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Albums courtesy of A$AP Rocky, Fall Out Boy, and Justin Timberlake are among the ‘11 Most Disappointing Albums in 2018 (So Far).’

As a music lover, I want everybody’s albums to be great – of high quality and filled with hits I can spin for years to come.  Simply put, not all albums are made equally, with the best singing, songwriting, or production.  The 11 albums that appear on 11 Most Disappointing Albums in 2018 (So Far) have their flaws.  Some albums appearing on this list have their fair share of moments, but are ultimately misguided. These underwhelming albums aren’t in any particular order.  Among the culprits of the disappointment? A$AP Rocky, Fall Out Boy, and Justin Timberlake among others.

 

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1. Fall Out Boy, M A N I A

Island

Face it – a lackadaisical promotional campaign did M A N I A in before it was ever released.  At times, this misguided Fall Out Boy project has its moments, but, we expect better from a band that’s delivered surefire gems like “Sugar, We’re Going Down” and “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”.  M A N I A is all over the place, period.  Some songs work (“Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)” or even “Church”) while others fall short (“Young and Menace” is a train wreck).

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2. Lil Xan, Total Xanarchy

Columbia

“God damn, god damn Lil Xanny the man.” I beg to differ – understatement. Let me make something crystal clear – I was in no way, shape, or form excited about Total Xanarchy, the debut album by Lil Xan.  That said, after hearing an album that I already anticipated might be awful, it was much worse than expected.  Lil Xan is a totally polarizing individual, something that’s only confirmed on the album.  It’s devoid of substance, featuring rhymes that are incredibly simple and based merely on hip-hop clichés – “That bih don’t love me, she just want dick, aye.”  The ad-libs are the worse, ugh!

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3. Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods

RCA

“I think the album has a wide range of sonics to it, but, I guess I would describe it as modern Americana with 808s.” Phew, what was Justin Timberlake thinking? Yes, Man of the Woods, like the majority of his albums, has some worthwhile tunes, namely “Say Something” co-written and featuring Chris Stapleton.  But, the two other advance singles, “Filthy” and “Supplies” aren’t exactly surefire hits, both suffering from quirkiness and a lack of the Timberlake magic of old. While this effort is enjoyable and inoffensive, the vision is blurry – the Americana concept just doesn’t quite work, nor is it consistently in play.

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4. Kanye West, Ye

GOOD / Def Jam

Ye, the new Kanye West album received a favorable review from yours truly, but definitely doesn’t feel like vintage Kanye.  While he gets personally discussing his bipolar diagnosis, family matters, and his controversial year, this is still a polarizing listen that’s difficult to digest.  With Ye being ‘all over the place,’ it definitely fits the bipolar concept. That said, merely throwing bipolarity into the picture and not completely tying the album tightly together isn’t is among the flaws of the project.  A seven-track, 23-minute project leaves a lot to be desired, as it’s not a truly effective length for West to craft a complete, nuanced project. Ye has its moments, but fails to be cohesive, commercial, or anywhere nearly as memorable as his best, full-length LPs.

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5. Nas, Nasir

Mass Appeal / Def Jam

Based upon other reviews, I enjoyed Nasir, the long-awaited comeback album by Nas more than many.  That said, this was an underwhelming project from one of the legendary lyricists in the game. What should’ve been a match made in heaven with Kanye West producing didn’t quite pan out, save for the undeniably awesome opener, “Not for Radio.” While I enjoyed the second song, “Cops Shot the Kid,” it sounded like something that West record himself as opposed to Nas.  While Nas isn’t known for having big-time hits, there are none on this modest, seven-track effort.

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6. EDEN, vertigo

Astralwerks

I had such high hopes for vertigo, particularly after EDEN (Jonathon Ng) wowed with “start//end”.Overall, vertigo is a relatively well-rounded, personal LP that balances acoustic and electronic sounds, and featuring expressive, emotional vocals.  The big problem is that EDEN grows a bit overindulgent – gets too much ‘in his feelings.’ The LP ends up being too long (even at 52 minutes), too slow (too many ballads), and grows boring at times.

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7. Migos, Culture II

Quality Control Music / Motown / Capitol

Does Migos miss the mark on Culture II? No, not completely. This “playlist,” like Chris Brown’s Heart Break on a Full Moon, has its fair share of moments, including “Narcos”, “BBO (Bad Bitches Only)”, “Walk It Talk It” and “Stir Fry”. The presentation is off though – too long (105 minutes) and too predictable (been there, done that with those triplets, boys). A shorter, more focused project would’ve played out better. Even shave off 45 minutes, and Culture II is improved.

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8. Tory Lanez, Memories Don’t Die

Mad Love / Interscope

Memories Don’t Die, the sophomore album by Canadian rapper/singer Tory Lanez arrived in March 2018. To his credit, Lanez shows improvement from his forgettable 2016 debut, I Told You. Still, Memories Don’t Die isn’t memorable despite the album title, save for the controversies of plagiarism concerning “Hate to Say,” notably, among the crème de la crème of the LP. Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first accusations of copycatting Lanez has committed. That’s perhaps the biggest rub with this album and Lanez’s career – we don’t know who he is artistically.

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9. A$AP Rocky, Testing

RCA

Cutting straight to the chase, I personally don’t consider Testing to be an outright, bad album – I’ve heard much worse in 2018.  A$AP Rocky has some terrific moments, and he deserves credits for willingness to experiment and push boundaries.  The main problem is, Testing isn’t perfectly realized.  Many albums aren’t perfectly executed or realized, but here, Rocky’s expectations for his audience are entirely too high. In other words, he overindulges in his concepts and experimentation and it makes it difficult to truly ‘get into’ this album or his headspace.

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10. Smokepurpp & Murda Beatz, Bless Yo Trap

Alamo / Interscope

After the end of each album or EP review, I typically pick ‘gems’ – songs that are the best of the album.  For the Smokepurpp & Murda Beatz project, Bless Yo Trap, I was unable to recommend any.  Perhaps I was being mean with commenting “R U f#$%ing kidding me?” instead of trying to pick one re-listenable selection, but honestly, this was NOT a worthwhile listen. Smokepurpp just doesn’t have anything interesting, let alone transcendent to rap about, and it shows from start to finish.  I’m sure the SoundCloud crowd won’t like this commentary, but rap can do so much better than this uninspired, thrown together affair.

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11. Ne-Yo, Good Man

Motown

Sometimes, you overrate an album.  That happened with Good Man.  Maybe I was excited to see Ne-Yo return after a three-year hiatus.  But, the old Ne-Yo was much more accomplished than the new one.  Good Man has some good songs, don’t get me wrong, but the LP could an edit, and relies too much on clichés.  And in regards to those good songs, none of them are hits the caliber of “So Sick” or “Closer” – just saying.

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Photo Credits: Astralwerks, Capitol, Columbia, Def Jam, GOOD, Interscope, Island, Mad Love, Mass Appeal, Motown, Quality Control Music, RCA

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