Review Summary: Hey Spider-Man, do a flip
I've always had a fascination with musical artists who are pretty much musical punching bags. You see, I'm old enough to have grown up in the halcyon days of Nickelback. Their existence was always a mystery to me, because I could count the amount of people I knew who liked them on one hand. Yet somehow, every time they announced a concert in my city, said concert would sell out in seconds. Their records would fly off the shelves of my local HMV. And what fascinates me about Nickelback's case is that it's the first instance of this I've seen being a circle of sorts. Eventually, you see this band get so much hate, and then some 20 odd years later, people eventually come around to them and think, "yeah, that wasn't so bad, was it?". Well, in the case of Nickelback, I regret to inform you that I am not one of those people. Every sip of Nickelback haterade I've sipped is delicious, and I see no reason to think otherwise. But even I can agree that nowadays, ragging on them in public is ragebait at its finest, and I can empathize wiith the people who have come around to them: what did spending so much time hating them really accomplish? All this hatred for a band whose only crime was making music that you don't like, and the funniest part is? They still sell out arenas, and make probably more money per show than you do in a year.
Where am I going with this, you ask? Well, enter Benson Boone. A 20something year old hunk from Monroe, Washington, the latest punching bag to be hung up in the musical 24/7 Fitness. He likes to sing. He likes showing off his ripped chest- something he's done on two album covers. He likes dressing up in vibrant blue and glittery outfits. And, if you've been paying attention to the discourse surrounding him on the internet, he loves to backflip. He REALLY loves to backflip, mind you- half his concerts are backflipping off nearby stage equipment. And hell, if I could backflip, I'd probably be doing it all the time too. He was a contestant on Americian Idol for a brief time before withdrawing from the competition altogether, and he went nuclear in 2024 when his song "Beautiful Things" became a hit. And honestly, until at least the end of last year, I didn't even know there was such a backlash against him. Maybe it's the fact that I don't use TikTok and actively try not to be terminally online, but I'd heard the song quite a few times throughout the year and didn't mind it. And don't get me wrong, I can see how that song would be annoying, especially if you're in the wrong mood, but honestly, I think it's fine. Its an inoffensive piece of pop rock. But it also really stands out because its chorus, which consists of high-pitched wails of "Please, stay, I want you, I need you oh lord", for all its bombast that Boone pours into it, doesn't seem to have a lot behind it. Hell, just look at those words alone.
That brings us to his second album,
American Heart. It comes just a little over a year after the more entertainingly titled
Fireworks & Rollerblades. Admittedly, I have not listened to that album. I have listened to this one, however. And do I think all this backlash towards him is justified? Well... honestly, still no. At a short and sweet 30 minutes, Boone's inoffensive brand of pop music is serviceable, but that's really all there is to it.
It's hard to tell what Boone is exactly best at, because for an album that mostly seems to stick to one sound for the majority of its duration, it's very all over the place. Opening track "Sorry, I'm Here For Someone Else" starts the album on a nicely upbeat note, with its throbbing synths helping the song build up to a nice climax while Boone sings of a date with a new girl where he inadvertently bumps into an ex, only to find himself a tad preoccupied with how much he misses her. It's a solid song whose best aspect is its simplicity. Unfortunately, it's the start of a rather disturbing trend, where a good portion of the songs just don't know when to
end. After this song reaches a point you think will be the end, but goes on for a few measurues past this climax just because Boone doesn't know how to end it. Likewise, "Bitch done me wrong" clunker "Man in Me" seems to build to an explosive climax... only for us to not give that, and abruptly give us a boring coda of only piano and him whining for a few seconds... then a few seconds of him heavily breathing and closing the piano lid. On the topic of that song, "Man in Me" also starts a trend of the songs where he tries to sound as earnest as possible being the worst songs. "Momma Song" is a tribute to his mother that I find easy to respect, but hard to genuinely enjoy because it reminds me of the better Adele songs that sound just like it. And penultimate track "Take Me Home" is one of the most boring piano ballads you've ever heard.
In fact, it's the songs on this album that are just downright weird that are the best ones. "Mystical Magical" is another song that's been getting the brunt of the internet lately for Boone's over the top falsettos and ridiculous lyrics about "Moonbeam ice cream", but honestly...
its ridiculousness is the best thing about it. It's a song that embraces its own ridiculosness. That he interpolates "Physical" into these falsetto bits makes it that much more enjoyable. Likewise, "Reminds Me of You" is a bog standard breakup song elevated by its attempts at lo-fi beats and his admittedly not too terrible raps reminiscent of Tyler Joseph. "Wanted Man" is also enjoyable in this regard- in fact, Boone's trademark caterwauling has been absent for most of this album, and this is one of the few songs to feature it, and a song where they feel truly earned.
As a whole though,
American Heart's biggest issue is that it's just... there. If I were to have listened to it without knowing of the backlash towards Boone, I'd have assumed it was just a mid-tier pop album from just any pop artist. Boone is a talented individual with a pretty good voice, and I'd have just thought he was some unremarkable artist making servicable music. The thing is...
that's exactly what he is. And especially after hearing a whole album of his work, I still find it so mystifying that this is the guy with a whole bunch of disproportionate hate directed at him. Now if it's enough to see him getting a reappraisal in some 20 years, time will tell, but until then, I say let this guy backflip off as many speakers as he wants, as long as he doesn't hurt someone.
