Image Courtesy of Interscope Records
By: T- Millzz
In case you didn’t know, Skylar Grey is the woman behind the hits like “Love The Way You Lie,” by Eminem and Rihanna as well as “Words I Never Said,” by Lupe Fiasco and herself. She is also formerly known as Holly Brook, who was featured on Fort Minor’s “Where’d you Go,” in 2005. She has built up quite a reputation for herself the past six years as being a very significant songwriter in the industry, as well as a frequent collaborator with Eminem.
Skylar Grey flies under the radar for the most part as her last album did not put her in a conversation of being one of the best female vocalists who actually writes the majority of her songs. This is something I personally find amazing and definitely goes a long way in building a reputation in the industry.
In case you didn’t know, Skylar Grey is the woman behind the hits like “Love The Way You Lie,” by Eminem and Rihanna as well as “Words I Never Said,” by Lupe Fiasco and herself. She is also formerly known as Holly Brook, who was featured on Fort Minor’s “Where’d you Go,” in 2005. She has built up quite a reputation for herself the past six years as being a very significant songwriter in the industry, as well as a frequent collaborator with Eminem.
Skylar Grey flies under the radar for the most part as her last album did not put her in a conversation of being one of the best female vocalists who actually writes the majority of her songs. This is something I personally find amazing and definitely goes a long way in building a reputation in the industry.
With that said, Skylar Grey takes this album to a new level. At first, I was not too keen on the sound she took with this album, however after about four listens, I realized that Grey is looking to create a comfort zone with her own vocals and make that her signature mark on the industry.
Skylar Grey focuses on a whispering style of singing. You can tell she is soft-spoken with how she is approaching these songs, usually coming from deep emotional level. Again, this was something that I realized Skylar Grey has unique to her own style.
As far as weaknesses of the album are concerned: the largest noticing is that Skylar Grey does not deviate from that whisper tone too much unless she flows to a somewhat rap style approach to her lyrics. I found that a bit stale if you listen to it excessively, and I do have to stay that the songs she does deviate from the whisper tone, tend to be the ones I like the most.
The album starts off fairly generic with a repetitive sounding introduction titled, “Intro – Wilderness.” The first two tracks in “Jump” and “Lemonade,” are songs that I was not feeling at first, but after I while I came to enjoy them for what they are: Songs detailing a struggling relationship and having a desire for more in life.
The only feature on the album comes from none other than the “Rap God” himself, Eminem. “Kill For You,” is a solid song for the album and bringing in some attention from the rap community who respect Eminem’s talent. Granted, I actually really liked Skylar’s parts on “Kill For You” more than Eminem’s and I think that is a good thing, after all, it is her album.
After the Eminem assisted, Bonnie and Clyde style song in “Kill For You,” comes quite possible my favorite song Skylar Grey has ever put out in “Come Up For Air,” which gives a great sense of unrequited love or a love where one person puts in all the effort and doesn’t see any attention in return.
The second half of the album is where Skylar takes a great approach to her style and differentiates a bit more than the first half. Songs such as “Real World,” “Straight Shooter,” and “Off Road,” have a sense of amped up feelings as well as stories that keep true to Skylar Grey’s personality and songwriting abilities.
Personally, I was not a huge fan of “In My Garden,” but I definitely like the production of this song, which gives a much different sound than what I came to expect from a Skylar Grey song.
“Moving Mountains,” acts as another song I absolutely love, purely because of the triumphant message as well as the vibrato Grey uses in some portions of the song. “Instead of moving mountains, let the mountains move you,” is a lyric that speaks volumes about Skylar’s work in the past as well as the general public. Anyone who has worked hard for something, and failed to get it, maybe need to let nature take its course and say to themselves, “I need to enjoy what’s around me.”
The album closes out on a good note with “Picture Perfect,” “We Used To Be Bad,” and “Closer.” Most notably “We Used To Be Bad,” gives me a great sense of Skylar Grey’s talent she possesses and the public does not get to see often. This song also reminds me of the early 2000s with the style of the melody and the tempo she decided to take with the vocals… Think of Dido and you will know exactly what I mean, although the tempo is slower for Skylar.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Skylar Grey reaches back for something extra in most portions of this album. With minimal help on the songwriting credits, she definitely establishes herself as an amazing songwriter. Versatility of vocal range and topics however do not take front stage too much. She uses versatility when she needs it, and Skylar Grey talks about the topics and issues she wants to sing about, which makes her a confident artist. The fact there was only one feature on this album tells you that she has a solid thought process on how this industry works for artists like her. The writing is the most important aspect of this album, and makes this rating of 4 out of 5 stars definitely noteworthy.
Songs To Listen To:
Skylar Grey focuses on a whispering style of singing. You can tell she is soft-spoken with how she is approaching these songs, usually coming from deep emotional level. Again, this was something that I realized Skylar Grey has unique to her own style.
As far as weaknesses of the album are concerned: the largest noticing is that Skylar Grey does not deviate from that whisper tone too much unless she flows to a somewhat rap style approach to her lyrics. I found that a bit stale if you listen to it excessively, and I do have to stay that the songs she does deviate from the whisper tone, tend to be the ones I like the most.
The album starts off fairly generic with a repetitive sounding introduction titled, “Intro – Wilderness.” The first two tracks in “Jump” and “Lemonade,” are songs that I was not feeling at first, but after I while I came to enjoy them for what they are: Songs detailing a struggling relationship and having a desire for more in life.
The only feature on the album comes from none other than the “Rap God” himself, Eminem. “Kill For You,” is a solid song for the album and bringing in some attention from the rap community who respect Eminem’s talent. Granted, I actually really liked Skylar’s parts on “Kill For You” more than Eminem’s and I think that is a good thing, after all, it is her album.
After the Eminem assisted, Bonnie and Clyde style song in “Kill For You,” comes quite possible my favorite song Skylar Grey has ever put out in “Come Up For Air,” which gives a great sense of unrequited love or a love where one person puts in all the effort and doesn’t see any attention in return.
The second half of the album is where Skylar takes a great approach to her style and differentiates a bit more than the first half. Songs such as “Real World,” “Straight Shooter,” and “Off Road,” have a sense of amped up feelings as well as stories that keep true to Skylar Grey’s personality and songwriting abilities.
Personally, I was not a huge fan of “In My Garden,” but I definitely like the production of this song, which gives a much different sound than what I came to expect from a Skylar Grey song.
“Moving Mountains,” acts as another song I absolutely love, purely because of the triumphant message as well as the vibrato Grey uses in some portions of the song. “Instead of moving mountains, let the mountains move you,” is a lyric that speaks volumes about Skylar’s work in the past as well as the general public. Anyone who has worked hard for something, and failed to get it, maybe need to let nature take its course and say to themselves, “I need to enjoy what’s around me.”
The album closes out on a good note with “Picture Perfect,” “We Used To Be Bad,” and “Closer.” Most notably “We Used To Be Bad,” gives me a great sense of Skylar Grey’s talent she possesses and the public does not get to see often. This song also reminds me of the early 2000s with the style of the melody and the tempo she decided to take with the vocals… Think of Dido and you will know exactly what I mean, although the tempo is slower for Skylar.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Skylar Grey reaches back for something extra in most portions of this album. With minimal help on the songwriting credits, she definitely establishes herself as an amazing songwriter. Versatility of vocal range and topics however do not take front stage too much. She uses versatility when she needs it, and Skylar Grey talks about the topics and issues she wants to sing about, which makes her a confident artist. The fact there was only one feature on this album tells you that she has a solid thought process on how this industry works for artists like her. The writing is the most important aspect of this album, and makes this rating of 4 out of 5 stars definitely noteworthy.
Songs To Listen To:
- “Come Up For Air”
- “Moving Mountains”
- “Straight Shooter”
- “We Used To Be Bad”