Album Rating: 4.1

the best of the album proves he's still got it. it's just a shame that peak FlyLo would have chopped the thing up into an EP of less good stuff and a 35-40 minute album that was absolute fire. new FlyLo just chucks it all on and lets the great stuff get drowned out by the mediocre



like someone said earlier in this thread imagine if the whole album was as good as the Black Balloons > Fire is Coming one-two. that's peak Ellison

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

yea, sure... Not trimming down the fat is a recurring problem in a lot of new releases lately, seems to be a consencuense of our current streaming-era listening culture and it's fucking SHAME.



SHAME SHAME SHAME

plane described it as being drowned in excess, and i fully agree but i think that's the problem. i don't want excess, i want that 35-40 min album that's straight fire. i don't like albums being overstuffed for the sake of it. i don't like having to cut the fat and build my own interpretation of what the album should've been.

Album Rating: 3.5

I'd actually argue the brilliance starts right after Fire is Coming haha, but I do enjoy it and Black Balloons. Most of the tracks before that are hard to pin down, pretty hit-and-miss for me so far. But Inside Your Home, Andromeda, Find Your Own Way Home, FF4, and all the 2+ minute tracks in the second half are brilliant imo. I definitely hear the influences of his previous four albums as others have noted. It's definitely stronger than this imo, maybe even Los Angeles too, but not Cosmogramma or UtQC.

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

2nd half > 1st, yea

black balloons is eh, but i didn't like TA13OO too much, so maybe it's that.

did anyone call it his aviary yet?

Album Rating: 4.5

not surprised by some of you tbh lol

People seem to really focus on splitting the album in half, and I think thats thematically reasonable. I know the concept for Flamagra is apocalyptic, centered around an image Steven had of an "eternal flame sitting on top of a hill", which was sparked into more vivid imagery by him hearing Lynch reciting his story on Fire Is Coming at a party. For me everything leading up to Fire Is Coming is part of his unhinged Kuso reality as it were, and everything after is the process of that realms incineration.

I don't prefer one half over the other, I think the impact of the second half hinges on the arrangement and narrative of the first half.

Also I'm not going to get in too deep chopping up Gyro's criticisms here save for one thing:

"so little connective tissue to give it a sense of flow, so few hooks or memorable moments in the shorter tracks."

the sheer volume of recurring motifs and elements from other parts of the album as well as the notable hearkening to distinct melodies from his other works kind of make this quote worth little more than an eye-roll. not to mention the quantity of tracks that flow directly into each other - if you aren't hearing connective tissue it's obviously because you weren't listening intently enough.

I wouldn't cut the duration of Flamagra at all, it's a lot more fully realized than this album was which felt like a brief sizzle holding up a few especially epic tracks, BUT, I'm not sure that Flamagra has its Coronus the Terminator... might take time, Land of Honey might get there.

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

i agree with that last statement, even if i personally find some moments lack impact or memorability, there definitely IS a very grounded and present sense of flow and intent all along the album.



This sense of progression and movement sorely lacking in other, more celebrated releases this year.

everything this guy does is a masterpiece agreed

So salty

Album Rating: 4.5

lmao

Album Rating: 4.5

the negative nancey takes his nancey stance

Yellow Belly through Fire Is Coming is straight up hair-raising

FF4 is like Steven just returning to instrumental hip hop for one minute just to smack everyone who has even bothered making beats since LA came out in the face

Album Rating: 5.0

Flamagra is a gem. Who's going to be reviewing that so I can make some easy comments?

Album Rating: 3.5

Black Balloons to Andromeda is my fave section, not sure about Yellow Belly yet... perhaps I need more time.

Album Rating: 3.5

sparked into more vivid imagery by him hearing Lynch reciting his story on Fire Is Coming at a party

@demon Yellow Belly is just so unnerving and paranoid, the galling pace, schizophrenic vocal layering, and disjointed structure just drop me into that morbid cartoon filth and violence landscape, makes me feel like my brain is melting

what do i have to do to get invited to these functions holy shit