Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful

[salty like sodium 1,508]

4 hours ago, Plastic Flower said:

I absolutely get your point and that's exactly why critics are giving her a hard time rn. I still can't get into More To Lose and the last track (and the interludes are a bit pointless tbh).

100% agree the critics are being a bit too harsh, but I think it's because they were given the film to review and the film is 100% unnecessary and a vanity project imo, which unfortunately does not help the music. However in the long run this album might be remembered as one of her best imo.

[Bronco 9,719]

5 hours ago, salty like sodium said:

Overall, the melodies are amazing, the lyrics are decent, and I could easily dance along to the whole album in a club. Well done Miley! The production/mixing sadly is very miss and miss due to too many sounds competing for your attention and not enough dynamism to the tracks, resulting in everything sounding 'flat'. The album likely should've been recorded live, and it's even more of a shame the film isn't just a live concert film she would've done, especially since it's designed to replace a tour. This is perhaps Miley's most cohesive album ever imo, and really stands on its own as a body of work. (ESV was quite cohesive too tbh, but this one feels just a bit more cohesive with a stronger thematic thread between all the songs).

Honestly I agree about the production and mixing but sadly I think its an issue with the current industry standard. 

Every edge gets polished off in pop music production these days and its a real shame to see this album fall victim to it rather than push back. 

I think the album being entirely 1 take live tracks would be amazing - I know More to Lose is a 1 take vocal but doubt the instrumental is.

Definitely is her most cohesive and creative work. Feels like a real reflection of her musical influences as well.

[doraemon 1,007]

i'll just wait until the movie came out

[Plastic Flower 4,547]

12 hours ago, salty like sodium said:

100% agree the critics are being a bit too harsh, but I think it's because they were given the film to review and the film is 100% unnecessary and a vanity project imo, which unfortunately does not help the music. However in the long run this album might be remembered as one of her best imo.

Oh that was not a great idea.  
I agree. This album is is great and something I would’ve never expected after Endless Summer Vacation.

[Windowlicker 3,470]

13 hours ago, salty like sodium said:

The production/mixing sadly is very miss and miss due to too many sounds competing for your attention and not enough dynamism to the tracks, resulting in everything sounding 'flat'.

Her boyfriend actually posted several videos of them recording, and it looks to all be done live and analog (the liner notes also indicate this). I think there's an intentional lo-fi vibe here that might be trying to capture the feeling older recordings have, especially with how her vocals are produced/filtered on some tracks, given how hard this album leans into the 70s, 80s, 90s.

[Murakami27 4,134]

After a day of listening...

It's a no skip album for me. The album flows very well and I particularly love the second half, which has the heavier beats.

Standout tracks for me are Something Beautiful, EOTW, Easy Lover, Golden Burning Sun, with Walk of Fame, Pretend You're God, and Every Girl being a great back to back trio. I also love Reborn, but find the lyrics a bit one note and repetitive.

Golden Burning Sun would make a great end of summer / August single. 

SB has vibes of shades of Pink Floyd.

Walk of Fame has shades of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, to the sound of Losing My Religion.

Give Me Love has shades of Take My Breath away when she sings "give me love, give me love, give me love".

You can hear all of her influences and I think the lo-fi quality works. I lalso ove the use of sax throughout the album. It scratches an itch for me.

 

[NewUsername 11,355]

Likes/loves:
Something Beautiful +
End of the World +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ you get my point
Golden Burning Sun ++
Walk of Fame +++
Every Girl You've Ever Loved  ++


Every Girl You've Ever Loved has so much parts and inflections that are very Gaga!

Favorite of the album stays End of the World, I love it so much!

The album is not as solid as ESV, but it has some nice songs and bops nevertheless.

[StrawberryBlond 14,718]

This was better than I expected, after the first few songs had left me cold. But I'd loved More To Lose so I listened to this with an open mind and it's definitely one of her most beautiful and artistic works. Especially love More To Lose, Easy Lover, Golden Burning Sun, Every Girl You've Ever Loved and Give Me Love. While there's tracks I like more than others, the album's cohesive enough that I'd happily listen the whole way through. Some of them were a bit too unnecessarily long and the interlude really weren't needed but not in a way that was too jarring.

I really feel Miley has developed as an artist. She's matured her work so it doesn't sound like she's a teenager who's just discovered sex and her image is still sexy but in that evolved way that being in your 30's can provide. She's gone from teenybopper child star to wild child to experimental indie artist to mainstream adult star to artistic adult artist. This is a much bigger evolution than most artists who started out where she did. And no matter how badly she flops, she always seems to bounce back so it doesn't really matter if this isn't the most commercially successful project for her because she seems to stick around regardless which certainly gives credence to her talent, star power and business decisions. 

[princedeeblebleble 1,392]

Honestly the only disappointing part of this era are the videos. They don't do these glorious songs ANY justice. 

The production on the songs are so lush and interesting in a way music used to be, vocals are gorgeous, but I kind of maybe miss an underlying story? But its kind of a no skip, nice flowing album, I will need more time to get the lyrics and stuff, but so far I enjoyed it on my flight back home and a walk to a local hill.

[salty like sodium 1,508]

5 hours ago, Windowlicker said:

Her boyfriend actually posted several videos of them recording, and it looks to all be done live and analog (the liner notes also indicate this). I think there's an intentional lo-fi vibe here that might be trying to capture the feeling older recordings have, especially with how her vocals are produced/filtered on some tracks, given how hard this album leans into the 70s, 80s, 90s.

I totally get it, I just think the mixing was off - there isn't really enough dynamism in the tracks to make the different parts stand out so it all sounds really compressed and flat imo. I know the albums she's trying to emulate but I still think they had more dynamism to them. I wish someone with music skills would re-mix these tracks identically but just with better compression so that the world can see how amazing the production actually is.

Still her best album imo!

[n1kos 5,099]

Amazing album. The Production is out of space. 
 

My top 5 till now

Reborn , End of the world , Every girl, Walk of fame , Golden burning sun.

Golden burning sun is Miley’s Vanish into you. Listening those two songs back to back brought me to tears. 

[dynamite 57,102]

I'm not usually a fan of Miley Cyprus but I'm bored at work so I'll give the album a listen 

Edited Saturday at 09:32 PM by dynamite

[Bronco 9,719]

5 hours ago, Murakami27 said:

Walk of Fame has shades of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Pet Shop Boys, to the sound of Losing My Religion.

 

Walk of Fame really reignites the part of me that wishes I was able to experience that period in British gay club culture. Frankie Goes To Hollywood/Pet Shop Boys/Jimmy Sommerville/Erasure/Soft Cell etc. Such an amazing period in music history and Walk of Fame would have fit in perfectly at the time. 

[TheBeast 1,364]

Easy Lover is easily one of her best songs of all time. Very solid album.

[dynamite 57,102]

This album is not bad