Dua Lipa - Radical Optimism ALBUM REVIEW
228,862
Published 2024-05-06
Pretty much a slight regression from Future Nostalgia on all fronts.
More pop reviews: • Pop Reviews
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Team: Jeremy - Lead Edits / Anthony - Final Cuts / Austen - Proofing, Posting
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FAV TRACKS: HOUDINI, TRAINING SEASON, FALLING FOREVER, MARIA
LEAST FAV TRACK: THESE WALLS
DUA LIPA - RADICAL OPTIMISM / 2024 / WARNER / DANCE POP
5/10
Y'all know this is just my opinion, right?
All Comments (21)
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This review was not radically optimistic
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These Walls by Kendrick Lamar being your least favorite song on a Dua Lipa album is pretty crazy
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Turns out "Future Nostalgia" was a prophecy about how people would view that album compared to this one
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Unfortunately for Dua Lipa, melon has radical pessimism 😔
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If Dua had a song over the "BBL Drizzy" beat you would've given this a 10
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The extended mixes of the singles were WAY better, richer, fuller and more complete sounding, with that slight edge of psychedelia & experimentation that she’s been talking about for months. I feel like every song on the album actually has an “extended mix” and the versions we got as the album are all just edited down versions. Really hope she releases an “extended mixes” version of the whole album.
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It’s disappointing compared to not only the expectations she set for the album (she said it was going to be a psychedelic or Brit pop type album and it wasn’t) but also compared to future nostalgia. But if we take it as a standalone standard chill pop Dua Lipa album, I think it works pretty well. I like it more than others seem to, tho I get why the general reception to this is meh.
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honestly i’m not really sure what went wrong with this album. i have no clue what happened to the “psychedelic” angle she was going for because i didn’t get that from this album. it just barely scratches the surface of what it was trying to do in almost every aspect. it just felt like a plain piece of white bread.
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After everything that was teased from this album (before illusion), this feels very off from what Dua was originally teasing. Training Season and Houdini somewhat underperformed for her standards (even tho dua is known for sleeper hits), thus she or more likely her label got scared and the album was changed/rearranged in a way that would appeal to a broader audience and for the summer vibe. Even the visuals for the first two singles are incredibly different from the albums visuals.
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So you’re telling me you had tame impala produce the whole thing just to make mostly bland dance pop?
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Tbh, my expectations for this album were pretty high, given the fact that Kevin Parker and Danny L. Harle had production credits on the majority of the record, and that "Houdini" was such a strong lead single, but it kind of felt like a letdown. I feel like I only hear Kevin's fingerprints on "Houdini", while the rest of the album sounds like it could've been produced by the same producers on Future Nostalgia. There are still some bangers on this album, but I'd take FN over this anyday.
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Dua should have trusted Kevin and let him produce the entire album.
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The problem of this album for ME is not just her, but midia said that it was going to be a psychedelic album with british rave influences and there were nothing like that, but the singles. I don't think it's a bad album, each time I listen to it, it gets better but its just a bit disappointing that she didn't went that way
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I stand in the camp that the album was reworked after Training Season was released. All of the promo and visual for it prior was so much more psychedelic and dark. I wish she had kept more of that sound along with Houdini. Illusion worried me…and then the album did not deliver. Future Nostalgia was all bops no stops (minus the end) but this was so painfully generic.
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Kevin Parker saying that he’s never been more proud of an album he’s worked on than this one is crazy
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She was never going to top Future Nostalgia. That album was the herald of a real golden age of mainstream music for me, so I only hoped this album wouldn't suck. I'm enjoying it a surprising amount and think her vocals on certain tracks are the best they've ever sounded. Happy For You and Maria get me surprisingly emotional, and I still do think even though she can't clear the bar she set for herself, this album is still leagues ahead of most mainstream pop and I'd give it more flowers than this.
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This really is a pretty bland & boring album unfortunately. Matching Future Nostalgia was always going to be incredibly difficult but this is a huge drop-off in quality.
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The extended versions of her songs are much better. Makes the instrumentals pop up and the energy of the song linger in a satisfying progression. Hope she releases an "extended" deluxe version.
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This record’s mix would be so much cooler if it featured the bass or bass synths more prominently like Future Nostalgia. These songs don’t have the groove.
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so i'm the only person who thought this album was great? this album getting hit with middling reviews left and right? okay
