Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed

Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise

He/Him
Jonathan27 said:
She/her team were just so committed to the marketing that it undermined the music at pretty much every turn: the awful artwork, all of the interviews framing it as a poetic tragedy, the poor sequencing, the weird emphasis on the title track (a glorified intro) when there were multiple excellent single choices, it was a very frustrating campaign.

It's a testament to her talents that the music itself was strong enough to stand on its own. It's been one of the more rewarding albums to revisit from last year.
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Agreed! Your reconfigured track list and my own attempt really helped a lot of songs open up in new ways. It’s weird to think back to how many times she sang the title track especially at major times like the vmas!
 
Trousers

Trousers

I've been a huge defender of star-crossed in this thread, and I do think it's a great album with a few issues set out excellently above, but one thing musically (as opposed to conceptually or marketing-wise) that the album is lacking is killer choruses, lyrically. justified and breadwinner have great choruses, and simple times' really gives you that 90s/early00s nostalgia, but a lot of the choruses are much more simplified lyrically than usual for Kacey. I think it's probably in keeping with the vibe and mood of the album, (as well as being that she flourishes more with romantic-style imagery, as we have covered), but it's definitely one thing that Golden Hour as over this one.

In other news I have not known piece since Mark Ronson teased the release of his remix of her version of Can't Help Falling In Love without actually confirming a release date.
 
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xOJakeXo

xOJakeXo

he/him
This thread and new discussion made me revisit the album. It really is fantastic, just had the uphill battle of following Golden Hour. I think angel and what doesn't kill me are somewhat inessential, star-crossed and gracias a la vida are more like prologues and epilogues, but everything else stacks up.
 
HippoSteaks

HippoSteaks

xOJakeXo said:
This thread and new discussion made me revisit the album. It really is fantastic, just had the uphill battle of following Golden Hour. I think angel and what doesn't kill me are somewhat inessential, star-crossed and gracias a la vida are more like prologues and epilogues, but everything else stacks up.
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I haven't listened since it came out, and i remember digging it a lot especially Camera Roll and Good Wife. It deserves another spin but i'm curious what kept me from even wanting to listen this long? I'd been such a huge fan, too. I mean, i still am but this is the first record of hers i liked for a little while and then kinda dropped.
 
bonnieetclyde

bonnieetclyde

For me,

Great:
Star-Crossed
Good Wife
Simple Times
Justified
Camera Roll
Easier Said
What Doesn't Kill Me

Good:
Cherry Blossom
If This Was A Movie..
Breadwinner
Hookup Scene
Keep Lookin' Up
There Is A Light
Gracias A La Vida

Average:
Angel
 
Trousers

Trousers

Hyrulian said:
Should’ve led with Breadwinner. A big, kitschy performance of it at the VMAs really would’ve been a moment.
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I think justified was the best lead choice, just even because breadwinner is quite an outlier on the album in terms of messaging, but breadwinner would definitely have made the most sense for the VMA performance. Performing star-crossed was a waste of the slot. I absolutely love the song but it's a glorified intro and I can only assume most audience viewers, like myself, assumed it was going to be the starting part of a medley rather than the lights going down once she had finished it.

I can see the logic of releasing star-crossed as a teaser, but I wonder whether releasing justified on its own as a proper lead would've made more sense too. Maybe less hype before star-crossed the song's release either. I remember it seemed like that was gonna be the first single when it dropped and justified feeling almost a little thrown out there in contrast.
 
HippoSteaks

HippoSteaks

I listened again, and yeah, it's good! I don't feel compelled to start it over, though? I'm so curious how Kacey herself is taking in the feedback both spoken and unspoken and how it'll affect her next project. Does she go back to her roots and be more singer/songwriter country girl with pop leanings or does she go full Taylor and just put out a full on pop album, 'cause this one is pretty close to that. There's some folk and singer/songwriter elements but i hear almost no true blue country. I'm leaning towards her doing the latter and not caring about the sales or what have you.
 
Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise

He/Him
Revisiting the album through my reimagined track list a year later when I first started connecting to some of these songs a lil tew müch……. This is a great record. Having “what doesn’t kill me” early on gets the Golden Hour aspect out of the way directly so I can lean into the narrative of a love falling apart leading to new self love. Wonder what others edits would/do look like? Mine probably leans into the weepy side more and I’ll be honest “simple times” doesn’t do much for me.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0z63rkuP3XDGLadIKANeLq?si=9kohT6w2SP2_byxLtvNjFQ
 
Someboy

Someboy

Hyrulian said:
I don’t think it helped that she was completely checked out of the album campaign before the album was even released. You could tell she was over it.
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Which... maybe signals she knows it isn't very good. I see so many justifications for this album, and they all read as people having a lot of good will towards her from the three albums that came before, which makes sense (I do too!), but this one just doesn't hold up.
 
Drew

Drew

Yea I've tried to get into this album many many times and I just can't. Justified is a career highlight. I truly love it. Cherry Blossom and Camera Roll are nice. The entire album has shitty mixing and mastering. Even if the songs are well written they sound bad.
 
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