Review Summary: The verdict: GUILTY
In Guilty Pleasurez, the weaknesses of Brokencyde are amplified. It’s a much too simple album. Synths that sounded juicy in the previous two albums sound like radio leftovers in this flat sounding album. That could describe the entire problem with this album: there’s barely any of Brokencyde’s character left. The rapping is generally weak, and the singing is not good. The singer’s range does not go far, and even with auto-tune, it’s clear that they’re no Michael Jackson. Their hip-hop flava is also starting to sound much more generic here (that is, when it even shows up). The album is stuffed with basic pop and flavourless synths, and when a harder tune shows up, it’s too late. That being said, U Mad Bro? is so bad that it’s an excellent troll song.
This album marked the end of Brokencyde’s specialty flavour. Their music was hardly memeable or memorable anymore. They were getting more serious, and the fun was disappearing. Fast forward to their album All Grown Up, and it was strictly hip-hop with loud-as-*** screams. For this iconic MySpace group to run out of ideas so quickly was a given, though. After all, Brokencyde have made the same type of music for their entire discography. Leftovers do get tiring though, and no amount of choruses with a party attitude could save this release from sounding completely derivative.
Guilty Pleasurez is a weaker release from the band simply because no chances/changes are taken. It’s no surprise the album came out a year after Will Never Die, because these songs could’ve easily been part of an extended cut. While the work ethic is commendable, the cracks in their armour started to reveal an uglier picture. They revealed themselves as a one-trick pony, and the weak singing and bland synth beats made it seem as though the band was dying. They never did die, but after this album, their music became exponentially less interesting with every release.
