Welcome to my third review on this site! I know these reviews probably aren’t very good yet, but I hope they get better. Also, I know this album just came out … just to be clear, I’ve listened to the album five or six times already (it’s under forty minutes so I’ve been able to fit in that many listens and get a review out in under twenty-four hours) … I didn’t just listen to it once and write a review … if that approach works for some people, that’s fine, but I don’t review albums until I’ve listened to them AT LEAST once in full, and I would almost always listen to them at least three or four times before reviewing them.

But anyway, I first was made aware of Tate McRae by her 2019 song, “stupid”, after hearing it on the radio. I like that song, and I ended up loving her hit song, “you broke me first”. While I still haven’t listened to her debut EP, her second EP, TOO YOUNG TO BE SAD, was released in 2021, I was curious about it, I gave it a chance, and I really liked it!

For a while I’ve felt like I’ve been in the minority of critics (I wasn’t an online music critic until just recently, but you know what I mean) by defending Tate McRae’s music … and look, I get what people don’t like about “you broke me first” and I’ve understood the criticisms of her music overall; a lot of it is very mellow, and you could argue it sounds like it was made for the radio (just like I said about AM Gold by Train in my review of that album, I’m not saying Tate McRae’s music is just made for the radio … all I’m saying is you could make the argument that it sounds that way). I get that the style and the production choices of TOO YOUNG TO BE SAD is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m a fan of that EP. (And it’s worth noting that I haven’t seen a ton of reviews of her music up to this point, so maybe I’m not in the minority like I think I am.)

So, I was very excited about Tate McRae’s debut album, but I had some small doubts about whether or not I would like it. Yes, she’d made an EP that I really like, but I’ve been down the road before of discovering a song/a few songs/etc. by an artist, really liking what I’ve heard, and then I check out an album of theirs, and I don’t end up liking it.

“feel like shit” dropped as the lead single in November 2021, and while I wouldn’t say I love it, I do like it. The production is great, there are some great melodies, and Tate McRae gives a good vocal performance. And after that, it felt like the singles were getting better with each one.

The second single, “she’s all i wanna be” really surprised me … I wasn’t expecting a rock song from Tate McRae, but that’s what we got! And I know this whole pop-punk thing has been trendy recently, and a lot of mainstream artists are trying to make pop-punk, and some of it hasn’t clicked for me. However, some of it has, including this song, which is super well-produced in my opinion, especially how powerful the drums are in the chorus. The instrumental, the vocals, and the lyrics go together so well on this excellent track!

But even after the first two singles, I didn’t expect to love “chaotic” as much as I do, but this song really wowed me! This song seems to be about the struggles of growing up, and mentions hiding feelings and being afraid of uncertainties of the future, and I love the lyrics on this track. Tate’s vocals on this track are fantastic, too, in my opinion, the melodies are great, and the whole thing just goes together so well … I think this song is absolutely incredible.

But then came the last single released before the album, “what would you do?”, which I only listened to once before hearing the album, but this one really disappointed me. It starts out promising with a nice buildup, but then it transitions into the chorus super awkwardly, and by the way, I really don’t like the bouncy production on the chorus, and it kind of kills the song for me. There are elements to this track that I like, such as the melody on the pre-chorus, and even the melody of the chorus, despite my issues with the production … but overall, this song just doesn’t work for me.

So, the fourth single got me a bit worried about how the album would turn out, but considering how much I liked the singles before that, I was still pretty sure I was going to like this album … but unfortunately, I didn’t find much to like about this album outside of the singles. This was a disappointing album for me.

Considering that I’m just getting started with my reviews, I guess one positive about this album for me is that it doesn’t really give me a ton to say outside of the singles (that doesn’t affect the score of the album, I’m just saying it makes it easier to review). Some of these songs have trap percussion that really doesn’t fit in my opinion, and while I don’t think the lyrics are terrible, I personally don’t find them that interesting for the most part, but that’s just me. And it’s worth mentioning that for me to like an album, I don’t have to like the lyrics. It really depends on the context, but if I liked other elements of this album enough, I could have liked this album despite not being a huge fan of the lyrics … and it’s not even that the lyrics are all that bad in my opinion, I’m just saying they don’t really do much for me, and if I liked the lyrics more, they could have been that missing piece to make me like the album at least a bit more than I do.

Overall, the majority of this album bores me. Of course, this is all just my opinion, but that’s what I’m here to share … I’m not here to say ‘you shouldn’t like this’ or ‘this is trash’ … I’m just saying I personally don’t like this album.

The song, “boy x”, for example, while I get that there’s an audience for this, it just doesn’t do much for me. It’s a mellow song with a story to tell, over acoustic guitars, and it eventually adds in more instrumentation. And on paper, it seems like something I might like, but for whatever reason, it just doesn’t click for me, and I’m not totally sure why … it just really feels like it’s missing something to make it really click for me. But I’m not even all that interested in the story being told, although that’s just me personally … or maybe it’s not the story being told, and more just that I’m bored by the instrumentation. However, I do like the piano in the background.

“you’re so cool”, at least to me, sounds like a million other songs that I hear on the alternative radio station that I listen to, and it doesn’t do much to interest me. And it’s worth mentioning that I really don’t like how the guitars are produced.

I will say that “i’m so gone” and “go away” are my two favourite songs on this album that weren’t already released as singles, the former having some good melodies, and Tate’s vocals fit the song well, even though I don’t really like the trap percussion on this song … and also, I don’t really like the lyrics on this track, either. It’s one of those ‘I’m over you’ songs, and at least she references this person calling her on the phone, so it isn’t one of those songs where the whole point is ‘I’m so over you’ (that’s a concept that I respect more than I like … if you’re so over someone, why are you making a song about it? That’s just me personally, but the majority of the time, I don’t like that song concept … I’m saying at least this isn’t one of those), but still, the lyrics don’t really work for me. Also, “go away” is worth mentioning for the great production. But despite me liking these tracks more than any of the other non-singles (except maybe the sixteen-second opener, “?” … honestly, I’m not sure where that would land if I ranked every track on the album because … well, it’s more of an intro to the album than anything, at least to me), I’m still not a big fan of either song.

Overall, this album really disappointed me … I don’t think it’s terrible, but so many songs here just don’t click for me. I don’t really have much to say about a song like “hate myself”, or the closing track, “i still say goodnight” … overall, this album bored me. I think it’s listenable as background music, but it didn’t really click for me.

I didn’t like this album, and I’m giving it a 4/10, but that’s just my opinion. Feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of this album and/or what you thought of my review. Also feel free to suggest albums that I could review … no guarantee that I review it, but I’d love suggestions. Also, feel free to suggest an album from any year; it doesn’t have to be new. Also, please don’t feel any pressure to comment.

This is the third review I’ve posted in less than four full days, but don’t expect to see another review for at least a few days, as I’m not really sure what to review next. But you never know … maybe I’ll have a review up tomorrow!

Keep in mind, this is (as always) just my own personal opinion … if you love this album, that’s great! And no hate meant to Tate McRae, either … the album’s just not my cup of tea. I feel the need to say all this considering that this is my first negative review … whenever I post a negative review, it’s not meant as any hate toward the artist, I’m just sharing my opinion on the music. And with all that, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: chaotic, she’s all i wanna be, feel like shit
Least Favourite Tracks: don’t come back, hate myself, what’s your problem?, you’re so cool, i still say goodnight