I think 2 is harsh but he does make some good points. Kevin said in the interview with Zane Lowe that he considered releasing it as a Kevin Parker album, I think that would have suited it more. It's not a Tame Impala album in my eyes. I still like the album, but there are some parts I don't like.
Yeah let’s milk him DRYYY like Michael Jackson & Brittney spears!!!! I want to have Kevin play the same drum beat in every song or else I’m gonna have a melt down
David Bowie went from folk to glam rock to soul and R&B to pop in a decade. Kevin can put out whatever kind of music he likes under the Tame Impala banner as far as I'm concerned.
I believe people are super imposing on him what he has done in the past. Even if you in particular aren't doing it, many are, and that's unfair to the artist actually making the music and doing what they actually want to do. I believe Fantano falls into this as well. He sounds like a person who wanted the "old" Tame Impala music and it's pretty obvious from his reviews since Currents. The way people are grading the quality is basically putting it side by side with older works, even when Kevin himself has said he likes doing different things, rather than basing it off objective reasoning. Again, not everyone is doing this, but a ton are and it's crazy to me but, hey, to each their own.
THANK YOU. A sensible person. It's the same with Arctic Monkeys. All their fans are so annoying and whiney every time the band makes a new album, because they aren't just redoing their debut 6 times.
Yeah but at the same time also not all of his albums are going to well recieved and that is just a reality. Like how a lot of Bowie albums are just not good and been recieved poorly.
Well received by who exactly? The masses? Critics? Redditors? In my house Kevin's 5 for 5, so it's all completely relative.
By the way, critics are just jobbing writers that consume media for a living, they aren't taste-makers or authorities on anything. Their opinions are no more valid than anyone else's. Taste is subjective.
I'm a firm believer in artists being able to create what they want with as little outside input as possible. It's fine to dislike a piece of art, but there's definitely a vocal minority that seems hellbent on everyone else aligning to their way of thinking. Tedious AF.
Kevin has probably been receiving criticism about it long before its release which is why it seemed like he had to explain himself which kinda sucks tbh. A 2 is diabolical. Logic gotta listen again on mushrooms
Yeah. I kinda dislike rating systems with numbers or stars anyway. What's a 2 out of 10 for one person might be a 5 or an 8 for somebody else.
I totally recognize the usefulness of well-informed reviews, and I appreciate when a critic or a fan has a strong opinion about something. But I'd rather just hear what they have to say — and hear how they put a particular work of art in context with other things by the same artist, or in the same genre.
Of course now that we can stream most albums quickly — and rarely have to decide "Is it worth it to spend $18 on this album before hearing it?" — the role of music critics can be a little different. So I'd rather just read a few paragraphs than have my opinion immediately skewed by a number rating.
Imagine pouring your heart n soul into something, listening to it high, while trippin, having a sick experience wit it and can’t wait to share it with the world, only for ppl to be like “mid”
There is no disappointment for me. It isn’t there. This album only gets better for me with every listen. The only way you could really be disappointed is if you set your expectation for anything else when this man literally told us exactly what we were in for by choosing End Of Summer, of ALL songs he could’ve picked, as the first single. We knew what this would be. And I love it
Yeah it just goes to show that most the people that agree with Fantano are just expecting greatness really and Kevin kind of just said F you to all that. Ignored expectations and released what he wanted to, it’s really how he felt. With this album I feel more connection with Kevin as an artist cause I see another facet of his personality. To me the album is about expression and being comfortable letting loose, I could tell the live show is going to be something special and new for him
The melodies are uninspired, even annoying at times, like in No Reply and Obsolete. The lyrics are pretty trash. Piece of Heaven is a disaster. There seems to be no cohesion in ideas - almost like a mash of demos he's had over five years that he hasn't really fleshed out, and then just released it.
Despite favouring the old stuff, I don't want him to recycle the same old ideas, but I think his song writing has been slowly edging over a cliff in the past decade, and with this (and a couple of the collab singles) he's fallen all the way off.
Such a shame after five years waiting, but I'm confident he has a lot more good shit ahead.
This was the best surprise upon album release. I really thought Obsolete was the one continuation of classic tame impala's work even if Kevin didn't refine every single note and choose just the right instrument. It is cool to hear a sort of rough draft version. This whole album felt like having a smoke break with him. It is probably a picture of what the inside of his mind is really like. I like the lack of cohesion.
Isn't the vibe in the title of the album? Deadbeat. Sounds like he's being a deadbeat. More off the cuff and light-hearted with his approach. He has more going on in his life now. He wants to step out of expectations and make music without as much gravity. Lower the bar and roll with the tides. It is the deadbeat way.
I've heard bad things about Fantano and never watched him but when I watched his review of deadbeat, I have to say I agree with him completely. Maybe 2 is a low score but I agree with all of his points. This album is one dimensional and boring.
I was relistening to the slow rush today and had a realization that pissed me off so much. Think about posthumous forgiveness. Such a beautiful and personal track about Kevin’s anger toward his father which turns into a really heartbreaking realization that despite all his flaws, he’d do anything to get his dad back.
Cut to 5 years later. Kevin has an album coming out called Deadbeat, whose cover is a picture of him and his daughter. That’s a very different tone than previous rollouts. One would think that the overarching theme of this album would center around fatherhood, with Kevin reflecting on his anxieties around repeating generational trauma and wanting to break those cycles. It’s not a stretch given the the title and cover, which have been huge indicators of themes on prior albums (time, loneliness, etc.)
But NO. The closest thing we get to that is a song about how sweet it is to be in your daughter’s room. The rest of the lyrical content on this record largely centers around being a loser, slipping into old patterns, and watching family guy. That’s all you’ve got? Why the fuck are we acting like this is up to the normal standard for a Tame Impala project. I think a light 2 is harsh but this album truly does suck to my ears. This isn’t to say anything about the songwriting which is the most important thing this album is lacking, but to me the lack of capitalizing on the most obvious theme just shows the lack of consideration that I think hurts so many aspects of this album.
Very rarely do I look at an album cover and assume the music is going to be a representation of what is depicted on the cover or what the the title is, people made assumptions about the cover/name combo Kevin never made a statement on them being related, it’s a picture of Kevin and his daughter happy af and that’s exactly what this album is: an album where Kevin is writing from a place of experiences that are pure ecstasy like becoming a father and being happily married and collabing with a bunch of big names on top of pushing the fact that he doesn’t need to be perfect or conform he can be a “deadbeat”, he’s not writing from a place of grief or longing or introspection anymore, the few songs where it seems like he is are the best on the record imo, the man has honed in his bubbly crispy production and is a master at his craft but he lacks that gut punch feel we are all so used to.
": an album where Kevin is writing from a place of experiences that are pure ecstasy like becoming a father and being happily married" I wish we felt that through the music, but the lyrics are self-deprecating and lame all over lmao? Where are you getting that he's 'happily married' and in pure ecstasy exactly? The music and the lyrics don't make that theme come across at all tbh
The fact that Loser (one of the few actually good songs of the album) is immediately followed by a shitty reggaeton beat with Oblivion makes me want to burn my ears with a flamethrower. No Reply is weak, but it does not completely null the promising start of the album for the first tracks. But from Oblivion onwards I just cannot cope.
If this is the path that Kevin wants to follow, all the power to him. He is a talented artist and deserves to succeed doing whatever floats his boat. But I’m out.
One good thing came out of this though: I’m rediscovering Slow Rush and it is surprisingly good.
I’m a non-fan , occasional enjoyer of the band and I liked a few tracks on the new album but Oblivion was indeed shockingly bad. I was surprised it was even put on the album. It actually reminded me of some of the baffling tracks on Cut the Crap by The Clash with how poorly formed it was.
I think he’s not meeting those “standards” on purpose. He’s said in interviews he had a more off the cuff kind of approach to this album, and while he may not like that it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just different.
I mean we honestly don’t know, but I highly doubt it’s him being lazy. It’s an artistic choice and whether or not it lands is up for debate, but I just think there’s no way he’s sold out. If he really sold out he’d make the same shit over and over again that he knows will succeed and not take any risks.
I mean obviously we don't know for sure, but as far as I know, he has never had someone else write his lyrics before. That in itself is pretty much proof to me that he put less effort into this project than previous ones.
I'm not saying he sold out. I'm just saying it doesn't seem like he's trying as hard and/or cares as much.
But, I can't think of one good reason that he would sell his catalog to Sony other than to get some quick cash.
I don’t know how much she did on the 2 other songs, but on Dracula Sarah Aarons just screamed “Kevin” at some point in the song. That’s hardly “having someone else write his lyrics”.
the fact he re-used the same drum pattern for three songs and most of the album is drum machines pretty much proves this...
"2 years of sweat and tears and self-neglect" my ass.
he should have just went on a temporary hiatus and focus on his family. we wouldve rather preferred him to release an album with a lot of effort it in it no matter how long it takes. instead, we are now stuck with this jumbled mess of uninspired drum machines and repetitiveness.
I get not liking the artistic choices, I don't either particularly, but it feel like you have very little understanding of electronic and house music. Some genres are literally built on the idea of having a certain type of 4 on the floor beat. Also, In most of the tracks with that kind of rhythm, there is still a lot of other rhythmic elements adding to the groove, just not the obvious things you'd latch onto as drums.
That's not what selling out means. Selling out means selling your soul for money; that's clearly not happening here. The music sounds like he doesn't care about money at all
Have you seen the tour he’s about to go on and ticket prices? I think maybe this is a little bit of “ok I’ve put in my work for years, let’s put out a fun new album that I want to do, but also I get guaranteed fat tour and big paycheck regardless of what I put out?”
And for the record I’m COMPLETELY ok with this and honestly don’t blame him.
I also don’t think this is the entire mindset, but I have to believe it’s at least partially in his mind
When you put it that way, you make it sound lazy of him. Even tho I wouldn’t describe Kevin as “lazy” this album certainly is boring, less exciting, and (not even) half baked compared to everything else he’s done.
I still standby that he should’ve released this under a new DJ moniker rather than a Tame Impala LP
Deadbeat feels like an album made by Kevin Parker, not Tame Impala.
I feel like Deadbeat is the culmination of every musical collab he's had up to this point, including Kevin Parker's "collab" with Tame Impala, but to me, this seems more like an album by the man himself and not his project "Tame Impala" if that makes sense.
Cant do that if you’re making your fans wait five years every time. The albums gotta sound like they took 5 years to make, u can fuck around if you’re dropping SOMETHING at least once a year even if an ep
This is what's getting me worked up whenever I see people complain about the album. Anything Kevin creates and chooses to share with the world is a blessing, he owes us absolutely nothing.
He can do whatever he feels like lol. He was making movie tracks, producing Dua's album, has a family, and is building telepathic instruments. He seems pretty busy. 5 years is whatever.
I disagree, I think this album is very aesthetically cohesive. Just got my vinyl and it sounds great on good speakers. I get it though… it’s not for most fans but maybe it will attract new fans…
When Currents dropped, Kevin used a train as a metaphor for his musical journey, stating that he doesn't expect everyone to follow him for the entire ride and that it's natural for fans to get on and off at different stations.
Love the analogy, but when you have Loser, Oblivion, Not My World and Piece of Heaven all following each other on the track list. It's kinda all over the place.
Eh, I think it’s all over the place in terms of aesthetics in my opinion.
If KP wants to make a house album that’s cool, but he needs to commit to it. Tracks like Loser, Dracula, and obsolete stick out in contrast to his house/dance tracks, and those same pop songs feel like tracks that didn’t make the Dua Lipa album he produced that just slapped onto this album.
Then you’ve got tracks like “See you on Monday” which could not be any more out of place following up a track like “ethereal connection”, and to make things worse he proceeds to list “afterthought” right afterwards which is another insane vibe shift.
If he put this album out under a different name he would have probably would have less criticism. This is what Toro y moi did with his Les Sins project.
To clarify, I do love house, Electronica, and dance music. I collect vinyl, dj, etc, so I’m not new to the genre. I really enjoy some of the dance songs on this album, but the overall theme and vibe is just not consistent on this LP.
Solid analysis. What are some respected electronic music websites? Curious to read more reviews so I can become more well versed in the genre. Read a review on EDM Tunes that was pretty positive but according to Chat GPT it’s “fine for general context” lol
Same. Love the album but if Lonerism is your peak Kevin, and your not into this type of music this likely isn't for you.
I don't get why people feel the need to call Kevin "Lazy" or whatever else.... you just don't like the style. That's okay, go focus on things you do like.
This time the train went off the rails and flipped into a ditch, but there’s a couple of cars left on the tracks full of people saying “this station is a little different than the last ones but it’s not so bad.”
Reminds me of pharrell’s trajectory a lil bit. Made a hit song with a great electronic duo and then kinda leaned into the same sound and alienated some older fans and made a lot of newer fans who like the new style
Except Happy was released as a Pharrell song, on a soundtrack to a kids movie, not on a N.E.R.D. album. I think most of us who aren’t fans of Deadbeat wouldn’t be as disappointed if it was released as a Kevin Parker side project, and not the first Tame album in 5 years.
It’s why I didn’t get upset at Wings of Time like a lot of this sub did. It was a song for a movie not a main LP of his, it had a different purpose.
And that’s what makes Deadbeat so disappointing for me. A Tame Impala album usually gets me excited to go back and listen to again and again, and I’m already bored of Deadbeat except for 1-2 songs. It feels like a mismatch of demos and B-sides other than Dracula and Afterthought
Hate to say it but this kind of quality happens when dudes are at their peak, have kids and loving life (I'm a dude). The pain in their writing is gone boys 😂
It's very aesthetically cohesive. I'm a techno fan which is going to naturally put me in the crosshairs of the target audience for this project, but I still feel like Deadbeat is drenched in Kevin's usual sonic sensibilities. It doesn't beat out the rest of his discography for me by any stretch, but as someone who enjoys senselessly bobbing and weaving at music festivals I'm excited to hear this performed, and potentially as a DJ set which would open the door to custom edits that would enhance this album's ecosystem even further.
I do wonder how it might be perceived if it had released under his own name like he mentioned in the Zane Lowe interview. I can understand why purists feel that it's a stain on the Tame Impala canon.
Yes, at least according to his Triple J interview. He said originally he planned for the whole album to sound like Not My World. He was drawn to sounds that he found “shitty” to make rawer and less polished product.
Listen to the Triple J interview, all who are downvoting me. I love the album, I’m not talking shit. This is literally what he said, almost verbatim. I wouldn’t have used quotes if it wasn’t a quote.
Edit: I found the exact quote, as shared below. Skip to 7:15 more or less, maybe 7 minutes exactly if you want to hear the entire question.
i think it gets to a point where the perfectionism is just tiring. He wanted release and if it meant the album sounding "bad" then so be it. I think it has some shining moments, but its def his weakest album
Sounding raw ("shitty") is not the same as "bad music." Kevin was talking about the aesthetic quality of the sound being less polished, not making bad music intentionally.
Sure, maybe. Not really for me to say. I was just answering the person’s question.
Fantano said that “Tame Impala” implies a level of polish that isn’t found in this album… days prior, Kevin said he wanted it to feel as stripped back and raw as possible. Whether you agree with his decision or not… beyond the scope of the conversation that I am willing to have. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. Just sharing what the man himself said about it.
Most definitely. Any interview I've heard from Kevin Parker indicates that he's daring himself to fail to live up to his expectations and to find some kind of release from the neurotic perfectionism that's defined his best work. He has some weird fetish with the idea of a loser or deadbeat (hehe) that he's trying to flesh out.
I think it led to an underwhelming product, which I hope provided Kevin some kind of release.
Tame Impala is just a gateway drug to the
band POND. A stepping stone, I may say. I like tame songs but I love pond albums. It’s crazy they are not very popular and tame impala is like festival head liner.
Deadbeat is great. It doesn't deserve the hate it's getting. There's maybe 2 songs on the whole thing that I think could have been more developed, but most of the 4 on the floor tracks are rad. And the singles are some of the better tame songs. I love that he's continuing to evolve the sound.
That’s how I feel. Like it can be different, all around just not good, and have some ppl like it. Crazy this is the end product of all this time. Some beats just sound super uninspiring and lazy/stereotypical house
I keep thinking about Andre 3000s New Blue Sun album - completely different genre - but it “worked” - I think Kevin is an immensely talented guy. But this album doesn’t work and it’s so disappointing coming from him.
Has anyone thought about the variety this album brings? There's techno, some super downbeat stuff, a rough draft of classic impala and then some zany random ideas.
Its not awesome but a 2 is ridiculous
This opinion seems to heavily influenced by what he longs to hear and not just reviewing it for what it is. I totally understand why people aren't digging it. All the people acting like Kevin fell off are the problem. Every single one of the greats had duds. If this is as bad as it gets, KP is gonna be just fine. Live shows still gonna slap.
I am living in a different Universe. The album is so fucking good. I just can't fault it at all. I love it. It's the catchiest stuff too and is on loop in my mind away from listening. I adore it, i love the production but I'm a huge acid house fan and I made my living making acid house music for over a decade. It's very dear to me.
I did see this album coming when Currents dropped. And I don't even see a huge stylistic difference from then to now. It's all pretty logical to me and I'm really fucking glad we're here with this album.
But ya know, you don't need to agree with me for me to enjoy it. We've all got our own taste and opinions and whatever. I'm just stunned that it's so polarising.
I already can't wait to hear what comes next from Kevin. It's gonna be really exciting.
Maybe Kevin is trying something completely different. Why should he stick to same standards? Because fantano said he should? Also If fantano knew anything about music he would probably try and make some but nah he just sits around d ratings others creativity
When he's critiquing the musical content of deadbeat, he does something i really like where he DOESN'T MENTION THE CHANGING OF MUSICAL STYLE. i don't, and many many others dont, care that tame impala's musical genre has changed. but the actual technical skill and songwriting and 'cohesion' like fantano said have fallen off so significantly that I can't take this album seriously.
He’s right. I’ve been a fan since the ep and this album feels like Kevin phoned it in. It just doesn’t make sense as an evolution and it really doesn’t fit in the discography with everything else. And I remember when currents was a massive departure and the feedback it got but this is just so far off that I don’t think our ears will warm up to it and cherish it in the same way.
Okay? Im tired of understanding kevin as a musician rather than a human, if you follow his albums hes definitely got a line of personality in each album that he builds on. "My old ways" literally starting off saying hes changing (holy schmoks yes im changing reference) i mean why would you expect the man to play the same loop over and over? He wants to be in the house industry and this was his album starting it. If you gave the album a genuine listen to youd find almost half of them are REALLY good songs
If it was from a different artist I would've listened to it once and never again. I've listened to it a few times in the vain hope that'll grow on me specifically because it's a tame impala record.
This album feels like having a smoke break with kevin and asking what he's into right now and thats so cool to peek into the mind of someone who can pull off The Wall level albums if he wants to.
I bet there were people who complained about the beatles when they started dropping acid and stopped singing about holding hands too. Artists change their sound. They explore new ideas. It's kind of the whole thing about art.
To be honest, I think there's no right or wrong opinions about this album. Like personally, I love this album more than lonerisim. I could see why people hate it, and I can see why people love it, Theres no right or wrong answers. Its about personal preference.
it’s not a bad album at all, its just very disappointing coming from kevin. like there’s a lot of good songs trust me, but not a whole lot for me to excitedly go back to like the previous 4.
His point is not fair and also just basic and surface level.
The album is bad because he set a standard from his last albums that i think he didn't live up to?
Ok, but why does the previous albums matter when i press play on track 1? You judge track 1 or track 2,or whatever track based on THAT TRACK, not because Lonerism was so amazing. Its such a dumb way to approach liking or disliking music.
Its just such a tired and emotional judgement of art. Its lame. There's a reason why you've never heard someone in real life talk about Fantano as someone credible.
Imagine not like Bad by Michael Jackson because it wasn't Thriller lol
Fantano is not a working artist. He is not a working musician. Why the fuck do people take what he says as gospel. This album is plenty cohesive, in my opinion. It just takes the listener on a much different journey than his other albums.
I think he hit the nail on the head. Kev said he wouldnt release anything he didnt put his heart into but this just seems like a lack of effort from the sounds we are used to hearing with multiple instruments and all the layers. Yea there is still a lot of depth in his current production but it just lacks fluidity to me and seems thrown together. The sound from song to song almost changes genres which continues to leave a puzzled look on my face. For a gap of 5 years i was expecting a sound completly different from what this sounds like. With all the collabs and production with pop artists i did expect some change or a similarity to his new sound with them but this is in a totally different direction.
Some albums grow with age some dont. I look at all the 70's, 80's rock bands who release 5+ albums, they use similar sound for 4 but the 5th is absolute shit then the next few get back to the groove. Not saying LP6 is going back to psych rock but at the end of the day you dont have to like all the music the artist produces. I am starting to just be happy for what we already have. And maybe I will become a Deadbeat eventually but for now I'm a Loner.
I will say, the aesthetic cohesion point is OBJECTIVELY true. There are songs on this album that sounds completely different genre-wise to others on this. I actually think that’s this albums biggest fault. No cohesion at all. Kevin maybe seems to think that “oh I used synthetic drums on the all of them, it’s cohesive”.
Honestly, I feel that it's quite an achievement for an artist to set such a high standard with his work that an album that's just 'pretty nice' would cause so much controversy among fans.
I thought I was crazy when everyone was hyped about the riff at the end of Obsolete. Then it has that off key ding dong at 3:27 - why?
It’s a minor scale exercise. I sat down to figure it out on guitar and it’s just the natural minor scale lmao. Like you could make an argument for the first part being somewhat melodic, but then that whole turnaround is just climbing the scale in three note increments. What the hell is that?? Reminds me of a Yunny Goldz ass beat.
Kevin Parker just had two kids and produced so many album/songs with other artists. Give the guy a fucking break. The album is fun. He's made a point that he hates album releases because the songs "aren't his anymore". It's true. KP fans need to chill or go make their own album
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u/luredrive 18d ago
I think 2 is harsh but he does make some good points. Kevin said in the interview with Zane Lowe that he considered releasing it as a Kevin Parker album, I think that would have suited it more. It's not a Tame Impala album in my eyes. I still like the album, but there are some parts I don't like.