but it feels better than a 7.5... so I'll bust out my first annoying random decimal score here and give it a 7.9 :spin2: Shave off a couple of tracks and it could easily be an 8.

...I seriously was going to give it a 7.9 as well ..:laugh:..but I just so hate messy numbers...it jars with my OCD, I just couldn’t bring myself to type it but that 8 is so curvy and lovely and perfectly formed...:flutter:..

Taylor has been a difficult one for me, until now. her first two records are skips apart from love story, just really not my cup of tea. then she knocked it out the park with red, and then even more with one of the best pop albums of all time; l989. I loved reputation and it's whole vibe at the time but a good 70% of the tracks on the album have kind of aged terribly for me. Lover then came and that was a corny mess, the only stand out to me was false god. and to my absolute surprise miss thing has given us an album with 16 false god like tracks :flutter:

this is taylor's most cohesive album, a prober stripped down album done RIGHT!. she's a brilliant song writer which i've especially noticed on; cardigan, my tears ricochet, august, invisible string, mad woman and betty (bi taylor :eyes:). there's just such a soft, somber mood across the album that just doesn't get boring.

highlights included exile, mad woman and my tears ricochet, mirror ball, seven, august, this is me trying are all probably now some of my favourite taylor songs of all time. the only negative I can think of is that I wish the album had a stronger outro.

9/10

listened to few songs more, urgh :(

it lacks bops for sure, what 1989 has still a lot of what i still like


i apologize for what i said too in taylor folklore album thread, if other people like it, fine, it is different from all her other work anyway, if i have to find anything positive

but not my personal cup of tea, i rather enjoy listening to 1989 all over again

5.5/10

before i get any comments like, you shouldn't have done a review on folklore, yes since i am its biggest (maybe only) critic so my honest opinion counts too

those who do like the album, i mean it you should ignore me, and just enjoy it

Actually remembered to review this one :worry:

I went into this album with an open mind but not being a Swift fan at all, I mean, the last song of hers I liked was Love Story back when I was a hormonal teenager with a crush on a new straight guy every other month, that was the life.

While none of the songs are necessarily bad, I just couldn’t get into the album as a whole, I get the whole folk theme and her wanting to put her feelings on paper after the last year or so she’s had and it’s kind of cute, but there isn’t much variety, it’s all much of the same to me, it bleeds together like one big album of cheesy American prom slow dance music, it’s not really for me.

Quite enjoyed Invisible String and Betty though.

Have to give it a 5/10

I am not allowing one of the year's biggest releases to sail by with just six bloody scores!

I’ll do this later

I’m gonna give folklore a 7/10 because it’s just far too long and if it was 10 tracks/about 40-45 mins long it’d be a lot better. I don’t really find any of the individual tracks amazing either, they range from boring to decent to good. Favs are the 1, seven and invisible string. Listening to the album in a single sitting is quite a chore because of all the filler you have to slog through so yeah

Like imagine this as the tracklist

The 1
Cardigan
Last great american dynasty
My tears ricochet
Mirrorball
Seven
August
This is me trying
Invisible string
Betty

Wouldn’t that be stunning girls?

Folklore Review

Given the acclaim this has received, I went in to this expecting great things and it really wasn’t anything more than fine for me. It feels 5/6 tracks too long, there wasn’t anything particularly evoking and I just can’t see myself ever listening to it in full again. It’s certainly not a bad album. the 1, cardigan, mirrorball and peace are all nice; august and invisible string are probably my favourites. I couldn’t help but find exile (ft Bon Iver) and the last great american dynasty to be absolute cringe fests. Overall, there’s just nothing here that pops out for me.

Highlights: august / invisible string / the 1 / cardigan / mirrorball

Album Rating: 6.5/10

Whitney point @ the exile shade i hate it

Honestly it’s like Elton’s verse in Sine, makes my skin crawl

Get rid of my tears ricochet and add mad woman and illicit affairs

The worst two tracks for me are epiphany and my tears richochet

It took me a few listens to get on board with this album, the first time the only tracks that stood out to me were the one, Betty and epiphany. It’s definitely a grower and it’s definitely not easy listening music as all the songs sound very similar. Generally I don’t think the acclaim the album is getting is deserved, I think a lot of the time surprise releases are over acclaimed because everyone is on the hype bandwagon. That being said it’s still a decent album, I think if you cut two or three of the tracks it’d be a lot better as an hour + for an album is a tad too long imo.

I’d like to see how much some of the songs would have changed had they stuck to the original November release date, perhaps some would be a bit more uptempo as opposed to the very sombre feeling throughout. I’d give it 7.5/10

Alright then, after nine reviews, Taylor Swift ends up with a TiBB score of 69! Nice.

We move on, now, to Grimes. 'Miss Anthropocene' was released back in February of this year, and is Grimes' fifth studio album. It's a comfortable little 44 minutes compared to some of the slogs we've had to endure on here so far, and so we have a week to gather our thoughts on an album we may already have some on :pipe2: I'll edit the Spotify link for this album into the OP.

As always, late reviews for any of the previous albums are welcome and will affect the scores.

...bump for me because I completely forgot ...sorry Shaun, I’m just starting to listen now with my first track...anyway, bumpity bump people, while I’m here...

...oh gosh this is really quite gorgeous...that’s my review...:laugh:..

...this really isn’t a one time listen to album...(...I guess albums in general aren’t ...)...and I have only listened to it in full, one time...I have though, listened to a few tracks in more of a loop, several times...I’m not even sure how much I like the album...:laugh:...but it’s totally absorbing, totally encompassing and mesmerising...similar to Slow Rush, it’s an album that takes you on a journey or that would accompany you on a journey...not so much a road trip, though...a space trip or a trip looking at the earth from afar...it’s like a siren beckoning you to a mystical place...there is so much about this album that reminds me of David Bowie in his earlier albums...


...I shall score 9.2/10, even though I don’t like messy numbers...it just has to be more than a 9 but never a 10....


...standout tracks in no particular order....Delete Forever, Violence, Darkseid, My Name is Dark, We Appreciate Power and So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth...

I've created a decimal monster :worry:

I listened to this a long time ago and whilst I can't quite recall every thought I had on it, here's some basics... I got the deluxe so had the remixed tracks too, and I think I prefer the standard edition versions of IDORU, My Name is Dark and So Heavy... but I preferred the remixed version of Violence.

There's only really one track I don't keep coming back to and that is 'Before the Fever'. All of the others have a lot about them that keeps me interested. My favourites are definitely 'Violence (Club Mix)', 'Delete Forever', 'IDORU' and '4AEM'.

I was fearful because heading into this album she had the whole messy Azealia Banks drama, and married a delusional psychopath... but thankfully it doesn't seem to have impacted the music.

I'm gonna give it a strong 9.

I don't think it's as strong as her last album but I'm very fond of it. I've gone back to it a lot and listened to it in full frequently when usually, I'll pick my favourites from most albums and usually stick to them.

9/10

I think this is one of her strongest to date as it's shorter and thus no track really feels like filler..it's a busy album that has a lot going on which is something I like, plus whilst the concept is a bit confusing, it's an interesting one. This album has the ethereal feeling the greats like Kate Bush and Bjork where you feel you're completely in another universe for the duration of the album.

Favourites: So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth, 4AEM, New Gods, My Name Is Dark

9/10

FAVOURITE ALBUM THIS YEAR :love: everything about this project I enjoy, the whole climate change / alien theme of it all. (her last album before she leaves earth : worry: ) I would say grimes is the most interesting artist of this generation. She’s stepped up her game with every release for me. It’s hard to find a signature track for me but 4AEM stands out, IDORU and Delete Forever are beautiful. Darkseid is phenomenal, love New Gods as well.

10/10 for our queen and her little baby anti-christ

5 reviews so far, deadline is tonight! :spin2:

Miss Anthropocene Review

I’ve never really listened to Grimes properly before so I jumped in not really knowing what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised! Violence was easily the standout track for me and whilst I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to some of them again, none of the album was awful or unlistenable. I loved the sound she’s gone for, definitely unlike anything else out at the moment. I‘m also glad that it only stands at 10 tracks, it doesn’t wear out its welcome. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect by any means, but it’s extremely solid.

Highlights: Violence, So Heavy I Fell Through The Earth (Art Mix), 4AEM, My Name Is Dark (Art Mix)

Album Rating: 7.5/10

well then... after six reviews, Grimes storms into the TiBB leaderboard with a phenomenal aggregate score of 90. That's going to take some beating :omgno:

Week 11, as promised, is going to be spent revisiting the February release of La Roux's third album, "Supervision". It's her first in six years, so be nice or she'll piss off again! The album link will be crammed into the OP. Happy listening x

...I only just realised yesterday that you put the album links in the OP....oooop....

Can somebody do a leaderboard thing with all the reviews so far i cba i’m fat

....so...ladies and gentleman of the class of 2020, Listen to an Album...if I could offer you only one tip for the future, discovering an album would be it....the long term benefits ...etc, etc....I’m realising how much I’ve missed out for a long time by not listening to full albums in the way that I’m doing now...it’s a bit like having a story out of context, just little excerpts and highlights, type thing....Jake introduced me to La Roux a long while ago but I hadn’t really properly listened to her quite the same as this....only 8 tracks though, is that right...did I play the whole album...?...it was actually quite delicious with lots of layers of cake for ya eardrum...it’s hard with only 8 tracks to pick standouts because each one is most definitely as electro and as funky as the last...but I’ll say 21st Century, Do You Feel and Gullible Fool are very memorable and very playable/repeatable....


....ughhhh, I seem to be stuck in a messy number groove....I’d say a very strong and very likeable 7.8/10....

...is this what you mean..?...(..you’re not fat though..)...


Grimes - Miss Anthropocene — Score: 90
Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? — Score: 87
Lady Gaga - Chromatica — Score: 83
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters — Score: 82
Soccer Mommy - Color Theory — Score: 79
Haim - Women In Music Pt. III — Score: 74
Tame Impala - The Slow Rush — Score: 71
Taylor Swift - folklore — Score: 69
The Weeknd - After Hours — Score: 68
The 1975 - Notes on a Conditional Form - Score: 53