Top 5 Albums of 2014 (So Far)
There have been many albums released this year, most in the month of February, however not all have been. Some notable musical artists that have released work this year are Kid Cudi, The Fray, and Pharrell. Many more have been released but I will be covering my top five albums released in 2014 (so far).
To be on this list the albums most possess certain features: I am rating them based on completeness/length, overall tone and theme of the album, and just plain sound. It easy to spot when an album is just bad, it could have poor production or it could just not be good music. That is typically what I am looking for when reviewing these albums.
5. The Fray – Helios
This album, released by the alternative rock band The Fray, is very good, but that is its problem. It is only very good, not great. The lone stand out song is “Love Don’t Lie”, the leading single. This album easily has the most potential out of any of the following on this list but The Fray just couldn’t seem to key in on that. They had moments of absolute brilliance but only moments, it would be gone as quick as it came. That is why I give this album 3/5 stars and placed it as number 5 on my list of top 5 albums of 2014, so far.
4. Kid Cudi – Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon
Kid Cudi is hands down one of my absolute favorite artists and this album could easily be number 1 on this list but the only problem is that it didn’t feel very complete. Cudi did a very good job on honoring his title of this album; he gave it a very spacey and other-worldly feel. However, the album only consisted of 10 songs and 4 of those 10 had no lyrics in them whatsoever. It feels like it only takes a few minutes to listen to the whole album. The reason for this is that it serves as a prelude to his next album. Some may only consider this an EP. The stand out tracks on this album are “Satellite Flight” and “Too Bad I Have to Destroy You Now”. This album would be a 5/5 but because of its incredibly short length it only garners 4/5 stars.
Junior Jack Parrot was not very impressed with this album.
Parrott said, “[Cudi’s] newer stuff is pretty hit or miss.
Parrott later went on to say that he missed the older albums of Kid Cudi but was still excited for his upcoming one, Man On The Moon 3.
3. Pharrell – Girl
Pharrell delivers an instant classic with his first album since 2006. He has had a great 2013 with songs like “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines” becoming very famous chart-toppers. This album has a huge deal of commercial potential, it already has a great radio single in the song “Happy” and I wouldn’t be surprised if it has multiple more being played on your favorite radio station sometime soon. This album gets 4/5 stars just like the last. The thing that differentiates this album and Kid Cudi’s album is Girl’s commercial success.
2. ScHoolboy Q – Oxymoron
This album is just flat out ridiculously good. It was released on Feb. 25th, the same day as Kid Cudi and The Fray’s albums released, and have taken the entire spotlight from nearly every critic in the world. It truly is the definition of a complete album. It has 15 tracks and none of them are lacking in any department. It has a star-studded feature list, including (but not limited to) Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Tyler, The Creator, and Pharrell. This album paints the picture of the hardships in Q’s life growing up and ow he made it out of his tough neighborhood. The stand out tracks on this album are “Collard Greens”, “Man Of The Year”, and “Break The Bank”. All of these things considered this album gets 4.5/5 stars. It met all of the requirements of a great album but it doesn’t necessarily exceed all of them so it misses that last half star. It would definitely get that last half star if this album was more from the heart. It felt kind of like he was making music for the money rather than for the love of music, either way it is still an incredible album.
1. Skizzy Mars – Pace
I can guess what nearly every single person reading this is thinking right now: Who is Skizzy Mars? Skizzy Mars, or Myles Mills, is just an absolutely incredible rapper from New York. To be fair, this is not a very commercial album. It is a mixtape, or free album, released via his website. What makes this album so good is the pace of yet. It is just such an upbeat feel to the album but with kind of dark and gloomy lyrics about his shortcomings in life. Add this juxtaposition with amazing lyrics and content and you have yourself the best album of 2014 so far. One line from the song “All Say” helps sum up how Mills feels about his life and music “They love me now but everything is temporary.” This were the opening words to this song and they show how everyone has 15 minutes of fame and then recedes back to being irrelevant. Every song on this album is what I would consider a stand out song but if I had to pick two they would be “Numb” and “Too Ill”. This album gets 5/5 stars for exceeding my already incredibly high standards from Mills’s last album Phases.
Honorable Mentions
Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo 4/5 stars
Would, and should, be on this list but he is not well known yet. Skizzy Mars was an exception to this not well known rule just because of how exceptional his album was.
Various Artists – Frozen Soundtrack 3.5/5
Very good all-around album but I am not so sure it deserves being called an album just because of its lack of consistency artist-wise. It truly is a soundtrack because no real artist really lays their mark on this project. It is too jointly made because of the movie’s musical status. With that being said it is still a very good piece of work but I am not necessarily calling it an album.
To be on this list the albums most possess certain features: I am rating them based on completeness/length, overall tone and theme of the album, and just plain sound. It easy to spot when an album is just bad, it could have poor production or it could just not be good music. That is typically what I am looking for when reviewing these albums.
5. The Fray – Helios
This album, released by the alternative rock band The Fray, is very good, but that is its problem. It is only very good, not great. The lone stand out song is “Love Don’t Lie”, the leading single. This album easily has the most potential out of any of the following on this list but The Fray just couldn’t seem to key in on that. They had moments of absolute brilliance but only moments, it would be gone as quick as it came. That is why I give this album 3/5 stars and placed it as number 5 on my list of top 5 albums of 2014, so far.
4. Kid Cudi – Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon
Kid Cudi is hands down one of my absolute favorite artists and this album could easily be number 1 on this list but the only problem is that it didn’t feel very complete. Cudi did a very good job on honoring his title of this album; he gave it a very spacey and other-worldly feel. However, the album only consisted of 10 songs and 4 of those 10 had no lyrics in them whatsoever. It feels like it only takes a few minutes to listen to the whole album. The reason for this is that it serves as a prelude to his next album. Some may only consider this an EP. The stand out tracks on this album are “Satellite Flight” and “Too Bad I Have to Destroy You Now”. This album would be a 5/5 but because of its incredibly short length it only garners 4/5 stars.
Junior Jack Parrot was not very impressed with this album.
Parrott said, “[Cudi’s] newer stuff is pretty hit or miss.
Parrott later went on to say that he missed the older albums of Kid Cudi but was still excited for his upcoming one, Man On The Moon 3.
3. Pharrell – Girl
Pharrell delivers an instant classic with his first album since 2006. He has had a great 2013 with songs like “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines” becoming very famous chart-toppers. This album has a huge deal of commercial potential, it already has a great radio single in the song “Happy” and I wouldn’t be surprised if it has multiple more being played on your favorite radio station sometime soon. This album gets 4/5 stars just like the last. The thing that differentiates this album and Kid Cudi’s album is Girl’s commercial success.
2. ScHoolboy Q – Oxymoron
This album is just flat out ridiculously good. It was released on Feb. 25th, the same day as Kid Cudi and The Fray’s albums released, and have taken the entire spotlight from nearly every critic in the world. It truly is the definition of a complete album. It has 15 tracks and none of them are lacking in any department. It has a star-studded feature list, including (but not limited to) Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Tyler, The Creator, and Pharrell. This album paints the picture of the hardships in Q’s life growing up and ow he made it out of his tough neighborhood. The stand out tracks on this album are “Collard Greens”, “Man Of The Year”, and “Break The Bank”. All of these things considered this album gets 4.5/5 stars. It met all of the requirements of a great album but it doesn’t necessarily exceed all of them so it misses that last half star. It would definitely get that last half star if this album was more from the heart. It felt kind of like he was making music for the money rather than for the love of music, either way it is still an incredible album.
1. Skizzy Mars – Pace
I can guess what nearly every single person reading this is thinking right now: Who is Skizzy Mars? Skizzy Mars, or Myles Mills, is just an absolutely incredible rapper from New York. To be fair, this is not a very commercial album. It is a mixtape, or free album, released via his website. What makes this album so good is the pace of yet. It is just such an upbeat feel to the album but with kind of dark and gloomy lyrics about his shortcomings in life. Add this juxtaposition with amazing lyrics and content and you have yourself the best album of 2014 so far. One line from the song “All Say” helps sum up how Mills feels about his life and music “They love me now but everything is temporary.” This were the opening words to this song and they show how everyone has 15 minutes of fame and then recedes back to being irrelevant. Every song on this album is what I would consider a stand out song but if I had to pick two they would be “Numb” and “Too Ill”. This album gets 5/5 stars for exceeding my already incredibly high standards from Mills’s last album Phases.
Honorable Mentions
Isaiah Rashad – Cilvia Demo 4/5 stars
Would, and should, be on this list but he is not well known yet. Skizzy Mars was an exception to this not well known rule just because of how exceptional his album was.
Various Artists – Frozen Soundtrack 3.5/5
Very good all-around album but I am not so sure it deserves being called an album just because of its lack of consistency artist-wise. It truly is a soundtrack because no real artist really lays their mark on this project. It is too jointly made because of the movie’s musical status. With that being said it is still a very good piece of work but I am not necessarily calling it an album.
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