Butch Walker - American Love Story (May 8, 2020) Album • Page 6

"Everything White" is

It might even be worse than "Get Stupid With You".

 

i assume it leaked? my apple music still says its due tomorrow

 

it's tomorrow in much of the world already

 

time does not exist anymore

 

Right?! Just big ol' swing and a miss. The difference is that "Get Stupid with You" is supposed to be stupid. And the "Blinded By the White" interlude makes me like it even less.

 

Musically, there is a lot of sweet 80s pop rock on this though.

 

Just listened all the way through - some good moments, particularly Gridlock, Fuck It (I Don't Like Love) and Out in the Open. I found it difficult to get into the album as a whole. The lyrics and the subject matter of the songs clashed somewhat with the music for me, particularly on Everything White. The music was great on this track, the lyrics...not so much.

I also found it difficult to relate to some of the subject matter, not being American. The racism, homophobia, misogyny etc touched on is not as prevalent an issue in Australia (at least I'd like to think so) compared to a Trump led America.

 

My plan is to go into my first listen like I'm listening to a movie.

 

Good god this is so incredibly 80s and somehow i love it anyway. Really enjoyed that first listen.

 

I dunno, I feel like it's still there, maybe a bit more subtle. I grew up in North Queensland and there's definitely a bunch of people up there who share a lot of this dudes attitudes.

 

I think you're right. There are definitely elements but it doesn't play out in the political sphere in the same way to amplify it.

 

Hey guys, just joined the forum, cause everyone's music taste is spot on here.

That being said, big Butch fan, I found a lot of this to be cringe-worthy. I appreciate the idea, but it's not for me currently. Hopefully, its a jam for some others, but I think I just wanted "Stay Gold, Pt.2" (which musically, this kind of is)

Will probably add "Gridlock", "Pretty Crazy", and maybe "Forgot to Say I Love You" to my Butch playlist and move on.

 

Wow that's a lot of exposition I didn't pick up on my first listen haha. Maybe I need to sit down with the lyrics but I liked this one my first listen

 

I'm about halfway through my first listen and everyone's pretty spot on about this being good musically, but the lyrics are REALLY grating. This is the type of stuff that midwest conservatives criticize as coastal elites talking down to them. It's too on the nose.

 

Yeah I see what @Craig Manning meant now the lyrics aren't disguised AT ALL on some songs. I'll prolly repeat listen to Gridlock, Pretty Crazy, Fuck It, You Gotta Be Just Who You Are and maybe Flyover state.

 

I wish he gave more time to the love story and the relationship between the father and son and maybe just 1-2 songs to painting the protagonist as a bigoted asshole.

 

Yeah I basically just wish he disguised the political messages a little more so I could blast it in my car and sing along to it. But that's very obviously not what he wanted to do.

 

Blinded by the White... OOF. So Bad.

 

Appreciate what he was going for, and don’t think it’s bad by any stretch (except for that one song), just not something I want to return to a ton? It’s fun to hear him take the piss out of MAGA folk, but the change of heart mid-album felt a little cheap? I don’t know. Maybe I misinterpreted the story, so correct me if I’m wrong (I did listen at 1:00AM), but a storyline that hinges on “I was homophobic until a queer person saved me” seems a little... weak. Like if you’re going to have us invest all this time into a despicable central figure, give us a little more to sink our teeth into as he goes through changes. The abruptness and convenience lessens the impact of what he was trying to do here.

 

This is what I've been grappling with in the review that I'm trying to finish. The character basically has no redeeming qualities throughout the first half of the record. It makes the turn less believable and the arc overall harder to invest in.

 

I've only listened to this album once, but it kinda worked for me. The music is fucking great, and I actually like the directness or on-the-nose-ness of the lyrics toward the beginning of the album. It is in no way what I would have expected or wanted out of him as far as a new album goes, but I think he pulled this type of idea off better than say Frank Turner with the song "Make America Great Again". He had balls and these songs have teeth and he really went for it. Craig's (and other peoples') critiques about the turn being abrupt are very valid, but it struck me more as a result of the constraint of working within the framework of a normal length album full of short-ish songs. Like there is an overall arc here but the songs are only showing us important chunks along the way.

Hearing Butch sing some of these lyrics in the first person set to really catchy music is absolutely jarring as fuck and it definitely makes me uncomfortable. I don't necessarily think this is going to happen in this case but this always makes me leery of a Bruce Springsteen / Born In The USA type situation where people pick like 4 words from the song to focus on and completely ignore what Bruce Springsteen is actually fucking saying with the entire song.

"Blinded By The White" and "Everything White" are not for me though. Not at all. Big misses there in my book, although I do respect the intent.

Like I said, I only listened once, and there is a good chance this is an album I do not go back to much at all, if ever or one that I am afraid to even listen to driving in my car with the windows down.

 

I’m not paying much attention to the lyrics but I’m really into what I’ve heard of this. Blinded by the White is fun but kinda corny. I’ll just have to remember to never google the lyrics or concept for this

 

Ah, second listen now and I'm catching a racial slur or two

 

Just starting this ... I’m nervous.