As someone who is always listening to and reviewing new music, I’ll often find myself going back to an album weeks or months later and feeling slightly different about it. Humans aren’t perfect, we constantly change our thoughts, feelings and opinions on a variety of art and culture. Depending on the day, I could instantly fall in love with something, or I could think the exact opposite. Here are some of my most notable shifts in opinion on albums from the past few years. In my opinion, of course.
Lana Del Rey – “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd”: 6.5 ➡ 8.3
When I first spun “Ocean Blvd” last year, I mostly wrote it off as just another sleepy Lana Del Rey release. But just a couple months ago, I decided to dive deeper into her catalog to truly see what I was missing, and it all finally clicked with me. Hearing her classic records from “Norman F***ing Rockwell!” to “Ultraviolence,” everything started to make sense and made me wonder why I was dodging her for so long. Her captivating voice, unorthodox lyrics and Americana-based piano-pop all managed to hook me this time. Now coming back to “Ocean Blvd” with most of her previous catalog under my belt, I was able to fully appreciate the new record that much more and can safely say it’s one of her best releases ever. I’m officially Lana-pilled.
BROCKHAMPTON – “TM”: 8.7 ➡ 7.4
The boyband’s surprise epilogue of an album was heart-wrenching for a lot of fans, myself included. Coming right after Kevin Abstract’s airing of their breakup and celebration of the group on “The Family,” “TM” was a nice moment of closure for the rest of the bandmates. Though looking back now, “The Family” is packed full of emotion and nuance from Abstract, while “TM” feels more like a contractual obligation. Most of these songs were old demos they just polished in time for this release. Sure, there is still some emotion and rawness in these tracks, but when it comes to the amount that’s on “The Family” or even the group’s previous album “Roadrunner,” there’s no comparison. Once the effect of the band’s split wore off on me, I just found myself returning to this record less and less. There are still some solid tracks for sure, but if I want to relive this period of the band, I’d go back to the more emotive work before this B-sides collection.
James Blake – “Friends That Break Your Heart”: 7.5 ➡ 8.8
Back in 2021, the only work of Blake’s I was super familiar with was his contributions to the “Black Panther” soundtrack. So going into this new record, I really didn’t know what to expect. I liked “Friends That Break Your Heart” on first listen, but then I just kept listening and listening. Soon it became one of my most listened to albums of the entire year in only a few weeks. This finally got me intrigued to check out more of his stuff. To see him blossom from electronic, house and breakbeat to what became introspective singer-songwriter pop tunes on “Friends,” I was nothing short of dumbfounded. Looking back on his work now, this record and his follow-up last year, “Playing Robots into Heaven,” remain my favorite projects of his and his most perfected soundscapes. I’m eager to see where he goes next.
Harry Styles – “Harry’s House”: 8.0 ➡ 5.9
I’ve tended to always root for Harry Styles’ solo output. Ever since One Direction went their separate ways, Styles’ artistry seemed the most interesting. His self-titled debut as well as “Fine Line” wore this throwback pop-rock sheen well, crafting timeless hits like “Sign of the Times,” “Adore You” and countless others in the process. With his third album “Harry’s House,” obviously, I was excited, but maybe that was the problem. Coming back to this record almost two years later and not much of anything stands out to me. With his first album it felt like a well-rounded singer-songwriter record, with “Fine Line” it brought in more rock and glam elements and with “Harry’s House” it just kind of exists. Sure, there are some catchier, poppier hooks in places but in the grand scheme of things there’s not a lot different about this one. It doesn’t do anything that the first two didn’t do better to me. At this point I’m just hoping for a greater reinvention next time around.
These four examples are just a handful of my numerous takes that have changed over time. Some more drastic, some not as much. It just goes to show you that opinions are allowed to change, and they do all the time. Nobody’s perfect, so why do our opinions have to be?
