Kind of here for that. Maybe more of a Send Me a Picture vibe, when it comes to chill. With a necessary portion of reggae. YAS.
Yes! You tap into what makes it so appealing. I don’t need to have personally experienced her life. She involves us in her story so effortlessly. I hate to bring up comparisons, because, ugh. But great artists do that—Madonna and Gaga do it when they’re at their best. Even This Is What the Truth Feels Like does it. She can’t stop writing from the heart.
It’s a pretty chill one tho. Now that I think about it, BDL was more "angry reggae" than anything, really.
I loved Sweet Escape at the time, it just isn't anywhere near as strong or ageless as LAMB. But few albums are. It's a fun listen when I do (remember to) put it on. And it was my first pop girl tour! Iconic. Getting the worst pictures imaginable on my terrible-even-then digital camera. Come through white blobs in the shape of Gwen Stefani. I think it's the production being a little thin on a lot of the tracks compared to LAMB (which is so THICK and JUICY) that gives Sweet Escape a BIT of an inessential feel at times.
What I love about "The Sweet Escape" is that every song has its own 'personality' and it brings an unrelentless streak of punches while threading through different genres with each song, which makes it more interesting and exciting. Putting obnoxiously catchy and repetitive "Now That You Got It" between two beautiful ballads is a bold move. Even the trashy "Breakin' Up" has a certain charm about it, despite being my least favourite from the album.
I obviously loved LAMB and The Sweet Escape but I never liked anything on Truth besides Misery and Rare. I felt all the other 7262 tracks on tht album were the same song once and again.
And I'm definitely here for reggae Gwen. A hybrid between "Baby Don't Lie" and some "Rock Steady" tracks would've been great.
Im so excited for this. At first, This is What the Truth Feels Like came across as quite safe compared to everything she's given us before but it's definitely grown on me over the years. Something comparable to the reggae influence on Rock Steady, mixed with her LAMB and Sweet Escape kookiness, would be fantastic.
The tracklist I've used for Truth has always been this since a few weeks post-release: Spoiler Misery You're My Favourite Where Would I Be? Truth Used to Love You Baby Don't Lie Rocket Ship Red Flag Obsessed Loveable Getting Warmer Splash Rare It gets rid of the songs I didn't enjoy on the standard album while incorporating the stellar bonus tracks into the tracklist instead of tacking them onto the end. And of course Baby Don't Lie, which always deserved a spot on the album.
Getting rid of Make Me Like You and Send Me A Picture but keeping Red Flag? You guys really don't want Gwen to have any fun, do you?
Is there a reason this is coming today instead of Friday? Excited to hear it! I think 9am PST, 12pm EST?
"Obsessed" is SO good. Could have been the opening track of the album easily. "Misery" is nothing special for me, if not forgettable (still not bad though) but shouldn't have been a single if she had so many more standouts on the album. Loveable, Obsessed, Getting Warmer - the holy non-single trilogy of the album. (ok and Asking 4 It) Anyways, perched for the new release.
