The latter half of the album really drags for me and there isn’t even a one song I would label a hit. I’m not a fan of the “Dirty South” musical style, but “Chop Me Up” is a decent white-guy attempt at it. However, I think it would have been more authentic if Timberlake lost the derrty South vocal affection in the verses. The same applies to “Summer Love/Set the Mood Prelude”.
“Summer Love” with its good foot hesitation boom-clap and cascading chorus synthline showcases Timberlake’s best vocal on the record: the beat drops out while he sings in perfect harmony, “Tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame girl.” Mackness.
A dreary central-casting pop ballad called Summer Love is enlivened only by another of Timberlake's peculiar announcements: "I'm sick and tired of trying to save the world," he cries. Sad news, especially for those of us who must have missed Timberlake's strenuous efforts on the world's behalf.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1066751/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review - As written by dance-pop torch singer du jour Sia Furler, "Diamonds" finds Rihanna doing one of her throatiest, most impassioned vocals to date (and one that seems to be channeling Sia herself) on this inspirational pop ballad. And as a strategic shift from recent singles like "Talk That Talk" and "Cockiness," "Diamonds" further positions Rihanna in new stylistic categories, lest she settle on one format for too long.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/unapologetic-mw0002439379 - The singer took a different route with the lead single. She didn't go with a dramatic ballad like "Russian Roulette" or a big dance number like "Only Girl (In the World)" and "We Found Love." Instead, the nod went to a midtempo pop ballad, "Diamonds" -- as in "We're like diamonds in the sky" (rather than stars in a mine), a simple and effective, light in meaning yet massive in sonics, quasi-processional.
http://www.factmag.com/2012/11/23/rihanna-unapologetic/ - Unapologetic, inevitably, also contains several elements of churn: lead single ‘Diamonds’ is an undistinguished midtempo track whose entire composition seems based on stitching together Rihanna buzzwords;
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17369-unapologetic/ - Lead single "Diamonds" mixes simile, cliché, and metaphor, serving as a potent reminder that someone thought this was the best the album had to offer. Oú est ma "Umbrella"?
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/11/19/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review-in-gifs/ - For the lead single from her campaign, RiRi pulled a fast one -- by releasing a slow one -- in direct contrast to her last few killer club cuts. Everything about this gorgeous midtempo positively shimmers -- from RiRi's soulful crooning and Sia-inspired enunciation ("shayn brahyt like a diamond!"), to the tribal drum beat and icy '80s-encrusted synthesizers -- making this not only one of the year's best, but one of Rihanna's finest tracks yet.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/rihanna-unapologetic-album-review-14761669 - The album version of Unapologetic's lead single is a perfectly acceptable self-affirmation anthem, but its charms start to fade after a handful of listens. On the remix — available as a non-track album — Kanye raps part of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song, shouts out to Tay Zonday, and basically intrudes upon the song in the way we've become accustomed to, all of which improve the song considerably. Plus, the single's cover art is a photo of a woman rolling a joint made out of diamonds, which is very hard to argue with.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697202/rihanna-unapologetic-album-review.jhtml - Yes, Unapologetic is certainly the most aptly titled album in recent memory. From the rattling electro whomp of tracks like "Fresh Out the Runway" and "Numb" (a stony, snake-charmer jam featuring a killer contribution from Eminem) to the "I choose to be happy" sentiments of first single "Diamonds,"
http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1066751/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review 8. What Now - An unexpectedly vulnerable ballad from Rihanna that finds her acknowledging "this lump in my throat" before letting loose on an epic chorus that hits harder than anything she's done in years. An emotional highlight on an album filled with moments of resonance in its second half.
http://www.hitfix.com/immaculate-noise/review-rihannas-unapologetic Ballad "What Now" is probably the most indicative of Rihanna's wandering status: between fuzzed-out synths and bassy heartbleats, she sings "The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone /
' Cause I spent every hour just going through the motions... I don't know what to feel / I don't know how to cry
I don't know-oh-oh why."
http://www.cultureblues.com/2012/11/album-review-unapologetic-rihanna/ Right Now is followed by What Now, which feels like the first candid and insightful song on the entire album. Rihanna gets a little introspective on What Now, and doesn’t resort to being overtly sexual or defiantly callous (more on that later), which gave me the feeling that she stripped away her armor for a moment and actually allowed herself to be “real.”
http://www.avclub.com/articles/rihanna-unapologetic,88921/ The rest of Unapologetic is less ambiguous, though spottier quality-wise. It’s too heavy on the sort of milquetoast ballads that have never been Rihanna’s specialty (“What Now,” “Stay”)
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/11/19/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review-in-gifs/ OK, so what happens after "Right Now"? RiRi's wondering the same thing! Emotionally torn and entirely vulnerable, "What Now" finds RiRi coming up with way, way, way more questions than answers and a whole lot of inner strife on the devastating power ballad: "There's no one to call cause I'm just playing games with them all/ The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone," she cries out at one point. It's Ri's most poignant offering on the record, and perhaps one of the best displays of her vocal chops ever.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/11/post_59.html She’s near-operatic on “Diamonds,” strip-club gritty on “Pour It Up” and hot as dragon’s breath on “What Now,” a staggering power ballad that makes all her other mid-tempo numbers sound featherweight by comparison.
http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/263452 Things really kick into relationship-regret mode with "What Now," a sure single that places a piano arrangement with dance-pop beats and then a guitar riff at the end; it is the everything-including-the-kitchen sink approach to song making.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/unapologetic-mw0002439379 Wrapped in a serene sneer, Rihanna's trash talk is something else. Moments such as that one are so convincing that the few everywoman heart-on-sleeve songs -- with the exception of the massive, slamming, wailing power ballad that is "What Now" -- don't sound all that natural.
http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/11/rihanna-unapologetic-review.html The ballads ("Stay," "Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary," "What Now") are all quite lovely, as Rihanna's stellar vocals and lyrics underscore a raw vulnerability yet to be found in her music. "What Now," my favorite track, is most effective. That song's constant musical shifts--from soft, but wordy piano lines in the verses to revved-up synth-rock in the chorus--are extremely powerful and provides a glimpse into Rihanna's fragmented mind: lyrics about laughing at her reflection in a two-sided mirror seem to conjure up the emotional struggles she faces alone.
http://www.4music.com/news/reviews/6960/Review-Rihanna-Unapologetic 8. What Now? As soon as we heard the piano intro to this track, we knew we were in for a treat. It's a tender mid-tempo ballad with crashing drums and a roaring chorus. We like. RiRi's voice sounds sweet. Favourite track: "Dry as a bone, but I just wanna shout"
http://www.spin.com/reviews/rihanna-unapologetic-def-jam As hard as Unapologetic tries to cast Riri as a Beyoncé-like balladeer on the dramatic "What Now" and "Stay," the younger star's vocals will never have the curvy fullness of her mentor Jay-Z's wife. She isn't a full-bodied diva; she's a pointy provocateur.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/rihanna-unapologetic-review What Now attempts to weld a walloping brostep drop to a sensitive acoustic guitar and piano ballad with suitably peculiar results: there's a fantastic moment towards the end where producer Ighile throws in a widdly-woo guitar solo, apparently in the mistaken belief that the track wasn't yet preposterous enough.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/arts/music/rihannas-album-unapologetic-makes-most-of-her-talent.html?_r=0 That’s what makes it so much more notable when she lets loose, drops her guard and just sings unvarnished. “What Now” begins with plain piano but gets to bombast by the first chorus. Still, Rihanna is doing some of her most direct, ambitious singing here. It’s the album’s one real purge, and a sign of a pulse beneath the armor: There’s no one to call cause I’m just playing games with them all The more I swear I’m happy, the more that I’m feeling alone Cause I spend every hour just going through the motions I can’t even get the emotions to come out Dry as a bone but I just wanna shout
http://www.pluggedin.com/music/albums/2012/rihanna-unapologetic.aspx "What Now" isn't positive, per se. But it does voice a sense of honest, quiet confusion that's in sharp contrast to Rihanna's reckless, rebellious swagger elsewhere. In the wake of a breakup, she sings, "What now? I just can't figure it out/I don't know where to go/I don't know what to feel/I don't know how to cry/I don't know, oh, oh, why."
http://popcrush.com/rihanna-unapologetic-album-review/ What Now’ - There’s not much to this ballad, which flips from verses to choruses like they’re from two different planets. Rihanna oversings, but the sonic bombs that drop during the choruses are kinda cool.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience%2C93905/ His contributions are most audible on tracks like the slinky, slithering “Tunnel Vision” and especially the dance-floor bait “Don’t Hold The Wall,” whose Eastern flourishes and sexy-baby vocal samples are drawn straight from Chapter One of the Timbaland playbook.
http://www.spin.com/reviews/justin-timberlake-the-20-20-experience-rca Save for the jittery bangers "Don't Hold the Wall" and "Tunnel Vision" — in which Timbaland shows that, despite ample recent evidence to the contrary, he hasn't forgotten how to build beats that seem designed for civilizations on far-away planets. "Don't Hold the Wall" and "Tunnel Vision" both crescendo with the album's tensest moments: On the former, Timberlake reverts to the agitated pleas of his youth over a shuffle that takes a swig from Missy Elliott's Miss E… So Addictive,
http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/justin-timberlake/the-2020-experience/73185/ The other layers of the album contain a whole globe of sounds that magnifies the listener’s experience. “Don’t Hold The Wall” heads over to the Middle-East and let’s us know that he still likes to see hips shake ‘n vibrate and then break it down to the booming bass that ends the track.
https://consequence.net/2013/03/album-review-justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience/ On the other hand, 20/20’s two best songs – “Don’t Hold The Wall” and “Tunnel Vision” – sound like *NSYNC’s strongest days. The percussive “Wall” is a rapid girlfriend-in-the-club confrontation a la “It Makes Me Ill” from 2000′s No Strings Attached. It’s rife with intricate Eastern influences, but no amount of production work buries the tact of a child star (“I heard your girlfriend tell you, you could do better / Well I’m the best ever”).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/mar/17/justin-timberlake-20-experience-review As immediate as it is a keeper, Don't Hold the Wall grabs from the near east and the southern hemisphere; crickets chirp in the background, and a sped-up helium sample quacks like it's 1999. Unlike most of the songs on 20/20 – the goofy, loved-up musings of a happily married man, mostly – Don't Hold the Wall finds a breathy Timberlake prowling the club, whispering salacious nothings to a resistant girl. "Well, how'd you like it?" asks one sample. "You shouldn't have to ask me that question," answers another. No matter what you might want to do to Timberlake – mother him? – you want to give Timbaland a bear hug.
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17535/reviews/4146182 At the album’s centre lie ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’, ‘Strawberry Bubblegum’, and ‘Tunnel Vision’ – three seven-minute-plus tracks which showcase JT and co’s latest influences. With chugging afro drums and a looped M.I.A.-esque sample of children’s vocals, ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’ is perhaps the closest to FutureSex/LoveSound - but undeniably updated for the next decade.
http://www.digitalspy.ca/music/albumreviews/a465794/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-album-review.html Timbaland, who helmed the bulk of FutureSex..., returns as executive producer and brings his distinctive squelchy beatbox sounds best of all on 'Don't Hold The Wall' and current single 'Mirrors'. The former is a menacing track with rumbling jungle beats and tribal coos that continually twists and turns in unexpected directions/
http://www.factmag.com/2013/03/18/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-fact-review/ Timberlake and Timbaland barely break a sweat on ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’ and ‘Tunnel Vision’, two rousing, if mildly deja vu inducing, efforts. Rolling snaps and clicks, jittery vocal bursts and classic Timbaland beatbox ad-libs filter through soaring string and wind sampling that just about hark to Timbaland’s Bollywood influenced ‘Indian Flute’ era, and there’s a welcome teasing element that sees Timberlake’s voice deployed with greater range and suspense.
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/03/14/justin-timberlake-2020-experience-review-gifs/ Justin's packed a few massive punches along the way, including the unbelievably sexy "Don't Hold The Wall,". OK, sexy is most definitely back: The tempo drops (and so does Justin's voice), filling out into a minimal tribal pulse, cricket noises, and just the slightest touch of Timba's infatuation for Bollywood beats. It's a moonlight seduction, y'all! "Well, huh, I'm the best ever/ But you're so far, I had to come get ya." And just like that, Justin's crossing the club and locking eyes and grabbing hips and -- wait, oh God. Is Jessica Biel listening? Oh, who cares?! By the time that nasty breakdown comes bumping into the speakers (which sort of sounds like Madonna's Hard Candy track "Heartbeat"), no one could possibly be held responsible for their behavior. Just remember to leggo the wall!
http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2013-03-20/justin-timberlakes-the-2020-experience-is-from-the-future The entire album is dance appropriate, but it’s “Don’t Hold the Wall” and “Let the Groove In” that are the obvious dance floor grooves, the former relying heavily on its Indian inspiration and the latter pulsating Soca. Both balance out the album as a whole project but are the weakest of the bunch.
http://www.technicianonline.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_0319fe5c-91bd-11e2-bfad-001a4bcf6878.html The 20/20 Experience is an expansive project filled with sprawling production that runs the musical gamut. From Bollywood-inspired R&B tunes like “Don’t Hold the Wall” to the funky, soulful opener that’s lined with drug-addled metaphors, “Pusher Love Girl,” Timberlake crafts ambitious songs that feel well worth the wait.
< ref name="Boston review"/> - "Where am I/ Who are you/ What we do/ Last night" she wonders on "Blur," notes weaving and beats crackling like shaky ground beneath her. "I need to get up outta here/ I gotta get my head right," Spears concludes, and she sounds - for the first time in a long time - like she means it.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-11-30/news/0811280151_1_britney-spears-songs-sixth-studio-album - "What happened?" Britney Spears mutters during what is easily the most disturbing song of her career, "Blur." "Blur" describes the aftermath of what sounds like a drug- or alcohol-fueled night that ends with the narrator passing out after a date-rape encounter. The arrangement adds to the unsettling atmosphere: The keyboards sound like they were recorded underwater and a high-hat chatters like a gossip columnist. "Who are you?/What'd we do?" Spears sings in a shell-shocked voice. "Hope I didn't, but I think I might've ... Maybe I shouldn't have given in/But I just couldn't fight."
http://idolator.com/5090514/mourning-becomes-britney - even a song in which she regrets having sex (“Blur”). That no one seems to have noticed this is key to its effect. We all knew what she was doing on previous albums, so it tended to come off as forced and insincere. Here, she slips into the role so easily that it’s likely we’ll accept it. “Blur” is very good
http://www.mtv.com.au/news/4f037801-afa3-4603-a653-f1dc4433830b/ - Best of all is 'Blur', a dark, Danja-produced track. Some have suggested it's about date rape, and while that's debatable, it's still a deeply unsettling song - one that seems to best sum up the Britney we've witnessed over the last couple of years. "Can't remember what I did last night/everything, everything is still a blur", she mumbles, before addressing the person she's woken up next to: "What's your name, man? Can you come and hand me all my things?" It's a sobering counterpoint to the fluff that makes up much of the album, and tellingly, it's where Britney sounds most at home.
http://thequietus.com/articles/00816-britney-spears-circus-album-review - 'Blur' comes on with a 21st Century reworking of the melody from the Stones’ 'Let It Loose'. It’s about getting fucked up and not remembering what you did the night before, or who you just woke up next to. The production is slightly starker than usual for our man and it walks an incredibly difficult line between poignancy and confusion, Britney never putting a foot wrong. Again, no surrender.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2009/01/review-britney/ - “Blur” takes a trippy pop beat and finds Britney describing a lost night. (Ironically a “Blackout,” if you will.) “Can’t remember what I did last night” she sings backed by some interesting synth-work. If this track works even slightly, it’s not because of Britney. She spends the majority of the track singing in a strangely forced R&B-flavored tone. It doesn’t suit her. She’s never been a strong vocalist and she still can’t pull it off.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/03/britney-spears-circus-review - Things start to slide apart on the softer, ballad oriented offerings like "Blur" (though the lyrics are intriguing as they speak to blacking out and if intended as commentary on her erratic personal behavior over the past few years it serves as a reflective twist of self-effacing pop)
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/albumreviews/a137205/britney-spears-circus.html - As befits an album whose back cover shows a child dressed as a clown handing Spears a birthday cake, Circus features several songs you just wouldn't expect from an 80-million selling pop superstar. 'Blur', which is best described as a "hangover ballad", sees Spears wake up, moan that the lights are "way too f***ing bright" and then realise she doesn't know what - or who - she did last night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/28/britney-spears-circus - You might think she could inject a bit of pathos into Blur, a tale of hungover regret, but no. "Hope I didn't but I think I might," she sings blithely, as if singing about having an inadvisible dollop of chilli sauce on a late-night kebab, rather than say, being photographed staggering around LA at 2am without a skirt on, knickers covered in blood.
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/33653/Britney-Spears-Circus/ - “Blur” is an odd choice, a stuttering, space-y cautionary tale where Spears moans “where the hell am I / who are you? What’d we do last night?” It’s a song made awkward more for its eerie, probably true depiction of Spear’s nightlife than anything else.
http://www.muumuse.com/2008/11/britney-spears-circus-album-review.html/ - Blur seems to be the one track that has received the most widespread criticism as far as I can tell, ranging from utter love at first play to puzzled disinterest. For me, it was fairly easy to immediately embrace Blur as the dizzying, clouded continuation of In The Zone‘s Early Mornin'.†“Turn the lights out, this shit’s way too fucking bright,†Britney murmurs into the drifting first verse. The track spins round and round in its electronica-infused manner, somewhat reminiscent of Rihanna's Rehab.” “Blur†is very modern and very well crafted; a splurge of slipping memory and incoherence.
http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/91433/Britney-Spears---Circus-Review.htm - The final two highlights of this album are the trance style “Unusual You” and the slow building “Blur.” “Unusual You” is about Spears expecting her lover to leave her, but he surprises her by staying with her despite her flaws. “Blur” is about waking up from a drunken sexual encounter and trying to piece together the sordid details. The music on “Blur” is just off kilter enough it feels like you are waking up from a hangover with a pounding headache and a cup full of regret.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/66714-britney-spears-circus/ - Blur” is almost laughable as the album’s token “regret” track; the music benefits from a sultry R&B afterglow, but the lyrics, in nuce, are ‘Shit, what in the hey did I do last night? / Everything is just a blur’.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/10019 - while ‘Blur’ finds Brit waking up next to someone strange and demanding: “Who are you? And what’d we do last night?”
How Information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xmrj - How and Don’t Know Nothing boast deliciously unexpected melodic twists in their choruses: a shrugged cadence of resignation in the latter, a surprise howl to the skies in the former. You have to be good at music to do this kind of thing.
Though I don't understand the meaning of love
I do not mind if I die trying, ohhh
Took it for granted when you lifted me up
I'm asking for your help
I am going through hell
Afraid nothing can save me but the sound of your voice
You cut out all the noise
And now that I can see mistakes so clearly now
I'd kill if I could take you back
Levine strikes a strong cord with this lyric, in the bridge: "Why does the one you love/Become the one who makes you want to cry?" Isn’t that the truth, plain and simple?
http://thebillboardfiles.blogspot.com/2010/09/album-review-maroon-5-hands-all-over.html - "How" attempts some old fashioned also Snow Patrol inspired soft rock with shadowing chords and a cool melody hung production for the chorus, also backed with bursts of blistering guitars. Best: Misery, Give a Little More, Out of Goodbyes, I Can't Lie, Hands All Over, Just a Feeling, How
http://www.channel24.co.za/Music/AlbumReviews/Maroon-5-Hands-All-Over-20101117 - And the sweetness continues on the 70s soul of "I Can't Lie" and the truly lovely "How" in which Levine is so in love he actually asks for his lady's hand in marriage. Could it be possible that these boys have finally grown up? Perhaps.
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.1341/title.robin-thicke-sex-therapy - “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy” stands in stark contrast to the sensitive lover from “Lost Without U,” but for those who aren’t offended by the premise of Robin and Nicki Minaj’s new strip-club anthem, there’s nothing to complain about because he still feels perfectly natural.
http://www.rap-up.com/2009/11/24/album-preview-robin-thicke-sex-therapy/ - 6. “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy” featuring Nicki Minaj. Speaking of naughty, this Polow Da Don-produced and Ester Dean-penned joint holds nothing back. Nicki’s Lil Wayne-like verses add a little bit of raunch to the staple stripper-pole track. Though it’s catchy and delicately synthed to commercial perfection, it’s clearly added to the album for some diversity.
http://www.muchmusic.com/artists/1685/robin-thicke/more/ - Then there's "Shakin' it 4 Daddy," (which features Nicki Minaj) an R. Kelly-meets-Usher party record that is Thicke's Southern-style hip-hop homage to the strip club and nightclub generation. Not that he's advocating wanton shakin', mind you. "You're only supposed to shake it for one daddy!" he asserts. "If you shake it for a bunch of daddies, that's nasty. It's not misogynistic, it's warm-hearted, and really about my wife shakin' it for her husband. If my wife comes in the room and she shakes it for daddy, trust me, the night is gonna go very well."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/x5fd - What’s My Name? features the similarly young and talented Drake mulling the "square route of 69" over choppy Caribbean rhythms that reappear on Man Down
http://www.contactmusic.com/album-review/rihanna-loud - This album just screams commercial success. Tracks like Only Girl and What's My Name are already worldwide hits that smash into the psyche. What's my name, in particular, is a smooth, urban track with Caribbean influences that make you feel like you are strolling down the streets of Rihanna's homeland, Barbados. Ironically, Rihanna's Bajan twang is perfect here, which is perfectly complemented by Drake's charming vocals.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/11/album-review-rihannas-loud.html - “What’s My Name” has a disarming double-entendre chorus — a line like “Hey boy, I really want to see if you can go downtown with a girl like me” has come-hither undertones, but you can also imagine Rihanna wanting something as exotic as dinner and a movie out on the arm of a good guy.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/rihanna/11718 - Loud’’s experiments feel more organic, its tone better paced, from the Caribbean-tinged anthem for doomed youth of ‘Man Down’ via the glossy, dark tectonic beats of ‘What’s My Name?’ (featuring Drake) to the ludicrously banging trancepop of ‘Only Girl (In The World)’.
https://consequence.net/2010/11/album-review-rihanna-loud/ - But their talent is far from one-dimensional. “What’s My Name (Ft. Drake)”, an unhurried, futuristic R&B joint built around a tawdry conversation between the former lovers, has already become the first of Loud‘s number ones.
http://www.spin.com/reviews/rihanna-loud-def-jam/ - but because no woman should have to endure the kind of pick-up line Drake shoots her way on "What's My Name," the record's second single. "I heard you good with those soft lips / Yeah you know word of mouth," purrs the Canadian rapper (and Ri-Ri's rumored fling). "The square root of 69 is 8 something, right / 'Cuz I been trying to work it out." Woof. But while Casanova rolls over in his grave, Rihanna smirks and takes it in stride. Drake may open the track, but she reigns in their shared world -- with a coquettish flip, she glides into a chorus that leaves no doubt: "Hey boy, really wanna see / If you can go downtown with a girl like me." In the video, she struts happily around New York's Lower East Side in a zebra-striped jacket, a nod to the actual animal she sat atop in the video for last year's "Rude Boy" -- with her bodysuit covered in Keith Haring-esque graffiti to match the floor and walls, like Haring himself was bodypainted to melt into his own squiggly backdrop in Annie Liebovitz's 1986 portrait.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20440920,00.html - In her place is a rebooted pop vixen, a Caribbean-accented kitten with a whip. What begins with late-night-Cinemax naughtiness (see: explicitly carnal opener S&M and playful Drake collab What’s My Name?)
http://voices.yahoo.com/rihannas-loud-review-7302722.html - What's My Name? The second single off of "Loud" is a collaboration with currently hot R&B star Drake. The song is mid-tempo and very melodic, with Rihanna's "oh na na's" providing a head bouncing good time. Watch the video here.
http://entertainment.ie/album-review/Rihanna-Loud/112140.htm - As usual, she is at her strongest where she embraces her Barbadian heritage, her island accent coming through strongly in the Caribbean flavoured 'Man Down' and the Drake duet 'What's My Name?
http://thebillboardfiles.blogspot.com/2010/11/album-review-rihanna-loud-45.html - Following the invigorating electronic-pounding of “S&M,” is current single and eighth US chart topper “What’s My Name?” featuring American rapper Drake, a cooling downbeat mid-tempo—bursts of skittering drum beats and a flourishing backdrop that sort of calls that of “Te Amo.” As a nice enough slice of a pop song this—it’s generic insight lyrically is a quite a steep drop from Rated R—she’s singing about sex again, but it’s lyrically uninteresting.
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16072-rihanna-talk-that-talk/ - And though it's no "Umbrella", the Jay-Z reunion "Talk That Talk" is one of the more playful moments here, though I'll say that the patented H.O.V.-giggle doesn't feel entirely earned following a line like: "Had it by a bladder/ She like 'oh I gotta pee'."
http://www.nme.com/reviews/rihanna/12476 - while re-teaming with Jay-Z on the title track is a gamble that doesn’t pay off. The pace may echo ‘Umbrella’, but there’s precious little of that song’s spark. The Jigga’s rap feels like it was dashed off in a few minutes between Def Jam conference calls (“Oh, she really gotta pee”, he raps at one point. I mean, do we really want to hear about Beyoncé’s bladder control during pregnancy? Noooo).
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20547520,00.html - Talk also harks back to the edgier, sexier Rated R with "Rude Boy"-esque tracks like the grinding "Roc Me Out" and the title tune, which reunites Rihanna with "Umbrella" cohort Jay-Z for another moment in the sun.
Mirrors [Compo + CR] Information
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/mar/17/justin-timberlake-20-experience-review - By now everyone ought to be familiar with Mirrors, the most craven outing from this orchestral funk opus, which has already enjoyed two weeks at No 1. There are at least four tracks better than Mirrors here. There will be more, because The 20/20 Experience repays replays.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1551360/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-track-by-track-review - Imagine being a newlywed and wanting to write the most epic song ever in honor of your life partner. "Mirrors" is Timberlake's version of that anthem -- how can you not think of the singer's recent wedding photos alongside Jessica Biel when he endlessly repeats, "You are, you are, the love, of my life," as if he had just soaked in the splendid finality of his romantic situation? Compare this album's second single to "Justified's" second single, "Cry Me A River," and aside from the steady presence of Timbaland's fantastically cluttered production, the difference between the song is clear: 10 years ago, Timberlake was broken, and now he is whole.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/justin-timberlake/14262 - Even on album highlight ‘Mirrors’ a robot voice repeats “you are the love of my life” 35 times in eight minutes. It’s too much, especially when Frank Ocean and Miguel are doing better R&B jams in under four minutes.
http://www.spin.com/reviews/justin-timberlake-the-20-20-experience-rca/ - "Mirrors," though, is a truer indication of the headspace that birthed Timberlake's comeback. With Timbaland's snapping, crunching beatboxing as its backbone, it's an obvious callback to two of the duo's biggest songs together — "Cry Me a River" and "What Goes Around… Comes Around." Yet it breaks the formula by ditching seething acidity for a gushing, open heart.
http://voices.yahoo.com/justin-timberlakes-20-20-experience-track-by-12080007.html?cat=9 - The 9th track on The 20/20 Experience is also the album's second single, and it is much more radio-friendly than 'Suit & Tie.' Like many other tunes on the album, this one is long, coming in at a total time of eight minutes, six seconds. Of course, the song is pared down for the single release, which is fine because the last couple of minutes of it is kind of a waste anyway.
Mirrors is a nice love song, with a nice melody and a nice hook. Billboard culls the tune a more "whole" Timberlake than the brokenhearted one on his earlier song, 'Cry Me a River.' Indeed, just check out these lyrics:
Aren't you somethin' to admire?
Cause your shine is somethin' like a mirror
And I can't help but notice
You reflect in this heart of mine
If you ever feel alone and
The glare makes me hard to find
Just know that I'm always
Parallel on the other side
Sweet, huh? Yes, this one is going to do well, I think.
http://www.factmag.com/2013/03/18/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-fact-review/ - Suit & Tie’ (Jay-Z, you lazy for this one) and the Coldplay-does-r’n'b ‘Mirrors’ also reveal a frustration that’s already come to a head. Kanye was right. The singles kind of suck and since only three tracks are under the six minute mark, this album’s radio edits will be severe. Yet this clearly doesn’t phase him.
http://www.hitfix.com/news/justin-timberlakes-the-20-20-experience-album-review - Current single, “Mirrors," is a pop marvel, and, as he’s shown by his television performances with his band, JT and the Tennessee Kids, it only gets better as it is performed live. The gorgeous melody features layer upon layer of Timberlake’s vocals stacked upon each other until it feels like they can reach the heavens. “Mirrors,” and possibly every song on here, is an ode to Timberlake’s wife, Jessica Biel.
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/03/14/justin-timberlake-2020-experience-review-gifs/ - The shining standout of the record (apart from "Don't Hold The Wall" and "Blue Ocean Floor"): Sure, the production might as well make it a bonus track off of FutureSex/LoveSounds, but it's just as good as the best songs off of that album. "'Cause I don't wanna lose you now/ I'm lookin' right at the other half of me," Justin earnestly pleads. It's hugely catchy, and the melodies are arena-size. That breakdown at the end of the track -- with its muddled repetitions of "You are the love of my life" and a soft piano landing -- is especially beautiful.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/mirrors-20130222 - Last year Frank Ocean released a 10-minute song about a stripper. So why shouldn't Justin Timberlake be allowed to get his prog on with an eight-minute song about a girl who's just like his mirror? Produced by Timbaland, this non-single from The 20/20 Experience is certainly the artiest song Timberlake's ever wrapped his pipes around – from the emo power-ballad guitar strobes to the stark hand-clapping bridge to the orchestral flares to the electro blips, chipmunk synth chirps and vocoder-squawk backing vocals that ornament the climactic last minute or so. Yet it's still unmistakably a JT joint, replete with laidback soulfulness, mountain-climbing croon and falsetto butter – like how Kraftwerk might do Al Green, if they'd just spent a night in an Atlanta strip club.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mirrors-mw0002501233 - "Mirrors" is the second song to precede Justin Timberlake's third solo album. Its most noticeable feature is its eight-minute length. The singer mentioned classic rock acts, rather than contemporaries -- such as Frank Ocean's "Pyramids" and the-Dream's flowing suites -- as his inspirations, yet this is less an epic than a drawn-out midtempo pop ballad. It could fade out or end abruptly around the four-minute mark, but it takes another four minutes to dissolve. Over Timbaland's clumpy beat (with beatboxing) and grand strings, Timberlake pleads with heartfelt devotion, but it's not one of his more remarkable singles.
The latter half of the album really drags for me and there isn’t even a one song I would label a hit. I’m not a fan of the “Dirty South” musical style, but “Chop Me Up” is a decent white-guy attempt at it. However, I think it would have been more authentic if Timberlake lost the derrty South vocal affection in the verses. The same applies to “Summer Love/Set the Mood Prelude”.
“Summer Love” with its good foot hesitation boom-clap and cascading chorus synthline showcases Timberlake’s best vocal on the record: the beat drops out while he sings in perfect harmony, “Tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame girl.” Mackness.
A dreary central-casting pop ballad called Summer Love is enlivened only by another of Timberlake's peculiar announcements: "I'm sick and tired of trying to save the world," he cries. Sad news, especially for those of us who must have missed Timberlake's strenuous efforts on the world's behalf.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1066751/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review - As written by dance-pop torch singer du jour Sia Furler, "Diamonds" finds Rihanna doing one of her throatiest, most impassioned vocals to date (and one that seems to be channeling Sia herself) on this inspirational pop ballad. And as a strategic shift from recent singles like "Talk That Talk" and "Cockiness," "Diamonds" further positions Rihanna in new stylistic categories, lest she settle on one format for too long.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/unapologetic-mw0002439379 - The singer took a different route with the lead single. She didn't go with a dramatic ballad like "Russian Roulette" or a big dance number like "Only Girl (In the World)" and "We Found Love." Instead, the nod went to a midtempo pop ballad, "Diamonds" -- as in "We're like diamonds in the sky" (rather than stars in a mine), a simple and effective, light in meaning yet massive in sonics, quasi-processional.
http://www.factmag.com/2012/11/23/rihanna-unapologetic/ - Unapologetic, inevitably, also contains several elements of churn: lead single ‘Diamonds’ is an undistinguished midtempo track whose entire composition seems based on stitching together Rihanna buzzwords;
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17369-unapologetic/ - Lead single "Diamonds" mixes simile, cliché, and metaphor, serving as a potent reminder that someone thought this was the best the album had to offer. Oú est ma "Umbrella"?
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/11/19/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review-in-gifs/ - For the lead single from her campaign, RiRi pulled a fast one -- by releasing a slow one -- in direct contrast to her last few killer club cuts. Everything about this gorgeous midtempo positively shimmers -- from RiRi's soulful crooning and Sia-inspired enunciation ("shayn brahyt like a diamond!"), to the tribal drum beat and icy '80s-encrusted synthesizers -- making this not only one of the year's best, but one of Rihanna's finest tracks yet.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/rihanna-unapologetic-album-review-14761669 - The album version of Unapologetic's lead single is a perfectly acceptable self-affirmation anthem, but its charms start to fade after a handful of listens. On the remix — available as a non-track album — Kanye raps part of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song, shouts out to Tay Zonday, and basically intrudes upon the song in the way we've become accustomed to, all of which improve the song considerably. Plus, the single's cover art is a photo of a woman rolling a joint made out of diamonds, which is very hard to argue with.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1697202/rihanna-unapologetic-album-review.jhtml - Yes, Unapologetic is certainly the most aptly titled album in recent memory. From the rattling electro whomp of tracks like "Fresh Out the Runway" and "Numb" (a stony, snake-charmer jam featuring a killer contribution from Eminem) to the "I choose to be happy" sentiments of first single "Diamonds,"
http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1066751/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review 8. What Now - An unexpectedly vulnerable ballad from Rihanna that finds her acknowledging "this lump in my throat" before letting loose on an epic chorus that hits harder than anything she's done in years. An emotional highlight on an album filled with moments of resonance in its second half.
http://www.hitfix.com/immaculate-noise/review-rihannas-unapologetic Ballad "What Now" is probably the most indicative of Rihanna's wandering status: between fuzzed-out synths and bassy heartbleats, she sings "The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone /
' Cause I spent every hour just going through the motions... I don't know what to feel / I don't know how to cry
I don't know-oh-oh why."
http://www.cultureblues.com/2012/11/album-review-unapologetic-rihanna/ Right Now is followed by What Now, which feels like the first candid and insightful song on the entire album. Rihanna gets a little introspective on What Now, and doesn’t resort to being overtly sexual or defiantly callous (more on that later), which gave me the feeling that she stripped away her armor for a moment and actually allowed herself to be “real.”
http://www.avclub.com/articles/rihanna-unapologetic,88921/ The rest of Unapologetic is less ambiguous, though spottier quality-wise. It’s too heavy on the sort of milquetoast ballads that have never been Rihanna’s specialty (“What Now,” “Stay”)
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2012/11/19/rihanna-unapologetic-track-by-track-review-in-gifs/ OK, so what happens after "Right Now"? RiRi's wondering the same thing! Emotionally torn and entirely vulnerable, "What Now" finds RiRi coming up with way, way, way more questions than answers and a whole lot of inner strife on the devastating power ballad: "There's no one to call cause I'm just playing games with them all/ The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone," she cries out at one point. It's Ri's most poignant offering on the record, and perhaps one of the best displays of her vocal chops ever.
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/11/post_59.html She’s near-operatic on “Diamonds,” strip-club gritty on “Pour It Up” and hot as dragon’s breath on “What Now,” a staggering power ballad that makes all her other mid-tempo numbers sound featherweight by comparison.
http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/263452 Things really kick into relationship-regret mode with "What Now," a sure single that places a piano arrangement with dance-pop beats and then a guitar riff at the end; it is the everything-including-the-kitchen sink approach to song making.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/unapologetic-mw0002439379 Wrapped in a serene sneer, Rihanna's trash talk is something else. Moments such as that one are so convincing that the few everywoman heart-on-sleeve songs -- with the exception of the massive, slamming, wailing power ballad that is "What Now" -- don't sound all that natural.
http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/11/rihanna-unapologetic-review.html The ballads ("Stay," "Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary," "What Now") are all quite lovely, as Rihanna's stellar vocals and lyrics underscore a raw vulnerability yet to be found in her music. "What Now," my favorite track, is most effective. That song's constant musical shifts--from soft, but wordy piano lines in the verses to revved-up synth-rock in the chorus--are extremely powerful and provides a glimpse into Rihanna's fragmented mind: lyrics about laughing at her reflection in a two-sided mirror seem to conjure up the emotional struggles she faces alone.
http://www.4music.com/news/reviews/6960/Review-Rihanna-Unapologetic 8. What Now? As soon as we heard the piano intro to this track, we knew we were in for a treat. It's a tender mid-tempo ballad with crashing drums and a roaring chorus. We like. RiRi's voice sounds sweet. Favourite track: "Dry as a bone, but I just wanna shout"
http://www.spin.com/reviews/rihanna-unapologetic-def-jam As hard as Unapologetic tries to cast Riri as a Beyoncé-like balladeer on the dramatic "What Now" and "Stay," the younger star's vocals will never have the curvy fullness of her mentor Jay-Z's wife. She isn't a full-bodied diva; she's a pointy provocateur.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/rihanna-unapologetic-review What Now attempts to weld a walloping brostep drop to a sensitive acoustic guitar and piano ballad with suitably peculiar results: there's a fantastic moment towards the end where producer Ighile throws in a widdly-woo guitar solo, apparently in the mistaken belief that the track wasn't yet preposterous enough.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/21/arts/music/rihannas-album-unapologetic-makes-most-of-her-talent.html?_r=0 That’s what makes it so much more notable when she lets loose, drops her guard and just sings unvarnished. “What Now” begins with plain piano but gets to bombast by the first chorus. Still, Rihanna is doing some of her most direct, ambitious singing here. It’s the album’s one real purge, and a sign of a pulse beneath the armor: There’s no one to call cause I’m just playing games with them all The more I swear I’m happy, the more that I’m feeling alone Cause I spend every hour just going through the motions I can’t even get the emotions to come out Dry as a bone but I just wanna shout
http://www.pluggedin.com/music/albums/2012/rihanna-unapologetic.aspx "What Now" isn't positive, per se. But it does voice a sense of honest, quiet confusion that's in sharp contrast to Rihanna's reckless, rebellious swagger elsewhere. In the wake of a breakup, she sings, "What now? I just can't figure it out/I don't know where to go/I don't know what to feel/I don't know how to cry/I don't know, oh, oh, why."
http://popcrush.com/rihanna-unapologetic-album-review/ What Now’ - There’s not much to this ballad, which flips from verses to choruses like they’re from two different planets. Rihanna oversings, but the sonic bombs that drop during the choruses are kinda cool.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience%2C93905/ His contributions are most audible on tracks like the slinky, slithering “Tunnel Vision” and especially the dance-floor bait “Don’t Hold The Wall,” whose Eastern flourishes and sexy-baby vocal samples are drawn straight from Chapter One of the Timbaland playbook.
http://www.spin.com/reviews/justin-timberlake-the-20-20-experience-rca Save for the jittery bangers "Don't Hold the Wall" and "Tunnel Vision" — in which Timbaland shows that, despite ample recent evidence to the contrary, he hasn't forgotten how to build beats that seem designed for civilizations on far-away planets. "Don't Hold the Wall" and "Tunnel Vision" both crescendo with the album's tensest moments: On the former, Timberlake reverts to the agitated pleas of his youth over a shuffle that takes a swig from Missy Elliott's Miss E… So Addictive,
http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/justin-timberlake/the-2020-experience/73185/ The other layers of the album contain a whole globe of sounds that magnifies the listener’s experience. “Don’t Hold The Wall” heads over to the Middle-East and let’s us know that he still likes to see hips shake ‘n vibrate and then break it down to the booming bass that ends the track.
https://consequence.net/2013/03/album-review-justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience/ On the other hand, 20/20’s two best songs – “Don’t Hold The Wall” and “Tunnel Vision” – sound like *NSYNC’s strongest days. The percussive “Wall” is a rapid girlfriend-in-the-club confrontation a la “It Makes Me Ill” from 2000′s No Strings Attached. It’s rife with intricate Eastern influences, but no amount of production work buries the tact of a child star (“I heard your girlfriend tell you, you could do better / Well I’m the best ever”).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/mar/17/justin-timberlake-20-experience-review As immediate as it is a keeper, Don't Hold the Wall grabs from the near east and the southern hemisphere; crickets chirp in the background, and a sped-up helium sample quacks like it's 1999. Unlike most of the songs on 20/20 – the goofy, loved-up musings of a happily married man, mostly – Don't Hold the Wall finds a breathy Timberlake prowling the club, whispering salacious nothings to a resistant girl. "Well, how'd you like it?" asks one sample. "You shouldn't have to ask me that question," answers another. No matter what you might want to do to Timberlake – mother him? – you want to give Timbaland a bear hug.
http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17535/reviews/4146182 At the album’s centre lie ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’, ‘Strawberry Bubblegum’, and ‘Tunnel Vision’ – three seven-minute-plus tracks which showcase JT and co’s latest influences. With chugging afro drums and a looped M.I.A.-esque sample of children’s vocals, ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’ is perhaps the closest to FutureSex/LoveSound - but undeniably updated for the next decade.
http://www.digitalspy.ca/music/albumreviews/a465794/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-album-review.html Timbaland, who helmed the bulk of FutureSex..., returns as executive producer and brings his distinctive squelchy beatbox sounds best of all on 'Don't Hold The Wall' and current single 'Mirrors'. The former is a menacing track with rumbling jungle beats and tribal coos that continually twists and turns in unexpected directions/
http://www.factmag.com/2013/03/18/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-fact-review/ Timberlake and Timbaland barely break a sweat on ‘Don’t Hold The Wall’ and ‘Tunnel Vision’, two rousing, if mildly deja vu inducing, efforts. Rolling snaps and clicks, jittery vocal bursts and classic Timbaland beatbox ad-libs filter through soaring string and wind sampling that just about hark to Timbaland’s Bollywood influenced ‘Indian Flute’ era, and there’s a welcome teasing element that sees Timberlake’s voice deployed with greater range and suspense.
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/03/14/justin-timberlake-2020-experience-review-gifs/ Justin's packed a few massive punches along the way, including the unbelievably sexy "Don't Hold The Wall,". OK, sexy is most definitely back: The tempo drops (and so does Justin's voice), filling out into a minimal tribal pulse, cricket noises, and just the slightest touch of Timba's infatuation for Bollywood beats. It's a moonlight seduction, y'all! "Well, huh, I'm the best ever/ But you're so far, I had to come get ya." And just like that, Justin's crossing the club and locking eyes and grabbing hips and -- wait, oh God. Is Jessica Biel listening? Oh, who cares?! By the time that nasty breakdown comes bumping into the speakers (which sort of sounds like Madonna's Hard Candy track "Heartbeat"), no one could possibly be held responsible for their behavior. Just remember to leggo the wall!
http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2013-03-20/justin-timberlakes-the-2020-experience-is-from-the-future The entire album is dance appropriate, but it’s “Don’t Hold the Wall” and “Let the Groove In” that are the obvious dance floor grooves, the former relying heavily on its Indian inspiration and the latter pulsating Soca. Both balance out the album as a whole project but are the weakest of the bunch.
http://www.technicianonline.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_0319fe5c-91bd-11e2-bfad-001a4bcf6878.html The 20/20 Experience is an expansive project filled with sprawling production that runs the musical gamut. From Bollywood-inspired R&B tunes like “Don’t Hold the Wall” to the funky, soulful opener that’s lined with drug-addled metaphors, “Pusher Love Girl,” Timberlake crafts ambitious songs that feel well worth the wait.
< ref name="Boston review"/> - "Where am I/ Who are you/ What we do/ Last night" she wonders on "Blur," notes weaving and beats crackling like shaky ground beneath her. "I need to get up outta here/ I gotta get my head right," Spears concludes, and she sounds - for the first time in a long time - like she means it.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-11-30/news/0811280151_1_britney-spears-songs-sixth-studio-album - "What happened?" Britney Spears mutters during what is easily the most disturbing song of her career, "Blur." "Blur" describes the aftermath of what sounds like a drug- or alcohol-fueled night that ends with the narrator passing out after a date-rape encounter. The arrangement adds to the unsettling atmosphere: The keyboards sound like they were recorded underwater and a high-hat chatters like a gossip columnist. "Who are you?/What'd we do?" Spears sings in a shell-shocked voice. "Hope I didn't, but I think I might've ... Maybe I shouldn't have given in/But I just couldn't fight."
http://idolator.com/5090514/mourning-becomes-britney - even a song in which she regrets having sex (“Blur”). That no one seems to have noticed this is key to its effect. We all knew what she was doing on previous albums, so it tended to come off as forced and insincere. Here, she slips into the role so easily that it’s likely we’ll accept it. “Blur” is very good
http://www.mtv.com.au/news/4f037801-afa3-4603-a653-f1dc4433830b/ - Best of all is 'Blur', a dark, Danja-produced track. Some have suggested it's about date rape, and while that's debatable, it's still a deeply unsettling song - one that seems to best sum up the Britney we've witnessed over the last couple of years. "Can't remember what I did last night/everything, everything is still a blur", she mumbles, before addressing the person she's woken up next to: "What's your name, man? Can you come and hand me all my things?" It's a sobering counterpoint to the fluff that makes up much of the album, and tellingly, it's where Britney sounds most at home.
http://thequietus.com/articles/00816-britney-spears-circus-album-review - 'Blur' comes on with a 21st Century reworking of the melody from the Stones’ 'Let It Loose'. It’s about getting fucked up and not remembering what you did the night before, or who you just woke up next to. The production is slightly starker than usual for our man and it walks an incredibly difficult line between poignancy and confusion, Britney never putting a foot wrong. Again, no surrender.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2009/01/review-britney/ - “Blur” takes a trippy pop beat and finds Britney describing a lost night. (Ironically a “Blackout,” if you will.) “Can’t remember what I did last night” she sings backed by some interesting synth-work. If this track works even slightly, it’s not because of Britney. She spends the majority of the track singing in a strangely forced R&B-flavored tone. It doesn’t suit her. She’s never been a strong vocalist and she still can’t pull it off.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/12/03/britney-spears-circus-review - Things start to slide apart on the softer, ballad oriented offerings like "Blur" (though the lyrics are intriguing as they speak to blacking out and if intended as commentary on her erratic personal behavior over the past few years it serves as a reflective twist of self-effacing pop)
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/albumreviews/a137205/britney-spears-circus.html - As befits an album whose back cover shows a child dressed as a clown handing Spears a birthday cake, Circus features several songs you just wouldn't expect from an 80-million selling pop superstar. 'Blur', which is best described as a "hangover ballad", sees Spears wake up, moan that the lights are "way too f***ing bright" and then realise she doesn't know what - or who - she did last night.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/28/britney-spears-circus - You might think she could inject a bit of pathos into Blur, a tale of hungover regret, but no. "Hope I didn't but I think I might," she sings blithely, as if singing about having an inadvisible dollop of chilli sauce on a late-night kebab, rather than say, being photographed staggering around LA at 2am without a skirt on, knickers covered in blood.
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/33653/Britney-Spears-Circus/ - “Blur” is an odd choice, a stuttering, space-y cautionary tale where Spears moans “where the hell am I / who are you? What’d we do last night?” It’s a song made awkward more for its eerie, probably true depiction of Spear’s nightlife than anything else.
http://www.muumuse.com/2008/11/britney-spears-circus-album-review.html/ - Blur seems to be the one track that has received the most widespread criticism as far as I can tell, ranging from utter love at first play to puzzled disinterest. For me, it was fairly easy to immediately embrace Blur as the dizzying, clouded continuation of In The Zone‘s Early Mornin'.†“Turn the lights out, this shit’s way too fucking bright,†Britney murmurs into the drifting first verse. The track spins round and round in its electronica-infused manner, somewhat reminiscent of Rihanna's Rehab.” “Blur†is very modern and very well crafted; a splurge of slipping memory and incoherence.
http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/91433/Britney-Spears---Circus-Review.htm - The final two highlights of this album are the trance style “Unusual You” and the slow building “Blur.” “Unusual You” is about Spears expecting her lover to leave her, but he surprises her by staying with her despite her flaws. “Blur” is about waking up from a drunken sexual encounter and trying to piece together the sordid details. The music on “Blur” is just off kilter enough it feels like you are waking up from a hangover with a pounding headache and a cup full of regret.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/66714-britney-spears-circus/ - Blur” is almost laughable as the album’s token “regret” track; the music benefits from a sultry R&B afterglow, but the lyrics, in nuce, are ‘Shit, what in the hey did I do last night? / Everything is just a blur’.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/10019 - while ‘Blur’ finds Brit waking up next to someone strange and demanding: “Who are you? And what’d we do last night?”
How Information
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/xmrj - How and Don’t Know Nothing boast deliciously unexpected melodic twists in their choruses: a shrugged cadence of resignation in the latter, a surprise howl to the skies in the former. You have to be good at music to do this kind of thing.
Though I don't understand the meaning of love
I do not mind if I die trying, ohhh
Took it for granted when you lifted me up
I'm asking for your help
I am going through hell
Afraid nothing can save me but the sound of your voice
You cut out all the noise
And now that I can see mistakes so clearly now
I'd kill if I could take you back
Levine strikes a strong cord with this lyric, in the bridge: "Why does the one you love/Become the one who makes you want to cry?" Isn’t that the truth, plain and simple?
http://thebillboardfiles.blogspot.com/2010/09/album-review-maroon-5-hands-all-over.html - "How" attempts some old fashioned also Snow Patrol inspired soft rock with shadowing chords and a cool melody hung production for the chorus, also backed with bursts of blistering guitars. Best: Misery, Give a Little More, Out of Goodbyes, I Can't Lie, Hands All Over, Just a Feeling, How
http://www.channel24.co.za/Music/AlbumReviews/Maroon-5-Hands-All-Over-20101117 - And the sweetness continues on the 70s soul of "I Can't Lie" and the truly lovely "How" in which Levine is so in love he actually asks for his lady's hand in marriage. Could it be possible that these boys have finally grown up? Perhaps.
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/album-reviews/id.1341/title.robin-thicke-sex-therapy - “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy” stands in stark contrast to the sensitive lover from “Lost Without U,” but for those who aren’t offended by the premise of Robin and Nicki Minaj’s new strip-club anthem, there’s nothing to complain about because he still feels perfectly natural.
http://www.rap-up.com/2009/11/24/album-preview-robin-thicke-sex-therapy/ - 6. “Shakin’ It 4 Daddy” featuring Nicki Minaj. Speaking of naughty, this Polow Da Don-produced and Ester Dean-penned joint holds nothing back. Nicki’s Lil Wayne-like verses add a little bit of raunch to the staple stripper-pole track. Though it’s catchy and delicately synthed to commercial perfection, it’s clearly added to the album for some diversity.
http://www.muchmusic.com/artists/1685/robin-thicke/more/ - Then there's "Shakin' it 4 Daddy," (which features Nicki Minaj) an R. Kelly-meets-Usher party record that is Thicke's Southern-style hip-hop homage to the strip club and nightclub generation. Not that he's advocating wanton shakin', mind you. "You're only supposed to shake it for one daddy!" he asserts. "If you shake it for a bunch of daddies, that's nasty. It's not misogynistic, it's warm-hearted, and really about my wife shakin' it for her husband. If my wife comes in the room and she shakes it for daddy, trust me, the night is gonna go very well."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/x5fd - What’s My Name? features the similarly young and talented Drake mulling the "square route of 69" over choppy Caribbean rhythms that reappear on Man Down
http://www.contactmusic.com/album-review/rihanna-loud - This album just screams commercial success. Tracks like Only Girl and What's My Name are already worldwide hits that smash into the psyche. What's my name, in particular, is a smooth, urban track with Caribbean influences that make you feel like you are strolling down the streets of Rihanna's homeland, Barbados. Ironically, Rihanna's Bajan twang is perfect here, which is perfectly complemented by Drake's charming vocals.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/11/album-review-rihannas-loud.html - “What’s My Name” has a disarming double-entendre chorus — a line like “Hey boy, I really want to see if you can go downtown with a girl like me” has come-hither undertones, but you can also imagine Rihanna wanting something as exotic as dinner and a movie out on the arm of a good guy.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/rihanna/11718 - Loud’’s experiments feel more organic, its tone better paced, from the Caribbean-tinged anthem for doomed youth of ‘Man Down’ via the glossy, dark tectonic beats of ‘What’s My Name?’ (featuring Drake) to the ludicrously banging trancepop of ‘Only Girl (In The World)’.
https://consequence.net/2010/11/album-review-rihanna-loud/ - But their talent is far from one-dimensional. “What’s My Name (Ft. Drake)”, an unhurried, futuristic R&B joint built around a tawdry conversation between the former lovers, has already become the first of Loud‘s number ones.
http://www.spin.com/reviews/rihanna-loud-def-jam/ - but because no woman should have to endure the kind of pick-up line Drake shoots her way on "What's My Name," the record's second single. "I heard you good with those soft lips / Yeah you know word of mouth," purrs the Canadian rapper (and Ri-Ri's rumored fling). "The square root of 69 is 8 something, right / 'Cuz I been trying to work it out." Woof. But while Casanova rolls over in his grave, Rihanna smirks and takes it in stride. Drake may open the track, but she reigns in their shared world -- with a coquettish flip, she glides into a chorus that leaves no doubt: "Hey boy, really wanna see / If you can go downtown with a girl like me." In the video, she struts happily around New York's Lower East Side in a zebra-striped jacket, a nod to the actual animal she sat atop in the video for last year's "Rude Boy" -- with her bodysuit covered in Keith Haring-esque graffiti to match the floor and walls, like Haring himself was bodypainted to melt into his own squiggly backdrop in Annie Liebovitz's 1986 portrait.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20440920,00.html - In her place is a rebooted pop vixen, a Caribbean-accented kitten with a whip. What begins with late-night-Cinemax naughtiness (see: explicitly carnal opener S&M and playful Drake collab What’s My Name?)
http://voices.yahoo.com/rihannas-loud-review-7302722.html - What's My Name? The second single off of "Loud" is a collaboration with currently hot R&B star Drake. The song is mid-tempo and very melodic, with Rihanna's "oh na na's" providing a head bouncing good time. Watch the video here.
http://entertainment.ie/album-review/Rihanna-Loud/112140.htm - As usual, she is at her strongest where she embraces her Barbadian heritage, her island accent coming through strongly in the Caribbean flavoured 'Man Down' and the Drake duet 'What's My Name?
http://thebillboardfiles.blogspot.com/2010/11/album-review-rihanna-loud-45.html - Following the invigorating electronic-pounding of “S&M,” is current single and eighth US chart topper “What’s My Name?” featuring American rapper Drake, a cooling downbeat mid-tempo—bursts of skittering drum beats and a flourishing backdrop that sort of calls that of “Te Amo.” As a nice enough slice of a pop song this—it’s generic insight lyrically is a quite a steep drop from Rated R—she’s singing about sex again, but it’s lyrically uninteresting.
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16072-rihanna-talk-that-talk/ - And though it's no "Umbrella", the Jay-Z reunion "Talk That Talk" is one of the more playful moments here, though I'll say that the patented H.O.V.-giggle doesn't feel entirely earned following a line like: "Had it by a bladder/ She like 'oh I gotta pee'."
http://www.nme.com/reviews/rihanna/12476 - while re-teaming with Jay-Z on the title track is a gamble that doesn’t pay off. The pace may echo ‘Umbrella’, but there’s precious little of that song’s spark. The Jigga’s rap feels like it was dashed off in a few minutes between Def Jam conference calls (“Oh, she really gotta pee”, he raps at one point. I mean, do we really want to hear about Beyoncé’s bladder control during pregnancy? Noooo).
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20547520,00.html - Talk also harks back to the edgier, sexier Rated R with "Rude Boy"-esque tracks like the grinding "Roc Me Out" and the title tune, which reunites Rihanna with "Umbrella" cohort Jay-Z for another moment in the sun.
Mirrors [Compo + CR] Information
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/mar/17/justin-timberlake-20-experience-review - By now everyone ought to be familiar with Mirrors, the most craven outing from this orchestral funk opus, which has already enjoyed two weeks at No 1. There are at least four tracks better than Mirrors here. There will be more, because The 20/20 Experience repays replays.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/1551360/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-track-by-track-review - Imagine being a newlywed and wanting to write the most epic song ever in honor of your life partner. "Mirrors" is Timberlake's version of that anthem -- how can you not think of the singer's recent wedding photos alongside Jessica Biel when he endlessly repeats, "You are, you are, the love, of my life," as if he had just soaked in the splendid finality of his romantic situation? Compare this album's second single to "Justified's" second single, "Cry Me A River," and aside from the steady presence of Timbaland's fantastically cluttered production, the difference between the song is clear: 10 years ago, Timberlake was broken, and now he is whole.
http://www.nme.com/reviews/justin-timberlake/14262 - Even on album highlight ‘Mirrors’ a robot voice repeats “you are the love of my life” 35 times in eight minutes. It’s too much, especially when Frank Ocean and Miguel are doing better R&B jams in under four minutes.
http://www.spin.com/reviews/justin-timberlake-the-20-20-experience-rca/ - "Mirrors," though, is a truer indication of the headspace that birthed Timberlake's comeback. With Timbaland's snapping, crunching beatboxing as its backbone, it's an obvious callback to two of the duo's biggest songs together — "Cry Me a River" and "What Goes Around… Comes Around." Yet it breaks the formula by ditching seething acidity for a gushing, open heart.
http://voices.yahoo.com/justin-timberlakes-20-20-experience-track-by-12080007.html?cat=9 - The 9th track on The 20/20 Experience is also the album's second single, and it is much more radio-friendly than 'Suit & Tie.' Like many other tunes on the album, this one is long, coming in at a total time of eight minutes, six seconds. Of course, the song is pared down for the single release, which is fine because the last couple of minutes of it is kind of a waste anyway.
Mirrors is a nice love song, with a nice melody and a nice hook. Billboard culls the tune a more "whole" Timberlake than the brokenhearted one on his earlier song, 'Cry Me a River.' Indeed, just check out these lyrics:
Aren't you somethin' to admire?
Cause your shine is somethin' like a mirror
And I can't help but notice
You reflect in this heart of mine
If you ever feel alone and
The glare makes me hard to find
Just know that I'm always
Parallel on the other side
Sweet, huh? Yes, this one is going to do well, I think.
http://www.factmag.com/2013/03/18/justin-timberlake-the-2020-experience-fact-review/ - Suit & Tie’ (Jay-Z, you lazy for this one) and the Coldplay-does-r’n'b ‘Mirrors’ also reveal a frustration that’s already come to a head. Kanye was right. The singles kind of suck and since only three tracks are under the six minute mark, this album’s radio edits will be severe. Yet this clearly doesn’t phase him.
http://www.hitfix.com/news/justin-timberlakes-the-20-20-experience-album-review - Current single, “Mirrors," is a pop marvel, and, as he’s shown by his television performances with his band, JT and the Tennessee Kids, it only gets better as it is performed live. The gorgeous melody features layer upon layer of Timberlake’s vocals stacked upon each other until it feels like they can reach the heavens. “Mirrors,” and possibly every song on here, is an ode to Timberlake’s wife, Jessica Biel.
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/03/14/justin-timberlake-2020-experience-review-gifs/ - The shining standout of the record (apart from "Don't Hold The Wall" and "Blue Ocean Floor"): Sure, the production might as well make it a bonus track off of FutureSex/LoveSounds, but it's just as good as the best songs off of that album. "'Cause I don't wanna lose you now/ I'm lookin' right at the other half of me," Justin earnestly pleads. It's hugely catchy, and the melodies are arena-size. That breakdown at the end of the track -- with its muddled repetitions of "You are the love of my life" and a soft piano landing -- is especially beautiful.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/songreviews/mirrors-20130222 - Last year Frank Ocean released a 10-minute song about a stripper. So why shouldn't Justin Timberlake be allowed to get his prog on with an eight-minute song about a girl who's just like his mirror? Produced by Timbaland, this non-single from The 20/20 Experience is certainly the artiest song Timberlake's ever wrapped his pipes around – from the emo power-ballad guitar strobes to the stark hand-clapping bridge to the orchestral flares to the electro blips, chipmunk synth chirps and vocoder-squawk backing vocals that ornament the climactic last minute or so. Yet it's still unmistakably a JT joint, replete with laidback soulfulness, mountain-climbing croon and falsetto butter – like how Kraftwerk might do Al Green, if they'd just spent a night in an Atlanta strip club.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/mirrors-mw0002501233 - "Mirrors" is the second song to precede Justin Timberlake's third solo album. Its most noticeable feature is its eight-minute length. The singer mentioned classic rock acts, rather than contemporaries -- such as Frank Ocean's "Pyramids" and the-Dream's flowing suites -- as his inspirations, yet this is less an epic than a drawn-out midtempo pop ballad. It could fade out or end abruptly around the four-minute mark, but it takes another four minutes to dissolve. Over Timbaland's clumpy beat (with beatboxing) and grand strings, Timberlake pleads with heartfelt devotion, but it's not one of his more remarkable singles.