Melodrama (studio album) by Lorde

From grohly 11/29/2022 18:07

I keep rediscovering this album on dark nights after good days. It's a modern masterpiece. I love every song. It's one of a few albums from the past decade that I can happily listen to from front to back. It's up there with Grimes's Art Angels and Tyler's Flower Boy in its singular approach to storytelling and world building. Time will tell its lasting impact on the musical landscape. I can imagine looking back in ten years time and seeing this as one of the defining albums of the decade, and if that happens I will rate it 100/100. Until then, I will just enjoy the high it gives me.

I first heard this when it was new and getting lots of rave reviews. I liked it but, unlike the critics, I didn\'t think it was significantly better than her debut. Then recently I noticed that AcclaimedMusic.net has this all the way up at #240(!) of the greatest albums of all time. OK then, I\'ll give it another listen.\r\n\r\nIt didn\'t grow on me. Don\'t get me wrong, it\'s one of the better pop albums of recent years. But I still wouldn\'t include it in my Top 2000 of all time. There is potential greatness here. At times it comes across like a 21st century Hounds of Love. But the abundance of juvenile T.Swift-isms borders on insufferable, almost ruining what are otherwise very good songs and arrangements. Lorde is a much more unique and interesting talent than Swift, and I\'m almost certain she\'s got a masterpiece in her eventually. But she\'s gonna need to do a lot of maturing to get there (first step: Stop hanging out with Taylor and the other Plastics).

Lorde cements herself at the top of modern day pop with this album that is full of fantastic songs and brilliant choruses. It is tough for me to find a song that isn't amazing on this album and if I was forced to pick one I would say The Louvre is a bit cringy at times but it is still a decent song. The production is phenomenal and it really creates a clean and slick experience for us that allows us to properly explore the melodies and pop nuances in here. It does so well at blending one track into the next and making the record feel very cohesive. I love her vocal performance as well which is just remarkable throughout. It really lifts this pop album above the competition and makes songs like Green Light, Liability and Homemade Dynamite completely irresistible. Overall, a modern day pop classic that is fantastic from beginning to end and has no filler in my opinion.

I didn’t think I would like this album, and the first few songs made me believe my suspicions were correct.

I didn’t like her voice, the forced attempts at edginess, the sickly sweet pop sound.

Then “Liability” came on. It was like a whole new record. Honest introspection paired with stripped down sounds. Thereafter, something clicked. The hooks were catchier, the lyrics a bit less contrived sounding. I think I actually liked this album?

sooooo lit

From katerpillar 09/01/2021 23:48

Been listening to this album for a year now, never gets old.

From cestuneblague 06/04/2021 14:04

At it's best, you can practically feel the sweat and shows off a remarkable balancing act between her immediately heartbroken and defensively snarky side... but there's still no denying the filler near the end kind of kills the momentum a bit, and "Perfect Places" still feels like an overwrought Pure Heroine retread but I can see why it caught on. A remarkable little album, if not quite the spotless gem it was made out to be- which, in this context, can be a good and bad thing depending on the song.

From planetneutral 02/20/2021 19:31

Beyond the opener, none of these songs excite me like the best songs from the first album.

I don't like the pop genre all that much. But Lorde, among others, are proof that the women in the genre should be given more creative freedom and should get out from under the large contracts from the label giants, because this album is very good.

It's not perfect, but it runs deep with some very catchy hooks. Very introverted lyrics about extroverted situations. Keep it coming, Lorde.

82/100

From teague 09/11/2020 17:07

It's good, but it's not the best pop album I've ever heard. People are acting like she's Björk when she's more like Taylor Swift. The lyrics are super stereotypical pop, the production is pretty alright.