Sunday, June 5, 2016

Fifth Harmony - 7/27: Album Review

The girl group does change for the better, but not by a huge margin. Album: 7/27 - Fifth Harmony Genre: Pop/EDM Best songs:  "Write On Me", "Squeeze"                                     Worst songs: "Work From Home" (ft. Ty Dolla $ign), "This Life", "All In My Head" (Flex) (ft. Fetty Wap) Rating: 4/10.


7/27 is the sophomore album from American girl group Fifth Harmony. The album was preceded by the lead single “Work From Home”, which features rapper Ty Dolla $ign. On this album we see the girl group maturing, but not by much.   Let’s actually talk about the lead single, because it’s probably one of the worst songs on this record. Blatantly ripping off the chorus “Work” by Rihanna, which features Canadian rapper Drake, and while “Work”, to be honest, is not great, at least it’s not a rip-off. If you’re going to do that, at least do it better than this. The girls aren’t even likable on this song, and it’s sad to say Ty Dolla $ign of all people is the only (barely) redeeming quality of this song. While the snapping is a nice aesthetic, it reminds me too much of the snapping in Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love”, which again, a much better song. Then we get into “This Life”, which has pitch-shifted chipmunks that I just can't stand here. Why is it becoming so common in pop music? It only works good if it’s actually Alvin & The Chipmunks in almost all cases. Next comes “All In My Head” (Flex), which features, ugh… Fetty Wap. His voice is pretty intolerable on this song like always. He only works well over trap, and even then, it’s not much. I can’t even understand what he’s saying half the time. And I can’t stand self-indulging songs like this. They’re “flexing”, good for them. At least be believable in your bragging. And then we get into the production and instrumentation. Which I’ve talked about already with the chipmunk vocals and such. But basically (pun intended), it’s all pretty basic instrumentation and production and it’s not at all complex. And deciding to give Camilla Cabello the most attention when she’s clearly the weakest vocalist just doesn’t work.   But is there any redeeming qualities here? Well, they do have slightly better harmonies, and they gave the other girls more time in the spotlight. Which they should, and do it much more. The vocals from the girls are tolerable most of the time, and they don’t have a single as bad as “Worth It” at least.   It’s obviously not for me, but 4/10. Fans will probably eat it up and love it. But, really only fans. If you want to tell me how wrong I am, Harmonizers, you can do so in the comments. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next review.