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justanotherwriter140 · 1 month

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Kung Fu Panda 4 - The Movie

The last really, really long discussion post (for now).

Major spoilers ahead!

This review is full of spoilers, so please refrain from reading through it until you've watched KFP4. I would highly suggest doing so, as I want everyone to form their own opinions without my influence. The movie has its flaws (some of which admittedly being a bit distracting), but it's a fun film that has things to offer.

Kung Fu Panda 4 is a fun movie (take that as you will) that takes its audience on an action-packed, surprisingly funny, yet relatively contained adventure on which Po doesn't really do much. It's an inconsequential, safe sequel that doesn't really hurt the franchise but adds close to nothing.

I had a good time watching the movie. It was obviously produced with its theater experience in mind and the action scenes especially reflected that priority. The humor was actually funny sometimes and I enjoyed Po and Zhen's dynamic. During the film, I was able to put most (most!) of my grievances aside and take the movie for what it is. I've discovered that the best way to watch KFP4 is with low expectations and an open mind.

I have a lot of things to say about KFP4, both complaints and compliments (though the former might be taking the forefront in this review), and I hope this review can help those of you who have seen the movie organize your thoughts. I've been having a lot of trouble with that specific aspect of things myself. Those who get it get it.

With that said, let's get into my full review of KFP4! I've been waiting for nearly 2 years to write this and I'm so excited to share every single thought.

I'm going to follow the format of my first discussion post and curate a bulleted list of my thoughts, followed by an analysis of each of these points. Keep in mind that everything I say is IMO and this is more of a rant post than anything else.

Here are my main points:

The Furious Five's role is comically minuscule in the context of the film. Their actions are inconsequential and add nothing to the plot (a confirmed last-minute add), and they have 30~ seconds of screen time. Shifu is also largely irrelevant.

Mr. Ping and Li's presence has little to no effect on the movie (though I won't complain too much because they were pretty fun to watch and this movie has bigger problems). In almost any scenario, I am adamantly against having characters present that don't add anything to the narrative; however, Mr. Ping is an exception. I love Mr. Ping. James Hong is a gem.

Zhen's screen time is not utilized well and her character is underdeveloped. She definitely wasn't annoying, but I didn't find her either compelling or funny enough to warrant the screen time she was given, especially considering it wasn't used to establish a backstory/strong motives. This makes me feel bad for the character because the movie kind of screwed her out of any substantial development.

The Chameleon, while complimented greatly by Viola Davis, is an underwhelming villain. Viola Davis is amazing in this film and I would suggest watching it for her performance if for nothing else, but the Chameleon is underwhelming considering the super cool concept behind the character.

The film feels very rushed. Apologies to those who disagree, but I think the pacing is atrocious and the final fight is anticlimactic. The movie felt like a word-vomit with no discernible intermissions that stops abruptly when the film ends.

I felt as though Po didn't change/grow as a person and the audience never had a chance to either bond with or relate to his character. His internal struggle is kept to a minimum and we don't spend a moment alone with him as an audience, which is disorienting and distracting. Watching the film felt like running into an old friend at the store who's too in a rush to have a real conversation.

The action scenes were strong with few exceptions. Creative art direction was utilized and I thought the martial arts choreography was entertaining and dynamic. I love the color palette of the film and many scenes were very impressive visually.

With my main points established, I do believe it's ranting time. Strap in, folks.

Let's start strong with the Furious Five: I'm gutted. Chagrined, despondent, crestfallen, etc.

The lack of the Furious Five negatively affects KFP4 so much, because not only does their absence hurt the atmospheric integrity of KFP as a franchise, it also forces KFP4 to bring in a slew of different characters—all while still noncommittally including the FF at the very end because I believe the marketing team required it—that clog up the cast a bit. It all goes to show how important strong, established side characters are.

The Furious Five are side characters, but the role of "side character" does not equate to being irrelevant, expendable, or exchangeable. I recognize that the Furious Five aren't super developed as characters beyond a handful of lines that allude to traits sprinkled sparingly among the members; however, I believe that the tiny bits of development we have been given have proved impactful in the past. Tigress's development in KFP2 is a prime example of how much narratively conscious changes (however small they may be) can positively affect these movies.

Because of limited runtimes, the Furious Five often operate as more of a singular unit than five individuals. Even so, I don't think discarding them is valid. They're so important to the KFP universe (to Po's universe!) and not having them with him feels so wrong. The Furious Five are fully integral to the heart of Kung Fu Panda, which is why I believe a lot of those who have seen the new movie have expressed something feeling "off" or something being missing.

I agree with this sentiment. To me, KFP4 didn't feel like a KFP movie. I don't need a Furious Five spin-off movie and I can be fully content with a KFP5 centered around Po's journey as an individual as was intended from the beginning, but he can't carry an entire movie on his back. As strong as he is in every sense of the word, he is only one character. He's the centerpiece of the franchise, but a centerpiece can only go so far without the rest of the design, so to speak.

For me, the Furious Five's absence is one of this film's biggest faults. It's huge and glaring. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, either, because the friends with whom I saw the film refused to talk about any other aspect of the movie after seeing it. Seeing them at the end was better than nothing, of course, but it was a disappointing culmination after eight years of waiting.

That all is to say I feel robbed. Despite all of this, though, I understand that there were reasons why the Furious Five weren't included in the movie. I don't believe the production team would exclude the Furious Five unless they weren't given a choice.

Shifu and Po's dynamic continues to be thoroughly delightful but their interactions are short and simplified. I would have loved to see more of them in this film, especially considering the extreme relevance of teacher-student relationships in KFP4. I (somewhat) digress, though, because the idea of Shifu having to live at the Jade Palace with only Po for an extended period of time is hilarious enough on its own. Maybe that's what the short film is about!

The comedy is odd but has some jokes that stand out. Po maintains a healthy relationship with his inner sass, which I think makes him more fun to watch and kind of eradicates the man-child verdict. Some jokes don't land, of course, but I genuinely thought KFP4 had some funny moments. Mr. Ping was consistently awesome and Po had some good lines sprinkled throughout the film.

As for Mr. Ping, he and Li Shan are the subjects of the film's B-plot as they follow Po to Juniper City out of shared concern for their son's safety. In my mind, they don't add anything to the story that couldn't have been brought about by other characters, but they had their moments of being entertaining. I enjoyed their silliness and thought they had a cute dynamic if nothing else.

Speaking of other characters, I want to discuss KFP4's deuteragonist and why I genuinely feel bad about the way her character was treated.

I want to let it be known that I'm still not on board with Po passing the Dragon Warrior torch to another character. While I agree that his arc is now calling for him to have a student, I disagree with the notion of him retiring from his DW role.

As I stated in my first discussion post:

Didn’t the initial significance and nuance of the title come from the fact that there is only one person who can be the Dragon Warrior, because the concept of the “Dragon Warrior” isn’t so much a title as it is Po himself? The universe (Oogway) must choose the Dragon Warrior because they are a singular being of legend. It is one person, and that person is Po. Wasn’t the point of the first film that the title ultimately doesn’t really matter because there is no “secret ingredient,” so to speak? The title doesn’t actually give Po anything. “It’s just you,” Po says, and that was the resolution.

When it comes to Zhen as a character, contrary to what I predicted I would think of her, I thought she was okay. While I was still a bit distracted by how out-of-place her design looks, I wasn't truly annoyed by her at any point and she and Po had some cute moments. Even so, I think their relationship could have been a bit more refined and developed.

While it's evident that Po and Zhen are meant to have a teacher-student/mentor-apprentice dynamic, I think their relationship feels half-baked. There were parallels that contradicted one another and ended up being confusing come the film's conclusion, and the nature of their relationship seems to vacillate depending on the scene. Additionally, the strength of their bond goes from zero to one hundred within thirty-ish minutes and left me with a bit of whiplash.

We're shown that Po and Zhen care about one another, but we're never shown why. They have a brief conversation during which they bond over being orphans, and Zhen says at one point, "You're actually a good guy," but that's it. This obvious lack of development is a bit disorienting because we're later led to believe that Zhen and Po care very deeply for one another when there's almost nothing to back it up.

A scene that sticks out to me when discussing this is when Zhen attack-hugs Po in a way that explicitly mirrors Tigress's hug from KFP2. This happens around the beginning of the third act, and while it had the potential to be an endearing moment, I think it fell flat.

The impact of Tigress's hug was brought on by her character's hardcore nature and reputation of being heartless, further strengthened with the knowledge that she was hugging Po (which was obviously way outside her comfort zone) as a show of companionship and fundamental understanding. Tigress hugged Po because he needed someone to recognize his strive for closure.

Zhen's hug had little to no impact because she had no reason to do it and it didn't indicate growth. She hugs Po because she's sorry for betraying him and doesn't want him to be killed by the Chameleon, but neither of these things are newly-established via this hug; we have already gathered by now that Zhen regrets betraying Po and doesn't want him to get hurt.

The hug is far from the movie's weakest point, but I think it's unnecessary given the context. I'm big on hugs in movies (an underutilized form of platonic affection, in my opinion), but it didn't fit here. I don't hate it, and I see it as an honest effort to bring emotionality to Po and Zhen's relationship, but it seems arbitrary.

Zhen and Po's relationship has a lot of potential and I'd be open to seeing more of them in the future, but I think some more thoughtful development needs to occur before I can humor it further. Even so, I can see myself featuring Zhen in some future post-KFP4 one-shots—sparingly, of course, because we have a lot of Furious Five content to compensate for.

Overall, they had a cute dynamic and some sweet moments but I'm not attached. I'm on board with Po having a student but I think their relationship needs a lot more development, something that this film unfortunately didn't give them time to either accomplish or earn.

Now, onto the Chameleon!

The concept of the Chameleon's character is admittedly super interesting. She's the deuteragonist's fastidious mother figure who feels that Zhen owes her a debt and as a result holds her to an impossible standard. That dynamic had the potential to be so interesting but I didn't think it was explored at all. There is no indication of Zhen having any internal conflict about fighting the Chameleon, no emotional complexity between them at all; it's disappointing because I think it would've added a bit of earnestness to the film.

Additionally, the idea of a shape-shifting villain is versatile. A shape-shifting villain gives those telling the story a lot of room to experiment with the protagonist and different ways in which the main character can be challenged and tested. It's yet another good idea utilized poorly. Just one idea: the Chameleon could have disguised herself as one (or several) of Po's family, friends, etc. and brought to fruition a new arc with his character (seeing as he arguably doesn't have one in this film), but she only disguises herself as Zhen very briefly in the movie.

Furthermore, the Chameleon completely relies on the powers of previous villains to pose any sort of threat to the main characters. She summons Po's former nemeses from the Spirit Realm (despite there being little logic in doing so considering Kai's literal evisceration) and takes their kung fu abilities for herself.

An excerpt from my first KFP4 discussion post that I think is relevant to the point I'm trying to make:

I don’t think it would be in the best interest of anyone if the past villains were to come back in any way that’s not a flashback (even then, I’m not sure I’d see the point). In all honesty, I thought that the whole point of the villains was that they died and stayed dead. They were defeated by Po once and for all as a testament to the idea of establishing Po's character growth and journey as a person through the bad things he’s able to overcome. It’d be highly contradictory to the messages of the other films if these villains were to suddenly come back.

While there was an honest effort made to portray the Chameleon as intimidating, I never felt as though any of the characters were endangered by either her or her army of lizard henchman. She's a visually appealing character (aside from her eyes, which I thought more resembled those of a gecko than a chameleon) and I greatly enjoyed Davis's performance, but overall I don't see the Chameleon as a notable villain.

The return of Tai Lung (had he been on his own) had the makings to be an excellent story, especially considering the importance of teacher-student dynamics in KFP4. To see him interacting with Shifu would have been incredible and could have led to further closure on Tai Lung's end (because I think that's kind of what the team was going for anyway), but it didn't happen.

It was nice to see Ian McShane reprise his role, but I wish Tai Lung's characterization had been more reminiscent of the way he was in the first film and more complimentary of his overall character arc. Tai Lung isn't a one-dimensional villain with a singular goal and motivation, and I couldn't help but feel as though the complexity of his character was simplified for the sake of KFP4's narrative.

Tai Lung's presence in KFP4 may be odd, but Shen and Kai's appearances are even more so. Kai, if I remember correctly, was fully obliterated by Po, reduced to literal particles on screen (which is kind of wild now that I think about it). Shen being in the Spirit Realm makes sense all things considered; however, Po and Li had no visible reaction to his presence, which seemed a bit unlikely considering Shen's deeds. This plot hole can likely be attributed to the fact that Shen and Kai's cameos (to my knowledge) were last-minute additions to the movie.

I have to talk about the pacing. I have to. I'm sorry, bear with me.

To me, the film's pacing is erratic and disconcerting. While I can appreciate a quick-moving narrative that doesn't dawdle on storylines that aren't interesting/important, KFP4 kind of flings itself too far in the opposite direction and ends up being frighteningly fast-paced. Once the credits began, I felt like I had been holding my breath for the entire movie.

KFP4 is confusing because while the runtime is standard for a KFP movie, it feels incredibly short. At the same time, the film's story moves at a breakneck speed and leaves little time for heart and development. These things culminate into a barreling boulder of a movie that simply doesn't have time to let its characters, story, or audience take a breath.

A fast pace is not inherently negative, but I don't think it worked in the favor of KFP4. The KFP franchise has always been very emotionally grounded (and just very grounded in general), so to see a film in which emotion/heart takes an aggressive backseat in comparison to action and comedy is jarring. While I think it's unreasonable for fans to expect the same emotional integrity as the original films to be present in the current and upcoming ones, I still think there's room for Po to grow and I felt as though the notion of him developing further was brushed aside in this film.

As for Po's growth, I felt it was nearly nonexistent. The previous trilogy wrapped up his character's journey beautifully and I know that KFP4 was bound to struggle with this particular aspect of making another KFP film; however, just because the strongest pillars of Po's character are established doesn't serve as a valid excuse to reverse his development and repeat what he learned in KFP3.

In KFP3, Po learned firsthand that he is capable of spreading wisdom and teaching kung fu. He also learns that he is constantly growing and that change is inevitable; there is always something more to learn.

"If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now."

"I don't want to be anything more, I like who I am!"

In KFP4, Po pushes against this narrative despite fully accepting it in KFP3, actively reversing crucial parts of his character development achieved in the latter. KFP3 was non-ambiguously about learning to cope with change and responsibility, and I can't help but feel like KFP4 is simply copying this message while not adding anything to it.

Additionally, I felt that KFP4's Po generally felt less personal than he has in the past. In every KFP movie up to the franchise's most recent addition, I felt very connected to Po as an audience member. I felt like I was truly seeing the world of KFP through his eyes. I consider this to be one of the franchise's most impressive feats; it's incredibly difficult to build a universe around a character without making the audience feel limited to one perspective and one part of the world.

With KFP4, I felt both limited and disconnected. The world didn't feel as vast and all-encompassing as it has in the past and Po didn't seem fully like himself. This could be me nitpicking (as I'm prone to do), but I can't recall a single moment in the movie in which Po was alone on screen. Scenes like these are crucial for me because I see them as a meet-cute between the character and the audience, a moment for us to cross the bridge into their world in a way that's silent and intuitive. These little bonding moments are absolutely integral to feeling connected to a character.

Po's dream sequence in the first KFP movie is one of the best examples of this. It presents his aspirations, alludes to his way of life up to the point of the movie, and showcases his personality. During Po's dream sequence, the audience is quite literally inside Po's mind; we're there with him, seeing what he sees, subsequently feeling what he feels. Po is a dreamer at heart and makes the audience feel like dreamers, too.

In KFP4, I felt like I little to no point of reference when it comes to how Po was feeling. I didn't feel immersed in him and his world.

I know I've been very "doom and gloom" throughout this post, which is an exhausting mindset for everyone involved. I want to end my critique with something positive because I think some praise is deserved. Let's just say the movie could have been a lot worse, the details of which I'm sure you're all well aware.

The color palette of the movie is beautiful and somewhat reminiscent of the first film. While the animation style of KFP4 is far more simplistic than its predecessors, I was very impressed with its use of shadow and light. Po's many faces were also hysterical, props to those who helped make him as expressive as he is.

Additionally, the movie's action sequences were clearly thought out and discussed in great detail. The experimentation with camera angles was really fun to watch and I enjoyed the majority of the film's fight scenes. They were fun, bouncy, and entertaining, and quite likely reinstated audiences's love of watching a cuddly panda kick butt.

Congratulations, you've reached the end! Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to read this unnecessarily long and detailed review. As long as I help someone translate their conflicted feelings into coherent thoughts, I'll call it a win.

I want to reiterate that I don't hate Kung Fu Panda 4 and I had fun while watching the film. It has its flaws and there are a lot of aspects that I dislike, but the effort of the crew is obvious and I greatly admire and respect the hard work put into the film by those who worked on it. This does not at all excuse my issues with the movie, but it's worth saying.

As for the future of the series, I only hope that the next installment is more considerate of the franchise's origins and why Po's story is being told in the first place. I fully believe that another sequel could be good given a strong, passionate crew with a great understanding of the characters and world (and I wouldn't be averse to some previous directors returning, just to put it out there).

Thanks again to those who took the time to read this crazy excuse for a movie review. Feel free to either disagree with me or add things in the replies/reblogs, I'm always looking for more thoughts to think.

Until next time!

#kung fu panda 4 #kung fu panda #dreamworks animation #kfp #kfp 4 #movie review #i'll add the actual picture of the furious five's cameo when i can get ahold of one of decent quality #my time has come #it wasn't THAT bad #i didn't love it #but it is what it is #it's a tentative 6/10 all things considered #free the five #perhaps i treated kfp3 too harshly #don't get me wrong the movie had good qualities and i can tell a lot of work went into it #a lot of missed potential imo #a lot of characters done dirty #i didn't even mention the score but i thought it was just okay #i wasn't wowed #i know close to nothing about composing though so i should probably just not even go there #credits were the best part both cinematically and musically #i feel mean but i'm not going to be dishonest #bc obviously you all simply must know how i feel about the silly panda movie #a more detailed version of the grievances i have w the dragon warrior plot can be found in my og discussion post if anyone's interested #as well as my thoughts on bringing back old villains #might make some edits to this in the future but this is all i have to say for now

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fureiya · 7 months

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ちょびっツオリジナルサウンドトラック001 ☆彡

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antisocialxconstruct · 5 months

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I doubt I'm gonna get out to any other concerts until spring so I just wanted to Assess™️ year 1 of what I assume is a collection that will grow exponentially until it subsumes the rest of my wardrobe

#i already have a ticket to see Priest in march.....#they were here in summer but i didn't make it and i was kicking myself ever since but they're coming BACK.... 🙏🙏🙏#rom speaks #anyway genuinely i feel like one of the best things i ever did for my mental health #other than. find a therapist #was move to a place where live music is just constantly and ridiculously accessible to me #award for highest quality merch.... probably royal blood for the ultra soft shirt and crisp print but des rocs gets a special mention #because I know from personal experience that printing hoodies is a pain in the ass but it still looks really nice #worst quality.... IAMX 😔 cheap gildan shirt and the back print is noticeably out of reg #actually starbenders and cold gun should get an honorable mention too because they were both opening bands #so ordering merch with SUCH complex prints was a huge risk but they both came out really good #thanks for coming to my screenprinting review

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millenari · 8 months

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i was just looking through negative Cats reviews at my local theater's website (yeah im not sure why) but this one has enraptured me. 'one of them should be in p‌orn instead of a musical' sis you CANT just say that and then not clarify WHICH character you're talking about that's such a Compliment...

#'i dont want a grown man dressed like a cat purring in my ear' SPEAK. FOR. YOURSELF.#cats fan on main #cats the musical #this was *probably* from late 2019 #a lot of reviews talk about not understand the plot/lyrics so i think sound quality may have contributed to a lot of them. esp in canada #one of the reviews refers to 'angelical cats' lmao #cats negativity

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marshmallowloves · 1 month

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hey uhh hi. sorry for the delay. currently gathering the courage to even put this song thing in my drafts because it's my voice and I'm cringing so hard at myself that my face is imploding but apparently there is a (very small) demand for it??? so??? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

also lamenting my extremely rusty singing voice, barely surface-level knowledge of composing, lack of quality recording equipment/music software, and having no choice but to do this in a decidedly not-soundproof environment

also apprehension about getting my fucking voice stolen asjfhshf but I don't think my internet presence is prominent enough for that to happen...hopefully

#nearly everything creative I've ever posted online is done entirely by myself #music‚ drawings‚ audio reviews‚ those perler bead sprites I did forever ago #so I don't think anyone would expect extremely professional quality when I'm only one guy #but. I'm still gonna be weirdly fuckin self conscious about it asfjshfj

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top-script · 7 months

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call me a classical music composer the way i claude debussy

#top-script original content #this was not peer reviewed so sorry if it is low quality #oh god tags #uhhhh #humor #funny #classical music #idk

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shinygoku · 2 months

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A Hard Day's Night (1964)

March is here and we have a strong entry for this CutCat Reviews Beatles Albums series! However I wanna specify that this is the Album and not the movie, though the Movie is something I'd like to delve into at a later date~

I like the concept behind this cover, conveying some of their Range through multiple pictures. It was oddly hard to get a high resolution pic to put here (I ended up screenshotting the YT upload instead lmao), it's good the actual photos are high contrast. Far from my fav set of images but better than the US version lmao

Anyway, other than being the Album of the Film, this is notable for being the first All-Originals LP, as well as being very John heavy, with George leading vocals on one song, and Ringo having none. Before I hear 'em all, the ones that stick most in my mind are the title track and Can't Buy Me Love, so let's see how the whole album is to experience~

SIDE ONE

A Hard Day's Night: <TWAAAAAAANG--!> An amazing start (if a bit of a Headphones User Jumpscare) and a beautiful medley of their different instruments and vocals. The 2023 remix makes the distinct elements clearer, so I heartily endorse giving it a listen even if ya've heard the song or watched the movie hundreds of times!

I Should Have Known Better: Harmonica is still in heavy use here! After that, the first note is ...less than melodic, but the more words we get into the song the better it gets, until the chorus resets back to the long drawn out "I" again lol

If I Fell: The harmony really offers a pretty sound to this number. It kinda feels like a sequel song to I Wanna Hold Your Hand, albeit I do prefer that one. It's pretty but the way the Ex keeps coming up leaves me unsure of the intended Vibe. I like it more in the Film where John is serenading Ringo tbh :3c

I'm Happy Just to Dance With You: Oh hey, George! And dang, this is the 2nd song to reference Holding Hands, and again it isn't as bodacious as that, but I am enjoying this song on its own merits lmao. It's jaunty and yet casual, there's a warmth to the energy here. It's straightforward and sweet, I'd even go as far as to say it's a hidden gem, and the bass and drums have me moving about~

And I Love Her: A pretty Paul song that perhaps feels more like poetry. Groovy guitars and bongos lend a good atmosphere, and the lyrics paint a nice visual. It kinda feels like the sort of song that is best on a nighttime drive, even though vinyls weren't made for cars lol, just a nice vibe to it...

Tell Me Why: This album has a lot of distinct openings already, doesn't it? This is a Displeased Song, but there's a good groove occuring and dope vocal syncing. Like I Should Have Known Better, I prefer the parts of the song that aren't the title, however this one grows more on me than that lol. Annoyingly, this was not given a 2023 remix, so the lovely drumming work isn't as apparent as it deserves!

Can't Buy Me Love: CAN'T BUY ME LOOOO-OOOVE !! Like, man! That's another hugely catchy opening and refrain, innit~ It's all too easy to be cynical and point out how much cash these lads were raking in, but the words still ring as the truth, and the song is an all-around Bop! I like the little pauses in the instruments each time the "I don't care too much for money" line returns, it's all punctuated so nicely, and the SCREAM! And then an instrumental break between that and looping back into the verse is such an aural treat~

SIDE TWO

Any Time At All: Hmmm, sounds like it's aping From Me To You in sentiments, though obviously the melody of this is different. I'm inclined to put this in the heap of "Original Beatle Songs that still get lost in the shuffle even though it's perfectly decent", but not a hidden gem like I'm Happy Just To Dance With You is lol

I'll Cry Instead: A Bluesy number with a nice rhythm and fun uhh, middle eight? Though the vengeful flavour dampers my enjoyment, what have these "other girls" done to earn your threats, hm? It's not bad but it's not appealing.

Things We Said Today: Ahh yes, the famous reverse-nostalgia song! I like the sentiments but this time the music doesn't feel as memorable and hum-able. The chorus amps the energy up but this Paul one is firmly in the shadow of the other two solos he did on this album. But he do be right; love IS love!

When I Get Home: Hmmm..... this one ain't making a strong impression. The main thought I have is how it's title is similar to the refrain in AHDN "when I get home to you", but without the dope energy that one has. I'm starting to think they frontloaded this album, but there's still a couple'a songs left...!

You Can't Do That: I'm listening to the 2023 version and ooh hi Cowbell! ...wait a sec, a jealousy song? One with threats woven into it? :/ .....how come this was selected for the '23 Red Album? The chorus sounds better but nah, this ain't doing it for me.

I'll Be Back: Hmmm, after the Terminator video suggestions, I opened this song for a creepy stalker song [albeit with good instruments]. I'm bored of these vibes on side two!!!!

CONCLUSION

Best 3: A Hard Day's Night, And I Love Her, Can't Buy Me Love

Blurst 3: I'll Cry Instead, You Can't Do That, I'll Be Back

Overall Quality?: Woooow what a beast of two halves!! Side 1 is hit after hit with all the memorable numbers, and I was starting to wonder if this album was the stealth early best?? And then Side 2 is mostly "Meh" to "Ouugh I don't like this!". Damn. I guess overall I'd say it's Uneven, but with the caveat that side 1 is a lot better overall than the average set by Please Please Me and With The Beatles. Maybe they shoulda crammed a Ringo song in? ¬w¬;;

It's really annoying that Side Two drags it down so much. I like 3's but I'm Happy Just To Dance With You is a close contender for the top 3, but the ones I selected are just soooo Iconic, innit. If I was judging the album just based on the first side I'd say it's Really Great, but I'll hafta save more glowing praise for an album that has it all later down the line...

🪲🪲🪲🪲

Next tiiiiime, on Beatles Ball Z... we see the burnout that occurs after a film, an all-originals album, and of course, the Beatlemania that had them charged at by excited girls and weirdo reporters. Find out what happens in Beatles For Sale!

#The Beatles #A Hard Day's Night #AHDN (Album)#CutCat listens to Bug Music #Music Review #I'm so baffled how the quality is actually a Binary on this one lmao #Normally it's a nice Spectrum but here it's GREAT vs LAME

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mkzmerryfriend · 2 months

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Feeling sad and disappointed, got beats studio buds+ to replace my airpods (1st gen) and I don't know if it's my ears, my hypersensitivity (read: undiagnosed autism), or what, but they sound like shit. They're so quiet and the treble is ear shattering and the bass got left down the street by the bus stop

So many people say they're so much better than like any apple airpod or earbud and I just... I am incapable of hearing it... I wear my old airpods and it feels like I'm in the song, literally inside the song, and the beats sound like I'm outside a window

#their anc was the main thing i wanted out of them but like i cant focus if the sound quality is shit like that #i dont know man i can hardly trust reviews online bc i feel like theyre all wrong lmao #i just want to listen to my music and podcasts #and also not get overstimulated every time someone talks slightly too loud #sigh

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starpros-sunshine · 5 months

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banger music taste there seb

Thank you thank you it's pretty much exclusively people from at least 40 years ago and jpop. No in-between.

#my taste in music is one of my few exquisite qualities #i have no good ones a lot of bad-ish ones and a few exquisite ones #acvording to peer review i havw very good tastes #except in food but...yucky texture....#*basically no good ones I just remembered that being polite and well behaved could count as a good quality technically speaking #Vani🐈#you have very good taste too if I do say so myself i can see we share some preferences on that scale

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musicrunsthroughmysoul · 5 months

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Well, I have a sad thing to report about buying any of Fanny's re-released albums on vinyl.

I only own two Fanny records on vinyl: Charity Ball (which is an original release), and Fanny Hill (which is a re-release).

Guess which one has superior sound quality? 😭

I bought Fanny Hill off of Real Gone Music (so it's not Fanny's fault), and, yeah, I listened to it first and then listened to my copy of Charity Ball, and...huge difference, starting with the general volume (I had Fanny Hill turned WAY UP and I didn't think it was very loud, but I had no idea just how much I had the volume turned up until I took it off and put Charity Ball on and almost blew my eardrums out, LOL), but not ending there; I also felt that the mix of the entire album was raised in pitch? Close to halfway through side one I was low-key expecting to hear chipmunk voices instead of the equally lovely soft tones and growls of Fanny. 😭 And I inspected my record player, and I inspected my speakers, and nothing was wrong with either of them. I also own Fanny Hill on CD and have listened to it (on repeat) enough times that I know what it's supposed to sound like, and even by streaming standards, I know that it sounds lower [in pitch] and louder than what I heard on the vinyl. It's definitely the vinyl.

So to anyone thinking of buying any of Fanny's music, at least, off of Real Gone Music, I recommend that you think twice...and keep checking your local record stores for original copies. This may just be me and the area I live in, but with most indie record stores that I go in, I can tell the staff what albums or whatever that I'm looking for and they will offer to notify me and/or hold on to them for me if they get them in. I don't think it would hurt to ask if they could do that, anyway, but I would think that they would do something like that especially to guarantee a future customer (and pretty much all indie record stores are struggling for those, so it'd be in their best interest, I'd think).

#Fanny band #classic rock #Real Gone Music #vinyl review #(I mean...I guess. I don't know how else to tag this so it might be helpful for people?)#*sigh* amazing that I have Alice de Buhr's signature on the cover of my Fanny Hill album but SUCKS that the sound quality is awful D:#guess I'll be looking for an original copy from now on...😭#winter holidays FANNY IS A-CALLIN' MY NAAAME (like ''COME AND HOLD MEEEEEEE'')

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luuurien · 1 year

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Lil Yachty - Let’s Start Here.

(Neo-Psychedelia, Psychedelic Rock, Neo-Soul)

Though shaggy and not always able to pull you in with its songwriting, Let’s Start Here. is a compelling listen from beginning to end, Lil Yachty’s playful cloud rap transitioning into a psych rock project where his wandering lyricism and laidback performances bring out the best and the boring in him.

☆☆☆

By its very nature, Let’s Start Here. invites conversation: Lil Yachty, an artist known for his druggy, feel-good pop rap trying his hand at the brand of funk and pop-infused psychedelia that dominated much of the 2010s indie scene and has now become a trademark sound of modern alt-pop. It’s not too surprising of a shift, considering Yachty’s feature on a remix of Tame Impala’s Breathe Deeper and professed love of artists like Impala and MGMT, but Let’s Start Here. makes a mark through Yachty allowing himself to try out many different avenues of this psych-pop sound without losing his trademark eccentricities - there’s bits of disco, bits of slow paced psych rock, bits of gooey R&B, but it feels like Yachty to the core. If the source material is familiar, the way Yachty uses them surely isn’t, his autotuned warble and aloof lyricism giving these vibe-focused tunes a weightiness his past rap offerings never could, Let’s Start Here. relaxed with its presentation but honing in on Yachty’s vision in every moment. It might not always turn out with the fullness these claustrophobic mixes and massive instrumental swells try to pull out of him, but not once does Let’s Start Here. feel less than anything but an honest offering from Yachty, even if the hour length and shaggy arrangements across these fourteen songs keep the album from honing in on his vision and making it as concise and potent as the ambitions he has for it. Where the album succeeds is in letting Lil Yachty refresh his sound and keep a humid haze hanging over it all, Let’s Start Here. not particularly risky as a whole but still making this loose psychedelic soul/rock sound his own through their wider atmospherics and emphasis on space. Producers and writers well-known around the indie scene at this point are all around the album: Justin Raisen’s dense production and pristine engineering work for artists like Yves Tumor and Angel Olsen bring the heaviness needed for tracks like the BLACK seminole. and the ride- to hit with that sensual yet noisy psych-rock sound; Magdalena Bay’s sticky funk pop brings a bubblier energy to early highlight running out of time; Mac Demarco’s loose but thoughtful lyricism is all over his writing credits for :(failure(: and drive ME! crazy. On every song, there’s a hefty list of collaborators bringing it all together - this isn’t to say that Let’s Start Here. is entirely derivative, Yachty’s trippy vocal effects and willingness to let his sound roam keeps the album its own distinct listen - but you can easily hear where he’s pulling from in these songs, and it can make the listening experience a bit of a bore once the novelty of Yachty’s genre shift wears off and the songs themselves are all that’s left. It’s easy to buy Yachty in this psych-adjacent lane of pop and rock where hooks and solid song structures are still there with the drifting guitars and snappy percussion loops there to provide that dreamy flair, but it’s when he tries to go for the extremes that Let’s Start Here. exposes his long standing struggles as a songwriter and performer. If you’re going to go for something less melodic and more reliant on atmosphere and mood, you have to have the lyrics and vocal delivery to keep things interesting - magical moments happen every so often, but Yachty doesn’t course correct enough for those little hiccups to go unnoticed. When the songs stick their landings, they're easily some of the best of the year so far: drive ME crazy!’s roller-rink disco is bolstered by a magnificent Diana Gordon performance, while the brash performances and gloomy instrumentation on the maddening I’VE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!! and The Alchemist. feel like the peaks of a bad drug trip in the best way possible - Yachty’s never sounded quite so present and energized in his music before, and the songs are absolutely mesmerizing because of it . Even the poppier tunes on offer take advantage of Yachty’s floaty sound, the ride-’s glossy psych-pop accentuated by a killer Teezo Touchdown feature and running out of time’s plucky bassline matched with its funky horns and hypnotic drum groove, sitting comfortably in Let’s Start Here.’s sound while branching off the usual neo-psych path with heavier arrangements or fusion influences. Where the album struggles, though, is to make the rest of everything engaging as well, longer songs undercut by Yachty’s reserved vocals while tracks that are more middle ground with their tempo and composition don’t have anything exciting to offer: for as commendable tracks like the BLACK seminole. and WE SAW THE SUN! are for diving head first into atmospheric psych-rock, Yachty’s lyrics are too nonspecific to pull you in (“Love is not a lie / It just feels like a Tarantino movie scene,” he sings in the final verse of the BLACK seminole., gesturing at the off-kilter presentation often in Tarantino’s films but unwilling to try and write lyrics that have the same effect”) and the slower tempos leave room for a more dynamic vocal delivery he seems unwilling to try without potentially tarnishing the “vibe” of it all. That feel-over-songcraft dynamic is present all throughout Let’s Start Here., likely a result of his previous cloud rap offerings still lingering in the album’s new sound, and it leaves you wanting to be more immersed in Yachty’s world that so clearly has interesting paths to take - drive ME crazy! and I’VE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!! are vibrant and effortlessly absorbing slices of psychedelia - and with a near hour runtime, Let’s Start Here. begins to feel waterlogged and undercooked before you even reach the halfway point. There’s a lot of good within Let’s Start Here., but past the excitement of hearing Yachty do something so far removed from his previous music there’s not much here to keep you coming back. You can hear his influences so palpably in each track, and when only a handful of songs eclipse what his contemporaries have already done with unique genre blends (running out of time, drive ME CRAZY!) or intense and playful performances (the ride-, The Alchemist.), the vast majority of Let’s Start Here. is either too underperformed or too musically mangy to return to and continually be rewarded with excellent songcraft. But for all the rough patches scattered across Let’s Start Here., it’s still a joy to see an already-established artist fearlessly flip their sound and make quite a bit of magic along the way, Lil Yachty still on his way to making psych-rock entirely his own but undoubtedly paving a path of bold artistic choices few others would be willing to take. It’s messy, but it’s always passionate, Yachty’s drive to do more than ever truly what makes Let’s Start Here. such a delightful listen front to back. He knows what he wants, and he’s incredibly close to fully achieving it.

#lil yachty #let's start here #quality control #funk #neo-psychedelia #neo-soul #pop #psychedelic pop #psychedelic rock #psychedelic soul #rock #soul #2022 #6/10 #album review #album reviews #music review #2023 albums #luuurien

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