ALBUM REVIEW - Mind of Mine

What's up LIMBO fam? Long time no post! I know, I know. With all excuses and cheesy intros aside, I'm just gonna dive right into today's hot topic, which is none other than my baby daddy ZAYN's debut album 'Mind of Mine', which released last month (March 25th, 2016), though I sadly didn't get around to listening to the whole project until yesterday for the same reasons resulting in a lack of content on the blog, but regardless, it's about to go.

Now before I actually begin to review the album for the work of art that it truly is, I must disclose my tales of buying the damn thing because I desperately needed the Target Exclusive version with the 2 bonus tracks and all of the local Target stores here in Hawaii took 5ever to stock these bad boys. I was consistently hitting them up on the daily like a crazy person trying to get my hands on a copy. With this in mind, it may or may not have swayed my entire opinion of the album, but I figured i'd give you guys a little disclaimer before diving in, and now that that's out of the way, let's get started.

So when I purchase an album, truth be told that I don't necessarily appreciate everything that an artist combines onto a single body of work (and my review of ANTI can prove that). With this being said, of the 20 tracks that comes with the Target Exclusive version of this album, I only have 6 of them currently residing in my iTunes library, which kind of says everything you really need to know at least from my personal taste for music, but let's just praise those 6 that still survive.

Starting with the project's lead single PILLOWTALK, this was what drove me insane over Zayn. The track is composed beautifully with elements of R&B, yet still very Pop and undoubtedly sensual in it's overall tone. I'm assuming the verses are considered PILLOWTALK only because it doesn't make any sense to me, though I do love the chorus with lines like "In our better days, fxcking and fighting on, it's paradise and it's our warzone" and you really get this sense of chaos and serenity all at once. Not to mention the video is a wonderfully crafted acid trip that tingles the senses and makes you wonder if you're really on drugs, but no, you're just listening to Zayn mesmerize your senses along with the visual likes of Gigi Hadid who I can't completely hate for being with my man because she's freaking gorgeous and amazing. 

Then moving along to the other tracks off the jump. I guess the whole point I made earlier about the track count isn't completely valid considering the album has a few interlude tracks that are automatically disqualified from my judging. Though out of all honesty, I felt like a lot of the tracks were a bit generic and underdone, which seems to be a recurring theme for music this year with everybody putting in work and what not.

Nuffsaid. 

Undoubtedly Like I Would is another amazing hit that feels a bit underrated in it's marketing approach. I'm aware that it was technically a promotional single off of the album following the likes of PILLOWTALK and It's You, but it should've been a full single because the song has everything. He makes no hesitations in bashing in the intro of the song and the chorus hits so hard with an upbeat dance feel to his resounding R&B style apparent on the entire album. Lyrically, he spills out the preachings of a broken heart in admitting that they can't go back to where they once were, but he lets her know everything she's missing out on. Though now that I think about it, the lyrics make him sound like he was drunk and he simply just can't get over his ex. 

At this point, I think it's a little safe to say that I'm not sure how much I'm loving Zayn's mind of his own. I mean don't get me wrong, everybody has a right to their own thoughts and what not, but I can't say that the poetic musings of my #MCM is really doing him any favors. You can sing, and you look amazing, but musically, you may need a little more work babe (perhaps you should ask Rih & 5H for some tips about Work, they seem to have it down...).

There's not much else left to say about this underwhelming project, though I will admit that a lot of the tracks had potential for greatness. Honorable mentions go to Drunk, Golden, and the Kehlani assisted Wrong because these tracks were also amazing. Also She holds the same vibes as Like I Would musically, but in a very retro stylistic fashion. I didn't pay all that much attention to the lyrics in this one and I just sort of let it take me away sonically into the inner workings of Zayn's mind.

So that's about it folks for this album review. Clearly the majority of the album was a complete miss for me if I haven't made that abundantly clear. I also wanna know what was going through his head with the stylistic choice of capital and lower case letters of the tracklist.

I guess with full creative control, you're free to do whatever you please, but it makes zero sense to me why you'd do in a very unsightly fashion. To weaken the blow of this horrible album review, I sign off with this plethora of Zayn lip biting gifs.

What were your thoughts about 'Mind of Mine'? Add a comment below telling me what you thought about the album and also tell me what albums you'd like to see reviewed next time.