Welp, here we are. Another reaction to a Murs album, and I can’t lie… I’m very, very sceptical about this one. Some may remember one of the more recent ones I did of these when I discussed Murs’ 2011 EP Varsity Blues 2, and while that EP as a whole was OK, with a couple of really great songs in there, there were a couple that I really didn’t fucking like, and one of those songs happened to be the track “She’s So Lost (Yumi’s Blues)”, a song in which Murs told a story of a girl who sold merchandise at band shows, and who happened to fall in love and get together with the leader of the band. When she discovered he was cheating, however, she… became very sad? The song didn’t have any kind of conclusive ending, and perhaps it was for that reason that the album in discussion today came about. Anyway, the song itself was really, really bad, and not only because of the story, which would maybe work for a comic (wink, wink), but really doesn’t when it comes to a damned hip-hop song. The music on the track was also terrible, with the verses having an inoffensive but in no way enjoyable poppy beat, and the hook incorporating some electric guitars that were about as enjoyable as a broken glass sandwich washed down with a cup of red diesel. I really disliked this track, and so inevitably Murs took its concept and fleshed it out into a whole ten track album (with five most likely useless remixes chucked on the end of that too!!), which he put out in mid-2012 to the reception of absolutely no-one, despite the excellence of his prior effort Love & Rockets Vol 1: The Transformation, which I loved and have in rotation to this day.
Yumiko: Curse Of the Merch Girl (which is a stupid title for
an album by the way) was the first so-called “concept album” in the Murs
catalogue, and to help him he bought in producer Foundation, mastermind behind
absolutely nothing else that you might have heard of, so that’s good. At the
moment, my rating for him is about a three out of ten (since he did that “She’s
So Lost” song), but hey, it can only get better from here. Oh, and since I haven’t
mentioned it yet, “She’s So Lost” does show up on this album too, which leaves
me with two problems. A = what’s going to happen after that (it’s track three)?
And B = is this album going to have that poppy, occasionally rocky sound we
heard on that song, that I myself bloody despise?
Well, I guess the only way to find out is by jumping headfirst
into this project. And who knows, maybe it’ll be better than I think? Still, a
whole concept album based on this concept?? I really don’t see how this
is going to work.
Oh, and all of the songs are produced by Foundation, in case
I didn’t make that clear before.
1. 1. Love
Well, consider me surprised, because this song was great,
and honestly such a strong way to open up this album. Foundation brings us an
instrumental that’s wonderfully gritty, with the chorus containing some nice
little synths too which really help with the emotional progression of the track,
and Murs went in on this one, describing a relationship that was also seen in “She’s
So Lost”, where the man leading the band is a bit of a dickhead, and the
girl is none the wiser, despite apparently being right there on tour with him.
The production on here was honestly impeccable, and Murs killed it with a great
delivery and an enticing story to tell. Honestly, I think I was a bit harsh in
the intro paragraphs. This might not be too bad.
1. 2. She’s So Lost
This was the song that I had already heard on the Varsity
Blues 2 EP, but I was pleasantly surprised anyway to find out that the shitty instrumental
used on that version is nowhere to be found here, replaced by something more
intense, and also a lot more hip-hop centric. It still has some godawful guitars
in the hook, but still this beat is good. And one reason why it’s so good is
that it very much changes the tone of this song to mark the dire situation
being described as something more intense and important, and this is plainly
for the best – that beat on the older version of this song really did bring it
down. I’m still not hugely enthralled by this content, and the imagery painted
in the second verse gets uncomfortable to hear, but still, I’m glad this
version is better sonically now.
2. 3. On Your Own
Aside from Murs’ insistence to include a terrible chorus
that isn’t catchy in the slightest, but instead just serves to interrupt his narrative
for no apparent reason, this song was pretty great too. The instrumental from
Foundation is well made and sounds great throughout the track, and Murs
addressing the girl he’s told the story of in the last two songs was also very
necessary. This one isn’t essential listening by any means, but it serves its
purpose well next to these other two songs. I liked this one.
3. 4. An Eye For An Eye
Naming your song after a phrase that’s been used in hip-hop
about 274,000 times before? Interesting. Instrumentally, this song was really
good, as Foundation provides an instrumental that DMX might have rhymed over in
the late ‘90s, had he not fallen for the terrible sound Swizz Beatz was pioneering
at that time. The dark pianos and the slow pace make for a dark and haunting
atmosphere, which leads to my problem here – these lyrics don’t match it at
all. Murs talks to the listener about the pain one might feel when their heart
has been broken, and while this is all very sad, why exactly did it warrant this
excellently creepy beat? It makes no sense to me. Yeah, this track should have been good,
but unfortunately the lack of communication between lyrics and beat pull it
down a notch for me. Also, the hook is terrible.
4. 5. God’s Gone Crazy
Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting this. What I was expecting from this album was fairly uninteresting storytelling over bad, commercial beats, and what did I get on this song? Easily one of the best Murs tracks I have ever heard. Not only was the instrumental on here incredible, with a generally creepy air put in by the electronic sound effects, but Murs’ lyrics were easily some of his best yet so far. Murs kind of abandons the concept of the album for this track, instead talking about how crazy it is that people cause hurt and death so often purely because of religion – something that Murs rightfully states here as not being provable anyway. The song isn’t anti-religious at all, but instead encourages peace, but in a way that’s incredibly clever and insightful, not annoying and pretentious. I think one line sums this one up pretty well – “Murdering in the name of your god is still murder”. What an incredible track.
5. 6. Mr. M
Uhh… I guess Murs really has given up on the (admittedly
terrible) concept this album had, as this track is all about the devil himself,
who Murs personifies as “Mr. M” for some reason that probably makes sense to
the people in his office block. I didn’t care for the beat here at first, as it
sounded too bouncy and honestly a little silly, but as the song went on I found
my interest increasing, and I thought Murs’ “everything bad that happens is because
of the devil!!” subject matter to be fairly well executed, even though it’s a recycled
topic. Also, we got some record scratching here, which is always appreciated,
even if the scratches are horribly placed.
6. 7. Falling In Flames
Murs actually seems to return to the concept of the album
here, all the while offering an explanation for the last song and why it was placed on this album – because the guy who he’s talking about fell for the temptation the
devil instigated in him, silly! This one is about a guy who effectively sold his soul
(as they say) for fame, and it’s quite a harrowing tale with an interesting
connection back to Yumi, who hasn’t even been mentioned since, like, track
three. I mean, what’s up with that? The instrumental here was dope as hell, and
Murs killed the lyrics. I really liked this one. Nice video, too.
1. 8. Loki & Puck
Murs starts off by telling us that this one is about to
change things up into some “hood shit“, and the results are pretty great.
Foundation provides a more rock influenced instrumental here, but thankfully it’s
easily fast enough to keep things going, without the song getting boring at any
point. Meanwhile, Murs continues the tale of this album by recounting Yumiko’s
next activities – leading on two gang members who were quite well-known in the
hood, and in the end shooting them both while they were all in a car together. Well,
damn. This song was honestly really entertaining, and with a bit more variation
in the beat it could be even better.
2. 9. Piece Now
So… I guess Yumi came back to kill Dom and his bandmate? That’s the only thing I can discern from this storytelling track, but then again I’ll probably need more listens of this album to really understand this whole story. This track was short and sweet, and that instrumental was nice as hell. Not necessarily a massive standout, but still pretty great nonetheless. Oh, and the “here’s a little story that must be told” scratch at the end reminded me very much of Common’s song “Book Of Life”, since it’s the exact same sample. That’s dope too!
10. The Only One / Final
Well, I’m not entirely sure what the name for this one is,
since streaming and the CD give it different titles, but still, I’ll put them both
up there just to avoid confusion. After some terribly grating synths start
things up, the full beat comes on, and… I really don’t like it. The synths themselves
are bad enough, but having them play a truly horrible melody as well is just
the nail in the coffin – this is quite easily the weakest beat on the album. A
shame, as even though the first few lines seemed a bit corny, Murs’ delivery on
this one was really heartfelt, and I actually really dug most of his performance
here. This definitely wasn’t the most potent way he could have ended the album,
but it’s OK nonetheless. Oh, and that extended outro music was pretty cool too.
As I stated in the intro paragraphs, there are five extra remixes stuffed onto the end of some versions of this album, but I'll probably check those out later - and I don't think I require much more to convince me that this album is dope anyway.
Well, consider me surprised. This album not only surpassed my incredibly low expectations, but it's also made it's way up to position of being one of my favourite Murs albums ever. Honestly, I don't know how this thing doesn't get more props - the beats are sick, the rapping is excellent, and the consistency is there in spades too. The beats on here are less sample based, and sound more modern than some of the stuff Murs has rhymed over on his previous few efforts, and that's a good thing, as these instrumentals are honestly perfect for Murs' voice. Some of the darker beats are my favourites, but even the more light-hearted ones work, and this overall just sounds more inventive and interesting than some of his later albums with 9th Wonder (although the beats don't quite match the ones on Love & Rockets Vol 1: The Transformation in my opinion). Then we come to Murs, who manages to engage throughout this thing with a great storyline that he executes well, and doesn't bore us with either, sometimes going slightly off topic to relate something, and throwing in little twists and things to keep things moving along. And, while his lyrics themselves occasionally swerve into corny territory, a lot of the time they contain very quotable bars and excellent subject matter - this man is overall very dope, even at this later stage in his career. My one gripe with the project would be the underwhelming hooks that appeared on a lot of these songs - most of the time Murs' hooks just sound like four regular bars that happen to be repeated a lot, and more often than not they serve to interrupt, rather than add to the song in a positive way. Still, aside from that, this was a really intriguing concept album, and I'm really, really happy that I liked it so much. It's crazy how the song from Varsity Blues 2 was significantly worse than anything that actually appeared on here - including the version of that song with a new beat. I'd definitely recommend a listen here - it's another project in a catalogue that continuously proves to be one of the more underrated and consistent in the game.
Expectations: Exceeded
Best Track: "God's Gone Crazy"
Worst Track: "The Only One"
Catch up on the ever-growing Murs-athon over here!
No comments:
Post a Comment