‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’ is a disappointing follow-up album from Post Malone
Post Malone’s third studio album “Hollywood’s Bleeding” has already been the #1 album two weeks in a row. Photo by NME.com
Jack Murphy
A&E Editor
Post Malone is back with his third studio album, “Hollywood’s Bleeding.” It has been over a year since his widely successful second album “Beerbongs and Bentleys.” This album features 17 tracks, giving a little under 51 minutes of music to listen to. There were four singles on this album that were released before the full album which include “Sunflower,” featuring Swae Lee from the “Spider- Man: Into the Spiderverse” soundtrack. Personally, I liked all of the previously released tracks and they are all immensely
popular, but the focus of this review will be the other 13 tracks that debuted with the album.
I have been a fan of Post Malone ever since his debut album, “Stoney” that released near the end of 2016. Nearly everything this man drops has either been a hit or near it. His second album, “Beer- bongs and Bentleys,” is one of my favorite albums from last year, and Post Malone’s voice alongside his style make him one of my favorite artists today. While several other rappers have disappointed me this year, such as Chance the Rapper, Logic and Future, I had faith that Post would deliver. To say I have a weird relationship with this album is an understatement.
After my first listen to “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” I hated this album so much. I was walking
around my apartment telling each of my suitemates how terrible this album is, and they agreed. I am uncertain of whether they were genuine or just trying to calm me down. However, I decided to listen to the
songs again because I did not like “Beerbongs and Bentleys” on the first listen either. After around three to four listens, I either gave myself the impression that I liked the album to cover up my disappointment and disbelief that it was bad, or I just was in a bad mood during my first listen trying to find issues with it for the sake of this review.
After multiple different listens mixed with some time, I can conclude “Hollywood’s Bleeding” is a mixed bag. There are many different highlights on the album that standout, one of them being the namesake of the album.The track begins with haunting instrumental and some of Post’s best vocals on the entire album. Halfway through, after he finishes the chorus, the beat changes and picks up the pace of the song, then closes the track out with the chorus and the same instrumental as before.
“A Thousand Bad Times” is an interesting track because the poppy instrumental and Post’s upbeat vocals mixed with lyrics that tell the story of a very toxic relationship should not go together nearly as well as they do. The lyrics are pretty cheesy and mediocre, but the song itself is one of my favorites on the album.
The standout track on the album, and one of the best songs Post Malone has ever released, is “Take What You Want From Me” featuring Ozzy Osbourne of “Black Sabbath” and Travis Scott. The song opens with incredible vocals and a catchy chorus from Ozzy that set the tone and gave me chills the first time I heard it. I did not realize Ozzy Osbourne still sounded this good. Post Malone gives a great verse, sings the same chorus Ozzy sang and then has Travis Scott join in to give his best feature of the year. It is a truly fantastic track everyone should check out ASAP.
The rest of the features on the album are pretty good, excluding Halsey and SZA. SZA does not fit in on the track that she is featured on, and Halsey’s was mixed so poorly that she sounds like an android. When she comes in on the song “Die for Me,” she sounds awkward coming off of a great feature from Future, whose raspy voice sounds as far from pristine and perfect as possible. It at least fits the track, unlike Halsey.
The album struggles in the latter half of the album once “Take What You Want From Me” ends. Besides the aforementioned singles, the tracks “Internet,” “Myself ” and “I Know” are just bland and do not hold their own compared to the rest of the track list.
“Hollywood’s Bleeding” is a fine follow-up album for Post Malone, but it does not have a clear direction like his previous album, and it does not close out strong. With some great tracks on here and quality features, I would still recommend giving the album a listen if you are a fan of either rap, pop or rock music because Post has a very unique sound that is different from what is trendy in mainstream music today. I give “Hollywood’s Bleeding” a C+.