Spark's Album Reviews: "Bouquet" and "Collage" by The Chainsmokers

Spark_Of_Life (Side Note: problems with my computer have resulted in odd bolding and words running together. I apologize if this impairs your reading of my review)

When The Chainsmokers released their abysmal “song” “#SELFIE” two years ago, basically everyone hated it and the artists that created it. Soon after, the song died, and with it, we all assumed, The Chainsmoker’s careers.

Fat forward two years, and The Chainsmokers are the new faces of EDM. With their first #1 single topping the charts right now, and basically everything they’ve released since February reaching the top 20 on Billboard, I think it’s time to look past their smash singles at their full albums, to see if there’s more to these guys than just a few good drops.

PART 1: “BOUQUET”

“Roses” (ft. ROZES)
You’ve already heard me rave about this song on basically any list that mentions these guys, so I’ll just keep it short and sweet: it’s emotional, addictive, and has a killer drop. What more is there to say?
(10/10)

“New York City” (ft. Victoria Zaro)
While I have to give props to “Roses” for sincerity, nothing can touch this song on emotional appeal. Zaro sounds like she’s singing directly from the heart. Combine this with a killer drop that sounds heavenly, soft violin strums, and some surprisingly well-written lyrics, and you have one of the best songs ever made.
(10/10)

“Until You Were Gone’ (ft. Tritonal and Emily Warren)
Let me first start off by saying that Emily Warren was not the best choice for the vocals here. She sounds like she's singing underwater and her voice has a slight southern twang to it that I don’t really like.Combine that with the build up to the drop, which is a confusing mishmash of spinning horns and a heavily-autotuned vocal fadeout, and you have one strange thing. To the song’s credit, when the drop comes, it’s nice. But after two great singles like it’s predecessors, this is kind of a letdown.
(7/10)

“Waterbed” (ft. Waterbed)
WHY? JUST WHY? If it wasn’t for the chorus – an awkward, nasal voice saying “shake your ass like a waterbed” – this would be an easy 10.The laid-back vibe of the song, the popping synths, surprisingly strong verses and the amazing music video are all great, but all that comes screeching to halt for the gross chorus before moving on to a great song again. Oh, well. It’s still probably going on my I-Pod anyway.
(9/10)

“Good Intentions” (ft. BullySongs)
Well, that was better than I expected. While I like the buildup to the drop and BullySong’s vocals, something about this doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not sure what it is. Maybe it sounds hollow. Or maybe it’s the fact that it doesn’t seem to go anywhere outside itself. It’s nowhere near bad, but it’s…just…missing something.
(8/10)

Best Songs: “Roses”, “New York City”, “Waterbed”
Worst Songs: n/a

“Bouquet” FINAL GRADE: 44/50 (B+)

PART 2: “COLLAGE”
“Setting Fires” (ft. XYLO)
I’m divided on this song. On one hand, I love the buildup to the drop, and the beat is solid, but XYLO’s vocals fall flat in some places, andthe drop is slightly disappointing. This is probably going on my I-Pod anyway, but that’s not a problem, because I still like this, even though it has it’s flaws.
(9/10)

“All We Know” (ft. Phoebe Ryan)
OK! First off, the vocals are horrendous on this one.Whoever told Taggart he can sing is insane, because he can’t really do it that well. Phoebe Ryan sounds like an eight-year old, and both vocalists sound flat and unemotional. That being said, the buildup to the drop is good, but I hate the drop itself, because it sounds like a cop-out. I don’t know. I just really don’t like this all that much.
(4/10)

“Closer” (ft. Halsey)
And now, ladies and gentlemen, for the most controversial ofall the songs on this list, the top-spot hogger for 12 weeks (probably 13 or even 14), keeping great, amazing singles like “Starboy” by The Weeknd, “Heathens” by Twenty One Pilots, and “Side to Side” by Arianna Grande and Nicki Minaj from the top spot. Much like “All We Know”, this suffers from horrendous vocals. Taggart can’t sing, once again (stay behind the DJ booth!), and Halsey sounds like she’s vocalizing through her nose. While I have to give it points for lyrics, good instrumentals, and a good buildup the drop is highly disappointing, as it’s just the same three notes repeated. Sadly, I liked this a lot more three months ago, but MASSIVE overplay has killed almost any respect I had for it.
(5/10)

“Inside Out” (ft. Charlee)
I like this a lot more than I thought I would. While The Chainsmokers seem to be continuing their trend of picking lackluster vocalists (looking at you, nasal Charlee), this is very good. The buildup to great, the drop is fantastic, and the lyrics are quite enjoyable. It almost makes up for Charlee’s bad vocals, but nothing can quite cover that up.
(8/10)

“Don’t Let Me Down” (ft. Daya) I’ve already raved about this song on the “Best of 2016” list. So I’ll just boil it down for you: the drop is fantastic, Daya’s vocals are fantastic, the lyrics are fantastic, the buildup is fantastic, in short, everything about this is fantastic.
(10/10)

Best Songs: “Setting Fires”, “Don’t Let Me Down"
Worst Songs: “All We Know”, "Closer"

“Collage” FINAL GRADE: 35/50 (C)

(OVERALL)
Best Songs: “Roses”, “New York City”, “Waterbed”, “Setting Fires”, “Don’t Let Me Down”
Worst Songs: “All We Know”, "Closer"

FINAL GRADE: 80/100 (B-)

Conclusions: The Chainsmokers are mixed, but mostly positive, bag. They’ve made some of the best songs I’ve ever heard (“New York City”, “Don’t Let Me Down”) as well as some neutral ones (“Until You Were Gone”) and at this point I’ve only actively disliked three of their songs (“#SELFIE”,but then again, everyone hated that, "Closer", and “All We Know”). However, if they want to continue being seen as good artists, they’re going to have to step up their games a little bit, and right now I’m not seeing them step too far out of their comfort zones. But there’s still hope.

Comments

They're not gonna step out of their comfort zones. Long story. - WonkeyDude98

Also, Waterbed and Setting Fire are awful. - WonkeyDude98

That's ok, you can not like it and I can like it. - Spark_Of_Life

Waterbed was an amazing song, as it's just selfie done right in every way possible

All We Know had a nice melody relaxed beat and good lyrics

Other than that, I agree - ProPanda