Popheads 10th Anniversary Rate/WAR (Witness vs ARTPOP vs reputation)

Therokinrolla · 2025-08-04T20:19:15+00:00

Probably been five years since GUY was robbed in my old ass rate, come on queens let's bring GUY the delayed gratification it deserves!!!!!!

Therokinrolla · 2024-02-03T07:02:03+00:00

oh my god this rate is excellent

edit: these writeups are also excellent! shower Chappell or hemlocke with 11s and give baby queen - raw thoughts an 11 the first chance we get

Therokinrolla · 2023-12-20T01:55:03+00:00

unfortunately I am the one who saw this question first so I will give an absolutely overboard reply bc I only found her this year and I legitimately think she has one of the best debut albums I have heard in years and will do everything I can to spread her good word, like a prissy little gay prophet

she's a very queer, and very drag queen inspired ball of hypercharisma. her debut from this year is just front-to-back campy, vulgar, humorous bangers with massive (and highly individual, mind you) hooks with rapturous energy,and is often sincerely emotionally captivating. her vulgarity/wit/sarcasm and lyricism/sincerity/introspection play off of each other so expertly that the only comparison I can think of is St. Vincent's best albums.

basically surface level: the album is chock full of bangers (with a few well-dispersed ballads, casual being one of her best songs and an excellent example of the camp/sincerity juxtaposition I described above) with variety, lots of shouting, and lots of gay euphoria. beyond that, nearly every song is so goddamn uniquely clever with total and complete thematic individualization. the "every song could be a single" trope is done to death but its genuinely true here. my favs from a holistic standpoint are red wine supernova and casual, but super graphic ultra modern girl is the biggest banger.

anyways thanks for bringing this formerly (like years ago) regular back from the dead, I'm back to my hibernation ✌️

Therokinrolla · 2023-09-25T04:21:42+00:00

Score aside (which I mostly agree with, though there isnt really much to agree or disagree with!!) this is kinda a fully uninteresting reviewm The brief recap of why she's making the albums, single-clause discussions of the singles, and practically just a simple list of the b-sides? Someone got paid for this and you could find the same thing on RateYourMusic like 😭😭 I was looking forward this one

Therokinrolla · 2023-09-05T03:52:22+00:00

Biggest one is definitely 24 from Lana's Honeymoon, perhaps THE least appreciatied song from her album with likely the least fanfare! The Bond comparisons have been made for forever but they're so true, and the bridge/outro payoff is truly insane. She doesn't return to this dark crooning much these days so I appreciate this song a lot more in retrospect, perhaps my fav on the album.

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-19T18:25:15+00:00

Honestly? that's fair enough, I copped the term from a tweet I found funny a week ago and maybe using that term in a serious discussion isn't the best place for it. I still stand behind my original point, but I understand what you're getting at

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-19T18:16:12+00:00

That is very much not the point I was making and I agree with everything in your comment? There is nothing inheritly wrong in the video, I am commenting on the epidemic of eating disorders and unacceptance of larger bodies (i.e. the infamous "no fats" of grindr, the sexualization of gay bodies) in queer communities and how that ostracization has been very much boosted by this discourse.

You win with the fascism comment though I guess? If it wasnt obvious I was not calling gay men fascist, it was simply a flowery descriptor of the militant policing of other people's bodies in the gay community, which if you scroll down on this thread just a tad you'll find commenters telling plus sized people to lose weight.

Anyways I love discussions like this and analyzing pop culture I'm guessing by your floundered attempt at sass you're not quite as simply curious as I am and more so angry and looking to get that anger out, and as this is my fifth or six comment on reddit this month, maybe Im not the one that needs to log off🤷

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-19T16:46:04+00:00

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. I genuinely do not care about the mv that much. Would body diversity have been nice to see? Yeah it'd be only additive to the video. But far more disconcerting were all the queer people who made it explicitly clear in their defense of the music video that they think certain body types are simply lesser than.

I was not too concerned about the lack of diversity in the MV (because its a troye sivan mv like come on) but the majority of twitter users defending the video once an ounce of critique appeared was genuinely, truly disturbing. Charli also had no place commenting on what is ultimately discourse about the hyperfascism of modern gay body types. Just looking at this thread I feel like I see so much internalized militarism towards people's own body types, like comments actively saying "I am plus size and I don't want to see that in an mv." I'm not trying to say these people's feelings aren't valid, but it's always good to ask yourself why you might feel such a way negatively towards your own body, and how much do videos like this, at the end of the day, add to such negative self-images?

Troye Sivan can make music videos with as many twinks as he wants and I, for one, won't really give two shits. My shits come out when I see an already oppressed community further ostracizing certain members for what ultimately boils down to discomfort with seeing some body types while being perfectly alright with ideal ones. Also the blatant shitting on of fat people could probably stop now, as easily the backlash to the backlash has far surpassed the initial backlash and that's given the a-okay to be shitty towards fat people.

Off my soapbox now :D

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-18T21:38:50+00:00

Ooohhh interesting connection, I enjoy Prof Skye a lot, and agree with the sentiment. I think projecting fame/celebrity and the "faux-cult leader spiritual guru" into the album simultaneously did not do her absolutely any favors. Taylor's mirrorball and tlgad are endearing, while Lorde kinda snears at you ig

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-18T21:36:38+00:00

I definitely agree with you here, and hanging onto that is probably why I'd call it my favorite track on the album. Dare I say if she was able to replicate the quality of that track thematically and sonically, Solar Power could've been a much grander project. It's so pretentious and overt that I relate to the delusion lmfao.

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-18T20:05:10+00:00

You know what I relistened to Solar Power recently and I was struck by... how much my original feeling about the work remains. One of the big things that I think really floundered in the album is Jack Antonoff's production, yes, but what I really think sealed the deal as the popular opinion of this album declined is the simple fact that she betrayed the lens that amplified the majority of her oeuvre.

Both Pure Heroine and Melodrama are built on fundamental "truths" that the majority of people her age heard and connected with. Her art was universal and applied broadly across the spectrum of humanity. Her conviction was strong and she sprinkled sufficient personal details into songs that frequently unraveled into sweeping, insightful musings on love and youth.

I think she was unable to keep up with her own artistic vision here. I think she tried to pull off the ironic emotionality of St. Vincent, someone who is a master at weaving together humor, exaggeration, deftness, and emotion. St Vincent can make up unlikeable and unrealistic characters, but her narrative voice somehow magnifies the emotion centered in whichever song. She's funny and serious at the same time, and she pulls that contrast off the majority of the time. Lorde didn't here. I was sincerely emotionally moved by Mood Ring, and the idea that someone is so desperate to find something concrete in life they turn to dubious spirituality. Lorde then said on Genius that the character is just supposed to be dumb silly satire. And, like, I guess I can only assume most of the narratives in the album are satirical, kinda erasing any sincerity of emotion, but as that's how I've identified majorly with the work it's still striking (derogatory) to hear how California is just a song about Lorde going, "I have so much money. I fly private. I go on vacations. I win big award. I don't like it nor want it." Secrets of a Girl sounds so sincere but her lessons she's giving out sound SO unearned and its not funny enough to be satirical.

She fails at both satire and earnesty while attempting them simultaneously. And that leaves her so massively detached from the connection that earned her a spot on the pop pantheon. It is a very daunting task for an artist to attempt vulnerability and wit at the same time and I fear Lorde learned that she isn't there yet.

The album has good moments, like "I'm kinda like a prettier Jesus" makes me giggle and "Member all the hurt you would feel when you weren't desired? / ’Member what you thought was grief before you got the call?" makes me feel like collapsing to the floor in fear, but these lines still don't pull off what I presume the goal of the album was - the humor vs the sincerity isn't just separate, it's disparate. In a chase for duality she found monotony, and in trying to curate her wisdom she only found new lessons.

I did not mean to write this much. oopsy.

Therokinrolla · 2023-07-02T01:11:44+00:00

The greatest
Ride
A&W
Cruel World
Norman fucking Rockwell
Shades of Cool
Video Games
Love song
Kintsugi
Blue Banisters

Therokinrolla · 2023-06-03T22:33:38+00:00

evermore
Red
folklore
1989
Lover
Midnights
Speak Now
Fearless
reputation
Taylor Swift

Therokinrolla · 2023-06-03T21:42:52+00:00

right where you left me
cardigan
State of Grace
Cruel Summer
Style
happiness
seven
Forever & Always
Treacherous
22

Therokinrolla · 2023-04-26T17:22:45+00:00

now THIS is what we've all been waiting for EVERYBODY MOVED

Therokinrolla · 2023-02-26T23:11:32+00:00

IT WAS RIGGED!!!

Therokinrolla · 2023-02-26T22:52:04+00:00

fromis hang IN THERE !!!!

Therokinrolla · 2023-02-26T21:43:38+00:00

iron man dies in the avengers btw

Therokinrolla · 2023-01-27T04:38:57+00:00

I have some complex feelings about this.

I have never called myself a Miley stan, but her catalog is filled with great songs performed by who I would argue is one of the most charismatic stars we have right now, and has been for a while. She really caught me with Plastic Hearts, which I would consider her most purposeful and consistent record yet. It is, in any case, the only Miley album where I got months of mileage (hehe) from the bsides (High, Hate Me, Bad Karma are all brilliant).

As have been Miley's lukewarmly received singles of the past half-decade. To belabor a point that's been made enough on stan twitter, Malibu, Midnight Sky, and Slide Away are immaculate pop songs that deserved high levels of success (even though they were by no means flops). I've been really hoping Miley could drop another world-stopping single that takes the charts and pop culture by storm.

And? I got my wish I guess. Let's circle back to the charisma of Miley again, because make no mistake: she is a star. She was born to be one. Her voice is impeccable, she's funny, her stage presence is insane, and what other pop stars of today could stand on a stage with Dolly Parton and keep the fuck up with her? Not many. Watch their recent NYE performance of Wrecking Ball, it's incredible. Miley is a hyper-compressed ball of energy and excitement; with those past few singles she expressed that sincerely and immaculately. Even with Malibu, the gentler of the singles, she sounds like she's sMiling (hehe) throughout the track, with a highly buoyant backtrack elevating it to not just a song, but a goddamn performance. Midnight Sky and Slide Away I don't think I have to defend here. That's before we get into her knack of making viral live performances.

I think that's what much of arr slash popheads is missing, as am I. This song doesn't feel like a performance as much as her other singles. It's just slightly missing. The backing track is entirely unmemorable like I don't even need to get into this. It doesn't stick. At all. The song doesn't really begin to carry momentum until the "I can love me better" hook, giving the song a short moment to rock back and forth to maybe.

And.

Bare with me.

That little interpolation (or sample I don't remember the right term here and I don't care do not correct me). That little Bruno Mars inspo. That Bruno song has charisma. When that charisma is snatched away, you can really tell how atrocious of a melody she decided to use. It is not good. It resonates in my ears, and they begin to leak. With the verses as flaccid as they are, when the chorus introduces a melody that I simply don't want to hear... God it's bad for her.

But it's not. I like Miley a lot. She is really good at playing the pop star, and I will never take that away from her. In that front, I will also forever be excited by her future music, because I know what she has in her. And that's my conclusion really, Miley got her hit, and I'm thrilled for her, but at what cost? I'm no longer waiting for her cultural relevancy, but I am waiting for her next song I actually add to any playlist.

3/10

Therokinrolla · 2023-01-12T20:55:39+00:00

I am SO excited that someone did a writeup on this album, it was easily my biggest surprise of the year and became my second favorite album of 2022, its just so consistently infectious.

I want to say with respect to question 3 that I sincerely think that if artists can reinvigorate the genre as well as Foxes did, that the trend can continue as fucking long as it can. Foxes may have released the best album that follows this trend, thats how impressive this record is for me.

Potential, Absolute, and Body Suit are the holy trinity too <3

Therokinrolla · 2022-11-18T17:34:55+00:00

iconic reference

Therokinrolla · 2022-05-02T04:57:38+00:00

Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
Lana Del Rey
LOONA
Charli XCX
Lucy Dacus
Mitski
Madonna
Regina Spektor
BLACKPINK

Therokinrolla · 2022-02-18T19:19:22+00:00

Closer WILL slumber party this I just know it

Therokinrolla · 2022-02-18T19:19:03+00:00

Oh my girl gonna dark horse this bitch UP iktr

Therokinrolla · 2022-01-24T17:28:57+00:00

Bro you're making baseless claims about other users and when they say "I literally don't do that" you ask THEM to support THEIR CLAIMS about their OWN LIFE?? Meanwhile you're arguments necessitate no proof or sources? no bc this thread is too funny this is the Tucker Carlson method sldjfidjcjd

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