Frank Ocean: Channel Orange Album Review

Say what you will about the rap click Odd Future, ( believe me, I have ) but it's hard to deny the impact they've had on underground music in the last couple of years. They've manged to garner a lot of attention ,and for obvious reasons; they can be highly offensive, overly aggressive and sometimes, downright genius.

But out of all of Odd Future's members, it's Frank Ocean who seems to be looking for mainstream success the most. With his smooth R&B sound reminiscent of Marvin Gaye, and the fact that he's the most consistent member of the click in terms of quality. And "Channel Orange" only cements that fact.

The album opens with a short instrumental before going into the first real song "Thinkin' Bout You", a soulful tune with Frank Ocean singing the hook in an ear-splitting falsetto. It's a great way to start things off. Unfortunately, the next song "Sierra Leone" is kind of a dud; which is too bad, because the next track "Sweet Life" is really great. In fact this track, and the track "Super Rich Kids" make a nice pair, since their subject matters are very similar, "Sweet Life" talks about how maybe being rich and having "the beach" isn't all its cracked up to be, while "Super Rich Kids" takes a more juvenile approach with Earl dropping a verse about crashing his fathers car. Not to mention that both of these tracks, and really the entire album, have really stellar hooks.

But my favorite tracks all group themselves in the middle of the album, with "Pyramids", "Lost", and "Pilot Jones". "Pyramids" is by far the most ambitious song on the album; it's a 10 minute epic that goes from the death of Cleopatra, to a stripper working in a club called The Pyramid. But it's the way Frank Ocean transitions from one section to another that makes the track truly memorable. "Pilot Jones" is a hazy song that is either about a girl, or weed... or both. And finally "Lost", which easily has the best hook on the entire album, tells a story about a girl who is lost in the world, cooking dope and just getting caught in the rush without finding a place for herself. 

Overall "Channel Orange" is a really great release from an artist who is sure to make a name for himself not only in the modern day R&B scene, but also surpass his mates in Odd Future. Which, to be fair, isn't that hard of a task lately.

9.0