My Mazda makes a thudding noise somewhere either in the hood or under the car only when in reverse gear. Any ideas? I think it's my engine mounts potentially, taking it to a mechanic in the morning.
UPDATE: I checked under my car and there was a tab coming from inside the body. I slid it back in and the thumping is gone.
BROWN:
I listened to the album 3 times. Anything prior to (first listen) is my original thoughts with no pauses between songs.
Leave Me Alone- First listen was fun. Very reminiscent of angel numbers. Not the strongest opening. (First listen) This song is a solid opening but maybe it was people hyping it on twitter that ruined it for me. The instrumental. And the instruments are great and the production is solid. The lyrics really are alright. I think Angel Numbers makes this song feel super redundant. “I don’t need your approval” delivery was great. I mean his vocals aren’t too impressive here. Angel Numbers is more felt. Till The Wheels Fall Off conveys more emotion. This isn’t it. CB has a lot to prove on this album as he’s paying homage on the album cover and this is off his greatest year. (5/10)
Obvious- The transition was the most fun part. A solid transition song and I believed this song was a transition song a couple weeks ago as it's not quality enough to be a full lead single. Solid in this context though(First Listen). This song is actually really good. Following up Leave Me Alone is a great choice. I thought this song was very bland on release and kind of mid as a lead single. A solid song that is not lead single material. (8/10)
Honey Pack- I like the melody the lyrics are very off putting. Definitely a vibe but not the same way Wet The Bed is.(First Listen) This song is trying to be un-serious as Wet The Bed imo. I think the guitar is infectious. The chorus is actually really good. I really like this song after my initial listen. The bridge definitely ruins the vibe. His rapping is offputting. (5.5/10)
It Depends- A classic. The radio song of the album but it’s great no matter what. CB carries this song. His vocals and the 808’s are a great performance. Bryson is weak on this song but Chris does a great job. The “oh yeah yeah yeah” cut in is great, The outro is a great display of his production quality in this era and point in his career. (First Listen) I have no other thoughts after first listen bc this song has been out for a year. (9/10)
Fallin- I think the transition is solid. The beat is fantastic and the background vocals featuring Tank is great. He sounds great besides some of the mixing and post production effects on his voice. Leon steals the show. I love Leon’s discography and this is literally something you’d find off his album. His voice just feels amazing on this beat and he is very smooth and suave. My main problem with his vocals show in the pre-chorus. It just doesn't sound like him or authentic. He sounds great on that outro though. I definitely take a lot I said about the song because as part of the first listen experience it's super fun. (first listen) The intro isn't the best and maybe it's the video that dragged the quality down for me personally. Part of the album listening experience, this song is significantly better. The “I'm still falling for you…” part is fun. Leon is the best part. Some of Chris’s parts rub me the wrong way but overall a decent song. I take back a lot of what I said pre-album about this song. (8/10)
Hate Me- He sounded super flat at 1:02. The overlaying vocals are amazing though. Alright song first listen. The acoustics are nice. (first listen) A solid song. But it's just filler in the grand scheme. (6/10)
Call Your Name- I like the sample. CB hook is great. Not a fan of the trap drums. Chris is flowing though I'm hooked. The song name drop was beautiful at 1:36. Sexxy Ruined it. I atleast have hope for Glorilla. Or she might rap on the same beat. But the transition between beats is nice. Sexy singing over Chris’s portion of the beat is nice. That saved the song. Glorilla rapped on the same beat and it ruined it for me. I definitely like her more than Sexxy. The lyrics are bad but the vibes are great. I honestly think this song will be replayed. I liked Freak off 11:11 so it will fill that same space. Tay Keith is super fun. His beat switch and producer tag is lowkey awesome. Love the outro (first listen) I really love the sample and the intro. The beat is great. If any other rapper was on this joint it would be a hit. Where is Tyga? I'm not a fan but he would've fit perfectly, where is Wayne? You couldn't have gotten anybody but these artists? Any part including Chris is fire. The drop into the chorus is great. I really like how the beat soothes out. But where is Young Thug? He could've also gone stupid here. The beat carries Sexy’s part; it's low-key growing on me as the stupid fun song like Go Girlfriend. I really like the trap drums and the transition into Glorillas part. But just because I like the song doesn't make it good. Chris did all the lifting and it's a bop. And the outro is hard as fuck. (3/10)
For The Moment- Not a fan of the chorus. Everything prior was great though. I like the vibes so far. Definitely a lot more classical than Breezy and 11:11. “I miss the drugs in the cup” the way he sings that is great. But that second half of that pre-chorus at 2:22 is fun as hell. The bass gets me. Why is he rapping at the end though? Definitely ruined it for me. This song is too long for what it’s contents are. It should have been short like Obvious. (first listen) I definitely won't come back to this song. The chorus feels off key. Not my favorite. (6/10)
Fuck and Party- This song is a vibe so far but. Chris Brown having this song here kind of ruins the vibe unless the next song switches the tone or follows this tone (not sound). It's a good song im 2 minutes in and wondering what the next 2 minutes could possibly be. I like the song BUT the lyrics are not very mature. The song feels like the government mandated outside culture song yfm. I like the bridge a lot (first listen) solid song that doesn't really fit the album and what the album was meant to be. It's not the same genre, the lyrics aren't there. The bridge is good. But he has better songs just in general. (7/10)
Red Rum- These two have no collabed at all. CB’s singing is great. The subject matter is more immature Chris. The backshots line ruined the song for me so far I’m at 1:45. WHY DOES HE DUMB DOWN THE BEATS FOR THE RAPPERS. HE’S DONE THIS FOR EVERYONE. THESE FEATURES ARE SO GOVERNMENT MANDATED. I mean this is literally a Breezy situation. CB forcing rappers into what was marketed as a rnb album. I mean that part of the song feels dumbed down for YB fans. The mix of the beats is fun though (first listen) I couldn't listen to this. This is a skip and I've listened to BREEZY and Graffiti. (0/10)
It’s not You It’s Me- I like the lyrics. The tone shift gave me whiplash. I love acoustic CB i.e See You Around. This song is beautiful. I mean there isn’t much for me to say. The drum kicking at certain points is amazing. That beat build up is great at 2:25. This album would be a 10/10 if it sounded like this and Obvious. (first listen) I love this song. This is the RNB I need. If we're being extremely picky this song is something he's basically already done on previous songs. He's not pushing any boundaries or doing anything he hasn't done before. And that's okay but at least make it as good as the older music we've gotten and it just isn't there for me personally. The sound is very on topic and on theme. Solid song (7/10)
Cry For Me- “Cry for me when you feel out of reach” is a great bar. Very modern RNB (not the classic soul we expected) but the excessive pussy bars are offputting. I mean it's unnecessary. The chorus is a bop though. IDK the producers but the “hey, hey” in the background is super fun. A feature on this song w maybe Glorilla would have been a better choice. It's a great song regardless.(first listen) It's a vibe. I mean I think I got it on the mark on first listen. Very bland song. Nothing crazy but it's groovy. (7.5/10)
Say Nothin- I like the beat. The violin. I will definitely be playing this all the time. Very sexy and smooth song. The sex bars get off here bc the song is suave. IS THAT CHRIOS BROWN ON 1:37. AW HELL NAH THIS IS THE SONG FR. This is a hit. CB featuring on his own song is amazing. That was an amazing shock on the first listen. I'm claiming this song (first listen) I still don't know if that's CB or 4batz. I think it's CB and he sounds amazing. Super suave and sexy song. The beat is so sexy and infectious. It would be very easy to say this is the top five on the album objectively. The voice change works because it is showing how he is off the alc. The way he moves on this beat is just so fire. Idk how to explain it. Something I gotta bounce and move my shoulders to. The way he says “they don't need to know we're more than friends” is great. (10/10)
Slow Jamz: This song feels like the album cover. This is the song I’d suggest (so far) to give someone who says what represents this album? Lucky Daye floated as usual. The dueting is a great touch. And then switching up who says “when it feels this good…”. Very suave and cool song. Love this RNB. I WANT MORE OF THIS. (first listen) “When it feels this go you just can't say no” this sensual feel of just smooth rnb should have been the album. I struggle finding something to not like about this song. These two are a beautiful duo. (10/10)
Perfect Timing- This song so far is better than their last collab on 11:11. The drums remind me of WE. Nothing for me to say. I think everyone had a part. Definitely a filler song and that's nothing bad just nothing sticks out as overly great or terrible. (first listen) It's a filler song. But it's a great filler song. (10/10)
In My Head: A beautiful song. I love all the lyrics. The chorus is infectious. The outro is infectious is great. His production quality is heavy here and its beautiful(first listen) I mean the lyrics are perfect. His vocals are great. Nothing wrong (10/10)
What’s Love: It’s a sweet song. Not as good as the prior one. Not terrible, just another kind of in between song. None of these songs so far feel like 11:11 cuts that were just thrown on here. It all feels new. The pitched out guitar is great. Feels like the guitar in the intro to petty. (first listen) This song makes me feel for CB. I love it. Everything about it. But like I said in my first listen this just feels like a 11:11 song. (9/10)
Something In The Water: The song is mid so far. But his vocals are great. I will comment that none of his sex songs will ever hit like Like A Virgin, or No Bs ever again. I mean I don’t think he views sex the same way as he did when he were younger, which I know it’s a crazy thing to say (it feels like dick watching) but his sex songs never have been as creative or fun as Like A Virgin or No Bs. Songs like this literally get forgotten because I don’t think sex is as great as it feels when you’re a young man versus you having 5 baby mamas or however he has. (first listen) Not a fan of the metaphor. He feels kind of flat with all the filters on the chorus.(7/10)
Won’t Let Me Leave- These aren't bad songs but this is the issue with CB albums. As a listening experience these songs just drag. They aren’t challenging anything or making you listen. X was his last good longer album and maybe indigo. But X is like 24 songs and at the very least it’s at least 6 hits. And a few deep cuts. So far im sensing maybe there are two hits if im being generous besides it depends (so far). His songs when he turns to god is great though.(first listen) My first listen was on the money. No hits really at all or that have impact. Not bad songs in a vacuum just DRAG. (7/10)
\#BODYGOALS- This feels like Tik Tok trend bait. CB’s verse at 1:02 is great. Tank was not my favorite on that hook. He is too old to be talking about some hashtag body goals. So far in this album Chris has me wondering what the popular song will be? Last time it was Sensational then Residuals. Maybe this album needs a deluxe for that huge song like residuals. (first listen) Tanks old ass should not be talking about Body Goals 😭. Solid song but Early 2k was a better collab. (6/10)
Colours- I gave grace earlier a couple songs before this. But I am TIRED. CB is great at making his albums super solid in the beginning then dropping the ball in the end. This is kind of a nothing burger song. I mean he has been making music for 2 decades. I can tell the throwaways from the real songs. The beat is groovy though. I’m not sure if I’m listening to it ever again after this though. (first listen) Nothing really changed imo. (8/10)
Skin To Skin- That guitar moving up and down gives me Sex So Good feels. Hopefully this is good. That chorus drop is great. This is definitely another song I will be adding. I like the lyrics it’s not on the nose. “Charging me through your finger tips…” is new. I wish CB still had bridges. This song could use a bridge heavily. It’s too good to be only two verses.( first listen) solid song. Wish it had a bridge. Super calm and sensua.
Theme Song- Here is the Tik Tok/ Popular song. It’s a vibe. This song even though it will be the popular song. Chris is super infectious. This song is very bland compared to his other party songs. I can already see the tik tok dances to the chorus. Especially the “if you came with your best friend” part. (first listen). This song is tryna be like how DaBaby has Pop Dat. It's cool for what it is but Call Your Name is the better song of this style. (5/10)
Your Time- Once again. I’M TIRED. Why does he go for the long albums for songs he wouldn't even add on the deluxe?. His deluxe songs in the past few years have ended up being the BEST songs on the album. I.e the entirety of 11;11 deluxe is the best part of the album. And that entire second disk was the worst part of the original. I am getting that read from this album. The deluxe will definitely be better. Because I am not feeling this album at all. I had a better reaction to 11:11 on release. Another throwaway (first listen) My opinion did not change. Its a throwaways (4/10)
It’s Personal- The acoustics have my attention. I think it’s a weak song. But it’s weird for this to not be the outro considering the intro is about the same subject. It’s not a bad song but his albums as full length experience suffer from the fact they are so long. And albums are supposed to be experiences. Not a playlist (i’ll probably have the same reaction to Drake next week). (first listen) I agree with my first listen take. (6/10)
Holy Blindfold- I have been avoiding this song to recreate my original listening experience. I love how smooth the song is. I love his vocals. The lyrics really are him saying a lot of nothing though. The pre-chorus is great. I’m sad that the album isn't more like this. Just clear vocals over beats he really never sang on. A modern classical album like Kehlani. (first listen) I WISH this song was how the album was gonna sound. (10/10)
Present- This song is clearly just another Dear God or Till The Wheels Fall Off. I mean he’s sayin alot of nothing. (First listen)I wish he’d speak on more mature things. or his life or his career. I'm tired of these generic songs.
Conclusion (after first listen)Considering what happens in his personal life I’m expecting something creative out of that (present). Talk about your kids or something, YOUR relationships, he was beefing with his baby momma the day, Talk about how the industry has treated you, talk about how much you regret that day, SOMETHING. Talk about being the most successful RNB artist of all time. Talk about how you don’t wanna be compared to MJ. FIGHT BACK. I mean this album literally doesnt move anything in his discog. The subject matter is the same as 11:11, the production is the same as 11:11, the only main difference is the beat selection, and even then that doesn’t make it good. I saw the album and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE teaser and expected a soul album. And I got Sexy Red, Trap Drums, YB, Him rapping the weakest he’s ever rapped on a outro. A ok intro, and this is so upsetting because this album is following up his BIGGEST MOST SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN A WHILE. I mean he hasn't been that big in years and I’ve done my research and lived it. I’m only 20 like I stated before but I have listened to enough CB my whole life and retrospectively looked at his albums enough to say this isn't his best at all. The songs I would call good just feel like filler. The best songs on this album are 11:11, X, FAME, Exclusive, FORTUNE, etc’s worst songs. Every CB album has done SOMETHING. 11:11 sparked his biggest tour, Breezy made his more reflective due to backlash, Indigo made him relevant and be able to be present in the 2020’s, HBOAFM gave us HITS and kept him charting for YEARS. Etc. And all of those albums have insane songs just on their standard edition 11:11 has Sensational, Angel Numbers, Stutter etc. Breezy exists. Indigo had No Guidance, Heat, Undecided, etc. And none of the songs here give me big energy or give me anything. Everything feels like filler. This sound he tried to go for DOESNT WORK. Why put Sexy Redd and Glorilla on a RNB track then try to put Tank on that song. If the features were switched it’d be different. This album is just interesting creative choices that I can’t support off first listen. I’ll sleep on it and run it back in the morning but so far my top FIVE are Obvious, Slow Jamz, Holy Blindfold, In My head, and Say Nothin. (i hate it but Call Your Name will grow on me soon over the summer) If the album sounded more like those songs it’d get a 10. But I have it at a 5/10.
Conclusion (2 listens later): I see people gassing this as his best work and it's not. I see people gassing Leave Me Alone as the best intro and it's not. This album is so underwhelming. I thought CB was going in a brighter direction considering 11:11 was so solid. But it's the same reheated nachos essentially from the previous two albums. I posted my 11:11 review and you can see that I was hoping the deluxe would be how his projects sounded from that point t on. But I was wrong. This album misses so much. I'm taking 12 MAX songs off this album and it's 27 songs. And I'm only taking those songs to be nice. His best songs here are like the most mid-songs off 11:11. This album is definitely the bottom three CB albums. He's so talented and it's the wrong fans who are blindly positive who keep pushing him in a weak direction. I see on Twitter people saying the wildest shit and even on here gassing up everything he does. No HBOAFM isn't top 3 albums because you literally need bathroom breaks just to listen to the album. The only reason indigo gets a pass is bc half the album is hits. And that's how we got here. The reason 11:11 was so good was because of how poorly BREEZY did. And that's exactly what's gonna happen here. This album misses the vibe, maturity and lyrics of genre and vibes he was paying homage to with his album cover. Maybe I'm being harsh but this ain't it. And another thing his sex songs are significantly worse. I said it earlier but Like a Virgin, Privacy and back to sleep are way better sex songs. And I think it's simply just because once you get older sex isn't as magical as it is. I could only imagine if you have 5 baby mamas you have essentially gotten bored of it. This album does nothing in terms of lyrics, consistency, or production. As it's the same as 11:11. The best songs gotta be Obvious, Slow Jamz, Holy Blindfold, In My head, and Say Nothin. The worst songs are Call My Name, #BODYGOALS and Theme Song.
4/10
Once again Chris Brown is my favorite artist I've written reviews for some of my favorite albums by him on this subreddit. I just wanna see y'all's opinions on his vocals on fallin. Personally I think his vocals are too saturated, I think it's too heavily processed for my ear. I'm not knocking CB he will be my top artist on Spotify wrapped AGAIN but I'm worried about his musical direction. At least from Holy Blindfold last year I was under the impression this would be more soul and vocal focused rather than production focused. And fallin is proof of that I think his vocals are very processed as to where he doesn't even feel real. It's not like he can't do the soul sound Harder is a good example, Sleep at night is a good example and those are recent albums. Best Ever gives a similar feel off of 11:11. It's just at this point he's gotten too comfortable with overlaying his vocals and having so many effects. It sucks because I know he can sing I'll always go back to the videos of him singing upside down on his last tour or him singing No Bs while Kevin Mccaul plays the piano. I hope BROWN proves me wrong.
Furthermore, I've seen speculation (I'm not sure if it's true) that sexy redd and NBA young boy will have songs on this album. Immediately that drags the quality down. We've seen what happens when CB wraps with rappers he has no chemistry with. I.e Breezy with 42 Dugg, Lil Baby, Blxst, etc. So it's very worrying. And if the speculation is right it leaves me wondering where is Ella Mai, where is Kehlani, where is Chloe, where is 4batz. Leon Thomas is probably my favorite pick off the rollout so far as he stole the show on fallin same way CB did Mutt. I'm not counting the album out but I'm definitely worried about the quality.
And I'm not opposed to the heavily altered vocal filters on CB. Under the influence is probably one of his best singles and that song is more the production team doing the work. 11:11 has a lot of vocal effects compared to older stuff. For example we'll never get a song like "I May Never" again where it's just all vocals. Or "Sing Like me". I just don't think the style of fallin really fits modern CB and I'm hoping he advances on the sound like how Fortune is an advance from Fame. Or how Indigo is a advance from HBOAFM. Or how 11:11 is an advance from BREEZY. Again I'm not counting him out and I wanna talk about where y'all stand 48 hours from the album dropping.
Before anyone says anything Chris Brown is my favorite artist by far. And my most listened to. But I am not optimistic for this album. The album cover is him trying to dip into nostalgia which is cool. But with the three lead singles it is very clear this album is going to be a lot like breezy and less like 11:11. I'm hoping the other songs are able to carry the weight of this album. But also this album is looking to be an easy 20 songs. 3 lead singles and only really one of them landed (It depends). But holy Blindfold came and went As well as Obvious. And I'm seeing a lot of discourse on Twitter about it just looking to be 27 songs of slop, Filler (a play on thriller) etc. And personally I gotta agree.
At least in 11:11 the lead singles were Sensational, Press me and Summer Too Hot. At least 2/3 are valid songs. Sensational is probably one of the best CB afro beat songs and press me is just fun (paired with the music video and his choreography on his insta for it). But so far I mean there's been no video , no dance to any of his songs nothing. Even going back to indigo. Undecided was an amazing lead single. I'll even say WE and Iffy are better than what's been released. So far this rollout is underwhelming and his style is really just playing off of 11:11. But the deluxe of 11:11 was so good anything that isn't that quality just faulters. So hopefully I'm wrong. Especially since I wanna see his tour in Charlotte but my friend won't go unless this album is a classic. Just sharing my thoughts and wanna talk about this rollout so far