I don't get it. I just don't. Whatever made this album sell ten million copies or whatever, I don't hear it. It's pleasant enough, I suppose, but it doesn't sound any different than any other 'literate girl that sings words she actually wrote' record to me. Five Grammys? I must be missing something. Maybe it's because I'm turned off by lyrics about marching to Zion or between-song skits featuring awkward people defining what love is, but I didn't find anything to grab my attention.But due to the aforementioned record sales and awards, there must be something right for a certain audience here, I'm just not it. In regards to nothing, the album has the longest list of personnel ever, that is until Chinese Democracy comes out and there are forty-something credited guitarists, two dozen producers, etc.
The only way I really kept myself amused was by playing 'spot the sample,' and the main one was Gladys Knight and the Pips' "The Way We Were" on "Ex-Factor," but then I'm ashamed because the only reason I know that is because of the Wu-Tang Clan.
I feel bad about my complete apathy towards this record. This was more how I expected to feel about The Score, but I dig that a lot, and Lauryn's hooks are one of the main reasons. I just know when the track that stands out most on the record features goddamn John Legend ("Everything is Everything"), I'm headed in the wrong direction. Whatever makes this work doesn't work for me. This is probably the most indifferent I've felt towards a record in a long time, and that bugs me. If I had to crank out a real review of this now, I'd sweat.
Sorry, Lauryn. It's just stretched-out, pleasant, but not engaging. In a meme, tl;dr
Lauryn Hill - Everything Is Everything
No comments:
Post a Comment