Changing Things Up!

Hello readers! I've been away for awhile now and am glad to be back. After much thought and consideration, I have decided that I'll be posting simple, straightforward videos for my reviews instead of lengthy written reviews. I'll be posting the videos here and let me know what you all think!
Here are my first two video reviews:

Kesha - Rainbow

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Evolve (Album) - Imagine Dragons

A Step Forward and Backward

Ooooh Imagine Dragons, how you confuse me. What you could be if only you did what you should. A new Imagine Dragons album is like seeing mystery meat, it probably won't kill you, but don't expect much. I wanted to be able to like Evolve, I enjoyed their first album, but their second was pretty bad and this album is both good and bad in many ways which leaves it mediocre in the end.

Most songs on this album sound just like classic Imagine Dragons, the voice and instruments are totally recognizable. This is good because the style is unique and iconic for them, but it also becomes a little lazy because only in a few songs do they take style risks and challenge themselves. The album in general is better than Smoke and Mirrors, which is progress, and yet, it still lack the creativity and risk to live up or surpass to their first album, Night Visions. 

In their last song "Dancing in the Dark" and "Thunder" were both a little more experimental, I was happy to see some change to their normal sound, however it is pretty similar to most modern alternative and indie music. I want to be able to enjoy their electo-infused rock, but I want more from them, more intensity, more risks and elements to make a real new album. We'll see in a few years, as for now, we have a few "alright" songs from them that get lost in the garble of the rest of their album.

 (a new way to review albums for Red Media Reviews)

I Don't Know Why: 5 ---- Whatever It Takes: 4

Believer: 7 --- Walking the Wire: 5

Rise Up: 6 --- I'll Make It Up to You: 4

Yesterday: 5 --- Mouth of the River: 5

Thunder: 6 --- Start Over: 5

Dancing It the Dark: 6

Track Average: 5.3

Originality: 6

Longevity: 5

Flow: 6

Red Score: 5.6

  

The Man - The Killers

One That Needs Multiple Listens

The Killers are back! YAY! I know they came out with a song last year, but I wasn't much of a fan of it. This song, however, is a refreshing energy that is much needed to bring back The Killers. Day and Age was fantastic, Battle Born was okay, and last years song was meh, but "The Man" is great.

So the title needs a little explaining. The song wasn't that great the first time I listened to it, parts were really good but the pauses and cuts in the song threw me off a lot. It honestly sounded like the song skipped or just end in the middle of a chorus. After listening a few times, I saw the good in the songs somewhat sudden stops and cuts. ANYWAYS! The rest of the song.

The upbeat electronic ambiance mixed with continuous guitar mixed with the fun and funky bass is really entertaining to the ears. The drums are solid, but a little less creative than what we are used to from the Killers. Honestly though, the electronic samples, the bass line and guitar are so good that the drums can be mediocre with no qualms. Brandon Flowers is great here, a lot of fun like usual, easy to sing to, but not annoying. I would recommend listening to this multiple times if you didn't like it the first time, it does take some getting used to, lyrically and the general sound/organization.   

The album Wonderful Wonderful was announced to come out this year, but this is the only single so far released this year for it. I am super excited for it. New Killers, Gorillaz and Muse album this year? 2017 might be the best year in music this decade.

Originality: 7

Instruments: 7

Vocals: 7

Longevity: 7

Red Score: 7

hopeless fountain kingdom (Deluxe) - Halsey

The Child Of Modern Pop Culture Music

Reviews are back in full force! Let us get started with the now nationally recognized artist, Halsey. If you still don't know who this is, she is the one featured in the ridiculously overplayed "Closer" by The Chainsmokers.

Now let's look at her new album hopeless fountain kingdom (Deluxe). In reality? It isn't horrible, it is just totally uninspired, it sounds exactly like every other generic pop song possible created by lazy producers and singers from the last two years. I know I'll get a lot of hate because everyone on Youtube loves it apparently, but I'm sticking by my guns. However, there are songs like "Alone" and "Devil In Me" which step a little bit out of mediocrity and are actually alright, but the rest of the album is just a blur.

To start on the specifics, her vocals are almost identical throughout the album. The music that accompanies her vocals do just that, accompany her. For most songs, there are fairly similar sound percussion, synths and other random noises which end up being only somewhat interesting background noise. 

Another notable thing is that Halsey's tone and tempo are almost impossible to differ from song to song. If you were to play the album in the background of a party, I'm sure some people will ask if the music is on repeat because of how repetitive it is from start to finish. The music isn't horrible or annoying, it is just dull and goes nowhere, the album is 16 tracks long for some reason, it could have been only four tracks and had the exact same deliverable altogether.

So my recommendations are to genuinely listen to the tracks "Alone" and "Devil In Me" and then go to her previous album BADLANDS which is far more interesting.

Originality: 3

Instruments: 5

Vocals: 3

Longevity: 4

Red Score: 3.7