Todd In The Shadows Thread

Attention has grown on me. That bass line is fantastic, and the lyrics are actually solid? And I like how Puth is emoting.

...dammit Todd!!!

Wow, I never realized Kesha could sing like that.

IIRC Kesha was never all that happy with the "sleazy party girl" role she was forced to play according to her contract; in fact, she's released some Darker and Edgier takes on some of her older songs with actual singing much like you hear in Praying.

That said, I'm glad Kesha finally found some good use for her talent. Praying is a really good song, but as Todd and someone here said, it is pretty heavy and best not to be listened to too often.

Yeah, like I said, that whole album is worth a listen. Full of "real singing" like Praying, with some bangers in there to boot.

I have another suggestion for Wreckords, Small World by Huey Lewis and the News. It was him going for a more serious sound and image, and it didnt do nearly as well as his previous albums (though "Perfect World" did hit #3) and only went platinum. Also, it kind of caused his career to start slowly going downhill, while he still has some popularity, it's mostly as an 80s act.

A little late to the party, but I'm a little surprised that Todd took such a liking to pop songs this year considering how much he said they blended together in his Top Ten Worst. That being said, I was kind of surprised (and a little disappointed) by the lack of Kendrick on the list, mostly because I wanted to see him actually talk about him for once.

I mean, a few years ago he called Kendrick the best rapper out there and he had a few good hits in 2017. DNA, in particular, was the best song of that year. Overall, it's still a solid list. Although, the Chainsmokers in the top three, again? *sighs* Okay, Todd.

edited 30th Jan '18 2:40:14 PM by deuteragonist

I agree with Todd on Paramore though. After Laughter is a great album and the fact that it didn’t really hit is a tragedy.

Todd's actually mentioned on Twitter that he doesn't get DAMN. though

Oh okay, that makes sense then. Still, I think his opinion on DAMN. as an album would have made great video content. I only say that as a fan of his reviews, though. He has every right to not discuss it if he doesn't want to.

Also, that's really interesting how he's defending Bruno's Grammy(s) on Twitter when seven years ago he wished that he would go bankrupt and die.

edited 30th Jan '18 2:47:42 PM by deuteragonist

Bruno Mars has REALLY turned his career around, and this is speaking as someone who kind of likes the charmingly obsessive and stalker-y vibes of Grenade.

I'm a huge fan of him myself, but I felt like the AOTY Grammy was definitely overkill. He's an exceptionally fun hit-maker, hence why Song or Record of the Year would have made sense. However, he's just not very innovative or deep. His songs are lacking in the depth department and all of the fellow nominees in the AOTY category were better. I hope this doesn't unintentionally hurt his career.

But yeah, Bruno Mars is one of the few good BIG things to come out of modern pop music (other than Adele). The man gets a lot of undeserved hate, if you ask me. It's easy to equate his music to some really damn good pizza. It's not exactly prestige or gourmet, but it's exceptionally satisfying; especially when you party.

He can do better, though.

I love Bruno Mars but his was the 5th best album nominated. That said, it's not like it was undeserving, either, which is mainly what Todd was saying IIRC, that quality is mostly subjective and as long as absolute garbage doesn't win there's no point complaining.

New OWH episode out.

Egads, Todd is scraping a bit on this one. I mean I like that he's going for something a bit more obscure but it's an odd choice for a vid.

I've heard this song on the radio at work.

Huh. Interesting. I didn't even know it existed until this video.

Neither did I. And I’m surprised that Todd failed to point out that “Owner of a Lonely Heart” itself used sampling for the “brass” parts, making it a sample of a sample!

Sounds like Living in a Box again, where both the hit and the song is forgotten.

You know, Forgotten Hits would make a good radio format. If only there were more of them.

Here is an interesting article on the interaction between population size and language complexity, and an interesting conclusion about musical complexity: music forms with small communities will form more complex styles, while large scale music, like pop music, will tend to be more simplistic and easy to remember.

In other words, the blander nature of pop music may not be due entirely to the artists making it, but also to linguistic development in large groups.

New Justin Timberlake single review

"This might be a career-ender for JT."

I mean, I would hope not. I have no desire to listen to his latest album but I think Justin Timberlake, for all of his faults, is a very talented and charismatic guy. He's pretty iconic within the realm of modern pop music. I would be pretty sad if this was it for him.

Also, "Filthy" kind of grew on me. I can acknowledge that it's not a good song but at least it's catchy. However, "Supplies" is god-awful and I agree with Todd that 20/20 Experience was way too long. I also never got the hype around "Mirrors" the way everyone else did.

Honestly it's an inevitability unless he pulls a miraculous 180 (which isn't outside of the realm of possibility, mind). Timberlake is in dinosaur territory now. He's where Led Zeppelin was by 1975-76 or so, he's gotten stale and pathetic. And just like Zeppelin, his bizarre sex metaphors in this song are fucking gross, weird, and unsexy as fuck.

It's a shame that talented late 90s-2000s pop artists like Usher, JT, Britney Spears, and others have been unable to keep their staying power. I mean, Beyonce is still as relevant as she was when she dropped her first solo album (and I love her so I'm not complaining), but that's because she's evolved beyond hit-making and has switched to working on experimental music with actual depth. I can't say the same for any of her counterparts.

Also, let's be honest here: Bruno Mars took artists like Justin Timberlake and Usher's place a while ago.

edited 19th Feb '18 9:02:47 AM by deuteragonist

Then again, turn of the millennium was nearly two decades ago. Few artists in history of pop music have had real staying power for that long.

Beyonce has entered that "elder statesman" zone where she's still experimenting and garnering wide praise for it. It's where every album she releases is an event.