Review Summary: When it's not blatantly bad, it's just downright boring.
Meghan Trainor was a breakout stud last year with "All About That Bass", which topped the charts in some 58 countries. Pretty damn impressive for a debut single. Not to mention her image as someone who supposedly doesn't care about what you look like or how much you weigh. In short, a modern day role model who preaches substance over style. The irony? That's the exact opposite of what this album is, as opposed to what it, at least tries to, encompass.
For someone so different from her contemporaries, you'd think she'd create different music too, right? Wrong. With "Title", Trainor's debut full-length and follow-up to the 2014 EP of the same name, the 21-year old Massachusetts native does little to nothing to break out of the pack. Even the best moments of this record, are not just formulaic, but familiar and nothing new can be found here.
Seeing as "All About That Bass" was an international success, you'd assume there's more to this smash hit single everyone's been talking about. Personally, I think Trainor would have been better off as a one-hit wonder, because "All About That Bass" makes it damn near impossible to enjoy what few good songs she brings to the table. "All About That Bass" has good intentions. But it also aims for the stars at times. It promotes the idea that everyone is perfect. For a track that encourages teenagers to embrace their flaws, it talks about perfection, something we strive for, but it's not something necessarily in the cards for us. We all have unique talents that make us who we are, but try as we might, perfection is something we can only envision.
Where the song aims for the stars is where Trainor tries to force the issue with her vocals. She can sing, and damn well at that. But she tries too hard, to the point where her voice sounds forced and abrasive and trying too hard to keep the listener's attention. That's one of the many false parallels this album manifests. It intends to do one thing, but that very thing is what's keeping it from making these visions come to fruition.
Aside from the horrid debut single, Trainor can be soulful and imaginative on tracks like "Lips Are Movin." Alebit, the track is standard pop fare, with this, among others, talking about relationships, feelings, boys who supposedly lie, and other things that girls write in their diaries. But that's where the album actually comes across as kind of arrogant, and it appears to promote gender supremacy more than it does equality.
"Lips Are Movin" is catchy as hell, but it in all trueness states the idea that boys are evil just for being boys. For this twenty-first century role model with curves, that's not the right image to instill in teenage girls. You can't give them the idea that all males are supposedly terrible people. That will only lead the listener to be submissive and not trusting of virtually anyone, even family.
So you've got radio friendly singles that try too hard and contradict themselves, but where's the boring aspect of this abhorrent catch 22? Take a look at tracks like "Walkshame" and "Dear Future Husband." These tracks epitomize lazy and contrived lyricism, a problem that no doubt plagues mainstream airwaves. The Taylor Swifts and the Ed Sheerans of the world do a pretty solid job as lyricists, because they know when to start writing about themes that are a bit more fresh and not very explored. Trainor fails in being explorative throughout this record, and it comes at the cost of this album's value. Sure, you can talk about themes that are so commonplace and indicative of teenage life, but teenage years are crucial to determine what kind of people we want to be. It's much more cohesive and intuitive to transcend these gut-wrenching themes, rather than to wallow in them and focus so heavily on why this world is so cruel.
But, ladies and gentlemen, here's where the kicker comes in; none of these contradictions and failures come as even a remotely significant surprise to me. You'd like to see someone step out and be a bit more creative and passionate about the songwriting, but instead, we again have to settle for themes that while relatable, just create a hot mess of wasted potential for Trainor. It's only her first record, though. So time is certainly on her side to right the ship. But if she doesn't, she'll simply fade into obscurity and no one will bother to remember her name.
