Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1
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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
Funk Wav Bounces impresses not just with the marquee names, but with how effortless, communal, and fun Harris makes it all feel.
83
Funk Wav Bounces isn’t the kind of album that’s going to change the conversation in pop music, but it doesn’t want to. All it wants to do is sit by the pool, release, let go, and have a good time. In a world where release is starting to feel like an incomprehensible luxury, there’s something very real to admire about that.
80
‘Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1’ is a triumph; a good-time album of wall-to-wall hits with a carefree, funky tropical feel and more than enough cool points to see him embraced by the hipster crowd as well as holding on to the pop kids.
75
Full of island affectations, soft-rock gloss, and chintzy good-life strings, it is, at last, the sort of fun you don’t have to feel bad about the next day. Karmically, Harris owes us another decade of albums this good.
75
Though the sun sets on Funk Wav, you’re left with memories of a day well spent, and happy to know it’ll be there for you tomorrow.
70
Funk Wav Bounces manages to avoid the stench of corporate contrivances and instead offers a laid-back experience that evokes hanging out with your friends.
67
Even if the tracks sometimes come off as a parade of pop stars whose music has little to do with one another, Harris still manages to create a cohesive fusion that transcends genre.
67
Neither reinventing pop nor changing the course of dance music, it’s a vacation of an album that doubles as the producer’s own stopgap until his next wave comes along.
60
For all its starry supporting cast, Funk Wav Bounces Vol 1 doesn’t sound like an album laden with hits.
60
By showing little interest in challenging the clichés of men fixated on conquest and status symbols and women focused on “feels,” Harris undermines what could have been an inspired creative reinvention.
60
Having assembled such an impressive and extensive list of star names (an astonishing 21 different guests are credited here), it’s a little disappointing that Harris soon runs out of ideas to best utilize them.
60
While Funk Wav Bounces hits all the right notes, Harris strains to maintain the relaxed vibe.
20
In many ways, it’s a typical contacts-book R&B exercise, with an impressive cast of guests (including Frank, Pharrell, Snoop, Nicki, Katy, Ariana and others) on a fairly underwhelming series of grooves.
FAVORITE TRACKS: Slide, Cash Out, Heatstroke, Rollin & Feels
LEAST FAVORITE: Skrt On Me & Hard to Love
LEAST FAVORITE: Skrt On Me & Hard to Love
There are so many things that could have gone so well with this record, but unfortunately so many more things went wrong. Calvin Harris' progression from the blandest-of-the-bland EDM into funk-oriented house progression is great. His work is nothing amazing, but it is something that shows he isn't a one-trick pony. A lot of it starts to sound extremely similar to the track before it after the 4th song or so, and none of this is really daring or inspired.
The featured artists are where this ... read more
The featured artists are where this ... read more
It's very mixed. Some songs sounds awful because of the EDM influenced R&B (????) Also I don't like when pop and rap are forcefully put together like on "Heatstroke", which could have been good song without Ariana Grande. Other very off point features and badly constructed genre crossovers are Big Sean on "Feels" and Lil Yachty on "Faking It".
Still it has some fun summer bangers, but I feel like I'm listening to DJ Khaled album but with random messy EDM ... read more
Still it has some fun summer bangers, but I feel like I'm listening to DJ Khaled album but with random messy EDM ... read more
Although being Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 cohesive and quite fun, I feel like Calvin Harris must improve the stylistic direction he’s taking a lot.
EDIT: I've cooled on this record a bit, but I'll still always be impressed by Harris' effort. Still amongst the best mainstream/radio pop albums I've heard this year.
Holy hot damn is this so much better than a Calvin Harris record has any right to be. It may honestly end up a pop aoty contender for me. Just a wonderful, concise summer/beach/party soundtrack that doesn't let up on the grooves and good times. I'm really not a huge poptimist, I swear--Harris just stepped up his game ... read more
Holy hot damn is this so much better than a Calvin Harris record has any right to be. It may honestly end up a pop aoty contender for me. Just a wonderful, concise summer/beach/party soundtrack that doesn't let up on the grooves and good times. I'm really not a huge poptimist, I swear--Harris just stepped up his game ... read more
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Year End Lists
| #3 | / | Newsweek |
| #7 | / | Billboard |
| #11 | / | Rap-Up |
| #19 | / | Complex |
| #26 | / | Vinyl Me, Please |
MISC LISTS
| #50 | / | The Genius Community |
| / | AllMusic (Pop) | |
| / | VIBE |
Track List
- Slide (feat. Frank Ocean & Migos)
- Cash Out (feat. ScHoolboy Q, PARTYNEXTDOOR & D.R.A.M)
- Heatstroke (feat. Young Thug, Pharrell Williams & Ariana Grande)
- Rollin (feat. Future & Khalid)
- Prayers Up (feat. Travis Scott & A-Trak)
- Holiday (feat. Snoop Dogg, John Legend & Takeoff)
- Skrt On Me (feat. Nicki Minaj)
- Feels (feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean)
- Faking It (feat. Kehlani & Lil Yachty)
- Hard to Love (feat. Jessie Reyez)
In Library (93)
Added on: May 9, 2017
