The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess (studio album) by Chappell Roan

Shortlisted for album of the year at the 2025 Grammys. The winner was Cowboy Carter by Beyonce

Really underrated album on here. Deserves more love.

From HoldenM 07/20/2024 13:50

That was fun!

From indieshins 07/18/2024 08:13

I'm kinda obsessed. This is so good. Disarmingly honest lyrics about romantic relationships, queer awakenings and becoming your true self. On top of that, amazing hooks and her voice is excellent. Add to that some polished production, and you've got a really winning pop album

A much hyped yet promising debut from CR… enjoyed the colourful and, at times, outrageous lyrics, even though I found them a little cringy too. But I guess that’s the point. Roan is not afraid to bare all. I did quite like the instrumentation and production, despite the contrary opinions I’ve seen. Agree they could be a little lacking at times however, particularly during the ballads. Interested to hear more…

From CassidyInc 06/13/2024 10:12

Like Scully and Regina George, Chappell will be responsible for a marked uptick in gayness.

Great album!

From cestuneblague 05/26/2024 20:32

Very much the perfect meeting of the Need-This-Now elements, I can see why Chappel has grown immense social media buzz even if the resulting album feels a bit lacking. Perhaps getting the current it-producer Dan Nigro of Olivia fame sounded better in theory, but the pairing here isn't quite as fruitful as it would seem. Mainly Roan's current strength is that unlike a lot of her much more polished peers she has a willigness to get geniunely kooky and vulgar, and isn't really afraid of embarrassing herself in the slightest, but the ultra polished production keeps the snakes in a low blast-radius from the can. While isolated from each other the numbers can be quite catchy and appealing, but stringed together they kind of just morph into this brittle glass-elephant transparency that gets rather tiring. I mean I just feel this should sound less 1989 or prime Katy Perry, and more like we're being Welcome to the Pleasuredome. So donno, the album is decently promising, but I'll check back when the producers are willing to let her get a little more out of control.

“The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess” has distinct lyricism. Roan is fantastic at using the vulgar to expose the vulnerable. A great example is the line “Knee deep in the passenger seat, and you’re eating me out” off of “Causal”. It uses the fantastic double entendre of eating me out to show both the emotional act and the cunnilingus. Roan also uses her voice fantastically. She is able to switch between styles effectively from track to track and sometimes within a single song. The album is regrettably hindered by its instrumentals and ordering. The synths are nice but never reach the bombast needed for the campier tracks. The piano ballads are dull and take up far too much auditory real estate. There are a lot of good pieces, but it’s not quite put together.