[FRESH ALBUM] Travis Scott - UTOPIA

MY EYES is calming 💜

1.5 Listens in I kind of have mixed feelings, I like the new sounds he is exploring but I think some of the aspects that made ASTROWORLD so great are really missing here. The sequencing of the tracklist feels almost like listening to an album on shuffle, and Im finding the mix is really inconsistent throughout. For example compare Travis's vocal levels on SIRENS vs GODS COUNTRY or TELEKENISIS. Also there was a number of moments where I was surprised how muddy everything was sounding.

Additionally I don't know if there is too many standout moments here or songs I know I'm going to be coming to for awhile.

The album is pretty good on an initial listen, though I do think the front half far exceeds the back half. It flows pretty well throughout however, but the final track doesn't really leave a satisfying conclusion, and it may have even been better to end it with TELEKINESIS instead.

I know this criticism depends a lot on ones personal views on a couple things, but: Travis Scott played a small (but not 0) part in the Astroworld deaths, and he doesn't deserve interpersonal hate for his role in the tragedy. That Said, Dave Chappelle deserves every ounce of hate for his recent controversy, and him saying "I FORGIVE MYSELF" as the crescendo of the song ruins PARASAIL for me, and detracts a handful of enjoyment from the album overall.

But, it's a good album. My expectations of Travis Scott tend to stay pretty low, but he usually handily exceeds them. MY EYES is prob his best verse since Antidote. The opener is great, and TELEKINESIS reminds me of 3500, where Travis and two features all bring the absolute best out of each other.