1st Quarter Of 2016 in Music - Wrap Up

2016 is off to an extremely strong start. Here’s just a list of all of the new albums I’ve listened to from January to March and links to reviews, if applicable.

Doing it a bit different this time, doing it by rating, from greatest to worst. Alphabetical just seemed trivial.

5-Star Albums (8.5 - 10)

• AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend: 10
• Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor: 9.5
• Deftones - Gore: 9.5
• Dream Theater - The Astonishing: 9
• Foxes - All I Need: 9
• Daughter - Not To Disappear: 9
• Lacey Sturm - Life Screams: 8.5
• HÆLOS - Full Circle: 8.5
• Weezer - Weezer (White Album): 8.5
• LIGHTS - Midnight Machines: 8.5
• The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come To Expect: 8.5

4-Star Albums (6.5 - 8)

• David Bowie - ★: 8
• BANNERS - BANNERS: 8
• Savages - Adore Life: 8
• Kanye West - The Life Of Pablo: 8
• Jack Garratt - Phase: 8
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - This Unruly Mess I've Made: 8
• Sia - This Is Acting: 7.5
• Grizfolk - Waking Up The Giants: 7.5
• The Drones - Feelin Kinda Free: 7.5
• Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye: 7.5
• Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.: 7.5
• Textures - Phenotype: 7.5
• Rihanna - ANTI: 7
• Megadeth - Dystopia: 7
• Hands Like Houses - Dissonants: 7
• Miike Snow - iii: 7
• BABYMETAL - Metal Resistance: 7
• The Jezabels - Synthia: 7
• Amy Lee - Recover, Vol. 1: 7
• Steven Wilson - 4 ½: 6.5
• Chairlift - Moth: 6.5
• Porches - Pool: 6.5
• Polyphia - Renaissance: 6.5

3-Star Albums (4.5 - 6)

• ZAYN - Mind Of Mine: 6
• Mogwai - Atomic: 6
• Låpsley - Long Way Home: 6
• Baauer - Aa: 5.5
• Asking Alexandria - The Black: 5.5
• The 1975 - I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware Of It: 5
• Explosions In The Sky - The Wilderness: 5
• School Of Seven Bells - SVIIB: 5
• Krallice - Hyperion: 4.5
• Future - EVOL: 4.5
• Anderson .Paak - Malibu: 4.5
• Wiz Khalifa - Khalifa: 4.5

2-Star Albums (2.5 - 4)

• Killswitch Engage - Incarnate: 4
• Cozz - Nothin Personal: 3.5

1-Star Albums (0 - 2)

• None! :D

Top Albums Of 2016 (so far)

1. AURORA - All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend
2. Panic! At The Disco - Death Of A Bachelor
3. Deftones - Gore
4. Dream Theater - The Astonishing
5. Foxes - All I Need
6. Daughter - Not To Disappear
7. Lacey Sturm - Life Screams
8. HÆLOS - Full Circle
9. Weezer - Weezer (White Album)
10. LIGHTS - Midnight Machines

Top Songs Of 2016 (so far)

1. AURORA - 'Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1) (Acoustic)'
2. Panic! At The Disco - 'Emperor's New Clothes'
3. Deftones - 'Hearts/Wires'
4. Foxes - 'Better Love'
5. Lacey Sturm - 'Rot'
6. AURORA - 'Through The Eyes Of A Child'
7. Deftones - 'Phantom Bride'
8. Dream Theater - 'Moment Of Betrayal'
9. Daughter - 'New Ways'
10. Jack Garratt - 'My House Is Your Home'

Thanks for reading my reviews and following! :) A lot more to come, I’m nowhere near stopping. Follow me on Twitter or add me on Facebook too, while you’re at it.

ZAYN - Mind Of Mine

There’s a new bad boy in town. After saying “See you later” to One Direction, Zayn Malik shed his good-boy heartthrob image (which basically means taking his shirt off and getting some tattoos on there) and adopted a much more mature and sensual sound. His first album, Mind Of Mine, is a huge departure from the sound he would otherwise be associated with, but it feels like he tries too hard to escape that image.

The album kicks off with the obnoxiously stylized ’MiNd Of MiNdd’ (I’m not even going to bother trying to stylize every song I mention - it’s way overboard and edgy) that just makes you feel like you’re missing something. It’s cool and atmospheric, but it just doesn’t build up to anything. The first full song on the album is probably the best one; the single that blew up, ‘Pillowtalk’. It’s a very chill song, and it combines every element of sensuality and musicality exhibited in this album, and the background even has some pretty nice guitar work. The slide into the chorus is epic and can’t be unheard after you hear it. The following track, ‘It’s You’ continues with the instrumental intrigue, with a pretty nice one backing Zayn’s falsetto vocals with piano and some sweet strings at the end. Unfortunately, this is where the album introduces its weak point: trying to hard. In songs like this, you can just tell how hard Malik is trying to escape the One Direction sound. ’Wrong’, ’Fool For You’, and ’Bright’ all have this issue. There’s also a lot of cliché songs on the album, like ’Drunk’ (you can guess the meaning there). And I’m pretty sure the song isn’t referring to the energy drink, so can someone tell me what the hell ‘Lucozade’ means?

Despite the desperate attempts to escape his predecessor’s sound, there are some sweet moments on this album. The intermission, ‘Flower’, is actually an Urdu song that Zayn sang over acoustic guitar. It’s a pretty cool moment on the album, and apparently it was recorded in one take! It’s like a calling to his upbringing living in England with a Pakistani family. It’s a sweet moment that’s even cooler once you learn the story of it. Jazzy elements come into play as the groove is introduced in ‘Bordersz’ and ’Rear View’ that spice up the album. By the end of it, there’s no surprises left, sadly, and it ends unsatisfyingly on ‘She Don’t Love Me'.

Mind Of Mine is by no means a bad album. A boring album? At times, yes. Overall, it’s a pretty average modern pop album. It doesn’t really bring anything groundbreaking to the table besides the assurance to his fans that he’s not done with music. He achieves what he aims for: escaping One Direction. But in distancing himself with this new mature sound, he also seems desperate to escape. For now, it’s a waiting game to see where he goes from here.

Favorite Tracks: Pillowtalk, Intermission: Flower

Least Favorite Tracks: It’s You, Fool For You, She Don’t Love Me

Rating: 6/10