This isn't half-ironic or tongue-in-cheek like my exploits with "Call Me Maybe". This album is really stunning and awesomely good. I usually kind of scoff at Pitchfork, but they posted a really good and glowing review of it. That isn't why I like it, I'm really not some music hipster to cut that off before you say it. I really like a lot of shitty music.
HOWEVER, I also like this, and think it's really great and smart hip hop / R&B / whatever you want to call the genre it is, since it covers a lot of ground. My dumb tagline-esque thing would be that it's definitely worth it to find out that there's more to Frank Ocean than his great chorus on "No Church in the Wild". He's a really talented songwriter who was responsible for quite a few hits before this sung by other people.
Also, knowing me, I would be remiss to not mention that he's out as a bisexual, which is kind of a big deal and not something seen too much, especially for a man. And this album has a couple unisex and also openly songs about being in love with another man. I don't have a link handy, but he also wrote a really brave letter a little while back about coming out with some of that stuff and his issues. I just think this is cool, and don't get me wrong and think this album is about gay rights or something like that.
It's just a really good, catchy, soulful, heartfelt album of songs. I think "Bad Religion" is the hit? It's hard for me to pick a favorite or least favorite though. I love the spoiled kid bashing of "Sweet Life" and "Super Rich Kids". But I love the ambiguity in lines like "why see the world when you have the beach?" Also from pure pop culture randomness, I really like "Forrest Gump", and it might be the best mixture of being really catchy, yet also really emotional, despite being a kind of bizarre love letter to a fictional character. And I don't think I can go without mentioning "Pyramids". It's a 10-minute song that just flies by and never feels like a long song or stretched out by any, hah, stretch. It also feels really epic and has really great imagery.
I also feel like I gotta mention the really good guest stars - Andre 3000 is great in "Pink Matter", John Mayer(?!?) has a good guitar noodly part in the short "White", and Earl Sweatshirt is a great part of "Super Rich Kids".
so that's my mini-review, I hope you listen to this and/or like it!
