Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (May 13th, 2022) Album • Page 37

Tom Breihan is probably my favorite Stereogum writer

 

Truly some miserable takes on this here very thread between midnight and 12 p.m. the day of release.

 

There was definitely an initial freakout, I mean I know my first listen was a pretty anxious one and I absolutely love the album now.

I think the fact that we didn't even have a tracklist or a single song, and then it just drops....I was so invested in it being good that my midnight thoughts were like "Oh no these are the features? Oh no I hope that's not a song about covid masks...wait Kodak's his sidekick through the whole album...oh shit he's screaming at this girl...oh shit people ahead of me are tweeting about a song about trans people..."

A few days later and I'm just like yup another incredible Kendrick album lol. But this is definitely an album that whoops your ass on first listen if you're super invested in him as an artist

 

This album really is brilliant. Reading along helps immeasurably. "United In Grief" is a fantastic bit of writing in the opener.

 

I’m having a really hard time getting into this and im a Kendrick truther. Hoping it clicks soon

 

I was hungover and unsure about it on first listen but knew there were some great tracks immediately. I think I've done it like 10 times by now, and its all I can think about.

 

Idk I tried again and I really just think this is musically his weakest album by far. There is a lot of content but it's not conveyed clearly or enjoyably enough to want to go through it over and over. The beats are either way too standard or too weird for their own good. I think Kendricks trying to do too much, wish there was a song like Fear or sing about me where he just rode a beat. Wish I liked this more, what a let down.

 

Obviously with an album like this there's always a mad rush to get your take out there, but that doesn't mean that first impressions are inherently invalid

 

good morning Wednesday morning, bringing my brother along to Kendrick in November

 

I listened to it in reverse last night and thought it flowed that way as well. I just mean in the sense of the transitions between tracks & music. Not claiming this in the lyrical sense as I’m still trying to discern things myself

 

y'all were right. disc 1 is Big Steppers. disc 2 is Mr. Morale (also bummed vinyl isn't up yet, but whatever). 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers' CD – Interscope Records

 

Yeah the second the Vinyl is announced i'm clicking buy

 

it's not that we made a guess or anything, we were literally told day 1 that the first 9 and second 9 are two different parts

 

I know, i meant as in which disc was which. just never had official confirmation until now.

 

huh? we were told the name of each half on the day this came out, you probably missed it.

 

probably so. my apologies.

 

Fuck it, song ranking after about 20 listens front to back:

N95
Count Me Out
Rich Spirit
United in Grief
We Cry Together (yeah, I'm fucked up)
Mother I Sober (Kind of wish this was the final track of the album)
Die Hard
Savior - Interlude
Crown
Mr. Morale
Father Time
Auntie Diaries
Savior
Worldwide Steppers
Mirror
Purple Hearts

_____________________

Silent Hill (would have been a lot higher if there was no KB feature)

______________________

Rich (interlude)

 

If "Auntie Diaries" and "Mother I Sober" aren't in your top five then what are you even doing

 

It is confusing given that the album name is out of order with the disc names.

 

The Big Steppers & Mr. Morale doesn't quite have the same ring to it

 

Mr Morale and or the big steppers

 

I’m out of pocket.

 

I made a "DAMN pt ii basically" out of this material and I like it very much

united in grief n95 die hard mr morale father time rich spirit purple hearts crown silent hill count me out heart pt v mother i sober mirror

 

Holy shit is anyone else's tour date absurdly expensive even for nosebleed seats? I got into the presale but I didn't even go through with it because the 400 section was $235 with fees and the actual good seats were $300 or over

I'll try again in the general tomorrow but fuck

 

fuckitupfuckitupfuckitupfuckitup