The Album Review Club - Week #197 (page 1330) - Levelling the Land - Levellers

The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan

Yeah, I struggled a bit with this one, and mainly in not being part of the target audience, mostly for the music. I know some of you struggle with country artists, but I believe I do with today's (bubblegum) pop music.

I don't particularly enjoy or listen to it, and because of that, I mostly don't even have a reference point of "who this sounds like", as it all mostly sounds the same to me.

Most of the songs here written in that theme/genre just didn't hit for me, and that's probably on me for not appreciating it. Those would include "Femininomenon", "Red Wine Supernova", "After Midnight", "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl", "HOT TO GO!", "Naked In Manhattan", and "Guilty Pleasure".

"Pink Pony Club" lyrically reminded me of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", though I think that was one song that worked for me more than others, probably due to the guitars and synths at the end. "My Kink Is Karma" had the cool vocals during the raised octave "You" parts, and for some reason I thought that song worked better than some of the others.

The two songs that I most enjoyed were the slow ones here. "Coffee" and "Kaleidoscope" were really exceptional songs, mostly about love of someone that doesn't feel the same way, and the mystery of how love works. I did enjoy listening to those that really were delivered well vocally and met the mood in the songs. Those were the two standouts to me. “Picture You” worked to a lesser extent, and landed with me better vocally than lyrically.

The vocals on "California" were a bit more muted, but I suppose that was part of the song itself, and I did like the various build-ups in that song, as it went acapella at the end, which was a nice touch.

I will note I was a bit surprised while watching US Open tennis that her song "HOT TO GO!" was heard on the fade out to commercial on the women's coverage a few times. So obviously she's popular. ESPN was careful to have the correct lyrics selected there through the fade out, but the kids walking through the room would have recognized the artist. Now I do too (1 point for Dad to be in the less negative is always a bonus). ;-)

Overall, on the songs I liked, those were enjoyable listens, and thank goodness they were there for the range and variety. It’s a 6/10 for me with the emphasis on the slow songs.
 
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Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan

Yeah, I struggled a bit with this one, and mainly in not being part of the target audience, mostly for the music. I know some of you struggle with country artists, but I believe I do with today's (bubblegum) pop music.

I don't particularly enjoy or listen to it, and because of that, I mostly don't even have a reference point of "who this sounds like", as it all mostly sounds the same to me.

Most of the songs here written in that theme/genre just didn't hit for me, and that's probably on me for not appreciating it. Those would include "Femininomenon", "Red Wine Supernova", "After Midnight", "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl", "HOT TO GO!", "Naked In Manhattan", and "Guilty Pleasure".

"Pink Pony Club" lyrically reminded me of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun", though I think that was one song that worked for me more than others, probably due to the guitars and synths at the end. "My Kink Is Karma" had the cool vocals during the raised octave "You" parts, and for some reason I thought that song worked better than some of the others.

The two songs that I most enjoyed were the slow ones here. "Coffee" and "Kaleidoscope" were really exceptional songs, mostly about love of someone that doesn't feel the same way, and the mystery of how love works. I did enjoy listening to those that really were delivered well vocally and met the mood in the songs. Those were the two standouts to me. “Picture You” worked to a lesser extent, and landed with me better vocally than lyrically.

The vocals on "California" were a bit more muted, but I suppose that was part of the song itself, but I did like the various build-ups in that song, until it went acapella at the end, which was a nice touch.

I will note I was a bit surprised while watching US Open tennis that her song "HOT TO GO!" was heard on the fade out to commercial on the women's coverage a few times. So obviously she's popular. ESPN was careful to have the correct lyrics selected there through the fade out, but the kids walking through the room would have recognized the artist. Now I do too (1 point for Dad to be in the less negative is always a bonus). ;-)

Overall, on the songs I liked, those were enjoyable listens, and thank goodness they were there for the range and variety. It’s a 6/10 for me with the emphasis on the slow songs.
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I also think the “You” she hits on “My Kink Is Karma” is one of my favo(u)rite moments on this record, along with “God, what have you done?” on PPC. Just a couple of bits that made this more than a plain ol’ pop record to me.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I once again must say I am happy that so many found things to enjoy here. I’ve been listening to it a lot both before I wrote up my review and since and I’m finding it isn’t getting old which is a bit amazing. “Could go to hell, but we’ll prob’ly be fine” — ahhh, to be young again!
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As you/she have mentioned hell...the other thing I've enjoyed this week (triggered by comments in your original review) is thinking about the differences between the US and the UK that potentially make this album land quite differently. We don't often have picks that prompt those kinds of avenues of thought around socio-politcal issues and arguably to take the discussions in those directions is to derail the thread. But at a personal level it got me thinking once again, amongst other things, about the significant differences in religiosity between the UK and the US and particularly the level of politicisation of religion which then has a major societal and cultural impact. I even ended up down a little rabbit hole in relation to the Pledge of Allegiance (I didn't know the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s) and the history of legal challenges around it! Somehow my end point for this whole meander was finding out that The Hoff was convinced one of his songs was partly responsible for bringing down the Berlin wall! Maybe not central to the thread purpose but for me personally made the pick that much more enjoyable :-)
 
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threespires said:
As you/she have mentioned hell...the other thing I've enjoyed this week (triggered by comments in your original review) is thinking about the differences between the US and the UK that potentially make this album land quite differently. We don't often have picks that prompt those kinds of avenues of thought around socio-politcal issues and arguably to take the discussions in those directions is to derail the thread. But at a personal level it got me thinking once again, amongst other things, about the significant differences in religiosity between the UK and the US and particularly the level of politicisation of religion which then has a major societal and cultural impact. I even ended up down a little rabbit hole in relation to the Pledge of Allegiance (I didn't know the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s) and the history of legal challenges around it! Somehow my end point for this whole meander was finding out that The Hoff was convinced one of his songs was partly responsible for bringing down the Berlin wall! Maybe not central to the thread purpose but for me personally made the pick that much more enjoyable :-)
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For as long as I can remember pop has always been gay here in the UK. This is why I keep questioning why CR has hit so big. Then I remembered JoJo Siwa recently claimed to have invented Gay pop and it seems like the landscape is different in the US. It might be that she is old now and not relevant to a modern audience but it's like America has forgotten Madonna. she hit many of the same notes that CR has - perhaps without the overt lesbianism but I think the appeal of CR goes beyond that demographic. Vogue came out in 1990 so I guess a 16 year old now probably isn't super aware of that but judging by comments under CR YouTube performances there are plenty of mature people (like Foggy) who feel the liberation who should remember Madonna. More recent examples are Born This Way by Gaga.

In my mind there is nothing new that CR is doing or saying but it does seem to be hitting hard as a "finally someone sees me" kind of album and not just with the kids. I'm finding this fascinating and annoying lots of young people by asking about her. The annoyance is mainly because they don't find her revelatory in the same way - she's just a pop star nothing more.
 
mrbelfry said:
For as long as I can remember pop has always been gay here in the UK. This is why I keep questioning why CR has hit so big. Then I remembered JoJo Siwa recently claimed to have invented Gay pop and it seems like the landscape is different in the US. It might be that she is old now and not relevant to a modern audience but it's like America has forgotten Madonna. she hit many of the same notes that CR has - perhaps without the overt lesbianism but I think the appeal of CR goes beyond that demographic. Vogue came out in 1990 so I guess a 16 year old now probably isn't super aware of that but judging by comments under CR YouTube performances there are plenty of mature people (like Foggy) who feel the liberation who should remember Madonna. More recent examples are Born This Way by Gaga.

In my mind there is nothing new that CR is doing or saying but it does seem to be hitting hard as a "finally someone sees me" kind of album and not just with the kids. I'm finding this fascinating and annoying lots of young people by asking about her. The annoyance is mainly because they don't find her revelatory in the same way - she's just a pop star nothing more.
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Yes very much where my eldest is with her (the youngest had never heard of her and as she doesn't have an EA25 rating currently has no interest in finding out). Perhaps the difference with Madonna was she was seen as something of a magpie appropriating many styles rather than being personally invested? Similarly Gaga is more of an ally rather than having the same experiences?? It might of course simply be social media amplification which didn't exist back in Madonna's day? Either way, it's 40 years since Jimmy Somerville sang "the love that you need will never be found at home" on a song from an album with an overtly political title. Substitute London for Los Angeles and it's the same message 4 decades earlier which might explain the lesser impact here? I do think lyrically she ups the ante a bit, sometimes missing the mark but other times to good effect.
 
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Aiming to tally up the scores around 2ish, for any last minute swoopers. Hammer, I'm sure fog will want to hear your thoughts even if you miss out today.
 
mrbelfry said:
For as long as I can remember pop has always been gay here in the UK. This is why I keep questioning why CR has hit so big. Then I remembered JoJo Siwa recently claimed to have invented Gay pop and it seems like the landscape is different in the US. It might be that she is old now and not relevant to a modern audience but it's like America has forgotten Madonna. she hit many of the same notes that CR has - perhaps without the overt lesbianism but I think the appeal of CR goes beyond that demographic. Vogue came out in 1990 so I guess a 16 year old now probably isn't super aware of that but judging by comments under CR YouTube performances there are plenty of mature people (like Foggy) who feel the liberation who should remember Madonna. More recent examples are Born This Way by Gaga.

In my mind there is nothing new that CR is doing or saying but it does seem to be hitting hard as a "finally someone sees me" kind of album and not just with the kids. I'm finding this fascinating and annoying lots of young people by asking about her. The annoyance is mainly because they don't find her revelatory in the same way - she's just a pop star nothing more.
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I will note — the difference is that there isn’t anything New York or Hollywood about CR, unlike Madonna and Gaga. The liberation isn’t sexual as much as it is geographic — from the poor, white, deeply religious Midwest/South.
 
Very enjoyable pick this week and I wonder if this is about the first week where none of the regulars had ever listened to or owned this choice? So hats off to Fog for really catching everyone off guard.
Will certainly be interesting as to whether CR changes or reinvents herself over time as per Madge/Bowie etc and i would almost like to see that.
Of course "this means more" to me as with everything else in life than all you lot, but not as much as it would to a teenager who is trying to find something that they can attach themselves to and means something. Of course that is why the majority of the selections that we tend to see on this thread are 20 or 30 years old, as they mean something to us. As signified by the recognition of a decent album but middle of the road scoring.
Nice pop choice with some added twists and of course the edge to it with the gender/sexuality angle. That said i can't see it being something I would go back to deliberately but equally wouldnt turn it off if it pops up.
Thank you @FogBlueInSanFran for this one and it's a 6 from the Derry jury...now off to listen to some Erasure
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I will note — the difference is that there isn’t anything New York or Hollywood about CR, unlike Madonna and Gaga. The liberation isn’t sexual as much as it is geographic — from the poor, white, deeply religious Midwest/South.
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I think that's a really valid point. It's easy for us to forget or never quite wrap our heads round what a vast and diverse set of places the US is, geography and distance makes a difference that I think we on our small island sometimes fail to appreciate.

One thing that did confuse me about her back story was the poor bit, she apparently lived on a trailer park but then her mum and dad were a vet and a specialist practice nurse/manager respectively which in the UK would be considered reasonably well remunerated jobs. But then whilst Missouri doesn't have Mississippi levels of poverty, it's not a wealthy state and there's trailers and then there's trailers, so who knows.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
I will note — the difference is that there isn’t anything New York or Hollywood about CR, unlike Madonna and Gaga. The liberation isn’t sexual as much as it is geographic — from the poor, white, deeply religious Midwest/South.
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Interesting point. That wouldn't be your families situation yet it still resonates deeply
 
I had never heard of Miss Roan until Foggy nominated this album. Not surprising really but is it any good?

Musically it sounds just like any other teen aimed bubble gum pop record from the last twenty years. With added swears. I suppose everyone needs a hook. A USP. I couldn't give two figs if she is a he, she likes he's or indeed she's, someone's sexuality has no bearing on any of my musical choices. Fair do's to her if that's her way of expressing herself but it does seem a little gimmicky. I'm going to sound just like...insert recent pop name in here...and then swear and talk about dildos.

If you had been paying attention over the last few years then you will know that slow, piano/ guitar based boy/girl singers are not my bag. Tunes like Coffee and Kaleidoscope are pleasant enough but in my ears rather dull. Weirdly generic in an album that I would imagine is trying too hard not to be.

There's also no really theme, apart from the swearing, in the album. It flits from copying Toni Basil to Katy Perry, a bit of country to a bit of fake 80's keyboard. On the slower records she sounds thoughtful almost melancholy but on the more upbeat songs rather brash and bimbo-ish. The lyrics could have been written by AI, they sound so generic.

But are there any highlights? Bits that stood out? Well in short...ish. Hot To Go's chorus is a bit bouncy. The break in Femininomenon is a bit different. A bit. It's been done before but it has a touch of humo(u)r...

Lowlights are the awful Picture You, hello Creep! and a Seasick Steve Treasures start, My Kink Is Karma, nonsense lyrics with nonsense singing. Naked In Manhattan, more generic keyboard moments, clean, but if I wanted that I'd stick on a bit of the Detox Twins. Guilty Pleasure is more of the same. Dull. Especially the fake yodelling. After Midnight goes all Miami. I'm imagining neon, soft tops and shit bars. More of that word, generic. The less said about Pink Pony Club the better.

Did I enjoy it? No. Did I look forward to hearing it again after the first listen? Not really. Will I revisit it again? What do you think?

2/10
 
threespires said:
I think that's a really valid point. It's easy for us to forget or never quite wrap our heads round what a vast and diverse set of places the US is, geography and distance makes a difference that I think we on our small island sometimes fail to appreciate.

One thing that did confuse me about her back story was the poor bit, she apparently lived on a trailer park but then her mum and dad were a vet and a specialist practice nurse/manager respectively which in the UK would be considered reasonably well remunerated jobs. But then whilst Missouri doesn't have Mississippi levels of poverty, it's not a wealthy state and there's trailers and then there's trailers, so who knows.
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Yeah the “poor” part is more where she was from generally; the “religious” part was more impt in terms of her “escape.”

OT Believe it or not I used to sell “trailers” for a living and many of them are pretty nice (and some are indistinguishable from traditionally-built single-family homes). And some “parks” can be pretty swanky too with pools and tennis courts, etc. But the product carries quite a stigma over here.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
Yeah the “poor” part is more where she was from generally; the “religious” part was more impt in terms of her “escape.”

OT Believe it or not I used to sell “trailers” for a living and many of them are pretty nice (and some are indistinguishable from traditionally-built single-family homes). And some “parks” can be pretty swanky too with pools and tennis courts, etc. But the product carries quite a stigma over here.
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Sounds like Butlins.
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
Sounds like Butlins.
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It's more of static caravan place. But with bigger caravans. You don't have to be be poor to live in them though it's just a perception. Also remember some professions in the States pay very poorly compared to our standards. So her folks could have been on a semi decent wage but wanted to save on housing. Not that it matters, there's millions of bands/ artists with similar backgrounds/ stories so I don't see why her story is anything special.
 
BimboBob said:
I had never heard of Miss Roan until Foggy nominated this album. Not surprising really but is it any good?

Musically it sounds just like any other teen aimed bubble gum pop record from the last twenty years. With added swears. I suppose everyone needs a hook. A USP. I couldn't give two figs if she is a he, she likes he's or indeed she's, someone's sexuality has no bearing on any of my musical choices. Fair do's to her if that's her way of expressing herself but it does seem a little gimmicky. I'm going to sound just like...insert recent pop name in here...and then swear and talk about dildos.

If you had been paying attention over the last few years then you will know that slow, piano/ guitar based boy/girl singers are not my bag. Tunes like Coffee and Kaleidoscope are pleasant enough but in my ears rather dull. Weirdly generic in an album that I would imagine is trying too hard not to be.

There's also no really theme, apart from the swearing, in the album. It flits from copying Toni Basil to Katy Perry, a bit of country to a bit of fake 80's keyboard. On the slower records she sounds thoughtful almost melancholy but on the more upbeat songs rather brash and bimbo-ish. The lyrics could have been written by AI, they sound so generic.

But are there any highlights? Bits that stood out? Well in short...ish. Hot To Go's chorus is a bit bouncy. The break in Femininomenon is a bit different. A bit. It's been done before but it has a touch of humo(u)r...

Lowlights are the awful Picture You, hello Creep! and a Seasick Steve Treasures start, My Kink Is Karma, nonsense lyrics with nonsense singing. Naked In Manhattan, more generic keyboard moments, clean, but if I wanted that I'd stick on a bit of the Detox Twins. Guilty Pleasure is more of the same. Dull. Especially the fake yodelling. After Midnight goes all Miami. I'm imagining neon, soft tops and shit bars. More of that word, generic. The less said about Pink Pony Club the better.

Did I enjoy it? No. Did I look forward to hearing it again after the first listen? Not really. Will I revisit it again? What do you think?

2/10
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No matter what the score I always like your responses.
After reading that one along with last weeks I immediately thought of .....

1725450012042.png
but couldnt decide which one would be you and which of the regualrs you would be sitting beside..
 
LGWIO said:
No matter what the score I always like your responses.
After reading that one along with last weeks I immediately thought of .....

View attachment 130815
but couldnt decide which one would be you and which of the regualrs you would be sitting beside..
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I think this week that would probably be me!! ;)
How did you get on at Pixies the other night?
 
LGWIO said:
No matter what the score I always like your responses.
After reading that one along with last weeks I immediately thought of .....

View attachment 130815
but couldnt decide which one would be you and which of the regualrs you would be sitting beside..
Click to expand...
To cleanse my brain I've stuck on Shostakovich's Symphony Number 7.
 
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