Worst album I´ve heard yet.
Before this album came out, I had already heard some of the singles that came before it like Soap and Dollhouse. Needless to say, they were not good. Basic and bland pop music, but I did think the theme of these were rather... interesting, I guess? Although I had no interest in listening to this album, I had still decided to give it a try. First of all, let's go over one of the worst parts on this album: The Beats/Instrumental The child "aesthetic" this album tries to go for is something I hate about it.
Needless to say, this entire album is complete and utter garbage, back to back (except for Pity party, although even that song is kind of lame). The fact that this is an actual real album with so many listens is insane to me.
This album is basically FILLED to the brim with obnoxious, disgusting, child like beats. On songs like Cry Baby, with this awful snapping beat and clown-sounding instrumental. Or what about Carousel, with the most god-awful carnival beat I've heard (I understand that the song is SUPPOSED to sound like this because.. you know.. Carousel is typical carnival stuff, however, it just doesn't sound good).Or what about the drops on songs like Soap, where it's just bubbles exploding with different pitches, I guess. And you expect me to listen to stuff like this and give an applause to the "art" this album has. But honestly, it has none.
Secondly, let's talk about the second worst part about this album which iiis:
The Way Specific Serious Themes Are Treated In The Album
Now, personally, I think there is nothing wrong with talking about serious topics within songs, specially if you have an experience of this specific topic... Unless you aren't trying to romanticize them or are trying to self insert yourself into them. In this case, it's both.
Melanie in this album not only self inserts herself into these songs about serious topics such as bad families, sexual assault and child kidnapping but she also romanticizes this themes in a way that is frankly disgusting to me.
Take for the example, the song, "Tag, You're it."
This song covers themes of sexual assault, and child kidnapping. And yet the song has an almost playful instrumental and it almost sounds whimsical. This song is genuinely creepy and not in the way she wants it to be, just creepy overall and honestly made me uncomfortable while listening to this. The song after this, Milk and Cookies, is even worse. Which is basically her killing her kidnapper. This song is also garbage and frankly worse than Tag, You're it and this song genuinely angers me on a personal level due to some of the lyrics here.
The only song that treats the theme of it fairly well is Pity Party and is genuinely the only song I thought was okay. It's still pretty bad but overall, compared to the other songs on this album, it's surprisingly well done. This song still has some very bad and cringeworthy lyrics however.
WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY NEXT POINT.
The Lyrics and Terrible Choruses
I cannot STRESS enough how AWFUL the lyrics and choruses in this record are.
Take for example the first track, which is the title track, Cry Baby.
"They call you cry baby, cry baby
But you don't f*cking care
Cry baby, cry baby
So you laugh through your tears
Cry baby, cry baby
'Cause you don't f*cking care
Tears fall to the ground
You'll just let them drown"
This chorus is frankly very corny, and while I understand that some people have genuine emotion problems and it's hard to deal with them, this chorus sounds way too goofy and almost seems like it wants to make fun of the situation.
Or what about the amazing lyrics on Carousel:
"You must be this tall
To ride this ride
At the carnival"
This lyric is basically a sexual innuendo about the love interest in this song. Remind you, the character in this entire album is supposed to be a CHILD. This lyric is insanely creepy and uncomfortable.
This isn't the only time she does this in the album, there is also the lyrics on the chorus for the song Training Wheels.
"I love everything you do
When you call me f*ckin' dumb for the stupid sh*t I do
I wanna ride my bike with you
Fully undressed, no trainin' wheels left for you
I'll pull 'em all off for you"
I don't think I have to explain just how gross these lyrics are, I managed to not skip this track but holy hell.
And I think I can't finish this part of the review without talking about the song Alphabet Boy. This entire song is complete garbage with the FIRST THING Melanie does at the start of this song is babble like she is a toddler (which I find completely weird) and this entire song feels very edgy and childish, even for an album that's supposed to be like that.
Overall, this album is absolutely terrible. It's completely devoid of emotion and absolutely pedophilic. Not only that, but Melanie genuinely doesn't seem to treat some of the themes of this album seriously to the point where it comes off very insensitive and I can totally understand why people who ACTUALLY went through the stuff in this trash were offended by it, terrible lyrics with some that range from overtly edgy or just straight up creepy lyrics. The trashy beats on here. Just a complete mess and a totally overrated album. 0/10. It really is that terrible.
