Best Track: “Think About You”
Release Date: July 17
Frank Ocean’s 2012 album “Channel Orange” begins with the eerie and random “Start,” which sets the tone for the album. “Start” begins the album on a creepy note and then you hear sounds that put you right back into your favorite Super Mario Brothers game.You have just won enough coins to get you to the next track!
Most of Ocean’s lyrics are phenomenal, but the melodies and beats do not compliment his voice, at times. At other times, the fusion of his voice and melodies are magical. As an R&B artist, you might expect Ocean to use his voice in a similar way as he did in his 2011 hit “Novacane,” but he used this album to experiment.
The second track, “Thinkin About You,” will have you thinking about Frank Ocean’s undeniably irresistible voice. This should be the first track you take time to really listen to. With love lyrics like, “my eyes don’t shed tears, but boy they pour/ when I’m thinking ‘bout you.” How could you resist listening to Ocean crooning about his broken heart?
How does that go along with the theme of “Start”? Who knows, especially when the third track does nothing for your ears but confuse you. However, if you are in a mellow, smoking or chill mood then “Start” and the 40-second third track, “Fertilizer,” might just give your ears what they need.
Although the melodies traveling through your ear channels might rub your eardrum the wrong was, give the rest of the album a chance. Check out the one-minute voice slide “Not Just Money.” This is the perfect intro and counterbalance for the next song, “Super Rich Kids”. As you hear a woman speaking to her son, you can envision how important money is to some people. “It’s not just money/ It’s happiness/ It’s the difference between happy, being happy and sad/ It’s the difference between having a home and living on the streets/ That’s what it is,” the woman explains to her son.
Ocean’s voice takes an unexpected vocal turn. You hear him as if he’s plainly speaking and irritated – with super rich kids. “Too many bottles of this wine we can’t pronounce … the maids come around too much/ parents ain’t around enough … too many white lies and white lines/ super rich kids with nothing but loose ends/ super rich kids with nothing but fake friends,” Ocean sings.
To really enjoy Ocean’s album, skip around. See what peaks your interest. Check you “Think About You” if R&B is your groove, listen to “Pyramids” if you dig Techno and dive into “Crack Rock” if you love to listen closely to intense lyrics. There is something for everyone on this album. Although it caters to a wide range of music connoisseurs, it is inconsistent in sound as it uses too many metaphors to describe his broken heart.
