Lizzo - Special (July 15, 2022) Album • Page 4

I like some of Lizzo’s stuff though I’m definitely not her core audience… I admit I liked a lot of the first album. This one, my wife and I were pretty disappointed. Barely any hip-hop-influence on this album, and the vocal melodies can be over-the-top (in a sort of cringy way) on some songs. Also, where’s the flute? I had high hopes for this bc I like Special and her SNL performances were great, but this was hard to get through at times

 

I've listened to this a lot the last few days, and I'm trying to pinpoint what is not clicking. Cuz I Love You feels so classic, and I think just the back half of this one is just SO lacking. The first 6 tracks are really stellar, even if I find About Damn Time to be a bit of a re-tread. But not one track is memorable past Break Up Twice. Kind of weirding me out that this took so long, because I guess it just sounds so thrown together at the last minute.

 

Only 69k copies in its first week, debuting at #2.

I’ve heard literally no buzz about this record. I thought she was going to explode with this record but besides the single being a adult pop hit on radio it’s been kind of slow for her this era.

 

It's because anyone can tell how phoned in this whole album sounds.

 

I forced myself to give this another full listen today, and it's just not for me. Probably the most forgettable album from a major artist I've heard in a long time.
Curious what the critical reception has been like.

 

I think it's pretty shitty to call this album phoned in just because you don't like it. I'm not huge into it either, but guess what... it's not really made for me, and that's more than OK. This album means a lot to a lot of people, and Lizzo has done so much for the culture by herself and with this album, people get a lot out of it and it's amazing

 

On the other hand, people are allowed to not like the album and discuss their disappointment. I would agree that this album feels way less inspired and way less original than the last one.

 

well yeah, no shit people can not like the album and discuss disappointment nowhere did I say people can't do that, but cool assumption.

 

I think it's phoned in because it's very clearly not at the level of her previous work. The songs aren't as dynamic, or interesting; she is leaning into her comic side more to make up for it (how many times does she say 'bitch' on this? And that's not a dig at swearing at all). I just flatly don't believe that she wrote over 100 songs for this and 'Birthday Girl' made the 12 song cut. I can agree that she's done so much positive for the culture, while still acknowledging that this album is the equivalent of slowly coasting on a slightly downward slope musically.

 

OK, when you specifically say musically, they yeah it's not as dynamic for sure and the production itself is more phoned in, sure. I just was turned off at the idea that the whole thing is "phoned in" when lyrically she touches on a lot of things (granted, most don't directly connect with me) that are very personal and touching, you can tell that at least lyrically it's not phoned in

 

I think her lyrical prowess is - fine? For me and how I absorb music, that's not enough for me to think this is a step up in any direction, even if she's more open (which I don't think equates to 'good', again - even if I agree that her openness is beneficial to people). I don't think there has ever been a song where I just didn't really like the final product, but thought the lyrics were really good. On the other hand, there are multitudes of songs where I've excused lyrics that I didn't love because the song itself was built around it so well. It's about the whole package to me, and top to bottom, I just feel like everything about this is so sub-par, especially compared to Cuz I Love You, which is just one of the best pop records of maybe the last decade.

 

All that is fair, I guess my point is just that I'm trying not to shit on the album too much simply because I don't like it, because I know that her target demographic is loving it and the album is way more for them than for me.

Also it's funny to me that you call out Birthday Girl, because my best friend and her friend have that song as their new anthem and blast it all the time on repeat. It's also both their birthday's this month, but the song speaks to them a ton, so here we are

 

I definitely don't want to continue down this road too much, because I truly am not into arguing over it; but I will say this: I am glad that people are liking it and finding connection. That's a beautiful thing. But I don't think that is a reflection of (granted, this is all my perception) an album not being low effort from her as an artist, when we have some great examples of what she can do when her music feels like it was gone over with a fine-toothed comb. Twilight movies connected with a lot of people, but I would still call it lazy filmmaking and lazy acting. I'm not calling her character into question, or her ability to still connect with people, but I just can't help but think that there is a way better album than this within her. So, maybe I'll catch her on the next one .

 

Honestly, I'm agreeing with you overall haha. I would love more stuff like "Cuz I Love You" the song, "Heaven Help Me," etc... and I think all your points are fair. I'm just personally trying not be too hard on it I suppose, oh well

 

You have a completely valid point. There are plenty of artists who are crappy people to dunk on, so I'm all for not being overly harsh on someone making a positive difference in the world through music.

 

i wonder how her tour is selling. she's doing arenas this time around, which is interesting.