Bad opinions [ARCHIVED] • Page 1008

Bad song

 

for me it stands out like a sore thumb in her discog bc her music is very graceful/elegant, melodic, and mature and then that song introduces this dramatic/immature rumor theme and hits you over the head with it through the ugly-sounding, repetitive “rUmouR hAs iT” that just didn’t feel like a good use of her voice. It felt like they were trying to fit her music into something you could play at a party or club for bratty kids. I don’t actually know anything about the song (e.g. the rest of the lyrics, any deeper meaning, etc) but it’s just an ugly sounding song to my ears.

 

I think the "rumor theme" is a pretty clear hat tip to Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, which is a very obvious inspiration for that album, and like I said before, I don't think that song is any more of a departure for her than the other big bombastic pop songs on the album. She's known now primarily as a balladeer, but she got a lot of comparisons early on to Amy Winehouse, and there's a lot of Amy Winehouse in that song, too.

To each their own, though!

 

Mushroomhead made a great cover of that song.

 

Go watch Madame Web

 

Yeah I always felt like that song was the connective tissue back to the WInehouse-isms of her debut, too. Sometimes I have trouble wrapping my head around what people get up the energy to hate. Like, it's not Katy Perry's "Peacock". At worst, it's fine.

 

I mean, I was today year's old when I learned it was disliked, haha. Never my favorite on 21 (a fucking great album, by the way) but always one I liked quite a lot. And yeah, certainly not a "Peacock" level dud.

 

I do feel like (and I'm talking broadly, not about this site/thread) the backlash against all things popular, combined with diminishing returns on her next two albums, has made people forget just how excellent 21 is and how much of a cultural signpost it was when it dropped. One of the last true moments of musical monoculture.

 

I've never heard of that song being disliked until today in this thread

 

I had never even heard the song before this discussion. Gave it a spin and it is not my thing!

 

same

 

I know a lot of people in the vinyl thread are still pissed about how many copies she pressed of 30, but yeah, otherwise, I don't really get the backlash.

 

Genuinely curious how you got to 2025 without hearing 21.

 

I just don’t care for her music, nothing deeper than that

 

I also always attributed that misstep more to the label, tbh. I just don't see her cackling and pressing her fingertips together like Dr. Claw having finally conquered every vinyl pressing plant in the world.

 

roooollin in the deeeeeeeeeep

 

Haha - guess I just never put it on! Not sure how I avoided that single given how prevalent it sounds like it was at that time, but I think despite her obvious talent I always knew the music was just not gonna be for me. Suppose it is sort of like saying “I love movies” and then being like “idk just never saw The Social Network” though

 

I'm mostly surprised given that it was probably the most pervasively inescapable album to come out in the past 15 years, give or take something from Taylor Swift. I just remember hearing those songs everywhere back in 2011 and 2012.

(Also, you should watch The Social Network if that's true, lol)

 

Oh yeah the movie thing was hypothetical lol, just picked a random big flick that (I think) came out that same year

 

Oh gotcha! Yeah, Social Network was fall 2010 and 21 was early 2011, if I recall.

 

Put me in the camp that doesn't care for Rumor Has It but I don't hate it. Just one of the lesser Adele singles imo

Adele was the moment. And I feel like she could've continued being hugely massive except she doesn't seem all that concerned about the spotlight. Not that she still isn't extremely popular but she just never seemed super fussed with being like The Biggest Artist. It felt more of an organic thing than like a deliberate chart chasing thing but this is very anecdotal as I'm sure she has a team orchestrating things like every other popstar

I watched Ugly Betty for the time through recently and her appearance was so iconic and just like a perfect lil time capsule

 

I should clarify that my distaste for rumor has it stems from me just not liking the melody at all (for the reasons I said) and my reactions/impressions exist in ignorance of any critical comparison or to fleetwood or Amy bc I just don’t think about it that deeply lol. I just don’t like how that song sounds, didn’t mean to be a hater (I like almost everything else I hear from her).

 

I have never heard rumor has it until today either and I’ve heard plenty of Adele ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Yeah, I mean, to be fair, it was the fourth (and fourth most successful) single from 21. The first three singles were all number 1 hits, so “Rumor Has It” making it to like 16 was small potatoes in comparison.

 

feel like there was a six month stretch where rumor has it was in every movie trailer but grim doesn’t watch movies so i guess that explains that