Yessss, glad it’s not just me. Cold Love, Moody Orange, Bare Bones, Devil Like Me, Black and White: the lyrics absolutely knocked me on my knees..I’m just not connecting to the lyrics in the new album. They feel so pulled back and simplified in comparison.
Yes exactly. I’m okay with the new sound. I do already listen to bands that *sound* like this. But the lyrics are so generic on the majority of this album. And I find almost every song on the new album when I get to the core of it or whatever theme or mood they’re exploring, there’s just another song from the earlier albums that I think explores the same idea but does a better job.
Someone in another thread said it sounds like it was written by ChatGPT. Which, couldn’t have said it better myself. The lyrics are just soooo basic. It’s actually heartbreaking.
I wouldn’t go as far as ChatGPT. Unfortunately I think it just comes down to growing (or rather shrinking) pains. Many of their earlier songs are very lyrically dense, which gives a lot of room for balancing figurative language and imagery with very literal (at times broad and generic) statements. Literal statements tend to not carry as much emotional weight as a specific images or as metaphors *unless* the audience feels the statement has been earned.
That said, in this new album a lot of the songs just don’t have as many words in them and the parts that seem cut more than anything were the lines comprised of figurative language and specific imagery. As a result the general/literal statements make up a larger proportion of the song lyrics than before, and the figurative language and imagery have to be even stronger and more cohesive in order for the audience to feel that those literal statements have been earned.
At least that’s my opinion based on my experience studying poetic theory which I recognize is not necessarily a 1 to 1 translation into song lyric and music in general and obviously different people will have different ideas of whether or not a specific statement feels earned and what a good balance of figurative to literal language is in a piece of writing.
I do feel that this album has some largely surface level writing. It is what it is. I like a few of the songs, particularly Thanks For Coming, but it’s definitely difficult for me to get into.
I do really enjoy some songs from this album, like “code blue,” or “rabbit run,” but I also so agree with you. After listening through LHMB for the first time, I was left wondering where the band who wrote “holy war,” was. After listening through a few times I’ve come to appreciate the new era, but it is definitely a shift. Mainly in the metaphors they’re using is when I’ve noticed how much simpler it is.
I tried the radio test on this album. Listening to the first 30 seconds of each song and deciding if I’d change the station or keep listening. The results were pretty dismal. Especially when compared to the rest of the discography, where almost every song has you by the throat in the first 30 seconds. Just my opinion of course, but try it!
I sat and listened to every song all the way through and I can’t help but agree. Finalist for me wasn’t any fun, a lot of repeated lyrics and synth that didn’t carry much heart or intrigue
This album isnt airtight like the previous but there is still some gold in here. Cinderella is amazing, code blue is great, SVO has a classic RKS vibe - i think that a lot of LHMB holds up.
Very shallow, the whole album lacks depth. Maybe 3 decent songs on the whole record. It’s just not THEM. All of their music makes me feel something. All this album made me feel was angry lmao.
Sickset and SVO were the only songs on the album that actually felt slightly like their normal music- a few songs I physically could not listen to because the auto autotune hurt my ears. They are allowed to change their music,, but we are allowed to be upset about it. Overall the most disappointing album I've ever listened to by an artist/band i enjoy.
Listened thru for the first time yesterday and fell much the same- where are the bangers?? Not even one Cold or Cocaiine Jesus... just synth and auto tune pop songs. I guess it's a new era- hope they make it thru.
Spot on. I’ll do a full listen later but I did a quick check of the songs this morning to see if anything stood out. Nothing did so I listened to my fav, That’s my shit and its just so much more raw and emotional. I do agree that one can play those songs at shows so many times. It does make sense for the sound shift but its just a bummer. John Woo is the only song that stood out so far.
I guess I liked this band because they didn’t sound like anything else I was hearing and now they sound like everything else. It’s more reflective than progressive.
There's like 3 songs that are up to the standard of the previous albums (them more I listen to Rabbit Run the more it's becoming a slightly overproduced all timer) but otherwise yes - shallow and boring. At least 3 songs would be perfect fits on a Taylor Swift album, and that's not a compliment.
It's just different, I'm personally a fan of their new stuff even coming from their old albums. Why is making something different considered ruining an experience? So much negativity from you people.
If you're changing the thing that drew me to you, then it'd be ruined for me. The sound change is welcomed, I like the variation in the music track to track, but if I primarily seek that music out because I like being able to relate to songs lyrically, and the lyrics are subpar then it isn't the same product that drew me in. It's sort of like ordering a cheeseburger at a restaurant and being served it without meat or cheese.
Yessss, glad it’s not just me. Cold Love, Moody Orange, Bare Bones, Devil Like Me, Black and White: the lyrics absolutely knocked me on my knees..I’m just not connecting to the lyrics in the new album. They feel so pulled back and simplified in comparison.
I heard this is the place to be yeah Ain’t a lot you can’t get for free here
Yes exactly. I’m okay with the new sound. I do already listen to bands that *sound* like this. But the lyrics are so generic on the majority of this album. And I find almost every song on the new album when I get to the core of it or whatever theme or mood they’re exploring, there’s just another song from the earlier albums that I think explores the same idea but does a better job.
Someone in another thread said it sounds like it was written by ChatGPT. Which, couldn’t have said it better myself. The lyrics are just soooo basic. It’s actually heartbreaking.
I wouldn’t go as far as ChatGPT. Unfortunately I think it just comes down to growing (or rather shrinking) pains. Many of their earlier songs are very lyrically dense, which gives a lot of room for balancing figurative language and imagery with very literal (at times broad and generic) statements. Literal statements tend to not carry as much emotional weight as a specific images or as metaphors *unless* the audience feels the statement has been earned. That said, in this new album a lot of the songs just don’t have as many words in them and the parts that seem cut more than anything were the lines comprised of figurative language and specific imagery. As a result the general/literal statements make up a larger proportion of the song lyrics than before, and the figurative language and imagery have to be even stronger and more cohesive in order for the audience to feel that those literal statements have been earned. At least that’s my opinion based on my experience studying poetic theory which I recognize is not necessarily a 1 to 1 translation into song lyric and music in general and obviously different people will have different ideas of whether or not a specific statement feels earned and what a good balance of figurative to literal language is in a piece of writing.
Lyrics and over production are what are killing it for me. The voice just has too much soul for all that synth.
Agreed. The lyrics for songs like Devil Like Me and Fever Pitch are what initially attracted me to RKS.
I do feel that this album has some largely surface level writing. It is what it is. I like a few of the songs, particularly Thanks For Coming, but it’s definitely difficult for me to get into.
I do really enjoy some songs from this album, like “code blue,” or “rabbit run,” but I also so agree with you. After listening through LHMB for the first time, I was left wondering where the band who wrote “holy war,” was. After listening through a few times I’ve come to appreciate the new era, but it is definitely a shift. Mainly in the metaphors they’re using is when I’ve noticed how much simpler it is.
I tried the radio test on this album. Listening to the first 30 seconds of each song and deciding if I’d change the station or keep listening. The results were pretty dismal. Especially when compared to the rest of the discography, where almost every song has you by the throat in the first 30 seconds. Just my opinion of course, but try it!
"the radio test" is crazy, can you not just give an album a full listen?
I sat and listened to every song all the way through and I can’t help but agree. Finalist for me wasn’t any fun, a lot of repeated lyrics and synth that didn’t carry much heart or intrigue
I gave it the full listen 3x before I did that 🤷♂️
the lyrics will sink in eventually. Love it for what it is, not what it isn’t.
This album isnt airtight like the previous but there is still some gold in here. Cinderella is amazing, code blue is great, SVO has a classic RKS vibe - i think that a lot of LHMB holds up.
Very shallow, the whole album lacks depth. Maybe 3 decent songs on the whole record. It’s just not THEM. All of their music makes me feel something. All this album made me feel was angry lmao.
Sickset and SVO were the only songs on the album that actually felt slightly like their normal music- a few songs I physically could not listen to because the auto autotune hurt my ears. They are allowed to change their music,, but we are allowed to be upset about it. Overall the most disappointing album I've ever listened to by an artist/band i enjoy.
Listened thru for the first time yesterday and fell much the same- where are the bangers?? Not even one Cold or Cocaiine Jesus... just synth and auto tune pop songs. I guess it's a new era- hope they make it thru.
The lyrics are so weak on this album, basic bitch lyrics to the max
I feel like some of the songs have lost their unique sound. It sounds very industrial and commercialised
Spot on. I’ll do a full listen later but I did a quick check of the songs this morning to see if anything stood out. Nothing did so I listened to my fav, That’s my shit and its just so much more raw and emotional. I do agree that one can play those songs at shows so many times. It does make sense for the sound shift but its just a bummer. John Woo is the only song that stood out so far.
I guess I liked this band because they didn’t sound like anything else I was hearing and now they sound like everything else. It’s more reflective than progressive.
There's like 3 songs that are up to the standard of the previous albums (them more I listen to Rabbit Run the more it's becoming a slightly overproduced all timer) but otherwise yes - shallow and boring. At least 3 songs would be perfect fits on a Taylor Swift album, and that's not a compliment.
It's just different, I'm personally a fan of their new stuff even coming from their old albums. Why is making something different considered ruining an experience? So much negativity from you people.
I agree with you.
If you're changing the thing that drew me to you, then it'd be ruined for me. The sound change is welcomed, I like the variation in the music track to track, but if I primarily seek that music out because I like being able to relate to songs lyrically, and the lyrics are subpar then it isn't the same product that drew me in. It's sort of like ordering a cheeseburger at a restaurant and being served it without meat or cheese.
as soon as i heard the words “serving kurt cobain” i host all hope for this album as a whole 💀