Special Event: atrlcritic | Ed Sheeran's new songs after the upgrade - Page 8

Achilles.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ichinaru19

What is with these low ass scores

Not yall doing so much on Free The Animal and Dressed in Black

lol

We listened to the album and thought:

Ichinaru19

I bet you guys saw the ATRL positive comments so decided to be all hipster

I see you

Tylerbv

Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

To most people, 1000 Forms of Fear is an introduction to Sia Furler after hearing a few hits by her over the last few years such as Titanium and Wild Ones. Sia was not only active as the powerhouse that provided these vocals, but her presence was also found within several other tracks. Her remarkable ability to write solid and unique pop songs has made her name a staple in the songwriting community. Sia brings both her powerful voice and her creativity to this album. The first single Chandelier serves as the opener to the album. This is a thrilling and quick introduction to what can only be described as a winding journey to get to know Sia Furler. Here, Sia's vocals are at their most piercing and are also the most understandable on the album. It's easy to say that Chandelier is the best song of 2014 so far. Following the opener, Sia gives us Big Girls Cry, Burn the Pages, and Eye of the Needle. These songs showcase three very different sides of Sia. We get incredible lyrics (Eye of the Needle), a catchy and uplifting tune (Burn the Pages), and Sia at her most vulnerable (Big Girls Cry). The 1-2-3-4 punch served at the beginning of this album is almost unmatched, and is easily the best since Lily Allen released It's Not Me It's You. The weaker part of the album falls in the middle after the interesting Hostage. Straight For the Knife and Fair Game are solid pop, but are easily forgotten amongst the mix of heartbreaking ballads and catchy pop hits. Elastic Heart picks the album's speed up. This is one of Sia's most commercial songs and would easily do well as a single. The album winds down after the following Halo-inspired Fire Meet Gasoline. Again, this song would do serious damage as a Chandelier followup. Cellophane and Dressed in Black close out the album. Again, these songs are solidly written and performed, but do not leave as much of an impression as the other songs such as Eye of the Needle or Burn the Pages.

In short, Sia's first commercially successful album is a strong one that leaves me, and many other listeners, wanting more. There are no filler tracks or songs I would skip. The upcoming success that Sia receives is not only well deserved, but not enough. I'm already excited for the success that hopefully future singles Elastic Heart and Burn the Pages deliver.

Best 3 tracks: Chandelier, Eye of the Needle, Burn the Pages
Worst 3 tracks: Dressed in Black, Cellophane, Fair Game
Potential singles: Burn the Pages, Elastic Heart, Big Girls Cry, Fire Meet Gasoline

Score: 9.2/10

Doc

Sia - '1000 Forms of Fear'

Boring. I'm bored. The music bores me. It's boredom.

Sia's 100 Forms of Fear is musical languor. I've attempted to listen to this album in full many times now, and I have yet to succeed in reaching Track 4 without feeling as if an entire hour has passed since pressing play. My biggest problem with this record is that everything sounds the same; the beats, the melodies, the vocals—there is very little variation. To my ears, this "album" is nothing but one 48-minute long song. The songs melt into each other, dragging on and on.

The album starts off very promising with the wonderful "Chandelier", easily a contender for Song of the Year. With its heartfelt vocals and personal but catchy lyrics, the album's opener indicates a magical musical experience will follow. Sadly, it never manages to recapture that same magic. I don't doubt that the lyrics continue to be personal, but I honestly wouldn't know because I couldn't understand a word the Australian was singing. In a similar fashion, I'm sure that Sia put as much heart into the rest of the album's vocals as she did in the opener. However, I quickly reached a point where her vocals sounded more like struggle than heart, and I just couldn't take any more of it.

Sia is certainly a talented songwriter, and I have enjoyed many of her past singles and features. However, this album makes it quite clear that she should probably stick to writing for popstars—that's where she truly excels.

_

Grade: D+

Achilles.

Quote:

Originally posted by iHype.

You didn't include a grade on a scale of out of 4,5, or 10.

I love the way we have people rating out of 4, 5 and 10, and others using a letter scale.

iHype.

I didn't even post that. Why are you making lies?

Ichinaru19

Quote:

Originally posted by Doc

Sia - '1000 Forms of Fear'

I've attempted to listen to this album in full many times now, and I have yet to succeed in reaching Track 4 without feeling as if an entire hour has passed since pressing play.

_

D+

You can rate an album without listening to the whole thing?

Ichinaru19

And wouldn't it be easier for the mods to just ask everyone to rate everything on one scale? Isn't it confusing other wise ><?

Aurora

8.6

'1000 Forms Of Fear'

Sia
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Sia's '1000 Forms Of Fear' - the sixth studio album by the Australian singer-songwriter - is certainly an impressive comeback as her first solo release in four years since 2010's 'We Are Born'. After contributing to hits "Titanium" and "Wild Ones", as well as writing the #1 hit in Rihanna's "Diamonds", Sia had a lot to prove when it came time to release her own material again.

"Chandelier" leads the album as both the lead single and first track on the record, and certainly embodies the big, epic chorus that Sia has become known for with her writing. It also contains elements of soaring high in the sky, as many of her other written tracks such as "Radioactive", Diamonds, "Double Rainbow" and "Cannonball" contain, just to name a few. Overall the track is an impressive lead-in to the album and showcases Sia's insane vocal range. This track is, however, the standout track, and not much afterwards can quite sit on its level.

"Big Girls Cry", although chosen as a promo single from the album, doesn't have the same energy that Chandelier does, and doesn't soar nearly as high. "Burn The Pages", however, is the track that probably comes the closest to reaching Chandelier's energy and highs, which somehow leaves me feeling that it's just a lesser version of the track, although catchy in its own right. "Eye Of The Needle", again another promo single choice, seems to aim for the big, epic chorus - which it does achieve - but not to the same degree as Chandelier. Maybe I'm just being too harsh, but in comparison nothing just seems to get quite as high as Chandelier does.

Next up is "Hostage", which is one of the album's most unique tracks, albeit the album's shortest. It has quite a fun, happy vibe to it, which is lacking in the rest of the album's tracks thus far, and the album in general. "Straight For The Knife" returns Sia to her solemn self, but it's not an entirely unwelcome return. After all, ballads are certainly where Sia shines. There is no epic chorus here, but that's not what this song needs. "Fair Game" is another one of the album's oddballs, especially with the random xylophone solo during the bridge of the track. Overall, it's just kind of there, but it's still a nice track. "Elastic Heart", the solo version of the track initially included on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, is another album standout. The production by Diplo and Greg certainly helps this track stand out from the pack. It has a good melody, and a memorable chorus.

"Free The Animal" rounds out the trinity of the album's oddest tracks, and this is probably placed in the middle of the others' in terms of enjoyability. Amongst Sia's chants to be decapitated and glitchy-autotune chorus, the verses are the strongest feature of this song. "Fire Meets Gasoline" is the album's final standout track, and although it does have striking similarities to Beyonce's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" in the chorus, the song is different enough from either to be considered a copy. The song should definitely be released as the follow-up single to "Chandelier", if Sia knows what is best for her. A very powerful track. Next up is the somewhat uneventful "Cellophane", which features some kind of static sound, perhaps crinkling cellophane, simply for the sake of having it. This is perhaps the album's lowest point, although it's not entirely terrible in its own right. It's just there, and seems to drag, despite only being four and a half minutes. On the contrary, the album's final track, "Dressed In Black", which exceeds six and a half minutes, feels much shorter, and is infinitely more interesting. It's another one of the album's brightest lights on a record of otherwise all pretty good songs.

Overall, Sia's '1000 Forms Of Fear' is a solid effort from one of pop's most interesting artists. There are significantly high highs, and for the most part, no real devastatingly low lows. Sia showcases both her songwriting talent and her vocal abilities, all while creating a rather cohesive album with a clear direction.

Individual Track Ratings

Doc

Quote:

Originally posted by Ichinaru19

You can rate an album without listening to the whole thing?

I haven't started from the beginning and reached track 4 without feeling like an entire hour has passed. That doesn't mean I didn't finish playing the album.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ichinaru19

And wouldn't it be easier for the mods to just ask everyone to rate everything on one scale? Isn't it confusing other wise ><?

Some people feel more comfortable with doing it out of 10, others prefer out of 5 or 4, others like using letter grades.

Ichinaru19

Quote:

Originally posted by Doc

I haven't started from the beginning and reached track 4 without feeling like an entire hour has passed. That doesn't mean I didn't finish playing the album.

Ddd I kept reading "I have yet to listen pass Track 4" and I was like "This bitch didn't even listen to the whole thing

"

Don't drag that modscore NoooOOnONonOnono

Quote:

Originally posted by Doc

Some people feel more comfortable with doing it out of 10, others prefer out of 5 or 4, others like using letter grades.

Ok have fun grading the average

skwonderfactory

When "Chandelier" came out and the song it my ears, I was very impressed and taken a back. I had only known Sia from her writing credits so this led me to listen to her other material. I found We Are Born to be my favorite album by her but also "Chandelier" to be one of the best songs of her career. So to say the least I was looking forward to 1000 Forms of Fear. In the end, I was more disappointed then pleased.

My biggest problem is the lack of variety in this piece of work. Many of the songs sound the same and sometimes I feel like the production allows her voice to be drained into the background. Because of this I found no real stand out tracks besides "Chandelier", which is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. In a day and age in which pop music is being pushed in so many directions, the opportunities that this album missed out on are far too many. "Fire Meet Gasoline" and "Eye of the Neddle" are my other favorite tracks. Sure Sia is an amazing writer but that doesn't make up for what may be her worst album to date.

I give 1000 Forms of Fear a 4.6/10.

Ewan Chaos

Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

Release Date: July 4, 2014

"And you’re locked inside my heart, and your melody’s an art, and I won’t let the terror in I’m stealing time, through the eye of the needle."

So Wikipedia could really do a better job of spelling out everything that Sia’s all about and has been a part of, so I won’t bother going too in-depth on that. Basically she worked on a lot of solo music, became big on songwriting and being behind the scenes in the early 10’s (bar singing on 2 DJ tracks that got big), and is now here to release her newest album, which I’m sure some people will say is her debut. Even though it isn’t.

I wanna start with lead single, Chandelier, which people are really overrating as this incredible and Godly track because of her vocals. Yes, her vocals are really good, but the lyrics are really… kinda absurd. The whole 1, 2, 3, drink thing is really odd and basically it’s just odd. As well as her drunken slurring in the verses. Maybe it was intentional and the song is about a drunk person swinging from chandeliers but it doesn’t really work. I mean I GET it now, but… it just doesn’t feel like a great song. It doesn’t help that the following track is so mundane.

Burn the Pages has quite a nice production and Eye of the Needle actually works in all regards. But then we get back to the weaker tracks. Straight for the Knife felt very Lana-ish from the beginning. Free the Animal is very awkward with its mumbling pre-chorus + boring chorus. Then there’s “I see your halo, I mean fire meet gasoline” which feels weird. The album just feels like it should have been over once you got to the second-to-last track.

Part of my irritation with the album is how similar it is. Hostage is really the only track that deviates from the Greg Kurstin sound, and unfortunately too as it’s a cool track. Fair Game is a bit different too with its backing vocals and changing instrumentation, but again that’s about it. I’m a fan of new wave + synthy music too, so it’s a bit strange. Now on that note, I really don’t think the album is bad; it’s just not too good either.

Overall, when you can actually understand what Sia is saying, it’s not really the best lyrics and the production can feel too samey. There are some good tracks on the album. I first heard about Sia from a remix of Breathe Me on Pandora Radio, which I loved. And then the original, which I also loved. Nothing’s really impressed me too much past that point, though.

5.5/10
★★★★★✩✩✩✩✩

Top Tracks: Eye of the Needle, Hostage, Fair Game, Elastic Heart

madonnas

I must admit I thought most people would be giving it higher scores

Not all of us almost collectively agreeing its mediocre.

Achilles.

Quote:

Originally posted by madonnas

I must admit I thought most people would be giving it higher scores

Not all of us almost collectively agreeing its mediocre.

Most of the early reviews were in the 9-10 range, so it should balance out.

WeFoundWill

wooo the negative ratings

This might end up lower than the Metacritic score

jose168

Here we go

I wasn't quite sure how to approach this record at first. The amount of hype it was receiving online was initially offputting, especially post 'Chandelier' which i really feel is good, but not that special. Apon first listen i was immediately bewildered, her vocals are...interesting. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing, but she becomes very difficult to understand. And here's where the problem lies, once you stop, listen closely and hear the lyrics... they are basic. Beyond that, they are soulless, vapid and uninspired. Moreso than the average katy perry track. It seems as a top 40 artist, Sia is still in the mindset of writing demos for other artists that they can easily insert their personas into without much effort, and forgot to put persona into her own records. And while the album does pick up in the later half (more do to the better production, but the lyrics and vocal performances do pick up as well), it isn't nearly enough to save it from the very bad first half of the album. It does however show me an artist with lots of potential, once she stops focusing on making her vocal performance bewildering and actually puts more of that effort into her lyrics.

Final score: 4.8/10

Superiore

Lemme first say, I love this thread. I'll be perched!

Sia - 1000 Forms of Fear

7.3/10

Listening to this for the first time makes you immediately think Miss Furler went all in to reach that commercial success she pretend not to want. This is totally different from her previous releases which felt way more authentic to me. This is certainly her most radio-ready album YET I've got to admit that it's not bad at all.

Her songwriting has been tried by the most different popstars in the last 3 or 4 years, now she decided to keep those strong pop songs for herself. I found several moments of boredom while listening to it but great high moments as well built by her often imperfect vocals that increased the emotional aspects of many songs and the perfect dramatic writing of the choruses, especially the ones for the singles. The standouts are the three singles Chandelier (best pop single of the year, imo), Big Girls Cry and Elastic Heart and the amazing Eye of The Needle.

Basically a mixture of commercial sound but yet with a great input of Sia-ness in it. Probably the best pop album of the year so far.

@michael

1000 Forms of Fear was created in order to capitalize on Sia's recent success as a pop music songwriter. The strategy worked, as the album is set to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200. The irony in this marketing strategy, however, is that very few of those big songwriting hits can be found on this album. Sia's preferred niche is down-tempo adult contemporary schmaltz, and that is what comprises most of this album. It's a bit odd when a singer-songwriter's chosen genre is not the genre that best suits her songwriting and voice. Sia stands out the most with her uptempo, dance, and alterna-R&B music. It's why we love "Titanium", "Wild Ones", and "Diamonds" so much. It's why "Chandelier", "Elastic Heart", and "Free the Animal" are the stand-outs from the album. It's commendable for Sia to stick to her own creative vision and write songs for herself instead of others, but it's hard to achieve this feat when the record label is pushing you as "the woman behind the today's biggest hits". If you can make hits for others, then you might as well put them on your own album, too.

6/10

Pedro

Sia - 1000 Forms Of Fear
The fusion between commercialty and real feeling

'1000 Forms Of Fear' gives the name to Sia's new album. This new work summarizes to the listener who this woman really is, so known for her lyrics - to Pop Royalty - but so unknown from a more intimate point of view: someone insecure, that is scared of giving it all and reserved.

I could go on praising 'Chandelier', the first single and first track of this new album. This track was done for the radios and mixes that known commerciality with this dark feeling. I wouldn't be shocked if it became one of the biggest singles this year and I am sure Rihanna could pull this off really well (actually, it'd be dominating every single chart if it was sung by her).

'Big Girls Cry' has a sonority kinda similar to the first track with that dark feeling (a characteristic that can be heard almost throughout the entire album). It's one of this album's highlights and her vocals sound just like Anastacia's. Actually, it has similarities with Anastacia's track 'Defeated'. The top 3 tracks is closed with the third track... That's right, the beginning of this album is so strong that the other tracks can't find relevancy.

As for 'Eye Of the Needle', it's a good track but not as good as the previous three but it manages to standout due to its place on the setlist. You better be ready for the 'downfall': 'Hostage', 'Straight For The Knife', 'Fair Game' and 'Elastic Heart' are four songs that really don't say much to me. It's not like they're bad, actually 'Straight For The Knife' and 'Hostage' are good!

Thankfully, after this four tracks, 'Free The Animal' and 'Fire Meet Gasoline' brings quality back. They're not as good as the three first tracks but they're really good. 'Cellophane' is one of those tracks you don't even notice, it's the least commercial track on the album and perhaps the worst. The album is closed by 'Dressed In Black', one of the album's highlights too and the longest of the entire album.

In a general point of view, Sia did a good job and gave the listener what he wanted to hear: meaningful lyrics, catchy chorus, a dark vibe mixed with honesty and commerciality and great vocals. It ain't the best album of the year, but it's not the worst either. The three first tracks are really great and deserve to be praised but it's a pitty that 'boring' zone between 'Hostage' and 'Elastic Heart' but never has anyone been forced to listen to an entire album.

3,9/5
8/10