Hi! Thanks again for 2,000 views. I genuinely didn't expect to get that many views this quickly, especially after the many times my blog got deactivated in the past. To celebrate, I'm gonna post three consecutive album reviews. The first one in the series is Billie Eilish's Hit Me Hard and Soft, which I planned on reviewing a few months ago right after my TTPD review, but didn't bring myself to do it, then got really busy so I just decided I didn't feel like posting anything, and then my brief period of heightened disinterest in pop music led me to totally disappear for a while, and then when I came back I kinda forgot about reviewing this album in the first place... but either way, I don't think I even gave this album as a whole a good enough chance on my first few listens, so I listened to it again and decided to include in my album review series.
Now, it's only 10 tracks, but almost all the songs have a lot packed into them, many of which are uniquely split into multiple distinct sections. However, it's still just considered 10 songs, so I'm treating them as they are, because... well, they are. I will say though, it's hard to make a short album effective. TTPD had 31 tracks so there was room for error, and a lot of 4/5s didn't really affect the score much, but a 10-track album is far more likely to have its score brought down if there's too many songs that aren't 5/5s. While it's definitely not the greatest masterpiece I've heard in my life or anything, it's actually a really cool album. So let's get into it!
1. Skinny
My rating: 5/5 Great
Unlike almost all of the other albums I've reviewed on here, the opening track is immediately a favorite. I saw somebody call it a continuation of What Was I Made For, and I actually think it's somewhat of an improvement over WWIMF. It actually reminds me of Olivia Rodrigo's Teenage Dream (one of my favorite songs, like, ever) in that a lot of the lyrics are questions, like "Am I acting my age?". Obviously the lyrics are the highlight here, but it's also musically a step up from WWIMF, with more evolution, and it's in A Major which almost always means it's amazing. The string-based instrumental outro actually kind of surprised me; one of the main things I love about Billie's music is how she experiments with many sounds and blends genres, so this is definitely a fantastic example of that.
2. Lunch
My rating: 4/5 Good
So... I have somewhat conflicting opinions here. This is the lead single, and like with TTPD and Eternal Sunshine, the lead single isn't bad, but kinda underwhelming for a radio hit. It's okay. I mostly like it musically, although it is a bit repetitive at times. The lyrical concept is good but it does have a lot of lyrics that I think are somewhat cliches in love songs, like "she might be the one", "I can never get enough", "you were made for me", "I'm interested in more than just being your friend", etc. I feel like there are much better and more creative ways to say these things, so the chorus is just a bit bland, but the verses are actually pretty good. So, this is a good song, but I wouldn't have made it the lead single.
3. Chihiro
My rating: 5/5 Great
Now this is the kind of music I like to hear from Billie. It's got a really unique synth instrumentation that I can't even really describe, and part of what I really love about this song is that I don't know what genre to call it. It's just this super cool blend of sounds that works in the best way possible. Now as for the lyrics, I honestly didn't know what Chihiro meant, but it reminded me of Ilomilo for some reason. So I looked it up, and as it turns out, the origin of the title is similar to the origin of the Ilomilo title also. It's once again the name of a character, this time from a movie that I was not familiar with, called "Spirited Away", and apparently it's comparing the lyrical themes of love and loss to Chihiro's experience in the movie. Even though I didn't get the reference at first, it's still a really amazing song as per usual for Billie Eilish. I mean, just listen to The Bolter by Taylor Swift; even to fully appreciate a song, you don't have to be entirely sure what the song's supposed to mean from the first few listens.
4. Birds of a Feather
My rating: 4/5 Good
Kind of like what happened with ICDWABH, this is that one random non-single that Hits 1 decided to pick up on for no reason, so I think I've heard this as much (or possibly even more) than the actual single, Lunch. Although I'm much more familiar with this one and Lunch than all the other ones, this one, much like Lunch, kinda falls short for me. It's a decent song, it's got some nice lyrics and the production sounds alright, I guess it just doesn't do anything super interesting compared to some of the more unbelievably incredible songs on here. Alright, moving on.
5. Wildflower
My rating: 5/5 Great
Two insanely predictable rhymes at the beginning (heart/apart and girl/world) didn't really bring the song down at all for me. The lyrics are simple but relatable, telling a story of a breakup resulting in strong love for someone prevailing. And the evolution here is basically Vampire-level perfection, starting as a soft guitar ballad, picking up ever so slightly in the first chorus, then adding a subtle and simple drum beat but with the same underlying feeling, and then blowing up in the second chorus, and then returning to the softer guitar at the end.
6. The Greatest
My rating: 6/5 Amazingly Unbelievable Beyond Just About Anything I've Heard from Billie Thus Far And Since I Love Making The 6th Category Different Everytime I Could Keep Going As Long As I Want But Whatever, Okay Let's Get To the Review Now
Yeah, this is definitely a favorite from the album. Take all the evolution from Wildflower, but turn it up to 100. Remove any predictable rhymes, and top it off with these super relatable lyrics. It's another song about the complexities of love, ironically saying that Billie is "the greatest" at being overly nice and patient with her girlfriend without any rewards, and then at the end she closes off by admitting she hated it, and thinks her girlfriend should have been "the greatest" to her. I love how this album really covers just about every aspect of love, and this is certainly a standout song.
7. L'amour De Ma Vie
My rating: 5/5 Great
Okay, this is a bit of a weird one. It's the first of three songs on here that's split into multiple short sections. This is really cool, because it takes a single concept of a breakup and reflects on a change in emotion overtime. The first section is slower and softer, showing regret and challenges, but the second half is intentionally more upbeat and poppy, and the lyrics are more confident and angry in tone. Interesting song. It's definitely not my favorite, but it's up there.
8. The Diner
My rating: 4/5 Good
Yeah, this is another one that isn't amazing. It's mostly just an issue with the production. It doesn't really do anything cool for the first half or so, it kinda sounds like that "Kahoot" music. But it does have some cool elements to it later on, but it is somewhat generic-sounding even then. The lyrics are alright but I guess nothing too special. So yeah, another underwhelming song but not bad in the slightest.
9. Bittersuite
My rating: 5/5 Great
Well, we've arrived at another song that uses a few different sections. Unlike L'amour De Ma Vie's two sections, this has three parts, and is considered to be reminiscent of a musical suite, hence the name Bittersuite. However, Bittersuite doesn't mean the same thing as Bittersweet, as the lyrics to this song are very bitter, and not sweet at all, which is actually quite interesting. The first section is a bit of a slower synth thing, and then the second section sounds like The Diner but better, and then the ending is essentially a transition into Blue. Which leads me straight onto the final track of the album...
10. Blue
My rating: 6/5 Stunningly Beautiful And Probably As Good as The Greatest, No Pun Intended Because That's the Actual Song Name, And It's Way Too Amazing of a Song to be Just Blue Tier, Hahaha Funny Funny Get It Because I Make Puns on Song Titles And I Said Blue and The Song is Blue And I Make Really Dumb Jokes And No One Knows Why, Okay Let's Get To the Review Now
Sorry for trying way too hard to make every name for the 6/5 category "different" every time lol. But seriously tho, two 6/5 songs on one album? I thought for sure nothing could top The Greatest in terms of sheer amazingness... but this is the one. Six minutes of pure musical and lyrical genius. It's got two slightly longer sections that could even be seen as two different songs, and they kind of are, but they have connected themes. The beginning section is very simple (and sounds like the ending of Bittersuite), and was based on a song she wrote when she was 14 called True Blue, with fairly straightforward lyrics, but also calling back previous tracks on the album. The second part is my favorite part of the whole album I think. Apparently it's based on another unreleased song called Born Blue that was cut from Happier than Ever, and I'm honestly kinda glad it wasn't on Happier than Ever, because it just fits so well with the first part, yet it's so different. I love it. It's got an amazing melody, and the lyrics are beautiful. These songs are somewhat unrelated lyrically, with True Blue being about previous themes from the album of a complex love situation and trying to move on, but Born Blue acknowledges someone facing hardships growing up. But as Billie Eilish herself as said, combining these two blue-related but lyrically contrasting songs written earlier on is like combining two older eras of herself with her new self. And that ending is just great - "But when can I hear the next one?" Now, on the surface this just seems like a joke since the album is over, but it may also reference pressure artists are put under to constantly release new music. Some people have also theorized that it could hint at a second album, and there's the Ilomilo theory that the next album will be red and whatnot, but I don't want to get into all that right now. Anyway, fantastic album closer.
Conclusion
Overall album rating: 98% (Great Album)
Wow, this album got a higher score than the main 16-track TTPD album, and is my second highest-scoring album I've reviewed so far, tied with Sour, just behind Guts. Now, even though it didn't have the highest average score, it might just be one of the most consistently good albums I've ever heard. Obviously it's got some absolute masterpieces, and some slightly more generic, less interesting tracks, but none of them really stuck out to me as being bad, or even just mediocre.
Favorite songs: The Greatest, Blue
"Least" favorite song: The Diner
That's all for now! Byeeeeeeeeee!
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