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My main problem reviewing this album is that my main critique of most of the
songs is "This is a really good song", no gimmicks, no bells and whistles....
just good music. It's like the whole album itself is a big standout.
My critique starts with "Know Who You Are".
I've listening to the album about 6 or 7 times now, and I found myself getting
excited about this song. That's because it reminds of a Neptunes produced
album that I always loved... Kelis' Kaleidoscope. It totally could have been on that album.
Very nice and breezy laid-back sound that makes the singer in me
just wanna sing along.
Really nice track.
As mentioned, "Gust Of Wind" is definitely a nice track. Daft Punk's computer
voice chorus adds a nice touch, but other than that, the slow, climbing and
descending bass line just draws you in. Something you gotta move to.
"It Girl" has a very nice instrumental breakdown toward the end. Otherwise,
it's P in cruise control, which is better than most cats at their best, so I ain't
mad at it.
"Marilyn Monroe", like most of the album, has a killer groove and bass line.
It simply makes the dancer in you want to move.
VERY nice string arrangement in this one.
Also, like with most of the album, the main thing I wanna say is "damn, this is
a good song".
"Brand New (ft. Justin Timberlake)" has a very "Jacksons" sound with Pharrell
taking the Jackie role and letting Timberlake have the Michael star role in the
vein of a "Can You Feel It" being the bridge to the chorus.
"Hunter" is basically an ode to mid/late 80's pop. I love that he goes from his
falsetto into a more talk-y/rap delivery. He's basically rapping like Blondie
on Rapture, lol. Good lil song. It's different from anything that's come out
in a while, so I think that's why people are having a hard time with it. I think
it's great tho.
"Gush"... another lovely bass line. The fact that he kept saying "light that
ass on fire" from the Neptunes song featuring Busta cracked me up for
some reason. Just cool to hear him flexing by pulling from his own very deep
catalog. Here's my opportunity to say that Pharrell kept his silliness
to a minimum on this album in a way that he didn't on "In My Mind"
with lines like "she got a ass like loaf of break, I want a slice" from
the song "Angel" or "f-u-t-u-r-e, that spells 'future', girl" from the
song "I Really Like You". The reason I mention that is the "leave ya
panties in flames" line from this song, Gush. I actually like Pharrell's
silly and quirky side, but I do understand that it can be off-putting
to some listeners, so I'm glad he found his medium.
That said, this is another one that just makes you wanna move.
"Happy". You already know! Some say it's reductive, derivative or
what have you, but one thing you can't deny is it makes you happy and makes you
want to dance. That's the aim, and it hit the mark. Fantastic contender for
song of 2013.
"Come Get It Bae"... gotdamn I love that guitar... shit's just funky as fuck.
It's not heavy funk, but it's like a funky joint for jump ropers, lol.
I just gots to get up and do my James Brown to this joint... can't help it.
Now, with all that said, it highlights for me the shame it was that Austin Brown
never got his big break. Alotta artists imitate MJ, but Austin's MJ imitation
yielded the best overall music, imo. Being MJ's nephew just made it harder
to make a name for himself while others do it constantly and never have to
be compared to MJ so adamantly.
Not to take anything from Pharrell tho... just wanted to mention Austin, lol
Great album here by Pharrell. He's definitely earned any praise he gets for this.
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Everything's turning out perfectly
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