Frank Ocean: channel ORANGE Review

Frank "Orange"?

Album: channel ORANGE

Artist: Frank Ocean

Genre: R&B/Neosoul

7.9/10

     “I feel like a free man.  If I listen closely… I can hear the sky falling too.”  Say what you will about Frank Ocean’s letter, that it was a publicity stunt, that the timing of the release matched too perfectly with the release of his album, the letter itself is moving and a complete testament to Ocean as a person.  The letter itself is a perfect intro to the themes of sexuality, love, despair, and hope present in Channel Orange.  On Channel Orange Ocean takes us through stories and situations ranging from falling in love with a drug dealer to the story of a lowly prostitute working down by the Luxor in Las Vegas, using a beautiful alto and a little help from some big names, André 3000, John Mayer, Tyler, the Creator, and Earl Sweatshirt.  The messages and ideas are pretty clear on Channel Orange, but the question is, are they executed well?

     Channel Orange is, by definition, a Rhythm and Blues album, but there are more aspects underlying these songs.  “Super Rich Kids” features a choppier, quarter-note based groove that moves closer to hip-hop than to soul or R&B.  “Sierra Leone” has a incredibly filtered drum part with acoustic guitar flourishes.  ‘Crack Rock” features a jazz-hop groove, with a lay-back drum beat and punchy organ hits.  ‘Pyramids” is the craziest example however, employing a strong electro influence, relying on a synth line that would not seem out of place on a dance track.  There is definitely something to be said for the diversity of sounds here.

     But for all of the influences and separate samples and ideas, I found myself wanting more, with some songs displaying an interesting sonic direction that would not be heard again on the album.  Not that I would want to hear an entire album of ‘Sweet Life’, but this album seem to have it’s fingers in many different cookie jars.

     The lyrics of this album follow a pattern, and it is very clear that this album is meant to be heard exactly in order.  “Sierra Leone”, “Sweet Life”, “Not Just Money”, and “Super Rich Kids” all follow the theme of how riches corrupt lives.  In “Sweet Life” Ocean swoons and swells about a girl living in the lap of luxury, ignorant of the world around her: “Why see the world?/When you got the beach.”  The interesting “Not Just Money” is a minute-long rant rant running counter to “Sweet Life” from one of Ocean’s friend’s mothers: “It’s the difference between having a home/and living on the streets”  “Super Rich Kids” is actually a story narrated by Earl Sweatshirt and Frank about a dumbass rich kid who crashes his dad’s Jaguar.  Earl does an admirable job and is given the responsibility of writing the hook, and in a slow, disgusted voice he raps: “Too many bottles of this wine we can’t pronounce/Too many bowls of that green, no lucky charms”.  After that we have a 2 songs about drugs ruining relationships.  “Pilot Jones” lets the listener experience a relationship with a drug dealer, “the pot dealer with the sweetest kiss I’ve ever known”  Ocean dubs his voice over the chorus to create a dark chorus that illustrates the emotion of the relationship nicely.  The album’s final tracks really showcase the themes personal to Frank himself.  On “Forrest Gump” Frank uses Jenny’s relationship with Forrest as a metaphor for his own love life, choosing to sing through the perspective of Jenny, making a statement about the trials of his sexuality.  But the best song by far on this LP is the hauntingly beautiful “Bad Religion”.  From the moment that organ holds down the opening chord until the last hand claps the hairs on my neck stand on end.  It’s such a simple story, Ocean is sitting in a cab, hoping to vent some of his fears, but only finds more confusion and distress: “He said ‘Allahu akbar’, I told him don’t curse me/’bo bo you need prayer’, I guess it couldn’t hurt me/If it brings me to my knees/It’s a bad religion/This unrequited love/To me it’s nothing but/A one-man cult/And cyanide in my Styrofoam cup/I could never make him love me.”

     There are really some standout tracks here, and that’s somewhat of a problem.  Other songs have so much potential with such songwriting, but the final execution sometimes comes off as dull.  The production is varied, and while every song here has merit, not all come together into one cohesive idea.  Tracks like “Sierra Leone”, “Monks”, “Super Rich Kids”, and “Pyramids” did not hit me nearly as hard as tracks like “Lost” “Sweet Life” or “Bad Religion”.  It’s a very good effort, but it’s just shy of a great effort.  7.9 channels out of 10.