Awful Album Reviews #10: The Offspring - Smash

Well folks, it's finally time to review this record, because it celebrates its 25th anniversary tomorrow. You may be asking, "Why not just wait until its actual anniversary?", and the answer to that is I don't want to wait and I want to dive in as soon as I can. Also, this isn't going to be as much of a review as a lot of my posts on other albums were, it's going to be more of me raving about how good and iconic this album is, so if you're looking for more of a review then you might want to not read any further. Anyways, let's get started!



INTRODUCTION

Smash is the third studio album released by American punk rockers The Offspring. It was released on April 8, 1994, by Epitaph Records, an independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. The band recorded this record after touring for their previous album, Ignition, in over two months in North Hollywood. It was produced by Thom Wilson, who also produced their previous two albums. Many hit singles came out of the album, including "Come Out and Play", "Self Esteem", and "Gotta Get Away", with "Bad Habit" also being a minor radio single. This album, along with Green Day's Dookie (which I reviewed a couple months ago if you want to go check that out), is widely credited for helping pop punk music emerge in the mid-1990s, which could be one reason why critics loved it so much. The success from this album also allowed the band to sign with Columbia Records in 1996. It is the all-time best selling album released by an independent record label, and has been certified platinum six times in the U.S. That is pretty good if you ask me. So, now you wonder what exactly is the big deal with this album, and why was it so successful? Well, how about we dive in and see why.



REVIEW

Before I start raving, can I just say that I've listened to this album well over 50 times in the past few months because of how good it is, and that when I say something about it, I'm not wrong. So if you want a legitimate answer as to whether or not this album is worth a listen and deserved its success, then you're in the right place. Let's get started.

So first of all, I'd like to discuss what I think this album means to this band and their discography, and also a little bit the growing punk scene of the 1990s. I often think of the first half of The Offspring's career in two phases: The first one being the beginnings, when they had a classic-punk kind of sound that kind of resembled early Bad Religion and a little bit the Descendents. You can really hear it in their self-titled album and there are some songs in Ignition that show it as well. And the second phase is when they developed the pop-punk style that they are widely known and recognized for. That style is easily audible in Ixnay On The Hombre, Americana, and Conspiracy of One, and once you hear it, you can't help but really enjoy it. I think that this record is very unique because it was kind of a gateway to their sound that they are known for. It's sort of like a bridge from their classic-punk sounding style to their pop-punk albums. I personally think those bridge-type albums can be very interesting to hear because of the good mix of songs they have in them, and Smash is a perfect example. There are some lower-tempo mainstream sounding songs like "Gotta Get Away" and "Self Esteem" that the band definitely went on to make more of, some hard, driving punk tracks that help define the album's sound, including, "Bad Habit" and "Something To Believe In", and some album tracks later in the album that are just cool. Some of the songs stick out when matched up with the rest of their discography, and the ones that do make this album as a whole stick out like that.

As for the growing punk scene of the 90s that this album helped build, it can be easily compared to Green Day's Dookie because of how both albums show a good example of a pop-punk sound and how they worked together in making pop-punk more popular. While I don't think Dookie was necessarily a bridge-type album (I would call Nimrod a good Green Day bridge album), it had a good mix of songs that made it sound like one. There were other albums from around 1994 that helped that scene grow, such as Bad Religion's Stranger Than Fiction, NOFX's Punk In Drublic, and Rancid's ...And Out Come The Wolves, but out of that group of albums, this has to be the best and most iconic one. There is good in pretty much every part of it: Catchy singles and energetic album tracks in the first half, and lots of pure punk and Offspring in the second half. An album often starts good and dwindles a lot towards the end, but this is not one of them. It starts off on a good note and ends off on a good note. I always love to hear that.

And then there's the content in the songs. Energy is a big one. Pretty much every song on here has at least a good amount of energy, and as someone that often gets bored listening to albums, that is a huge pro. Also, lots of rock artists have upbeat bangers towards the beginning of the album, it settles down slightly as it goes on, and then has a closer that is a slower ballad or stripped-down type song. I tend to like those types of albums most of the time, but not as much as ones that bring the heat at the beginning and then keep the heat going for the entire time. The Offspring are very good at doing that, which is one reason why I love them so much. As for instruments, they all are a big reason why. Noodles and his upbeat guitar riffs shine as usual, and Greg K. is responsible for many of the album's great basslines (especially the one in "Gotta Get Away") , so props to him. The album also showcases how talented drummer Ron Welty is, and while new drummer Pete Parada is good, he doesn't quite match Welty. He can drum fast and hard and make the drumlines almost as good as the guitar riffs and bass lines. And of course there's Dexter Holland who does an amazing job on the vocals as usual. I feel like his singing style played a huge role in developing his band's iconic pop-punk sound, so it is one thing to pay attention to. I'm not sure what tracks he played rhythm guitars on, or if he did at all, but whatever else it was, I'm sure it was good. Thom Wilson did a pretty good job on producing this album, and while I prefer later producers like Dave Jerden and Brendan O'Brien, the band may not have developed a good sound without his help. Honestly, everything was just good, and everyone who did work on this album played a good role in making it what it is. If one little thing changed, it might be totally different. That's what I like, everything coming together in the right way. This is for sure one of the best-made albums I have heard in a long time, and if you have the opportunity to listen to it, please use my advice and take it. You won't regret it. Let's review the songs now.



TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "Time to Relax"
Rating: N/A
Comments: This doesn't get a rating because it's only a short spoken intro, but it does a good job at preparing you for the album. Seriously, you just need to relax when listening. Indulge yourself, kick off your shoes, put your feet up, lean back and just enjoy the melodies. Because after all, music soothes even the savage beast.

2. "Nitro (Youth Energy)"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This is a pretty good opener and it starts the album off on the right foot. It's kind of short, but there's enough energy to give the album its first push into greatness.

3. "Bad Habit"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Who knew that road rage would make such a good song? I didn't. But the band packs so much energy into making it as good as it is. Also, that bass intro tho.

4. "Gotta Get Away"
Rating: 100/10 10/10
Comments: This is by far one of the most depressing songs I've heard in my existence, but that doesn't make it bad. It's actually the complete opposite. You have to really listen to this song a lot of times to see the deal (it took me 30-40 listens to get it), and once you do it's just a masterpiece. I might talk more about this song and what's behind it in a separate post, but for now just know that it slaps.

5. "Genocide"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Really catchy song. It has many catchy guitar riffs throughout the song that come together really well and make it what it is. Not one of the album's best but it is worth a listen.

6. "Something To Believe In"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: To me, it's one of the more forgettable tracks off of the album, but I'm not sure why I got that into my head because this song is great. The chorus rocks and gives the song a good feeling. But in terms of quality it doesn't quite match up with anything else I've talked about so far. Though it is still good.

7. "Come Out and Play"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: The story behind this song is really interesting and singer Dexter Holland did a great job writing about it. The way that the catchy melody and riffs were put behind those lyrics sounds great to me, although I think the mixing could be slightly better.

8. "Self Esteem"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: OH WAYYYYYY OOOOOOOOOH YEEEEEEEAH, YEEEEEEEAH....
While that may be how I feel when listening to the song, it's also a part that makes the song stand out and have a good vibe. I think calling it the band's best song is a bit extreme, because other songs like "The Kids Aren't Alright" and "Gone Away" exist, but I can sort of see why. Glad it was a hit, though.

9. "It'll Be a Long Time"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: This song sort of marks where the driving album tracks start, at least it's what I thought. It's not a perfect song, but I like it a lot and it plays a good role in defining this album.

10. "Killboy Powerhead"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Fun fact: This song is actually a cover, and I didn't know that until after I first listened to it. But it didn't affect my opinion on the song. It's short, but it goes hard for all 122 seconds and becomes sort of a standout because of it. It's hard to get sick of, which is also a plus.

11. "What Happened To You?"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Although this is one of the album's weaker songs, it is still fun to listen to after how hard "Killboy Powerhead" goes. It's not a typical Offspring song, but they made a decent use out of this style.

12. "So Alone"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This is really good for how short it is. Again, I think it's on the weaker side of the album, but it is still pretty good.

13. "Not the One"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: This sounds more like a straight-up Offspring song, and songs like these sort of helped the band develop the pop-punk style that they are known for today. Also, listen to the lyrics in this. They're pretty interesting and they make up a pretty interesting meaning.

14. "Smash"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: So, this track is very interesting, as it's sort of a four-in-one. Let's go through each part.

1. The final song on the album, called "Smash". I think it's a very good song about being yourself and not sticking with trends if you don't want to. Musically it is great as well. The rating comes from this song, by the way.

2. A short spoken coda that is the beginning of the end, at least to me. It says things like, "I hope you enjoyed our time together today," and something else about sitting back and enjoying the finer things in life. I'm pretty sure that means things like classical music, wine, cigarettes, and poetry, as I saw a video of Noodles saying he liked the finer things and then listed those. But aside from that, I think it's a cool outro that reflects on the album and helps end it on a good note.

3. A slowed-down reprise of the track "Genocide" that lasts for about a minute and five seconds. This riff was later used for Ixnay On The Hombre's closer, "Change the World". I really like the riff and reprise and it helped make "Change the World" as good as it is.

4. After about five minutes of silence, an acoustic reprise of "Come Out and Play" starts nine minutes and ten seconds in. I really like this reprise and think it's the perfect way to close out this amazing album. It's not quite as good as the "Pretty Fly" reprise from Americana, but it's still enjoyable.



OVERALL ALBUM SCORE

136.5/140 = 9.75/10 = 0.975 = 97.5%



FINAL WORDS

So that is the review. This was more than just another excuse for me to listen to this album, as I never thought I could dig deeper. I had fun doing it and I hope you had fun reading it. If you think that you would like this album after all I've said about it, then feel free to check it out on Spotify here or on YouTube here. I recommend it to anyone who just wants to hear something good, and I'm sure that's pretty much all of you. So go right ahead. You will love it. Thank you to anyone who read this far, and don't forget that you can suggest any post you want me to do and chances are, I will be glad to do it. You can comment here or talk to me on Discord if you want to suggest anything, but whatever it is, don't be afraid and just go for it. Thanks again and I'll see you guys next time!

Awful Album Reviews #9: Descendents - Milo Goes To College

Hey guys, welcome back to another album review! Today, we will be checking out the 1982 punk rock classic Milo Goes To College by the Descendents. I have heard that this band and album was an influence on many more modern punk bands I love, and that this record was loved by many great artists, such as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Fat Mike of NOFX. It has also been recommended to me by both last.fm and Spotify based on my taste, so I think now is a great time to give it a listen. I have not heard anything from this band before today, so this will mostly be first impressions. It should be fun. Let's get to it!



INTRODUCTION

Milo Goes To College is the debut album released by punk rock band the Descendents in 1982. Released through The Minutemen's label New Alliance Records, the album's title is a reference to how lead singer Milo Aukerman wanted to leave the band so he could attend college. The album's cover is supposed to be a drawing of Aukerman, and it later became the band's mascot, appearing on five of their seven studio albums. This record is often considered as one of the most significant albums of a hardcore movement taking place in Southern California in the early 1980s, and many publications have called it a very noteworthy punk album. Sounds like a pretty good album, right? Well, let's listen to it and see. It's only 22 minutes long so it shouldn't be that grating.



REVIEW

So my first impression of this band's sound and style is that it's very punk. It has the sound of the bass that I'm used to hearing in punk music, and the hardcore feel created by the drums and driving power chords. Singer Milo Aukerman sounds a bit different than I expected, as I expected him to sound a little bit like Greg Graffin of Bad Religion. Not sure why but I just did. But I like his voice okay, it's not the best in punk but it does well. And going on into the second and third tracks the bass, provided by Tony Lombardo, really stands out as what it should be. The bass is a fundamental part of punk rock music and if a band has a great bassist like him then they have a great foundation for making everything else good. I read some about him before and I learned about his playing technique and how he practices, and I thought that was very unique and inspiring. Plus, he's 20 years older than the other band members, which was kind of amusing. Maybe that plays a part in why he seems to be so talented? I don't know.

As for the style in this album, some of the songs remind me a lot of Bad Religion's 1982 album How Could Hell Be Any Worse. I plan on reviewing that album in full in a future post, but I'll just say here that that record has a very distinct style of punk rock that turns out to be unforgettable. Because it's so unforgettable, I thought of that record when I heard a lot of the songs on this one. I'm not saying that this is copying that record or trying too hard to be like it or anything, because that record came out in the same year as this one, I just like to hear that sound. Frank Navetta provides great guitars that help give it this vibe and just a great punk sound in general. Unfortunately, though, about a quarter of a century after leaving the band, he became ill and ultimately passed away, so #RIPFrankNavetta I guess. And drummer Bill Stevenson, who is actually the band's only constant member, did a great job drumming, because fast and upbeat drums really help in making a good punk sound. He seems to be good at that. Also, he wrote or co-wrote six of the album's songs, which is pretty good for someone you wouldn't expect to help with the writing. I think the album was well-produced as well, so props to producer Spot for that. Really everything in this album is at least under the good or decent tier, and I can see now why it's so iconic. I think the icony sort of comes from the album's sound rather than the songs on it, but I will go through each of those anyways. Here are my short reviews of each track.



TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "Myage"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: This song gave me a really good first impression of this band, and that is always good. Lombardo's bass in the song is great and the punk sound here is real. Definitely a keeper.

2. "I Wanna Be a Bear"
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This was short but pretty sweet. The good vibes continue to go on here and it's cool.

3. "I'm Not a Loser"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This song was pretty catchy and the lyrics somewhat stood out for some reason.

4. "Parents"
Rating: 8/10
Comments: The bass stands out a bit here again and I love that. But the lyrics are a bit questionable. They sound a bit like something from a 2000s emo or post grunge song. And I'm not too sure that belongs in punk rock. But I don't mind it too much, I guess.

5. "Tony Age"
Rating: 7/10
Comments: The talking parts here are not the best, but the instrumental is good.

6. "M-16"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This was catchy, not exactly a keeper but it came really close.

7. "I'm Not a Punk"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I immediately got some early Bad Religion vibes from that opening instrumental. They sort of continued into the song and I kind of enjoyed that. It sets this song apart.

8. "Catalina"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Again, that bass in the intro always seems to set a great stage for the song. And I hear a little bit of early Bad Religion in this, too. I like their early style and it's good to hear another band that does it.

9. "Suburban Home"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Catchy song, the guitars work very well with Aukerman's singing. A very well made punk song.

10. "Statue of Liberty"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I promise I'll shut up about early Bad Religion after this, but seriously, that kind of style in songs like this makes them good for me. Not every song has it but a lot of the ones that do, like this one, are keepers.

11. "Kabuki Girl"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: The guitars here seem to stand out, as they give the song a great vibe. Everything else is good as well.

12. "Marriage"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: The great classic punk sound shows up a lot here. I like Aukerman's singing and the guitars accompany it very well. That makes for a good song.

13. "Hope"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: I liked this one a lot. Not sure why but it reminded me a lot of the song "Happy Guy" from NOFX's Punk In Drublic. And this is the third-to-last song in the album just like that one, so it's obviously good like it is.

14. "Bikeage"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Another keeper here. All of the instruments come together here to form a great background track to accompany the great singing from Aukerman. Exactly what I want to hear.

15. "Jean Is Dead"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: The bass strikes again here. And this seems to be Aukerman at his best because the song sort of feels like an anthem. Great way to close this out.


Favorite songs: "Myage", "Bikeage", "Hope", "I'm Not a Punk", and pretty much all the other 9.5/10s

Least favorite songs: "Tony Age", "Parents", "I Wanna Be a Bear", although I liked all of the songs on this.



OVERALL ALBUM SCORE

135.5/150 = 9.03333/10 = 0.903333 = 90.3333%



FINAL WORDS

Well, I think that what everyone said about this album is true. It was a great listen. The punk sound here topped all, and all of the instruments came together very nicely to make something that really pleased my ears. I would definitely listen to it again. And I recommend it to anyone who wants to know what early punk rock sounds like. You won't get many later punk vibes from it, but the early ones are good enough.

And that will wrap up this post. Thank you to everyone who read it, and if you think that this album might be one that you would enjoy listening to, then you can check it out on YouTube here or on Spotify here. Also, if you have any suggestions for future posts, whether it's an album, song, or chart for me to review, or a top ten, then I would be glad to do it, so please contact me wherever to give me those. So yeah, thanks again and I'll see you guys again soon!

Sleazy Song Reviews #3: Blueface - "Thotiana"

Hey music fans, and welcome back to song review! This one should be fun, as this song is very popular and has become a trending meme that is supposed to be good. I am excited to do it. But before I start, I just wanted to say that I will try to get Miscellaneous Mondays back next month, as I'm having a hard time doing it for this month because of how I've pushed myself into a music-discovering hiatus due to all the new stuff I've inhaled lately. When I'm done with that I promise I will have a lot of songs to talk about, so stay tuned. Meanwhile I have this to do. It sounds fun so let's get into it!



INTRODUCTION

"Thotiana" is a song released on January 29, 2019, by American rapper Johnathan Porter, also known as Blueface. It appears on his second mixtape Famous Cryp and was written by Porter and Scum Beats. In January of 2019, Porter released a remix of this song with American rapper YG on YouTube along with a Cole Bennett-directed music video. A week or two after the song's release, he released another remix, featuring American rapper Cardi B, on his social media pages. The music video for that remix, also directed by Bennett, was posted onto YouTube on February 16, 2019. The third and final remix, featuring both YG and Cardi B, was released to most music platforms two days later. These remixes and a dance challenge created on social media have helped the song reach the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it has peaked at #9. According to his Wikipedia pages, Blueface supposedly has an off-beat style of rapping and a unique voice that has been compared to E-40, Suga Free, Juvenile, and Slikk the Shocker. I think that sounds like an interesting style that should be fun to hear in this song, and if I like it I can look more into the mixtape and maybe review that here. But we'll see. Let's turn up and see if it's good.



REVIEW

Right away the piano-driven beat sounds good. The drums that come in soon after make it seem hype. What sounds like a chorus or hook comes in right after, as he repeats, "Bust down, Thotiana," and some other things. I think it reminds me quite a bit of a DJ Mustard-produced rap song that would have been a big thing back in 2014 or 2015. But that is not a bad thing. I think a lot of those songs sound decent, and this one does so far. I can kind of see what the off-beat rapping style is about now, too, and I kind of enjoy that. Going into the halfway point the song doesn't have too many layers, but the absence of some possible layers makes it sound pretty chill and I don't mind that. His rapping style seems to get a little more enjoyable as the song goes on as well. That marks the halfway point and I think the song is really worth listening to now because of how catchy it is. I think his rhymes sound good and the off-beat rapping style helps them become more easily moldable into something good. This style isn't something you hear every day and when I do hear it I enjoy it. When he continues to repeat, "Bust down, Thotiana," I just think it brings the song up more than it does down because it gives the song a catchy, more positive vibe. And we're already at the end because the song is only two minutes and nine seconds long. A lot of rap songs today are short like that, but I'm used to it because a lot of my favorite punk rock songs are also that length. It's short but sweet.

Now let's look at the lyrics. Genius says that the song is a strip club anthem that has instructions for any stripper that is listening to it. I think the way he calls a possible stripper "Thotiana" is creative, fun to say, and fun to hear. Even Blueface himself says that he chose "Thotiana" because he thought it was a catchy and different word. But back to the stripper thing, Blueface also said that he wanted this song to be a strip club hit, and if I ran a strip club I would definitely play this song in it as much as I could because even if it wasn't popular, I can see people really liking it when it's played. I can see it as a good dancing song as well. Also, even though everyone thinks Blueface raps off-beat, he says that he writes the song to the beat. How he does that and then raps it somewhat differently is nice. And now I don't have much else to say because the song is shorter than what I'm used to. I think in the short amount of time I had listening to the song a lot of good things happened and I like that.



OVERALL THOUGHTS

So, do I think this song is good? Yes, I do. It has a lot of things going on despite it sounding simple and hard to dig into and that's good. Do I think it deserves to be a top ten hit in this country? I would say yes, especially with lazier trap songs (*cough* "7 rings" *cough*) being up there with it. I would not mind seeing it go further in the charts at all. I do sort of see this song as a bit of an escape from all of the lazy trap that's high up on the charts today because there's actually some fun in it. There aren't many negative things in this song, but I wouldn't quite call it great because there aren't enough layers in the song for that. However, I still don't mind the absence of a lot of layers because I don't think this song is meant to have too many of them. If it did it would be sort of a different song that comes with a risk of being worse than before. So I think it's fine the way it is. Good song overall, I am fine with it being a hit, and I definitely can see myself coming back to it when I'm bored. If I had to rate it out of 10, I'd give it a 7, maybe a very light 8, which is good for a modern rap song.



FINAL WORDS

So yeah, that wraps up this song review. I had fun listening to this song and writing a review for it, and it makes me want to do these more often. So if you have a song you want me to review like this, then seriously tell me and I will be glad to review it. Or if there's a whole chart worth of songs you want me to review, tell me that and I don't mind looking into that either. I will not turn down your suggestions so just keep them coming! Either way, thanks if you read this far, and if you want to listen to this song, you can do so via YouTube here and Spotify here. I recommend it to anyone who is downright not scared of modern rap music, but if you are then stay away because you won't like it. But if you're not, jump right in, this might be for you. Thanks again and I'll see you guys soon! Have a great rest of your day! :D

Sleazy Song Reviews #2: Ariana Grande - "7 Rings"

So yeah, I think this is gonna become a thing now. Whenever a new cool-looking song tops the Billboard Hot 100, I will give a lengthy review of it just so I don't get asked a whole lot of questions about it. There's another new Ariana Grande song that has been on top of the Hot 100 for four weeks now, so I guess I need to review it before it's too late. Let's get to it!



INTRODUCTION

"7 Rings" (stylized as "7 rings") is a song by American singer Ariana Grande released on January 18, 2019, three weeks before the release of her fifth studio album and her second album in less than half a year, Thank U, Next. The song was written by numerous people, including Grande and some of the song's producers, and interpolates "My Favorite Things" by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Partially fueled by the music video that was released along with it, it has stayed on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks at the time of me writing this, and has also topped the charts in 19 other countries. It has been described as a "friendship" anthem by Grande and has also been said to have evolved from the previous single, "thank u, next". Sounds like a pretty interesting song to be this popular, right? Well, I will listen to this track in full for the first time today and see if it is worthy of being this popular, and if it is a step up or step down from her previous work, especially the album's lead single. I heard a trap-pop sounding song when I was at the skating rink a couple weeks ago and used Shazam to see what the name was, and it turns out that it was this song, but that doesn't really count as a listen because I can't remember anything about it. I will go really in-depth today to see if it's good or not. So yeah, time to take a listen!



REVIEW

Well, my first impression of this song isn't a very good one. That ghost-sounding synth at the beginning sounds like one that would be in a boring trap song, but I'm only a few seconds in so I won't start judging yet. Now, her voice is coming in for what sounds like the first verse. I don't mind this part. It sounds really chill and I like what's going on in the background now. The vocals are good as well. That goes on for a few measures, and that's good because I like hearing that. But what I don't like hearing is when it sort of drops and goes into the trappy part that sounds like a pre-chorus or chorus. It sounds really disappointing because this sounds like something I'd hear from a less experienced or less talented singer or rap artist that was inspired by all of today's top trap rappers. And I know that Ariana isn't like that and that she has talent. The lyrics and rhythm throughout this part sound sort of cringy because I would have expected way more from Ariana. So it's about half and half so far.

Going back into the verse was kind of a relief for me because I was already getting tired of that trap part. I like how the verse sounds with the background vocals and everything. I have to give the producers some credit for that. But just when I felt good about things again it goes back down into that grating trap part that is just unpleasant for me to hear because I know that Ariana is capable of way more. The bridge isn't the best part of the song, but the first part without the trap sound is way better than the second one. All I want when hearing that second part is just for the trap parts to stop and then everything to go back to when it was good. But the chorus comes right to my doorstep again and puts my hope level down. And just like that, the song is over. Short pop songs these days.

So now that the song is finished, it's lyrics time! I'm looking at Genius to see more of what's behind them. And looking at them, I'm not really sure what she meant when she said this song was a "friendship anthem". The lyrics just look like she's bragging about her luxury items, just like a hip-hop star would, and in the style that a hip-hop star would in the current day and age. I am pretty disappointed that this is what pop music is starting to come to. Ariana Grande has lots of talent, but she hasn't been showing it in this song, probably because she wants to be "cool" like a lot of the modern trap rappers think they are. And I just think she can do better. The story behind and the lyrics in "thank u, next" were very interesting, so I'm not really sure how she went from that to this anyway. Overall nothing interesting in the lyrical field, and that might even bring the song down a bit for me. But let's see.



OVERALL THOUGHTS

To conclude, I don't see myself listening to this song again unless I'm forced to. And for someone who is listening to music pretty much constantly, that isn't good. But this song does have its upsides. The verse was kind of satisfying to listen to, and I think it was great when it transitioned from the annoying chorus back to the verse. But the verses and the non-trap parts are really the only quality things. Everything else just tows it down like a ship heading to the ocean floor to me. This song is a big disappointment for someone who loves Ariana Grande's music and really had faith in this new era considering how good the lead single was. I don't know exactly how to score it out of ten, but if I had to estimate I'd say no lower than a 4 but no higher than a 5 or 5.5. Quite a big step-down from the lead single, and not a song that deserves to be on top of the charts in the U.S. Hopefully something better takes its place soon.



FINAL WORDS

And that brings my time talking about this song to a close. I'm a bit disappointed by how it turned out, but hey, at least it's not a bad criminal on top again. I don't necessarily think I would recommend this song to someone else, but if you think this would sound cool based on what I've said about it, you can listen to it on YouTube here or Spotify here. But I'm just warning you that it will not be a usual Ariana Grande song, so proceed with caution if you want. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this, because I appreciate that. If you have an idea that you'd like to see in a future post, whether it's a song, album, or chart review, or a battle or a top 10 or something like that, then please let me know because I would love to make those posts. But yeah, thanks again and I'll see y'all soon!