Lights - The Listening (2009)
Man, I am one beta fuck. When I was a teenager, I had a pretty fucking awful time with a female to the point where I was absolutely delusional and thought literally 99% of women existed simply to hurt me, which is hilariously embarrassing as much as it was pathetic and sad, and one of the things that helped pull me out of it was listening to Lights. I'd just sit in my room at night, play video games and listen to Lights, and for some reason it really helped me in the healing process, I guess because I was listening to a happy, calming female voice as I was engaging in things that I loved. I don't know, dude, it's stupid but it helped. I think Lights is a fucking brilliant musician for what she does, which, yeah, obviously she isn't Mike Patton or whatever else, but I think there's generally more to Lights' music than is commonly thought, because some people just reblog pictures of her on Tumblr and never check out her music, assuming her to be some generic popstar, and I gotta be honest with you: Fuck you. She helped produce every single fucking song on here herself (with a little bit of help, sure) and that is a lot fucking more than most popstars do.
One thing that's pretty shocking to hear on this album if you've heard any of her other albums, is how little of her vocal range she tends to use, keeping to the quieter, cuter side of things most of the time, and very tragically, her vocals can be SLATHERED in autotune on a track or two! It is so fucking hard to make it through the opening track "Saviour" because of it, and I'd honestly say it's the only track on here I don't care for, which sucks since it's the intro to the album. On this album, she kinda comes across as a female equivalent of Owl City, and I can dig that, because Adam Young can be like the musical equivalent of eating candy with -too- much sugar in it, whereas Lights is much more tolerable for me. This album has some pretty great moments for pop music: I think "Ice", "February Air" (that one might be the best track on here, to be honest), "Lions", and ESPECIALLY "Quiet" (which samples MOTHERFUCKING "Ghetto Dreams" BY NAS. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, THAT WASN'T EVEN A SINGLE. WHAT THE FUCK?!) among some others (I think "River" is fucking great for the atmosphere it brings) but overall I don't think this is my favorite Lights album from beginning to end, even if it can be a really fun time. I think this album is definitely worth checking out if you're a Lights fan who hasn't heard it, if anything, to see how far she's come from this album, but as much as I like it, I can't recommend it be your first Lights album, but please, PLEASE, if you listen to it, get the bonus track "Up Up and Away".. One of her best tracks that was just too damn good to be left off of the album.
8/10
________________________________________________________
Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
