Album Reviews7/10
Prince Hands the Stage to His Band on Love Symbol — and the Story Drags Him Down
Prince's 1992 album [Love Symbol] showcases his band's brilliance but is weighed down by a convoluted concept and filler tracks. A flawed masterpiece.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Tag: pop music
Album Reviews3/10
Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic Review: Prince’s 1999 Solo Stint Suffers From Overproduction
Prince's 1999 comeback album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic is a stiff, overproduced affair that fails to recapture his magic. Our review explains why.
Album Reviews6/10
Part-Time Lover, Full-Time Synths: In Square Circle Turns 41 as a Snapshot of 1985 Pop Craft
Stevie Wonder's 1985 pop album In Square Circle is a polished, minor work from a major artist — with the standout ballad 'Overjoyed' and a few solid grooves.
Album Reviews9/10
The Beatles Cram a Hook, a Noise Wall and a Glitch Demolition Into Six Minutes on ‘Great Song About Kwakuz’
The Beatles drop a 6-minute, 3-track provocation that mixes pop hooks, noise and glitch — a deliberate prank that rocks and dares you to argue about it.
Album Reviews7.6/10
Sabrina Carpenter Knew Exactly How This Album Would Land — and Made It Anyway
A record of twelve songs and thirty-eight minutes wherein a lady of song grows bolder, and each jest becomes a melody unto itself.
Album Reviews3.4/10
Katy Perry’s 143 Disappears as It Plays
Katy Perry's sixth record, one hundred and forty three, appears a most dull effort, void of that spirit which erst distinguished her art.
Album Reviews7.5/10
Gracie Abrams Goes Bigger Without Losing Herself on ‘The Secret of Us’
A tale of a heart's secret told in thirteen parts, wherein Abrams' voice grows bolder, wounded, and unguarded.
Album Reviews8.9/10
Hit Me Hard and Soft: Billie Eilish’s Most Complete Record Yet
A hush-to-shout journey through Eilish's third record, where quiet moments carry as much weight as the swells that follow them.
Album Reviews9.6/10
Three Years On, Caroline Polachek’s Desire Still Sounds Like Pop Reaching Past Its Own Limits
A brief record of desire wrought in five songs, wherein Polachek's art doth swell beyond its modest length into rare and singular grandeur.
Album Reviews8.4/10
Troye Sivan’s ‘Something to Give Each Other’: 32 Minutes, Not One Wasted
A record of joy and sorrow given in the same breath, ten songs that waste no second in their whole brief span.
Album Reviews8.4/10
Hold the Girl: Rina Sawayama Trades Restraint for Scale, and Mostly Wins
A record wherein a singer, with arena-vast ambition, doth reach into memory and pull forth a younger self through pop and choir.
Album Reviews7.8/10
Lizzo’s ‘Special’ Stays in Its Lane — and That’s the Point
A brief chronicle of Lizzo's fourth record, twelve tracks of confidence and romance, weighed against its aim to please.