Posner's first mixtape, "A Matter of Time," promised future success with studio albums, however, his first album didn't get close to reaching the level of his mixtapes.
To start, Posner's voice proves whiny and raspy, which didn't suprise me considering this was the case from the beginning. Yet, in his earlier music the heavily nasal sound worked because he was much more reliant upon rapping. Here, however, the sound got plain boring. Also, the love songs were absolutely tiresome. Posner may not necessarily want to or need to appeal to rap enthusiasts, but with all the crying love songs on his album, he definitely gravitates towards R&B/pop. Here's each song (emboldened titles are the songs worth listening to):
Please Don't Go- Posner would agree this is the best song on his album evidenced by Please Don't Go's early release. Don't Go keeps a steady beat with an added synth beat after the intro. Together, the song has is very catchy and is proving to be Posner's second hit song after Cooler Than Me.
Bow Chicka Wow Wow- After Posner released this song on his Myspace a week before his album's release, I became a little nervous. Bow Chicka Wow Wow's cheesy lyrics and slow beat can't match any of his earlier songs that which featured Posner somewhat rapping (i.e. Hey Cupid on "A Matter of Time").
Déjà Vu (Feat. Boyz II Men)- Déjà Vu starts out strong with Posner pseudo-rapping, but about halfway through, the song falls apart. Boyz II Men do about 24 seconds and are unnoticeable for the rest of the song. Once again, Posner goes with the love song and tells his girl to "come over so we can have deja vu." Boring...
Do U Wanna (Feat. Cisco Adler)- The pop sound works here. Why? Mainly because the song Posner sampled in this, You Are the Best Thing by Ray LaMontagne, provides a very good base. Overall, this is one of the better songs on the album and one that I'll listen to again.
Cheated- Proving he won't fully succumb to the new fleet of artists who respect women, Posner comes out with Cheated. Posner shows an angry side here, however I'm even angrier I wasted three minutes listening to the worst of Posner's album.
Gone in September- Some critics labeled this song as the whiniest song on the album, but this is the catchiest song on Posner's album. The song sounds like the offspring of a 90's boy band and Shwayze. Definitely a song that you can imagine driving to with the windows down, just don't be too eager to get to the next song on the album.
Save Your Goodbye- Not much to say about this one. Posner uses a very uneventful beat, and the vocals are just same-old same-old. Again, the whiny love song proves boring.
Synthesizer- Like about half of the songs on the album, there isn't much to say about this. Synthesizer actually starts strong with an interesting beat and lyrics, but the sound is repetitive after about a minute.
Delta 1406- Posner handles post-success delusion with Delta and is just another average song.
Falling- Posner's last song on the album stands out. The second half of the song Posner starts to rap a little bit and the chorus is strong.
Overall, Posner is still young and has plenty of time to find what his best music-style is. If Posner wants to get back to being the artist I expected on this album, he should consider getting back to his two early mixtapes' flow with songs like Who Knows? and Traveling Man.
- Adam Garnick
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