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CRITIC REVIEWS

74
Coke Machine Glow

So Bastard‘s central question remains not is it good? but what’s your tolerance for wide-eyed musical celebrations of rape and violence? I’m not sure I have an answer for either.

70
The Needle Drop
Tyler, The Creator's full-length debut is a surprising collection of beats and rhymes coming from a teenage kid. On this album, Tyler lashes out against hip hop, his negligent father, and rap blogs. He says most things for the lulz, but it's hard not to laugh along with him.
Bobby792003
75

SHORT REVIEW #14

You would think that a 55-minute, misanthropic horrorcore album would either be too long to enjoy or too edgy to take seriously, but with Tyler, the Creator’s ‘Bastard’, it’s different. In particular, the album is lo-fi, and the songs have decent beats, which is different from the full-on demonic instrumentation I was expecting. While the lyrics can be distasteful, they can be humorous, and they compliment the album’s theme. It also helps that ... read more

KIDWITHGUNs
70

A Tyler album that isn't a Tyler album

ST4T1C
85

"Bastard" is a surprisingly solid horrorcore album. I mean, considering that this was created when Tyler was like 17, its really good, great even. I mean, tracks like "French!" and AssMilk" are surprisingly great produced tracks. Tyler's presence on here as well, is solid, with most tracks really coming through with some solid wordplay and onomatopoeia. Speaking of which, Tyler's lyrical abilities are honestly incredible, with almost all of them being ominous and Tyler ... read more

qwayZ
85

ok

this album has some of the most edgy shit I've ever heard but when I first heard this I was completely unfased by the lyrics
which is concerning, Sarah is a song I like a lot but I can't really give it anything higher than 70 bc I will be put on a list

great production tho

started strong but feel off at the end

Fav: Seven, VCR / Wheels, French!, and Sarah

masonthenation
58

Pre-cursor to Goblin (and better) where he seems a lot more focused with the songs whilst sometimes being bad at least having replay and entertainment value. You can definitely tell he recorded this at home on his phone which gives a lot of feel to it but added with the bad mixing it’s not objectively that good. I still went away from this with a positive and some tracks being genuinely great or at least showing potential.

BEST: Bastard - (Light 9). Odd Toddlers - (Light 8)
WORST: Tina, ... read more

Creeperx101
75

A very interesting listen from Tyler. He made an album that was somehow really boring and really interesting at the exact same time. Each song on the album sounds very similar and they all have a similar style with very little differentiation between them but the gory and horrific lyrics manage to keep you on edge while listening. Now when I rated most of the songs, I honestly don't know if those were my final ratings. I almost had the urge to rate everything the same number and leave it a day ... read more

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Track List

1Bastard
6:09
86
2Seven
3:29
80
3Odd Toddlers
3:36
79
4French!
4:03
feat. Hodgy
75
5Blow
2:55
74
6Pigs Fly
3:35
73
7Parade
2:23
71
8Slow It Down
3:08
feat. Hodgy
59
9AssMilk
3:40
78
10VCR / Wheels
3:28
73
11Session
3:35
72
12Sarah
4:47
62
13Jack and the Beanstalk
3:51
59
14Tina
3:07
47
15Inglorious
4:05
81
Total Length: 55 minutes

Year End Lists

#32/Pitchfork
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