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.

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.