Sam Smith
Nirvana


3.0
good

Review

by batuhan altinbas USER (37 Reviews)
March 31st, 2014 | 24 replies


Release Date: 2013 | Tracklist

Review Summary: A refreshing showcase of potential

The greatest asset to a pop singer is usually his or her voice; in the case of Sam Smith, the young up-and-comer has a very versatile set of pipes, capable of transitioning smoothly from convincingly emotional crooning to rich falsetto at whim. This foundation proves to be essential to Smith's appeal, for while his appearance on Disclosure's electronic single "Latch" was critically acclaimed and seemingly definitive of Smith as an EDM vocalist, a change in backdrop does not hamper his more RnB-centric talents. Indeed, the production on Nirvana is very different compared to the array of sounds found on "Latch"; Smith blends various classical influences with organic instrumentation and occasionally synthetic textures, and while this backdrop is admittedly sparse, it accompanies Smith's excellent singing abilities and songwriting well, allowing his voice to shine when it needs to and adding appropriate flavor when he isn't singing. Of notable mention is "Money on My Mind", a steadily paced performance of Smith with his most impressive vocal acrobatics.

Nirvana proves to be a solid debut of a young entrant into the pop scene, allowing Smith to carve out an identity distinct from the burgeoning music scenes for which he contributed the guest vocals that launched him to fame. If he expands the usefulness of his production while continuing to pen addictive vocal hooks, then he will have hit a powerful formula for future success as a pop vocalist.



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user ratings (13)
3.1
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
Azn.
March 31st 2014


5632 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0G9T5Bnjlc&feature=kp



^official music video for "Money On My Mind"

Azn.
March 31st 2014


5632 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

not really understanding the random ghost neg but okay

letsgofishing
March 31st 2014


1705 Comments


Not even joking, I thought this was a posthumous Nirvana album titled Sam Smith at first.



Azn.
March 31st 2014


5632 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

that's believable lol

Rsetness9
March 31st 2014


797 Comments


"I didn't know Nirvana released an album called Sam Smith." was my first thought as well.

deathschool
March 31st 2014


28659 Comments


Well considering he stole Nirvana's band font, it's an easy mistake to make.

Azn.
March 31st 2014


5632 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

yeah I hate it whenever bands use the word "nirvana" in album titles

deathschool
March 31st 2014


28659 Comments


The word doesn't bother me. It's a word and anyone should be able to use it, but he is using the font associated with the 90s band.

Azn.
March 31st 2014


5632 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

yeah that's probably very on purpose

deathschool
March 31st 2014


28659 Comments


I guess. If so, that's pretty shitty. Not a bad review. This doesn't sound like it'll be of much interest to me.

Rsetness9
March 31st 2014


797 Comments


He's probably trying to sell cds to unaware 30-40 year olds, who think it contains un-released Nirvana
tracks. I mean, geez, look how big the word "Nirvana" is.

Azn.
March 31st 2014


5632 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I personally think the dude has a pretty nice voice, and look forward to more substance-ful releases



if he went the james blake route that would be fine

Brostep
Emeritus
March 31st 2014


4491 Comments


EP looks sweet, love Latch so this might be good (although the review suggests a lot of differences between the song and the EP). pretty competent review although it kind of feels like this was written for the sake of being written, if that makes sense. I mean, that's typically what I do too (and what I try ineffectively to stay away from) but it does feel like all you really say here is "His vocals were great on Latch. This is different than Latch, blending various styles like classical and organic/synthetic music. His voice is still great here, and this shows a lot of promise." ya dig? I think you're a really sweet writer when you're on, but something I had to learn the hard way was that a writer has to make sure he has something to say when he/she writes

SomeGuyDude
March 31st 2014


377 Comments


It's not even remotely the same font, and a two second Google search would illustrate that (for example, this album is sans serif, the band logo is serif). It's just big and all caps. As for using it prominently, it's the album title, are you expecting it to be small?

And thirdly, Nevermind came out before this kid was even born. Who is he trying to fool? 35 year olds with fond memories of the grunge movement? And what does it even mean by "fool" anymore? This isn't the old days of record stores, no one is gonna buy this album just based on the cover believing it's an old Nirvana tape.

I haven't even heard this and I don't care to, listened to 30 seconds of one of his songs and realized it's not my genre, but holy crap you guys start using your heads.

deathschool
March 31st 2014


28659 Comments


The font might be slightly different, but anyone that quickly glances at it is going to see the same thing. The point is, no one is going to search for Nirvana's name and compare this side by side to see if it is different. They're going to look at it and say "is this some Nirvana I am yet to hear?" and if they are middle aged and dumb they might even purchase it before they know what they are doing. Now kindly fuck off and die.

Ire
March 31st 2014


41944 Comments


"yeah that's probably very on purpose"

lol is this really that hard to get

klap
Emeritus
March 31st 2014


12409 Comments


lol guys

Yuli
Emeritus
March 31st 2014


10767 Comments


Sputnik: Talking About the Important Issues

Brostep
Emeritus
April 1st 2014


4491 Comments


well I tried my best :[

Brostep
Emeritus
April 1st 2014


4491 Comments


also apparently the inimitable Ire has returned! hi buddy!



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