Review: Post Malone’s “Hollywood’s Bleeding”
September 16, 2019
A little over a year ago, Post Malone took the music community by storm with his second album, “beerbongs & bentleys.” On September 6, he returned and is better than ever with “Hollywood’s Bleeding.”
Malone has been at the top of the music charts for some time now. His album, “beerbongs & bentleys,” released at number one on the Billboard 200 chart the week of its release and it’ll be no surprise if “Hollywood’s Bleeding” does the same.
This album opens with “Hollywood’s Bleeding” as its first track. The song starts off slow and carries a dark undertone. This continues for about a minute until the beat picks up. The lyrics continue to stay dark as Malone sings about a failing relationship.
What pops out the most is the repetition of the lyrics “Hollywood is bleeding, but we call it home.” This speaks volumes to the listeners as it feels like Malone is speaking to a larger and more pressing issue beyond the girl he’s been singing about.
“Saint-Tropez” continues with this theme. Similar to the first track, it also has a slow start until the beat picks up. It’s a good song to follow “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” as it is a little more uplifting but keeps the overall tone that was first conveyed.
As the album continues, Malone starts to change the sound of the songs. We first see this in “Allergic.” The song is very upbeat and sounds like it would be positive. However, the lyrics stay true to what Malone knows how to sing about – a failing relationship. Following “Allergic” we see “A Thousand Bad Days,” which stays consistent to this pattern.
Further in the album, we see “Take What You Want,” featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott. This is the most talked about song on the album right now due to Malone’s ability to combine two different styles of music. The intro to the song doesn’t sound like what we would expect from a typical Malone song, but after Osbourne finishes his part, the song picks up and begins to sound more like a pop song.
This continues the whole way through which makes it so different than other music being released right now. Malone’s ability to combine two different types of music is impressive, especially because most of the other features on this album are artists with a similar sound to Malone.
As we continue, we see the song “Internet.” This song goes back to the original sound and tone of the album. It conveys a very real and terrifying issue of how the internet has begun to lead people’s daily lives. This song is also the shortest song on the album, lasting for only two minutes. In doing this, Malone is able to convey his point much clearer.
Similarly, we see the songs “Circles” and “I Know.” These songs are sad songs. They take us back to Malone’s roots and have a familiar sound. However, unlike “Hollywood’s Bleeding” and “Internet,” they don’t speak on a larger issue. They reflect failing relationships and the pain of them.
Following “Internet,” we hear “Goodbyes” featuring Young Thug. This song is proving to be the biggest hit on the album. It was released as a single in July and has taken off since. However, it has a similar sound to “Allergic” and “A Thousand Bad Days” and doesn’t introduce anything new or exciting. It’s another upbeat and catchy song where the lyrics contain a solemn message of leaving someone or something.
We see a few other songs like this on the album such as “Enemies” featuring DaBaby, “Die For Me” featuring Future and Halsey, “On The Road” featuring Meek Mill and Lil Baby, “Staring At The Sun” featuring SZA, and “Sunflower” featuring Swae Lee. While some are more upbeat than others, they all follow the same pattern of having an upbeat background but darker and more solemn lyrics. Its not disappointing and it does speak to the consistency of the album, but its gets boring and repetitive.
Contrary to this, we have “I’m Gonna Be” and “Myself.” These songs are upbeat and self reflecting. There are hints at failing relationships, but they speak on the importance of learning to be alone. Its refreshing to hear these songs and while they aren’t what we might typically expect from Malone, it reflects his growth as an artist and a person.
The last song on the album is “Wow.” This song was also released earlier in the year and is a perfect way to end the album. It is similar to “I’m Gonna Be” and “Myself,” however, this time he sings about how he’s come out on top and how it takes people by surprise. It’s a great way to end the album because it’s such a change in pace from Malone. It’s a happy song that strays away from relationships, which is a progression from what Malone is typically known for. The song almost feels like he is walking away from the hurt and pain he’s spent so long singing about.
This album is definitely a hit. Malone’s career has grown so much, and this album is reflective of that. He introduces sounds and styles that are different from his past albums while managing to maintain the sound we’re used to hearing from him. However, some of the songs do seem repetitive, and it does hurt the album a little. While it’s an enjoyable album and showcases Malone’s talents, it does start to feel repetitive.
