Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden: Video Game Review/Summary

For my 7th review (and 2nd video game review), I take another break from music to discuss one of the best J-RPGs of all time, and how much I fangirl over it, in what will be one of my most detailed and long reviews. Also, WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. Personal details on myself will also be talked about.

Release date: 9 December 2008 (original release), 20 November 2012 (Golden)

Genre: Japanese role-playing game, visual novel (with dating simulator elements)

Platform: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita (Golden version)

Developer: Atlus (Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Catherine)

Good for those who: Love murder mysteries, turn-based combat, psychology, and have interest in social issues.

Bad for those who: Don’t like a ton of dialogue, and content that might be considered too mature for the characters in the game (High schoolers, aged 15-17).

Average playtime: 80-100 hours.

ESRB rating: M (17+)

Rating: 10/10 (for both versions).

Introduction

You know, it’s pretty hard to discuss a game like this, because it’s so big. Especially a game that’s both loved and hated (looking at you, Persona 3 fans). Atlus is one of the biggest Japanese developers out there, along with Square Enix and Nintendo. And while you may think you’ve never touched J-RPGs or heard of them, I’m sure Final Fantasy or Pokémon come to mind, don’t they? Well, I’m hear to talk about Persona 4, and its remake, Persona 4 Golden. And man, were these games a fun time. I got almost 200 hours spread out over three playthroughs of the game. And I haven’t even got into Golden yet, with all of its extra content (I have about 20 hours on it). So, the game. Did it deserve the critical acclaim it got? Well, hell yeah, it did!

Plot

So, the main character (who you name), is a high-school aged student moving to the small town of Inaba for a year because your parents are gone due to business involving their occupations. You move in with your detective uncle, Ryotaro Dojima (who works with Detective Adachi), and his daughter, Nanako. As you’re driving to the house, you stop at a gas station, approached by a “Gas Station Attendant”, who shakes your hand, to which you start feeling woozy and dizzy. Go figure. Maybe he roofied you somehow with his hands. You get home, go to sleep, and you can use this power called “Persona” in your dreams… for some reason. And the next day, begin attending Yasogami High School, a school consisting of students from first-years to third-years. You meet with new friends such as Yosuke Hanamura, Chie Satonaka, and Yukiko Amagi (like you, all second years). There is a rumour of this mysterious TV channel known as the “Midnight Channel”, which is said to show your soulmate in the TV at midnight when it’s raining. For some reason, you try sticking a hand in the TV, and well… your hand goes inside. Okay then… you try to tell your friends, and of course, no one believes you, so you go to the department store Junes,. As soon as you get to this town and get situated, a body is discovered, and it turns out to be murder. You still try to go on with your life, going to the department store Junes,  as another body is again found not too long after, being one of Yosuke’s friends, Saki. As the two bodies are found, Yukiko goes missing as well. And later in the story, various students from your school are found, and it’s up to you to save them from being killed by the shadows.

And I will now talk about the characters, each of the protagonists in detail, and reveal a little personal details. You can skip down to the gameplay if you don't really give a crap, like I assume you will.

Protagonists

Yu Narakami (main character): Standing relatively tall for being Japanese, at 5'11'', and having grey hair. A second-year student. Moved to Inaba from an unknown town because of parental business. His starting Persona is Izanagi, but holding the Wild Card, he can summon essentially any Persona. Essentially, his personality depends on how you act in the game, but for the most part, he’s calm, cool, and collected. He knows how to keep his cool in any situation, and is the leader of the Investigation Team.

Yosuke Hanamura: 5’9’’, brown hair. Is essentially second in-command to Yu, Yosuke is a total goofball. His starting Persona is Jiraiya, and uses the element of wind. His shadow reveals his happy go-lucky personality is just him covering up how much he hated being moved to a country small town like Inaba, and he wanted to investigate the TV World for thrills rather than the murders originally.

Chie Satonaka: 5’2’’, short brown hair. Her starting Persona is Tomoe, and uses the ice element and physical attacks. Second-year student. The quintessential tomboy, Chie loves kung-fu films, meat, and has the short hair to fit it all. Her shadow shows her biggest insecurity is her femininity, and was jealous she was of Yukiko, because she always scored higher grades, was more popular, more feminine, and she considers herself undesirable.

Yukiko Amagi: 5'5'', long black hair. Her starting Persona is Konohana Sakuya, and uses the fire element, and is one of two healers of the group. Second-year student. In contrast to Chie, she is the best example of a feminine girl, except like Chie, she can't cook. Yukiko's biggest insecurity, as revealed by her shadow, is her feeling chained down. Not being able to make any big decisions in her life, and feeling her life was decided by her parents to run the Amagi Inn.

Kanji Tatsumi: 6'1'', bleached blonde hair. His starting persona is Take-Mikazuchi, and uses the lightning element and physical attacks. First-year student. While being a typical tough guy in appearance, personality, and acts, Kanji is great at weaving and sewing, but looks like a typical gang member. Kanji's biggest insecurities as his more "feminine" interests and his sexuality. His shadow because of how he feels, takes on a very flamboyant appearance. He is possibly homosexual or bisexual, due to his interest in Naoto Shirogane (prior to finding out Naoto's secret). He wished to just be accepted, and not be called "queer" and "unmanly" for his interests and skills. I personally identify with Kanji well, with insecurities for my sexuality, me having more feminine interests like theater and music, and thus not being seen as masculine by my parents, especially my father.

Rise Kujikawa: 5'1'', copper pigtailed hair. First-year student, and idol/celebrity. Her starting Persona is Himiko, and cannot participate in combat. Rise being a celebrity, is popular among the masses, and while all girls show romantic interest in the main character, Rise is much more open and flirty about it. She fears she has no true self, that she has become the character she puts off in her public image as "Risette".

Teddie: 4'3'' in bear costume, 5'3'' in human form. Teddie is the only member of the investigation team who isn't human. Teddie is a shadow, all the enemies present in the game. His starting Persona is Kintoki-Douji, and uses the ice element. Having only appeared as a hollow bear before as an effort to be liked by humans, Teddie later develops an ego and human form. He often flirts with the girls on the Investigation Team, in an attempt to "score with them". He also is a huge joker. Teddie's biggest insecurity is his identity. Having no clue where he came from and who he is, as he lost all his memories in attempt to forget what he actually was. He later accepts this, and eventually accepts he's not much different than his human friends, despite being one of the very things they've been fighting.

Naoto Shirogane (aka my girlfriend in the game): 5'0'', short blue hair. Naoto is androgynous in appearance. First-year student and working detective. Her starting Persona is Sukuna-Hikona, and uses light and dark (instant-kill) spells, and the almighty element. Her blue cap has become a trademark of hers (I even own one of my own). She is very shy, and won the Yasogami High beauty Pageant despite not showing up for the swimsuit portion because her looks appeal to both genders. She also shows the most interest in the main character second to Rise, asking to jump on the train with him at the end of the game. Naoto comes from a long line of detectives, and acts more mature than her age due to her parents both dying a car accident. She has also extremely intelligent, and has solved over 30 cases. Her biggest insecurities are her gender and her age. In contrast to Kanji's more "feminine" interests, Naoto's interests as a child were "boyish", such as robots, likely Transformers, police work, technology, and science. Having likely grown up with detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Detective Conan, her sex and age do not fit her ideal image of a detective, her being female and 15. And as such, she passes off as a boy (triggering Kanji's problem), going as far as to bind down her chest (It is implied she has the biggest chest out of any of the girls on the Investigation Team). She wishes to be seen as an adult, and as such, her shadow's voice becomes whiny and acts like a child, and because of her yearning to have been born male, her shadow also attempts to tie Naoto down to an operation table that has a bunch of bladed tools nearby to give her a sex-change operation. Charming. She hates being looked down upon, and fears she won't be taken seriously as a female in a sexist occupation field. She is also ashamed of being female. I identify with her as well. Feeling because of things I cannot control, I cannot achieve my dreams. I am also considered intelligent and mature for my age by others. I often wear formal clothes and recently, before I started playing this game, I wanted to be a detective. We also seem to have similar interests. And not only do I feel insecurity about my sexuality, I also do about my gender.

Side note: She's the only girl I dated in the game. Yes, I think she's cute. I'm not gay, don't worry. She kinda looks like a boy, and she's animated and not real? I mean come on, she must give a lot of guys boners. Just me? Okay... I should go. *Walks out of room before getting judged further*

No, in all seriousness, I loved her personality, and her look, and she was my favourite character in the game.

And now we got all the characters. Let's move on.

Gameplay:

The game features turn-based combat, with attributes like Strength, Magic, Agility, and Luck deciding things how much damage, who will go first, how often you'll hit, etc. It can come off as cheap when an enemy instant kills you the first chance it gets though, and the game starts off very difficult, but levels out to be only slightly challenging as the game progresses. There is also elemental weaknesses for enemies and your characters that can be exploited for an extra turn. The game also features visual novel elements. Meaning, there's a lots of talking, and making friends is how you get stronger in the game. You can also have a romantic relationship in the game with one of the girls, or make it a harem and date everyone, and disappoint all but one by rejecting them on Valentine's Day.

Conclusion:

This is one of the best role-playing games ever made, Atlus did an amazing job on here. And no, this is not the Naoto fanboy in me talking, this game was one of the best experiences I've had gaming for over a decade. The plot's good, I felt the need as much as the characters in the game to solve the case, and bring the criminal to justice. The gameplay was smooth, and didn't get all that dull. The soundtrack was amazingly composed, catchy, and I didn't get sick of hearing it. The characters were engaging, relatable, and they felt real. I could believe these people exist in real life, and considering how real they are, there could be someone just like them in the world. I actually felt like I had friends despite them being fictional. They had real people problems, and the game teaches you that everyone has problems, and you have to learn to face them, face yourself, to be better. Very few games get into the human psyche like that. More often then not, they often make the characters so "super", that it's hard to relate. It's hard to imagine you're anyone from Final Fantasy. These are all ordinary teenagers. Another something games often fail to do. Immerse you. Even my 11 year old sister was interested in the game and its characters, despite her not having played the game at all. If I had to say something about the game on the negative side, it was that the social links, especially the dating, had no effect on the game. I thought Kanji might be a little sour I took Naoto for myself (and no, I don't feel like a dick, she's mine), or Rise would stop flirting with me now that I'm dating someone. But that's just nitpicking on an otherwise amazing game. Nitpicking is all I can do. No game can be perfect, but 10/10 for both versions. It is up there on my most favourite games of all time. A definite recommendation.

Drake Bell Is A Sellout... And I'm Disappointed

Ah, Drake. How I respected you. 

Drake Bell, known for his role as Drake Parker as the hit Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh (of which won him 9 Kids Choice Awards), the voice of Spider-Man on Disney XD's Ultimate Spider-Man, as Timmy Turner in the Fairly Odd Parents live-action trilogy, and his starring role in the feature film Superhero Movie, has officially sold out. He has also released legitimately great albums like the pop rock/alt rock "Telegraph", the powerpop "It's Only Time", and the EP "A Reminder". And while the rockabilly mostly cover album "Ready Steady Go!" was underwhelming for me, it was still a good album, and he got a lot of fan and critical support with this, like all of his releases so far. 

Then... he released this.

Which seemed to divide his fans. While the like/dislike ratio is overwhelmingly on the like side like all his videos are, looking at the comments tell a different story. Why the backlash? Well, while Drake does explain to fans with a smug and arrogant attitude that "we play all the instruments", and "If you had any idea what kind of musicianship is needed to make what you just heard you'd get it". I get people had an issue with the more electronic pop/dance sound. Now, me personally, I'm fine with that. If he wanted to branch out like he's done that's fine. You can make pop music and still be good. But then this comment he made, just shit all over whatever positive thoughts I had for these upcoming songs.

In the image above, Bell states when referring to the more rock and roll side he's played the past couple of years: "Remember when no one buys that kind of music anymore? If you guys actually went out and bought my records I'd be able to make the kind of records you want but until you guys actually support me I gotta play the game". And apparently, that's also why he left Surfdog Records, because of the low sales of Ready Steady Go! (it sold 2,000 copies in its debut week). Because not a lot a people bought the album. Now... I remember him saying when he was making his rockabilly album, he said this: "I don't care if people buy it or not, or come to see the shows or not... I'm gonna make the record I've always wanted to make". (Video here for reference)

So, it's clear Drake Bell has officially sold out, and is a huge hypocrite, as in that interview posted above, he talked about how other child stars fall off the rails and criticized Justin Bieber for his DUI, then... got a DUI. While I can't confirm this, as I don't know him personally, but from these comments, his whole "nice guy, happy all the time" attitude... is fake as hell, and is just to keep up his public appearance in the media, keep it positive, because not only did he sell out and constantly judged pop music, while later heading in that direction to make money, he comes off as a huge... well, I don't wanna say asshole, that's not that accurate. I can compare him to Kanye West - someone who often makes good music, but their ego turns them into massive pricks. He responds to me on YouTube and others with comments like: "They will be out very soon! THank You!!" and "Thank You! I'm really excited about these new songs!", like he's appreciative, when his other comments say otherwise. He's either two-faced, or bipolar. If the latter, I apologize and should not be ranting on you for your mental illness. But all in all, I'm still a fan... for now. I appreciate the fact he's still using real instruments and still keeping some artistry there. But man, this is not a good sign going forward. And I'm not so sure how much longer I can deal with his bullshit. You keep saying you want to collaborate with Paul McCartney, but is he really going to want to do anything with you? Well, he worked with Kanye West and Rihanna, so actually maybe. This album better be good Drake, or me, along with likely many other fans, will leave you, and you can sellout to make pop music for the general public, losing all your artistic integrity along the way. He tries to liken himself to a street musician (as evidenced in his video "I Know"), and really, one of those street musicians would kill to have the success you've had! And you're not even appreciative! You know... the funniest thing is, I left a comment on that video of the new song saying I hope it becomes a hit. But Drake... if you're doing this for money like it shows... I wish you the best of luck, but at the same time, I kinda hope it does worse than your older music, so he'll go back to the older stuff. Or maybe if and when he gets mainstream popularity, he can try doing more of his older music again.

Sorry, I may have come off as a little bitter, especially since I'll probably not care and like the songs anyway, but I haven't had a great past couple of weeks, and this just... man, to see a great entertainer like Drake Bell fall so far... it's just sad, you know? Let me know of what you think about this, either in the comments below, or in the replies on my posting of this article to Billboard.

Taylor Swift - 1989: Album Review

Taylor Swift goes even more so into pop, with a better performance, but still lukewarm.

Release date: 27 October 2014

Genre: Pop/Synthpop

Best songs: "Style", "How You Get The Girl", "I Wish You Would", "Clean"

Worst songs: "Welcome To New York", "Shake It Off"

Rating: 6/10.

Let me start out by saying, I was a huge fan of Taylor Swift. I loved “Tim McGraw”, “Our Song”, “Love Story”, “Dear John”, “Mean”, pretty much her entire discography. She always had a knack for good hooks, so I don’t see why she had to turn to pop. She was successful enough in her previous genre.

So, 1989. The album that sold over 1.2 million in the United States in its first week alone. The review is obviously going to be contentious, so just respect my opinion here. I tend to talk about the singles first, so “Shake It Off”. While not being outright terrible, it honestly was a disappointment. I heard that Taylor was going full pop, and I didn’t mind that, if she could do it well. Sure, it has a catchy melody and the hook, while repetitive, sticks in your head well, the production is basic, and the “white-girl rapping” is not all that great. Also, I don’t tend to like anti-hater anthems, because making the song just shows how much it affects you. We do get a good follow-up with “Blank Space”, nice production, good hook, and it shows a more “adult” tone. Problem being, it doesn’t seem like her. It doesn’t seem honest, and that is what I always loved about her. She didn’t have to make a cover-up, she was herself, at least that’s the impression I got. Third single “Style” is a pure gem. It tells about how both partners are realizing that they screwed up, and they both have problems, shows a great deal a maturity. The 80s style guitar carries a very nice melody. Now we get to the polarizing “Bad Blood”, which honestly, I didn’t hate the album version, carrying a much more darker tone, it’s an alright song. Now the Kendrick Lamar featured remix, now I could go on about how bad that one is, but it’s not part of this album, so no bitching there. Then we get “Wildest Dreams”, a low-key sex song that really isn’t to my taste, though it could be, knowing Taylor as a teenager, I just can’t see her being 24 like she is here. It’s a good version of say, Lana Del Rey. It isn’t bad, but again, not for me. After is “Out Of The Woods”, which I like, but not as a single. The echoing vocals and 80s production works fine enough. Finally, we get the final and seventh single, “New Romantics”. I actually like quite a bit, with the synth and just being a feel-good anthem with the line “the best people in life are free” (though it should be pointed out she likely does not even know what the “New Romantics” is).

Now we have to get to the album tracks and… “Welcome To New York”, the opening track. Overproduced, cheesy, and just for the most part, boring. I had fun with it at first, but now… it’s just filler. Then we get “All You Had To Do Was Stay”, and really, it’s a pretty good song, but I will say the high head voiced “Stay!” on the hook… I’m going to paraphrase Shane Dawson here and say it sounds like someone is shoving something big up her ass. “I Wish You Would” sounds great, saying that she knows the relationship wouldn’t work, and she wish it did. Though the “You always knew how to push my buttons” line is kinda goofy, whatever. “How You Get The Girl” is a nice acoustic track that could’ve fit on her other albums. I like the heartfelt, stripped-back sentiment of giving advice to a guy who wants a girl back. “Clean” is a gorgeous cut as well.

All in all, this album could have been great, but it’s barely good. She’s playing a persona it seems and doesn’t seem too honest most of the time. She's playing off other artists rather than being herself and what makes her unique. It’s a strong 6/10 and I’m recommending it, but really it’s a modest one, and she could do better.

Your own rating of 1989?

Soma - Video Game Review

An emotional experience filled with horror similar in the vein of The Last Of Us.

Title: Soma 
Genre: Psychological horror
Platform: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, Playstation 4
Developer: Frictional Games (Amnesia and Penumbra series) 
Good for gamers who: Are really into story, and is more into puzzles rather than combat.
Bad for those who: Are into more combat-filled gameplay, and are not into puzzles, or games where you can't at least fight back.
Rating: 8/10.

In 2015, protagonist Simon Jarett gets in a car crash in Toronto, Canada, that leaves him with severe brain damage. Because of his injuries, he agrees to a brain scan. While in that process, he passes out and wakes up in the year 2104, in a research facilty deep in the sea. A year before his awakening, a comet crashed into Earth. Humanity is in ruins. You seem alone in this world, but there are robots driven mad or monsters found in this post-apocalyptic Earth. You can't even fight back against these threats. Gameplay plays from a first-person perspective, and there is no combat whatsoever. You can only hide and run away. You can also possibly distract with thrown items. And enemies don't straight up kill you once you're caught. You lose some health, and you can stick your arms in these (what TFS Krillin calls "robot buttholes"), to restore your health.

Throughout the game, you have several decisions that seem bad regardless of what decision you actually make. You can leave the robot to get killed by the monsters or you can at points, kill them yourself. The problems I see with these is, they actually don't affect the story in the end. But I don't think that was point. The point was, these robots are essentially humans downloaded into the robot. You have to decide if you can kill a machine who really believes they're human. Do you believe they're actually human? It's definitely a very emotional experience that will definitely deliver some scares along the way, though the story may run a little long at 10+ hours. Definitely recommended.

Miranda Cosgrove - Sparks Fly: Album Review

The Nickelodeon actress gives us one of the best pop albums to come out in 2010, and the best of what teen pop has to offer. 

Genre: Pop/Teen pop/Pop rock

Best songs: "Disgusting", "Kissin U", "Hey You", "Adored"

Worst songs: "Oh Oh"

Rating: 9/10

If you see the score, this will probably be one of my most biased reviews I’ve ever done. I will probably overrate this. I was raised on Nickelodeon, and I’ll admit, I had a crush on Miranda Cosgrove from the younger girl during her Drake & Josh days, to iCarly, and even to the woman she is today. I mean, she always had the charisma, the looks, and cute, albeit, more immature of a persona. I even attended a concert and met her. So yeah, celebrity crush territory. You were warned.

Now, while she got bigger push for her music than her fellow Nickelodeon stars like Drake Bell and Victoria Justice, she still didn’t do stellar. This album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200, with 36,000 copies. While it sold more than Drake Bell’s It’s Only Time (23,000) in its debut week, the latter album eventually sold more, even with her hit songs like “Kissin U” and “About You Now” (the former of which was certified Gold). Now, this album was a guilty pleasure for me as a kid. I couldn’t admit to people I was listening to the iCarly starlet. It was girly pop music. But, listening to it today, I can appreciate it more.

But enough background, let’s get into the actual album and while critics underrated it, I’m going to give it a fair shake. Let’s start with Miranda herself, who, on the verge of her 17th birthday, sounds great on this album, and makes up for her limited range, with tons of charisma and presence on the microphone. The album opens up with the lead single, “Kissin U” (one of the two songs Cosgrove wrote), which basically tells of how Cosgrove feels when kissing a boy. Simple premise, but it doesn’t come off as sensual or sexual in any fashion, it’s cute, and actually appropriate for the demographic, which is why it works. The second song is “BAM”, which has a very EDM feel, but at the same time I had a feeling of pop rock. Another love song, and how much she loves this guy. Again, simple, but that’s what pop is for. Now, we get the best single on the album, the Kesha-penned “Disgusting”, which was left off her debut album Animal. It definitely sounds like a Kesha track, something Cosgrove does on her later EP High Maintenance, with the song “Dancing Crazy”. This song has a different take on hating that she loves him. Another EDM sound with the bass, and has a good hook that doesn’t heavily emphasize the percussion. And I can’t help not liking it, especially with how cute she sounds on the bridge leading up to the final chorus. Then we get to “Shakespeare” which is a very pop rock track which names drops Jeff Buckley of all people, who died when Miranda was only four. What follows up, is the amazing, feel good ballad, “Hey You”, which is telling a friend or lover that she sees that person in the best ways, and “if you would only see yourself the way you see everyone else” and thinking it’s wrong for them to be “hiding in the background thinking you’re not pretty”. Which, I have personal reason to love this track that I won’t get into, just that it makes me feel good about myself. We also have the Avirl Lavigne-penned “Daydream”, another pop rock song that fits very well with Miranda and this album. The two other tracks I’d like to talk about on the positive side (since this is getting long), are “Adored” and “Brand New You”. “Brand New You” plays a similar theme to Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable”, telling the guy she can find someone just like him, even with the same anatomy, talking like them, walking like them, etc. It shows a different side to her, a stronger side. Now, “Adored”, Miranda also wrote, which is telling the guy to show her that she’s “adored”, not just saying “I love you”, but showing that he loves her.

And now, we have to get into the negative side. “Oh Oh” reminds me of Ariana Grande’s “Focus”. Annoying male vocals that ruin the song. Yeah, it shows the stronger, and more mature side of her. Her vocals sounds slightly attitude filled, which I actually don’t like her voice that way. She fits better with softer sounds. “I look so hot, the boys forgot that after N comes O”. Great, now I’m thinking of Meghan Trainor’s “No”. Also, I wish they had Miranda wrote more tracks. She’s like Hilary Duff, a very strong songwriter. I’d like to see return to music. Like I said, one of the best pop records of 2010, and the best of the teen pop genre.

Nick Jonas - Last Year Was Complicated: Album Review

The pop singer faces an identity crisis with his third studio album.

Genre: Pop/R&B

Best songs: "Chainsaw", "Close" (ft. Tove Lo), "Under You"

Worst songs: "Good Girls" (ft. Big Sean), "Bacon" (ft. Ty Dolla $ign)

Rating: 6/10

If we say for the sake of this review, that the Jonas Brothers are a boy band, we've had plenty of artists break from their vocal groups to make great music, and successful music, too. We have Justin Timberlake, Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, and others. And then we have Nick Jonas, who hasn't had massive success, and his music was never exactly stellar.

I assume he called this Last Year Was Complicated for two reasons: his relationship problems and because he didn’t release a full studio album last year (he re-released his self-titled second album from 2014), and that he was planning to release albums every year like he’s Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty. So, if we take these assumptions, how did it turn out?

Well, not that great. The album opens with “Voodoo”, a very dull track, that isn’t impressive vocally, instrumentally, or lyrically. Sure, his falsetto is pretty good like usual, but it’s not pronounced here. And the basic drums machine and synth infused chorus just don’t do it for me. And the pitch-shifting at points in the song just urk me. Then we get the EDM-filled “Champagne Problems” (Side note: What is up with all the songs called “Champagne Problems” this year?). It’s a pretty decent track I’d say, though it’s better as a background track, and you just drown out the lyrics (like most of Justin Bieber’s Purpose). What follows is great. We first get the lead single, “Close”, which features vocals from Swedish singer Tove Lo, who also co-wrote the track. The steel drums sound great, and Jonas and Tove Lo have amazing chemistry. Lyrically, it’s nice too. A song about wanting to be closer to your lover, because why wouldn’t you? After, maybe being “close” didn’t work for them, because we get the breakup song, “Chainsaw”, which is the album’s follow up to “Close” as a single. It’s a deeply personal track telling of Jonas after the breakup, and taking out his anger on anything that reminds him of his ex.

A lot of the middle of this album seems pointless to be here, almost filler. “Touch” is an acoustic track for the most part, and allows Jonas vocals to shine, but it does sometimes sound difficult to understand him, and “touching you with no hands” sounds more disturbing than sexy. Then we get “Bacon” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, which I already get low expectations when I see Ty Dolla $ign as a feature. He’s becoming one of those rappers who will feature with anyone, seems like they have a spinning wheel they throw darts to tell which rapper is going on the next pop song. And “One thing I love more than being with you is date night”... what? And his extended “ohh ohh ohh” makes him sound like Rich Homie Quan. That aside, the rapper is tolerable I suppose (granted he compares a woman to Bacon), certainly better than what we get from Big Sean on “Good Girls”. Also, who believes Jonas wants “Good Girls”? Not me.

Look, he seems really, “bipolar” on this album, all over the place, and sorry, I can’t recommend it, maybe to only Nick Jonas fans. 6/10.

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.

Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman Review

We see the young pop starlet/actress taking on her more sexy image.

Album: Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande. 
Genre: R&B/Pop.
Best songs:  "Bad Decisions", "Dangerous Woman", "Be Alright", "Into You"
Worst songs: "Let Me Love You" (ft. Lil Wayne), "Leave Me Lonely" (ft. Macy Gray) (not on its own, but bad in the context of the album) 
Rating: 7/10.

Preceded by the promotional single "Focus" and the lead single, "Dangerous Woman", American pop star/actress Ariana Grande's third studio album, Dangerous Woman, sees the starlet taking on a more sexy image, but not to the same degree as her peers like Miley Cyrus. You may laugh at Grande for calling herself dangerous, but when she has songs like "Love Me Harder" and "Get On Your Knees", she's seems like a very.. dominant person, to say the least. She's not trying to throw her Nickelodeon image away. She still tries to maintain the cute image with the bunny mask, but it's clear it's not (especially with the latex outfit), and it takes it one step further. She had hints of this, but never anything this explicit.

In October of 2015, Grande released what was intended to be the lead single, "Focus". The single was very reminiscent of 2014's "Problem" with Iggy Azalea, and featured shouting vocals from Jamie Foxx that just... didn't work well. It still debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. But with average at best sales and mixed reviews, Grande had to take a step back and try again. And she did by scrapping "Focus" from all versions of the album but the Japanese Deluxe Edition. In March of 2016, she returned with the now lead single, the title track, "Dangerous Woman". With this, she achieved another Top 10 hit, having the lead single of all of her albums hit at least the Top 10. The R&B/pop track is a song of empowerment, and how the feelings for this guy makes Grande feel like a "Dangerous Woman". The song has nice buildups, and the guitar solo on the bridge is pretty sweet. The second single "Into You" is one of the catchiest songs on here. The EDM banger shows the sexy side of Grande this album is trying to represent. It talks about Grande being so addicted to her lover. Like the title track, it was written by hitmaker Max Martin, who you might know for writing with Taylor Swift and Adele. This is where I see Grande as a little more authentic than some of her other songs, due to the fact she has a writing credit here.

Promotional single "Be Alright" is an extremely catchy track that's just about being optimistic and thinking everything will be fine, that is always gets better. Her vocals on here are great, showing some range going from F3 to C5. The snapping, it was a nice aesthetic as well. Then there's "Let Me Love You" featuring Lil Wayne that does nothing and could've just been left off the album. Or at least taken Lil Wayne off. All he does on this track is pretty much saying he wanting to bang Ariana. And to quote Mark Grondin from Spectrum Pulse here, "it comes across like he's playing the Svengali taking advantage of a girl right after her breakup." Which, no. It's isn't good, it isn't sexy, or anything of the sort. It kinda just makes me dislike Lil Wayne, even more so than he's been for a while.

Now we get to the non-single songs on here. And there are great ones here. We get "Leave Me Lonely", the ballad that features Macy Gray. The track definitely shows Grande and Gray have good chemistry, and Grande can have less dramatic bombast and just strip it down, where Grande sings about how this love is no good for her, and that he should just leave her, cause he's a bad influence. Then we get the very fast paced "Bad Decisions", which pretty much shits on the theme of "Leave Me Lonely". It Has good tempo changes that don't feel sudden and flow well. Grande's vocals are here are decent. The lyrical content, tells of a girl not caring that she's with a "bad boy", that makes her do "stupid things" and make "bad decisions". And those lines about "not fucking with the good boys", and "a'int you ever seen a princess be a bad bitch", while I think those lyrics are in bad taste and she obviously has a lot of growing up to do, hey, the song sounds great, what can you do? But, that's only if looking at the song and not the album as a whole, it contradicted "Leave Me Lonely", and either of them could have been left off, cause it seems like she just gives up on leaving that guy and just says "fuck it, I like the bad boys", even though a few tracks before she says he's not good.

While it's an improvement from My Everything, she can definitely do better. Very strong 7/10. Definitely recommending this for anyone who likes good pop music.