I eventually was gonna get around to it, had to. It has been one of the most anticipated debut albums ever since he stole the billboard charts for a solid 18 weeks, even blocking Taylor Swift from a #1 debut with Me. Montero, also known as Lil Nas X, took the world by storm and also pissed it off with some satanic sneakers and a lot of homosexual imagery. In a lot of ways, I find him interesting because outside Miley Cyrus, I can't think of another MODERN popstar that built their image on pissing people off and being all kinds of controversial. I wanted to see if he could keep up the momentum, because I care little for his off stage antics and find him a bit annoying as a person at this point. And trust me, it has nothing to do with the fact he is gay.
His album boasts of collaborators including Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, and Elton John. However, I once more already feel the streaming annoyance of how few songs are 3 minutes and over. I have my doubts already about the quality of the album based upon that.
It begins with the controversial lead single "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" which is a catchy track with little longevity. I tend to like the pre-chorus, but the rest of the song falls a bit flat for me.
"Dead Right Now" when it gets to the chorus part makes me immediately think of Post Malone's "White Iverson" and I cannot unhear it. Suddenly he decided he is a rapper again apparently. It seems to try to have some of the self-awareness of the Weeknd's "Snowchild" and "Reminder" as well. And if you cannot tell the serious issue with this song is the fact I thought of far better, stronger names in the game than him while listening to an "original" song, you missed the point.
Of the singles, I do think "Industry Baby" stood apart. I honestly just enjoy the beat and melody. It honestly isn't that much different than other boss badass energy pop songs but I heavily enjoy those kind of songs. They just kind of pump you up.
...and now we have Lil Nas X's attempt at the pop/punk revival with "That's What I Want." I find it pretty choppy and it doesn't fit him at all. Lyrically it isn't horrible.
gliding over the "interlude"
"Scoop" just sounds like annoying radio trap. Don't need many more comments.
"One of Me" isn't as bad as the other ones, but it seems a bit whiny for him to complain about people finding him to be a "meme" when he in fact created the the commentary by making all of his controversies a...meme? You cannot have your cake and eat it too.
"Lost in the Citadel" is the first song I feel like I genuinely liked. It isn't as choppy, has decently emotional lyrics, and doesn't include something ridiculous.
"Dolla Sign Slime" is such a downer after actually liking a song. God. Really?
He sort of redeems it with "Tales of Dominica". Honestly if he can write decent songs like this, I'm not sure why he wouldn't wait a bit longer and actually get some good tracks out instead of more filler than good tracks.
"Sun Goes Down" was another single and it didn't really grab me much. It isn't necessarily bad, just not my cup of tea.
I kind of had some hope for "Void" since it is in fact the longest song on the album, but it actually also did not grab me at all. It is a 4 minute song with subpar lyricism.
"Don't Want It" is another track that is okay but I probably won't return to it much. There's nothing wrong with it necessarily but it is hard to relate with songs where they just casually throw their name into the relation. I have that issue with that. Probably a me thing.
If every song was as strong as "Life After Salem", I might like the album as a whole. I think it just is more my dark pop enjoyment though.
The album closes with "Am I Dreaming". I am not sure it is a good song to have right after Life After Salem. It seems kind of disjointed. It isn't terrible but a weird way to close the album.
Music: 6/10 - nothing particularly original but nothing terribly out of place either. Pretty normal outing musically for a debut within a specific genre. Doesn't want to go around breaking some barrier yet when you're just getting going.
Lyrics: 4/10 - The lyrics of the album are mostly subpar or so direct to him that it is hard to build a connection with the songs.
Overall: 5/10 - Not exactly something I'd rush out to get, but some of the songs are catchy and not bad. You can take a listen for yourself!
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