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Review Summary: We go to musical hell Los Angeles native Billie Eilish has become the talk of the town for "alternative" (read: discount pop) music circles lately—becoming something of a juggernaut in a remarkably short period of time, perhaps already considered up there with Lana Del Rey and Marina despite only being 17 at the time of this album's release. After releasing her debut song "Ocean Eyes", she quickly shot to popularity, gaining a record deal with Interscope and dropping the incredibly mediocre pseudo-EP Don't Smile At Me. This has all led to her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go？, and does it live up to the hype it's been recieving from magazines like Alternative Press？Well, if anything lives up to Alternative Press' hype its a miracle nowadays, but this isn't it.
Eilish's vocal style is the ungodly cross of Melanie Martinez and a mumble rapper. Despite this, she does have potential, but it is unfortunately wasted due to the sound she has gone with, forcing her to dumb down every bit of the potential she has and ultimately giving us a lot to be desired. Eilish's writing is also atrocious and honestly should have been left to a team of pop songwriters rather than her and her producer/brother Finneas. Take this gem from "Xanny" as some proof:
I'm in their second hand smoke
Still just drinking canned Coke
I don't need a Xanny to feel better
On designated drives home
Only one who's not stoned
Don't give me a Xanny now or ever
The production is a complete mess; often times Eilish will be drowned out by the basic FL Studio instrumentals and it will be downright impossible to make out what she's singing, not helped by her aforementioned tendency to mumble her lyrics. It also tries to cross so many different genres at once—trap, big room house, minimal techno, dream pop, indie pop—that it ultimately ends up coming across as When We All Fall Asleep trying to figure out why it even exists, or at the very least what it's supposed to be.
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go？ is the perfect snapshot of everything wrong with all the popular genres of today. Any potential seen here is squashed by messy production, mediocre vocals and some of the worst writing in any pop album (which is saying a lot, given pop's tendency to mostly be about bland topics like love or sex). It's the epitome of what it truly is, which is a cash grab, otherwise a well-off 17 year old wouldn't be singing about Xanax while trying to be emo.
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Sowing STAFF (3.5)
A volatile launching pad....
nomiddlename (3)
A dark debut that has a handful of good tracks, but could still be more adventurous....
FreakMachine (4)
A confident debut album from pop's current sensation, Billie Eilish's trademark half-spoken vocals c...
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Album Rating: 1.0
Album stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0S0KGZnfBGSIssfF54WSJh?si=EWJNP1i2QrKdaOQP7RYuUw
Constructive criticism always appreciated.
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I think the singles enough keep this from being a 1, but I haven't heard the rest yet. Review is good! I'm still looking forward to hearing this, hopefully I like it a bit more than you did :]
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I actually somewhat enjoyed this. Clearly, it's not the masterpiece of dark pop that she or the label would want you to believe; however it's got some hooks and she's doing something pretty different than her peers which is always cool to see. I do agree that she can very likely do better than this, so hopefully she'll go even darker and edgier and maybe get some help with her lyrics. For me this is probably sitting at a 3-ish, but I need to give it another spin. Pretty decent review, your points are valid and you make them well. Only thing I'd suggest is perhaps rewording certain descriptors, like "the incredibly mediocre pseudo-EP", which makes you seem predisposed to hating this even if, in reality, you gave it a fair shake.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
"When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go？ is the perfect snapshot of everything wrong with all the popular genres of today." Aaaaah, I dunno, I would've liked to know what you think is wrong with the popular genres, or what about the songwriting is bad (apart from some quoted lyrics), or how it made you feel, or how it compares to / fits in which the cultural references you bring up. This feels more like a sketch than a review, which is cool but I think it needs a lot of filling in. Your expression is super good, though!
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her aesthetic and branding got me skipping. looks like industry plant bullshit
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This girl makes music for teenage white girls who make ahegao faces on camera
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I am going to be honest here, this really sucks. I thought "bury a friend" and expect a trip-hop banger, except it is just pitch black piss poor song. I don't think I would even touch this album even for a second, even the rather overproduced Born To Die sounds much better, and it's not just because there are numerous highlights on BTD.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Im gonna actually listen to this just out of morbid curiousity to see how horrendous thisll be.
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
@Spirit: Honestly I thought the singles were the worst part...
@Blushful: Its boring, trite and uninspired...like I said, it's more like a cash grab. Thanks for the input though, dude, I will definitely take it into consideration in my next review
@luci: iNdUsTrY pLaNt is a stupid term imo
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
@Moog: you brave soul, good luck(tm)
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i don't get the industry plant pot shots tbh
if the music is good, enjoy it
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wow, this is better than ABSOLUTELY ANY MAINSTREAM POP that's been released in the past 10 years
love the melodies, love the wavering vocal effects, i.e. end of the chorus on bad guy, chorus of xanny where the hard bass layers over vox
starting to think ya'll couldnt indetify good music if it hit ya'll over the head
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
this album is really good
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ok I guess I’ll check it out
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"drowned out by the basic FL Studio instrumentals and it will be downright impossible to make out what she's singing"
shows you've never even touched a daw. these voc effects are very intentional. if the vox were just mixed bad you wouldn't be able to hear her in such a linear pattern. also if you can't tell what she's saying at any portion of this record, you're intentionally tuning her out
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Yes, this is good.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Gonna sit on a 3.5 after my first couple listens and see where it goes from there. There's definitely some things missing that prevent this from reaching its full potential, but I do enjoy this fwiw.
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as far as setting a foundation, i think this album does a good job. it'll be very interesting to see how she progresses from here ie. either going down a more weird and esoteric route, or doing something more mainstream
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
hopefully the former because we have enough of the latter
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
@Love: "shows you've never even touched a DAW"
Please explain to me how calling it basic shows me I have never touched a DAW? I would love to know, kiddo
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