365 – New Music Daily

One of the best soundtracks for a reflective walk of all time, Channel Orange took Frank Ocean from an Odd Future R&B guy with buzz directly to the mainstream of popular music, where he has remained, enigmatically, for about a decade. Who knows if he will ever put out another album again. If he does, I hope it is once again teased via a livestream of a man putting together furniture in a warehouse. When he does perform (for the first time in 7 years!) he dances around the stage to covers and sings a song, then gets off abruptly (which you have to respect, by the way).

Also yes, I haven’t listened to this in full in more than 5 years. Stop protesting.

Channel Orange is certainly rooted in nostalgia for not just myself, but anyone who listened to this album when it came out. It is also a much more accessible effort than Blonde – moreso in the sense that it’s very easy to listen to, get into, which is good, especially in the sense of bringing new listeners to a genre they may have never explored (though many stop at Frank). I do think that overall, the album is a bit more simplistic than Blonde, which doesn’t necessarily take away from the album, but can also be argued against it. Overall though, it has some songs that people from my generation cherish, some of which are his most fun (Lost) and some of which are still some of his best (Crack Rock, Forrest Gump, Pyramids). Both this and Blonde remain quintessential modern R&B listens, and I can’t argue with you if you prefer one over the other.

Favorite songs: No skips! Favorite song is Crack Rock.