Selena Gomez - Rare - flyctory.com

Selena Gomez - Rare

3.25

Rating

3.3/5

Flyctory.com Pros

Very versatile compositions
Great start
Selena is back!

Flyctory.com Cons

Too many average songs

While there were not too many releases in the pre-Christmas period, the list of potential Flyctory.com reviews on 10th January was massive. One album which I definitely did not want to miss was the latest release by Selena Gomez, who gave her Rare in two versions, an Explicit and a Clean one. Of course, I did the explicit songs.

Selena Gomez – About The Artist

Selena Marie Gomez was born in 1992 in Grand Prairie, Texas. Already at the age of ten, she had her first TV appearances, when she starred in Barney & Friends. Her breakthrough on the screen was definitely Wizards of Waverly Place, which she recorded for Disney channel from 2007 to 2012. During that time, she already toured with her band Selena Gomez & the Scene. Already the first studio album Kiss & Tell was a great success, with Top 20 placements in the USA, Austria, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom and reaching Gold status in the US. In the following two years, she released one album each, which had similar success. The band broke up in 2012. One year later, Selena Gomez had her first solo studio album. Stars Dance topped the charts in the USA, Canada and Norward and reached remarkable sales and placements in many other markets. The album was followed by the 2015 Revival. In private life, Selena Gomez majorly made it to the headlines by having an on-off-relationship with Justin Bieber.

Selena Gomez – Rare – Track by Track

Rare contains 13 songs and lasts 41 minutes. You will find multiple websites which analyse the lyrics against the events which have happened during the multiple breakup of Gomez and Bieber. I won’t add something to it.

1. Rare

A light and easy pop track. The album starts not too bad, but I would definitely expect more from Gomez than this track.

2. Dance Again

Feels so good to dance again – this song at least could be your right soundtrack to become a slave to the rhythm. Good song.

3. Look At Her Now

They fell in love one summer
A little too wild for each other
Shiny ’til it wasn’t
Feels good ’til it doesn’t
It was her first real lover
His too ’til he had another
Oh, God, when she found out
Trust levels went way down

Okay, these tracks really make it hard not to think about too deeply about Selena Gomez’ recent love life. Very speedy and rhythmic, nice arrangement.

4. Lose You To Love Me

Lose You To Love Me is a very intense, but also intimate track. The choir-alike background arrangement is very catchy. You can’t dance on that song, but if you allow the story to happen in your heart, you will have a good time.

5. Ring

Another song which uses a very accentuated melodies. I am not too much a fan of the lyrics, but of course it is a nice production.

6. Vulnerable

Vulnerable is close to lounge music, even has some ethnic-sounding elements. It is a comparably slow song – not that much of the ingredients you would like it to have.

7. People You Know

We used to be close, but people can go
From people you know to people you don’t
And what hurts the most is people can go
From people you know to people you don’t

With lyrics like that you may not make it this year – neither if you are looking for an Oscar, a Grammy or any other kind of award. Another nice track, who lacks standing in the spotlight than in the corner.

8. Let Me Get Me

A lot of rhythm and speed in that song. Its hook line reminds me a bit of Oriental music, which makes it a very special track. Moves your hips while listening, so it can’t be too bad.

9. Crowded Room feat. 6Lack

Baby, it’s just me and you
Baby, it’s just me and you
Just us two
Even in a crowded room
Baby, it’s just me and you, yeah

Rapper 6Lack just appears at the very end of this song, singing one verse. A very gentle, fragile composition. Not the best track on the album to me.

10. Kinda Crazy

While listening to Kinda Crazy, I thought about the amazing arrangement of the song. Selena’s voice is just gently, not too intensively and too loud put on top of an as gentle melody. Selena’s songs are sometimes very quiet, but still so present. Though its definitely not my favorite genre, it amazes me. Kinda Crazy is a perfect example, I love the song.

11. Fun

You look like… Fun – okay, that’s what you can name explicit lyrics. Thus, the song gives e a smila and I hope for Selena that she had an enjoyable time there. However, I am tempted to write again that we got a “nice” song here. Could also write not bad – which means, it is not a smash hit as well.

12. Cut You Off

I did not want to write too much about Selena and Justin Bieber. Hard to do in this one

So I gotta get
You out my head now
I just (I just) cut you off (Yeah, I cut you off)
You out my head now

I am in that “nice mode” already. Where are the catching ones?

13. A Sweeter Place feat. Kid Cudi

The final track of the European standard edition is a duet with rapper Kid Cudi. It is a very melodic track, which is a bit of catchy to me as well. Thus, the thirteen episodes conclude with a happy ending.

Selena Gomez – Rare – Spotify

Here is the widget and link to Spotify:

Selena Gomez – Rare – My View

The album starts with some really good songs. But then… I could have written “nice” to most of the songs (in fact I did in my first version of the review, before I recognized that I did not remember any of the songs any more). On the positive side, the album is versatile and offers very different styles – I love that. But the overall collection of songs is a bit too brave. Selena Gomez is a great girl, a celebrity since her early years, an idol and a fascinating human – I don’t feel it in these forty minutes over the whole time. Thus, I end up with an average rating.

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