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Special Event: atrlcritic | Ed Sheeran's new songs after the upgrade
Member Since: 8/31/2013
Posts: 12,948
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Taylor Swift - "Shake It Off"
I was gladly surprised with the new direction that Taylor has embraced this era. I have always preferred the pop Taylor over the country one, mostly because I don't like country music at all.
Then she surprised me even more when she released this single and the video at the same time. I didn't expect anything like this. A fun, light-hearted song that disses haters and leads her fans to follow her with the "I don't care" attitude.
The lyrics aren't very deep or complicated, but they do the song justice. The same goes for the production, cute and well executed. We all know Taylor's vocals aren't out of this world, but this song doesn't require them to be and she doesn't try to oversing, which is a good point too.
The bridge part when she talks is nothing very exciting as to build up the last chorus but it is okey as a way to tone the beats a bit down and get ready for the chorus after it.
Overall, a fun song that doesn't ask for a lot and that anyone can enjoy.
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Member Since: 8/31/2013
Posts: 12,948
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That was my first review. English is not my first language so it was a bit hard for me to express everything I wanted to say. But I think it is okey after all 
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 27,856
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Break The Rules
Miss XCX is back with her follow up single from her second studio album, "Sucker". With carefree lyricism and shouting reminiscent of her self-written breakthrough hit "I Love It" (which she was a featured artist on), Charli was always bound to have another potential hit on her hands. The hook includes a neatly placed dance break. The grungy feel of the break helps her to retain a trace of her sound from her debut album "True Romance", while still integrating it into an easily adoptable mainstream anthem. "Break The Rules" allows Charli to shine, and demonstrates why she needs to become a mainstream pop girl.
9/10
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Member Since: 4/7/2009
Posts: 34,961
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Quote:
Originally posted by maiko
Now I am genuinely concerned  |
I don't know anymore.
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Member Since: 4/22/2012
Posts: 33,490
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FKA Twigs - LP1: 9/10
This isn't an album for a quick fix; for a hasty listen while you are on the run. At least for me, LP1 works best in quiet surroundings, where I am able to completely dive into it and let it take me into its own world. It is such a subtle and minimalistic album that, if listened to in a noisy setting, all the amazing, well placed details - in both sound and lyrics - will fade into the backgruond and become unnoticeable.
It took me quite a few listens to get into this album, I'm not gonna lie. On first impression, the songs can seem bland and sparse, directionless, like more or less random arrangements of sounds, vocals and lyrics. But once you get used to it and past that barrier of confusion, you will realise that's exactly where LP1's beauty lies: all this space, it's not wasted emptiness, it's room to breathe for these songs, which continue to unfold themselves more with every spin of the album.
That's why it's worth giving this album a chance; it's such a rewarding experience to keep discovering the different layers in each of the songs, and it's also refreshing to see with what confidence FKA Twigs serves such an album - and as a debut nonetheless-, that requires an effort from the listener, patience and an attention-span that's longer than the 5 seconds that have become the norm in our fast-paces, overstimulated, digital age.
So FKA Twigs sings with confidence on this album but it's not the bubbling or boasting kind. It's determined, but graceful, dignified, elevated - in short it's the kind of confidence you would attribute to a goddess, exactly like the one she embodies in the video for Two Weeks. She makes it clear that she is untouchable for the listener, she clearly distances herself, and although she doesn't do it in a condescending way, it does create a certain lack of emotion occasionally. However, this does actually go well with the songs, as that feeling of being emotionally detached plays into the whole minimalistic vibe, and it needs to be said that most of the time, Twigs's vocals actually sound rather warm, seductive and/or spiritual/ethereal, perfectly complimenting every track.
And that might be the most amazing thing about this album, the cohesion, and how every song kind of blends into each other in the mood and atmosphere that builds itself around the listener. The production is beautiful, always enhancing, never overbearing, and you can just tell that everyone who had a part in creating this album was totally in sync with each other. That alone makes it a piece of art.
This album might seem underwhelming and boring when you first hear it, but if you give it a chance and open yourself to its greatness, you will soon be enlightened and rewarded with a breathtaking listening experience.
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Member Since: 4/30/2011
Posts: 21,827
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Quote:
Originally posted by maiko
Now I am genuinely concerned |
Let me not. 
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 43,973
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Taylor Swift and Max Martin said they got back together to make something new and fresh, if by that they meant copy-pasting different pop songs to make a new one, then they did it. Shake If Off is heavily influenced by OutKast's hit song Hey Ya! The vocals are very reminiscent of Miley Cyrus's 7 Things. When she references Robyn's Dancing On My Own, she should've just sampled that part of the song. She also sings "Playa gonna play, haters gonna hate", when did she lose her originality and maturity. It's hard to believe that this is the same woman who wrote Back To December or White Horse.
The lyrics are lazy and she delivers them without confidence. When she sings "I go on too many dates
But I can't make 'em stay
At least that's what people say" she sounds sad and that made me sad. It should've made me laugh because she's trying to make fun of herself but instead I just want to give her a hug. The key to a successful inspirational song is confidence and conviction, two qualities Taylor lacks when she sings Shake It Off.
I know it takes a lot of courage to abandon your main genre and explore new things but if you are going to do that, you have to bring your A game and give the listeners a flawless Pop song. The saddest part is that we know what she's capable of: Love Story was a huge crossover to Pop radios and it was perfect and effortless, We Are Never Getting Back Together was very Pop but still had some Country and Folk elements, I Knew You Were Trouble was pure Pop and it was amazing. Shake It Off is an unoriginal and basic song that can be sung by any Pop girl with a cute face. She definitely took few steps back with this song.
For such an important album, a transitional album, Taylor needed to come up with something better than I Knew You Were Trouble or something just as good, not a generic Max Martin production that sounds like a collage of several hit Pop songs and with cheesy, childish and very repetitive lyrics. I hope the rest of the album doesn't sound like this.
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Member Since: 3/14/2013
Posts: 37,294
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  | After almost 2 years since her lead single from her album "Red" has been released, Taylor Swift decides to come back with another poppy, fun, yet generic song called "Shake It Off". The good point is that the song is catchy and it has a good replay value as it grew on me after the first few listens and I almost like it. But this doesn't change the fact that it has some bad parts too. First one, the way way way too pitched vocals. She doesn't need that, and I can't understand why she did that. From the first lyric you can ask yourself "Is that Taylor?". Also, I feel that both melodically, and as a structure, the track is too similar to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". Taylor has been criticized before for taking some influences from Avril in her song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", but now it's too much. The bridge is obviously similar to the one from "Girlfriend".
Overall, I think the song is good, but too generic. I hope Max Martin's production won't be the same all over the album, because he can do good stuff too. And I really need her vocals to be natural the next time. |
Score: 4.7/10
Other reviews
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Member Since: 8/31/2013
Posts: 12,948
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Quote:
Originally posted by e437
| After almost 2 years since her lead single from her album "Red" has been released, Taylor Swift decides to come back with another poppy, fun, yet generic song called "Shake It Off". The good point is that the song is catchy and it has a good replay value as it grew on me after the first few listens and I almost like it. But this doesn't change the fact that it has some bad parts too. First one, the way way way too pitched vocals. She doesn't need that, and I can't understand why she did that. From the first lyric you can ask yourself "Is that Taylor?". Also, I feel that both melodically, and as a structure, the track is too similar to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". Taylor has been criticized before for taking some influences from Avril in her song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", but now it's too much. The bridge is obviously similar to the one from "Girlfriend".
Overall, I think the song is good, but too generic. I hope Max Martin's production won't be the same all over the album, because he can do good stuff too. And I really need her vocals to be natural the next time. |
Score: 4.7/10
Other reviews
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Not with Shake it Off as your avi and with hearts under your username... 
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Member Since: 4/30/2011
Posts: 21,827
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Quote:
Having shaken up the blogosphere with her marvelous EP2 in late 2013, London-based songstress, dancer and all-round talent Tahliah Barnett, better known under her stage name FKA twigs, delivered undoubtedly one of the best albums of the year with her debut LP1, which was released earlier this month.
Sonically, the album finds itself somewhere between Burial-esque electro subtleness and glitchy, often distorted soundscapes à la James Blake – all that without loosing its appeal as pop record. Barnett's warm, delicate vocals may seem strange, even unfitting at first, however they blend perfectly with the masterful and often cold production of the record and ultimately create a unique and somewhat haunting atmosphere. The choir-like vocals on album opener "Preface" ("I love another, and thus I hate myself") and standout "Closer" only add to the spiritual vibe.
Actual closer "Kicks" starts off with ghostly moans. After the slow verses, the soaring chorus (literally) kicks off and turns the song from eerie to straight up pearly, only to fall back shortly after. In the last two minutes, the track keeps elevating until it finally floats away. What now? The album has ended and so has twigs' journey about love, heartbreak and everything in between on which she has taken the listener throughout.
You might – scratch that, you will feel overwhelmed, maybe even a bit confused after your first listen. Yet there's no other way but to keep revisiting the album to grasp more and more details of twigs' profound music and its message – if only to make sense of everything that just came your way. Over time, the album manages to draw you in so deeply that it's very hard not to get lost in it; a quality that is very rare in music, at least for me personally.
With LP1, twigs has made it clear that, after all, she's not just a number, but rather a promising newcomer to watch out for in the future. LP1 is only just the beginning, and a pretty monumental one at that.
— 10/10
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 11,808
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Taylor Swift - Shake It Off Review by Latch
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Member Since: 1/1/2014
Posts: 8,995
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Taylor Swift "Shake It Off"
8.3/10
When lead pop single "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was released from Red in 2012, I was never very impressed. However, nearly 2 years later going into her 5th studio album 1989, which is also an all pop album, Taylor Swift has released "Shake It Off" which is about shaking off the haters. Clearly Max Martin, Shellback, and Taylor know a big music trend is horns so they included them on the track. There is nothing wrong with that however. The trio's song here has to be one of the catchiest song ever and possible Taylor's greatest music video. I love the bridge and chorus as it is just purely fun and has a positive message. Although Swift's love songs are nice and sometimes anthems, this is just what she brought to the table to give us a preview of her new sound and I think it was the perfect choice.
Charli XCX "Break the Rules"
6.4/10
"Boom Clap" has turned out to be one of my favorite songs of the years as I just love the production and chorus. With second single from Sucker, "Break the Rules", it isn't quite the same. I feel this song has strong lyrics in the verses but the chorus is meh and just blah. I feel some middle schoolers and high schoolers will love this but I don't. It's a nice track and I am glad the beat drop isn't generic like I was expecting. I have to say Charli XCX gas one of the most unique voices on today's pop front which I really enjoy. I am looking forward to Sucker very much, especially after she described the album as "pu$sy pink" on Twitter.
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Member Since: 8/18/2013
Posts: 10,540
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]Shake it Off
The first question someone would ask is Taylor's new lead single innovative, a career definer, a quality masterpiece. No, would be the answer without thinking it twice. But is the song a jam? Yes. A slow burner but with power to have longevity on radios and judging by sales projections, a monster start in the digital front.
Lyrically is as cliché as it gets to be possibly. The lyrics are nothing groundbreaking or inspiring but they do their main job greatly. They get stuck in your head after awhile.This step of her career finds Taylor in a departing point. I find her pop sound not the most unique or preferable stronghold of her musicanship. But I am not here to judge her choices.
As one of the respected critics would conclude Taylor Swift doesn’t play like that.(not experimental) She does things smoothly and cleanly so that they turn out as shiny and perfect as her red lipstick.
I share those thoughts too. While I won't enter in Max Martin related analysis  , I will say that I would have preferred a more experimental and risky sound from her.
Taken as a whole is a solid polished pop record but which lacks memorability in the long term approach.
My Score would be 6.5/10
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 11,808
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Quote:
Originally posted by alexanderao
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Member Since: 4/30/2011
Posts: 21,827
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Quote:
Originally posted by Latch
Quote:
Originally posted by alexanderao
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 11,808
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Quote:
Originally posted by Drowned_World
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Right
Like, I wasn't particularly fond of it,
it's a tad overrated, imo
but I wouldn't score it t hat low
there's actually a lot to appreciate about the record
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Member Since: 4/30/2011
Posts: 21,827
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Quote:
Originally posted by Latch
Right
Like, I wasn't particularly fond of it,
it's a tad overrated, imo
but I wouldn't score it t hat low
there's actually a lot to appreciate about the record
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I mean I got to even it out (sort of) with my 10, but... still.
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Member Since: 4/22/2012
Posts: 33,490
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Quote:
Originally posted by CrazyCat
but other things about this women for my taste is just disgusting.
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stopped reading right there
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Member Since: 10/14/2008
Posts: 9,686
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I'll just ignore the last LP1 review.
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Member Since: 8/28/2012
Posts: 34,863
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Quote:
Originally posted by CrazyCat
Ms Twigs. First of all let me tell you this I love "Two Weeks" it's sort of a grower, and it kinda grew on me, also video was nice, but other things about this women for my taste is just creepy. I'm sorry but first of all that album cover, and all those photos, are just way too creepy, and they don't present the album very well, this just made me hate it even more.
The album itself only has like a few good songs I like "Two Weeks" and "Pendulum" (kind off) This all album is sort of a trainwreck, and it just doesn't tick with me, it's not my taste at all, and I can't relate to it. Yeah, it's artistic, but it's way too messy and the production is also a hit and miss, but I can't blame her for that, because she did try I mean she produced the album herself, and written the songs too, well lyrics aren't very good too, they lack a lot, and in my opinion it's just so weird, and over the top, I just can't with her. the album is out of tune a lot and some tracks sound a bit similar, and not inspired. But still she did try as I said.
Overall I dislike this album, it was hard to get through it, most painful album in my recent years, but mayeb because I don't like music like that. All you seem to like, so please don't drag me for my opinion, but for me, nah baby, this is no good.
2/10
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The we-have-a-better-music-taste-than-everyone-else-in-the-whole-universe police will be coming for you.
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