| |
Album: Miguel - 'Kaleidoscope Dream'
Member Since: 6/1/2010
Posts: 65,177
|
I think Kaleidoscope Dream is better and a progression from All I Want Is You, which was a solid debut that was a bit heavily influenced by '90s Hip Hop music. Kaleidoscope Dream is the type of sound we need for R&B to move forward and not be stuck in a box, and it has way more single options than All I Want Is You, which didn't really have a lot of choices.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 2/14/2012
Posts: 9,793
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Cap10Planet
I think Kaleidoscope Dream is better and a progression from All I Want Is You, which was a solid debut that was a bit heavily influenced by '90s Hip Hop music. Kaleidoscope Dream is the type of sound we need for R&B to move forward and not be stuck in a box, and it has way more single options than All I Want Is You, which didn't really have a lot of choices.
|
+1
Spilling the truth I see.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/26/2011
Posts: 57
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Cap10Planet
I think Kaleidoscope Dream is better and a progression from All I Want Is You, which was a solid debut that was a bit heavily influenced by '90s Hip Hop music. Kaleidoscope Dream is the type of sound we need for R&B to move forward and not be stuck in a box, and it has way more single options than All I Want Is You, which didn't really have a lot of choices.
|
That's definitely a lie. All I Want Is You had way more single choices than Kaleidoscope Dream.
Plus, Kaleidoscope Dream sounds like one long song.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 4/7/2009
Posts: 34,961
|
Quote:
Originally posted by mozay0way
That's definitely a lie. All I Want Is You had way more single choices than Kaleidoscope Dream.
Plus, Kaleidoscope Dream sounds like one long song.
|
Recognize that each song flows fluently yet its still diverse, a lot of albums suffer from lack of that.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 11/4/2010
Posts: 34,287
|
Quote:
Originally posted by mozay0way
That's definitely a lie. All I Want Is You had way more single choices than Kaleidoscope Dream.
Plus, Kaleidoscope Dream sounds like one long song.
|
it depends what type of listener you are, but personally i prefer being able to listen to an album from start to finish and feel like it's consistent, flows together coherently and doesn't have any immediately noticeable filler tracks or anything which is out of place. i guess if you're the type of person who prefers a disjointed tracklist filled with songs designed to be radio singles this kind of music isn't really for you.
i definitely feel like it's a progression from his debut though. lyrically it's an improvement, the production sounds more complex and layered and lush to me in comparison to his first album which i still really liked but always felt that the music held it back a little
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 6/1/2010
Posts: 65,177
|
Quote:
Originally posted by mozay0way
That's definitely a lie. All I Want Is You had way more single choices than Kaleidoscope Dream.
Plus, Kaleidoscope Dream sounds like one long song.
|
I disagree.
KD flows like what a great R&B album is supposed to do. It's cohesive and each song has a purpose.
There were like four single worthy singles from All I Want Is You, and all of them were released.
You can't tell me with a straight face that "How Many Drinks," "Kaleidoscope Dream," "Where's The Fun In Forever," "Don't Look Back" and even "Candles in the Sun" wouldn't work as singles after "Adorn" and "Do You..." have run their courses. If Miguel's label plays their cards right, he could be in for a long, successful era.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 11/4/2010
Posts: 34,287
|
for anyone interested, pitchfork gave the album a glowing review. i cbf to trawl through it and bold the good bits so if you're interested, read it and if you're not interested don't bitch about it being too long
Quote:
Since his debut in 2010 with the outstanding "Sure Thing", the young Los Angeles singer/songwriter Miguel has been something of a for-the-R&B-heads-only sleeper star. He showed up armed with a guitar, an endearing croon that is both virtuosic and everyman, a coiffed haircut, and a slightly retro sensibility. His voice is an elastic thing that's rarely used to excessive effect; he avoids the histrionic R. Kelly worship of so many of his compatriots in favor of the school of smooth Sam Cooke ad-libs. And though his lyrics are full of silly puns and earnest platitudes, he takes sex very seriously: He's a happily-married man in a genre full of lascivious bachelors, and his best music radiates maturity, self-assured and confident but rarely showy. But despite his obvious talent, he hasn't quite been able to break through to a wider audience.
Miguel's 2010 debut album, All I Want Is You, was flanked with some stellar singles but weighed down by a lack of identity as he flitted from producer to producer. It sounded like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to be a Salaam Remi faux-nostalgia crooner or a smart hip-hop crossover star, and the indecision hung over the record like a cloud (it didn't perform well commercially either). He returned earlier this year with a free trio of EPs under the self-conscious title of Art Dealer Chic, showing a newfound entrepreneurial sensibility and a streak of independence. Those mostly self-produced songs at times sounded like rough sketches, but they made it up for it by sounding personal and liberated from the demands of the industry. Free and widely available, they earned him some well-deserved re-examination. They also contained his best songs to date. And now, with his second full-length, he's delivered on that early promise.
Kaleidoscope Dream starts off with "Adorn", also found on the first Art Dealer Chic EP. It's one of the giddiest love songs of the year, a track where ecstatic infatuation is hemmed in by Miguel's understated vocal dexterity, and this album feels like its proper context. He rockets off into falsetto for irresistibly brief moments, and a new outro spirals elegant, trained vocal gymnastics around the song's chorus. "Adorn" also showcases Miguel's secret weapon: modesty. It's definitively, deceptively simple, a nugget of concentrated sunshine, and not necessarily all that original. But I'll be damned if it doesn't pull you in and make you feel it.
That touch of modesty colors most of Kaleidoscope Dream. There's the tender "Use Me" where he admits being nervous about having sex with the lights on. Even more affecting is the acoustic murmur "***** Is Mine", which deflates masculinized hip-hop tropes with insecurity, pleading, "Tell me that the ***** is mine/ 'Cause I don't wanna believe that anyone is just like me." The sentiment turns sardonic on the Ryan Leslie-like jaunt of "How Many Drinks?", where gorgeous falsetto verses are offset by uncertain pleas of "I don't wanna waste my time."
The plush, lightly psychedelic production buffers the record's more barebones moments, and Miguel's precocious vocals take flight on the bombast rather than drowning in it. Standout "Do You..." unfolds in an ethereal cloud of synth, voices streaming like angelic choirs before stumbling into a verse buoyed by its own euphoria. Not many singers could get away with lines like "What about matinee movies/ Pointless secrets/ Midnight summer swim, private beaches/ Rock, paper, scissors/ Wait! best outta three!" It's the stuff of unbearable rom-com montages, but Miguel's playful delivery brings it over. He's the rare vocalist who makes you feel what he's singing about, even when his lyrics can be transparent. When he wants to sound deadly serious, he's on the verge of tears; when he's happy, he's practically laughing as he sings.
Kaleidoscope Dream has elements of the sort of tasteful R&B record that the Grammys love, but much like Beyoncé's 4, it cuts through its own statuesque stateliness with raw emotion reined in by an ever-present sense of professionalism. And it succeeds in part because it sounds like Miguel's album and no one else's. There are no intrusive guest appearances, and the record sounds even less of its time than the first, reveling in its own contextual vacuum with abandon. Though there are some unexpected choices. Like "Don't Look Back", which is propped up by grand synth runs before melting into an interpolation of the Zombies' "Time of the Season". That song's musky psychedelia is a good example of the record's overarching theme, the highly sexualized seen through the lens of the eager and innocent.
When Miguel isn't accompanied by glossy synths, the music is all about intimacy. Take "Arch & Point"-- with a simple rasp, strum, and metronome, it sounds like it was recorded in the very bedroom it's ostensibly taking place in. "When it feels this good then it just comes natural," he insists, and there's not a better ethos for where his career stands at this point. Emerging unscathed from middling mainstream performance, Kaleidoscope Dream sounds, at its utmost, natural and easy, an artist set free to do what he wants and proving himself every bit the unique voice his debut seemed to deny. It's respectful of tradition, quietly ambitious, and deeply personal, a wonderfully considered album from an artist who was starting to seem a lot like a forgotten gem in the wake of mishandled promotion.
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 6/1/2010
Posts: 65,177
|
Well-deserved review 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/14/2010
Posts: 2,558
|
Miguel and Frank Ocean are doing incredible things for male RnB right now, Im so happy I could cry. Hopefully it sparks the "older" guys (Chris, Trey, Usher, Neyo) to get back to make good RnB.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 7/13/2004
Posts: 12,079
|
i just downloaded this yesterday and I ****in love it.
|
|
|
|
ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 12/7/2008
Posts: 87,284
|
His voice is so flawless  The album flows good 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/20/2009
Posts: 3,275
|
Do You is my jam.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 6/1/2010
Posts: 65,177
|
Predicted to sell 30-35k next week. Nice hold. 
And "Adorn" is #27 on the Hot 100 this week. 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 2/14/2012
Posts: 9,793
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Cap10Planet
Predicted to sell 30-35k next week. Nice hold.
And "Adorn" is #27 on the Hot 100 this week. |
So proud!
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 4/3/2011
Posts: 7,281
|
Just listen the whole album and it's really brillant.
Adorn - Use me - Kaleidoscope Dream - How Many Drinks ? - Candle In The Sun >>>> Some entire albums released this year. He really deserves success
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 12/20/2011
Posts: 3,410
|
Finally getting into this record, I vibe it.
How Many Drinks, Do You, Don't Look Back, and Adorn >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 2/14/2012
Posts: 9,793
|
This, Perfectly Imperfect, Two Eleven, Pressure, Looking 4 Myself and channel ORANGE are a must for everyone who loves a real, soulful r&b record.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 1/8/2011
Posts: 27,650
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Cap10Planet
Predicted to sell 30-35k next week. Nice hold.
And "Adorn" is #27 on the Hot 100 this week. |
Cool, I wonder how long they're going to wait till they send Do You to radio.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/6/2012
Posts: 2,594
|
Miguel is so good. I'm happy more people are paying attention.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 6/3/2011
Posts: 14,194
|
Sucks that the new rules spoiled "Adorn"s flawless run on R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Quote:
Originally posted by NikkiFloresFan
Miguel and Frank Ocean are doing incredible things for male RnB right now, Im so happy I could cry. Hopefully it sparks the "older" guys (Chris, Trey, Usher, Neyo) to get back to make good RnB.
|
Usher did make a couple of good songs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
