Panda Album Review: Listen (David Guetta)

ProPanda For my second ever review of an album, I am taking a spin on David Guetta's big and more improved, deep and mature comeback album. It is easily a huge step from previous works (don't let that fool you), taking obnoxiousness and turning it into.. this

Best Tracks: Bang My Head ft. Sia, Lift Me Up ft. Nico And Vinz, Dangerous ft. Sam Martin
Worst Tracks: Shot Me Down ft. Skylar Grey

3/10

I don't think I've ever really discussed David Guetta. I mean, for the guy who made EDM a thing, I should be giving him some more attention right? Well, I think David Guetta is less iconic, and more dependent. By dependent, of course, I mean, depending on his iconic collaborators, to make iconic hits, to make himself iconic. And the truth is, that sort of backfires. He does make icnoic hits, with iconic people but... it's just him. Any big hit he had was because of Usher, or Nicki Minaj, or Akon, or whomever. He doesn't actually contribute any memorability to his songs, he's just there. And, I got to give him some credit there. He's making tons of money, produced a nice fanbase, has the right to say he made that Titanium song whenever it plays on the radio, and has a bunch of hits! You can't go wrong with that, right? Well..., he might have quantity, and the ability to get the right people, but when he gets them, he just.... does something which causes a problem. The problem? He makes good artists go bad. I mean don't get me wrong, the quality and talent is still shown, but he adds something which kills the vibe, or hides the omportant elements to produce quality, and it ends up as bland, annoying noise. Think about it. Wouldn't Without You or Titanium be much better if if there wasn't white noise as a drop? Still, I'd take him over Calvin Harris anyday. So, when I decided what I'd e reviewing between this and Motion, I decided to see what Guetta would come through with.

Big mistake. Big. Mistake.

This is album is all levels of incosistent. I mean, I hated Nothing But The Beat, but at least that had levels of consistency. This? Well, to be honest, it's proabably his best album... ever. The main reason for that is the collaborators. Like I said in my ZEDD review, I'm a sucker for EDM which tends to surprise me, and here... well, Guetta took some surprising directions all right.So, let's analyse this.

Vocals: Eh. Sia does pretty good on Bang My Head, and Nico And Vinz bring SOME compassion to Lift Me Up, but yeah, that's it. Ok I'm being harsh, Sam Martin actually sounds really powerful on Dangerous, through his explosive chorus, and more deep on the verses. As for the rest? Skylar sounds half dead on Shot Me Down, which.. makes sense on an ironic level, but not on a musical one. Nasri of MAGIC! sounds extremely drunk, the guy from The Script has lost all control over himself, John Legend sounds tired, Bebe Rexha is irritatiangly over enunciating, and Nicki Minaj... not even gonna bother.

Lyrics:
"Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down"
"You beatin' drum like dum di di dey
I love the dirty rhythm you play"
"When the sun goes down
And your eyes cannot see"

I'll let those speak for themselves. While Bang My Head and S.T.O.P also had good lyrics, it doesn't make up for these failures.

As for the production, well… it’s loud. And loud. And loud.

Actually, that sums it all up really well. This album is really bad. While there are some really good songs on here, it has so many atrocities that I have headaches listening to it. And it’s fifty minutes long. I know this does not seem like much, but there’s over 15 tracks on here. I really liked the lead singles and I was really into what this was gonna bring, and I was disappointed. And, after hearing This One’s For You and Light My Body Up, and hearing how bad his production is shaping up to be, I’m not looking for the next album he’s planning on releasing.

Sorry if this review felt rushed. I started it a year ago when I was a lazy prick, and sorta finished it now just for the sake of getting it over with ☹.

Overall, I give this a 3/10, for some tracks, and a recommendation if you are a fan of the club boom, or really loud music.

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