An artist can often create a fan base with mixtapes. However those
same artist that create great mixtapes sometimes struggles to create a
good album. Artist like J. Cole create mixtapes like Friday Night Lights
& The Warm Up to captivate fans, then struggle with their debut
albums. The problem is a mixtape does not need a concept but an album
needs one to be complete. Unlike a mixtape an album can't just be songs
thrown together. The only way to tell if an album is good is by
listening.
Cloud's debut album doesn't struggle with a theme. The theme is adventure. Almost every track starts off with a sound bite. They don't directly mention adventure, but if you like anime or Adventure Time, you know they're talking about adventure. Speaking of adventure this album is an adventure. There's a lot of bad but there's a lot more good, so it's okay.
For
starters I think a lot of the bad could be done by cutting down on the
number of tracks. For a debut album 21 tracks is way too much at once 24
if you count the for bonus tracks. A debut albums focus should be on
maybe 10-15 tracks all with a common feel. Cloud has already dropped an
EP in the past, Adventure Time,
showing that he is able to keep a consistent theme throughout. The way
he was able to build tracks around a consistent theme is what he should
have built on.
The album didn't keep a lyrical theme, but the instrumentals were perfect. That's all the instrumentals chosen were perfect for his style. I just want to say perfection again because a lot of artist struggle with picking good instrumentals.
The production on the track is a little iffy in some spots & the vocals can be too loud on a few of the tracks, then too low on others. That's where the major weakness is in the album. Lyrically, I'm not saying Cloud is the greatest lyricist of all time but he's definitely not the worst. With a little polish he can easily be better. Most of his lyrics are nice and don't leave you wondering why he wrote that, but from time to time he seems to suffer brain farts.
The worst tracks on the entire album are "Keyblade" and "Saturday Morning." You're probably going to skip them. But that's okay. The two best tracks are "Katrina (The Party)" & "Bonds" I guarantee that you'll replay both of those at least 5 times each.
Overall the album get's 6/10 it's not the best but it's not the worst at all. For a debut album it's pretty good & will get a few replays over time and it deserves those replays. Even if you don't like the album keep watching the clouds because this is only Cloud's second project & with each one he gets better so it's only a matter of time.
Oflline
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Cloud's debut album doesn't struggle with a theme. The theme is adventure. Almost every track starts off with a sound bite. They don't directly mention adventure, but if you like anime or Adventure Time, you know they're talking about adventure. Speaking of adventure this album is an adventure. There's a lot of bad but there's a lot more good, so it's okay.
For
starters I think a lot of the bad could be done by cutting down on the
number of tracks. For a debut album 21 tracks is way too much at once 24
if you count the for bonus tracks. A debut albums focus should be on
maybe 10-15 tracks all with a common feel. Cloud has already dropped an
EP in the past, Adventure Time,
showing that he is able to keep a consistent theme throughout. The way
he was able to build tracks around a consistent theme is what he should
have built on. The album didn't keep a lyrical theme, but the instrumentals were perfect. That's all the instrumentals chosen were perfect for his style. I just want to say perfection again because a lot of artist struggle with picking good instrumentals.
The production on the track is a little iffy in some spots & the vocals can be too loud on a few of the tracks, then too low on others. That's where the major weakness is in the album. Lyrically, I'm not saying Cloud is the greatest lyricist of all time but he's definitely not the worst. With a little polish he can easily be better. Most of his lyrics are nice and don't leave you wondering why he wrote that, but from time to time he seems to suffer brain farts.
The worst tracks on the entire album are "Keyblade" and "Saturday Morning." You're probably going to skip them. But that's okay. The two best tracks are "Katrina (The Party)" & "Bonds" I guarantee that you'll replay both of those at least 5 times each.
Overall the album get's 6/10 it's not the best but it's not the worst at all. For a debut album it's pretty good & will get a few replays over time and it deserves those replays. Even if you don't like the album keep watching the clouds because this is only Cloud's second project & with each one he gets better so it's only a matter of time.
Oflline
Tumblr
