The album just delivered what was missing in a lot of pop in 2015, personality (so I guess if you aren't receptive to Demi's personality, you probably won't like the album ). It was also a big, overblown spectacle. I mean, there's the Black Skinhead beat of the title track (and the entertaining as hell video for the song), the eerie Wildfire, the turbo-charged Cool For The Summer, the over-the-top Gagaisms of Stone Cold, and even ballads like For You seemed to be ready to blast off to Venus. It was just a big, fun, pop album. I loved it, and it definitely stood out in a slightly boring and low key 2015. It would be higher, but it's dragged down by a couple of the more predictable songs like Kingdom Come and Old Ways. Still though, I can't help but shake the feeling that I have this a little underrated.
She kind of deserves to be one of the biggest things in country music right now. Mickey is definitely talented. The lyrics seem to tell the story of a person that is triumphant after a break-up, but still has a melancholic heart-broken edge to it that suggests that she may be stronger after moving on, but is still vulnerable and recovering. There is restraint and subtlety here that is refreshing in a country scene dominated by the Miranda Lamberts of the world that only seem to have one emotional setting.
I was pretty hyped for Caracal after hearing this one. It seemed to take the sound of Settle and make it more populist and fun, being more concerned with being a people pleaser than trying to be cool. I was wrong of course, Caracal was an overly polished and refined album that ended up glossing over the fun of the majority of the tracks, a no-no for a dance album, and well, the album was just a moderate disappointment (although there were a couple highlights). Bang That succeeds where a lot of the album cuts fails, it actually wants you to dance (or at least get up and more) first and foremost, and that should have been the focus of the album.
"Breathe Out. Breathe In. American Oxygen" should have been an iconic opening line. There has been a lot that has gone wrong with Rihanna's Anti era, but the music hasn't been one of those things. American Oxygen is one of Rihanna's most ambitious singles, if not her most ambitious. A dramatic piano kicks off the song, blowing it wide open, a churning synth kicks in giving it a mechanical grind. The whole song feels bleak and bombed out giving the patriotic sounding lyrics an ironic, biting edge. She definitely has the right to simultaneously celebrate or criticize (depending on your point of view) the country for encouraging hustling your way to success, she did it herself afterall. It's a statement song in a time when pop artists seem to be afraid of making statements which was rihfreshing this year.
This song is admitedly a hot mess. It's a Frankenstein's monster made up of several different pop songs (maybe this is appropriate considering Jamie Foxx's chorus of **** a zombie): Christina's Your Body. Usher's Good Kisser, and even Ariana's own Problem. It's not Ariana's best single, and I kind of hope she takes things in the R&B direction of her Christmas EP for Moonlight, but the Focus buzz single was a fun time. Firstly, "Let's find a light inside our universe now / Where ain't nobody keep on holding us down / Just come and get it, let them say what they say / Cause I'm about to put them all away" is anthemic. Also, the brass instruments are a great hook and provide just the right amount of swagger, and that chorus is lightly funky in the best possible way, boring liberally from Usher's recent singles. The song doesn't quite come together completely, but I love each individual section of the song enough for it to be one of the more interesting singles out there, and it shows that she's experimenting with her sound and that's respectable. .
In my defense, country is kind of huge where I live, and although Luke Bryan's Kill The Lights was kind of a disappointment Kick The Dust Up was great. It's a silly and completely ridiculous song, but Luke sings it as if turning a corn field into a party is the most urgent thing in the world. He fully commits to the song and to his mission statement of being country's number one party starter and I love it. This is also the last country song here.
Replies
It's too low, Blootransformers. 
(except Demi's 
Demi kind of is obnoxious and I may have hated on her before, and still might for fun, but confident is a solid listen. 
Demi slay with this album!
but I do like the title track.
Your taste as always 
