I came into this album not really knowing what to expect, especially since Manchild was a bit all over the place in regards to what style the rest of the album could be, but I really wasn't expecting the direction it ended up taking and I think it is very solidly a 7-8/10 album with nothing that really exceeds my expectations other than maybe one or two songs, and there only being one or two songs that disappointed me.

I do agree that especially compared to some of her more wordy songs ... read more

Right off the bat I’m not too big of a fan of having interludes in general taking up so much time with minimal meaning as to why its there other than to transition into the next song, but for consistency’s sake I’m gonna just not count any of the interludes towards my total on here.

The first half of this album I really was a big fan of, and after the middle point it just felt like it was really dragging, and the songs being as long as they are just made it a bit more boring ... read more

Possibly my most anticipated album of the year following Diet Pepsi, Aquamarine and especially High Fashion, Addison Rae truly did surprise me in terms of backing up the absolutely perfect 3 singles leading into her debut album, and I feel like she's definitely creating a great argument in terms of her status and place in music.

(Didn't rate the interludes as I would never go out of my way to listen to them individually, but I feel like the way they flow into tracks just enhances the ... read more

It actually feels like there's a lot more life and direction to this album than Chromatica, and I really am delighted to say that this might be my favourite Lady Gaga album now. There are a few that didn't really hit for me that I fully expect to grow on me at some point, but I am really in love with how the Mayhem era is going.

Highlights: Vanish Into You, LoveDrug, Abracadabra

Songs that didn't land for me: The Beast

Update 21/4/25:

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod this album is the ... read more

Funnily enough I remember listening to this album in really early 2024 before she blew up in popularity, and it was purely because After Midnight was put in one of my mixes, and I thought it went really hard, so I listened to the starting few songs of her album, thought it was really really good and never really thought of it past that. Then Good Luck, Babe happened, and I relistened and oh my god it really does hold up. A very consistently good album.

Been procrastinating putting something out about this album because I feel like I have a lot I want to say, but I also don't want to parrot what I feel like a lot of people have pointed out is wrong with this.

Starting off with the 'positives': the overall stink of this album made me actually appreciate Woman's World more! And that's only because if you really really REALLY squint and forget everything about the context of the creation of it, you can somewhat barely ... read more

Genuinely surprised I didn't do a review of this last year considering I'm fairly sure I put it in my Top 3 albums of the year when I posted it on twitter. Anyways, this album is mad underrated and makes me truly baffled as to how Madison Beer still doesn't have any mainstream chart success. Like, it has *everything*

The only thing I can think of that comes close to some negatives is that it does seem very long somehow, which is strange since it's only 14 songs long and ... read more

This album definitely has more unique highs for me than her previous album Good Riddance, and I think this one truly shows her taking a step towards her creating a more well defined style as an artist, something I feel she has lacked for a while in comparison to all the pop girls breaking through, which I consider a reason towards this albums unexpected success.

Additionally, unlike Good Riddance there is just a lot more consistent life in this album which I do appreciate, and it really has me ... read more

Probably one of my most anticipated albums of the year, and I'm glad to say it delivered for me... mostly

In the end it was always going to be a hard task for it to top EICS, which I think is just such an underrated and amazing album, but I think SnS delivered well enough. The singles to start with are all really great of course. Was an Espresso fan since day 1 but also think Please Please Please is just as good and Taste is a great follow up. The rest of the album can hit or miss though. ... read more

Having never really listened to Beabadoobee before this, I came into this album very openly curious, and was greeted by the first two tracks (ESPECIALLY California) giving me the vibe that this was going to be a primarily rock focused record with a lot of emphasis on the guitars and drums especially, and the way it meshed perfectly with her voice was just absolute perfection. But afterward I kind of felt underwhelmed wanting a return to that same vibe, cause the other stuff just wasn't as ... read more

Okay, I mostly get the hype now.

It's a real fun album to listen through, and Charli really just did a great job in every regard for it. Not just the quality of the album itself, but the way she's been promoting it has just been perfect, and I've been so invested every step of the way. Definitely up there in terms of my favourites of 2024, and will almost certainly grow on me some more too.

The amount of things I can point out that are wrong with this are just incredible

1) The fact that she for whatever reason decided to go back to Dr. Luke after everything he's done, in some desperate attempt to recapture what made Teenage Dream so successful (while completely missing what actually did make it successful)

2) The fact that she went back to Dr. Luke in a song thats entire meaning and message is about supporting Women, and trying to be empowering is just hypocritical in the ... read more

Probably one of my most anticipated albums of 2024 at the start of the year, which I'm a bit disappointed to say falls flat a bit; at least in terms of how hyped I was about it.

Admittedly, a bit of the disappointment comes from how much I thoroughly enjoyed Houdini, Training Season and Illusion, and how I feel there's a bit of a disconnect between those 3 and the rest of the album. In saying all this, it's not like the rest of the album is completely disappointing, it's more just I wanted ... read more

(Pre Update Score: 90) Decided to review this album separate to The Anthology, since I do connect with Tortured Poets more than that. As annoying as some of the aggressively positive comments have been that this album "Needs time to hit", I believe it's true but not as true as people have made it seem. I'm of the opinion that if you like this direction that she's taken, then you'll really love the album, and if you don't then you wont really have much here to ... read more

Retrospectively, this album deserved so much better both awards wise and critically. It's called a pop bible for a reason, and it does so much right, and it's actually nuts how many of the songs on this album alone have become staples across the world, that are still heard often to this day. Outside of the very known ones though, unlike 1989 (another album defined as a defining 2010s pop album), they lack substance in comparison to the rest, which is why I consider 1989 a bit better than this, ... read more

UPDATE - 19/05/2024

Decided to split my reviews of TTPD and The Anthology, so my score here reflects what I think about the Anthology specifically.

The Anthology feels very different to the base version, and in some ways I think it's to its own benefit, and I do see some of the comparisons to her Folklore/Evermore era thematically and production wise. I think however that The Anthology is a bit too big for its own good, and some of the songs feel less complete than others and just seem ... read more

I don’t think i’ve ever been this disappointed by a full album before compared to the initial announcement plus how much I loved the lead single. firstoff, its only 7 tracks long + an acoustic version of a song, which is so short for a full length album, and second off not much on it really sets it apart from their past work I feel.

I really like perfect still, and think invisible is really good, but everything else is just… disappointing especially compared to the initial ... read more

Feel like I came into this after having a semi soured opinion of Kacey's music after an initial listen of Golden Hour that I didn't vibe with (which I've already turned around on, I'll look to post a review of Golden Hour soon), so coming into this album which had a very very good start was a nice surprise for me. I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought it would, and ultimately think it's worth a listen once, especially if you're already a fan of this type of genre of music.

I've been waiting for it for a while, and I'm really glad to say that I've found my new favourite Ariana Grande album. Positions for the most part disappointed me with the route she went with this, and I truly think the way she went for Eternal Sunshine benefits her voice in the best way, and we get to truly hear her range across most of the songs.

Also We Can't Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) is a contender for one of my favourite songs of the year just in general.

(Pre Update Score: 75) I’ve been anticipating this for essentially a year at this point, and i'm really satisfied with how it turned out I think, her voice is incredible as always and the production on this is really really addictive and scratches an itch for me. A few songs on it do tend to blur together for me, but quite a few stand out on their own, and the ones that do blur together are consistently good enough.

UPDATE - 24/04/24

Upon relisten, there isn't much on this that I go ... read more