Halsey - If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power ALBUM REVIEW
Gonna be flexing some religious/Renaissance painting knowledge here.
Halsey has been an artist that’s been incredibly hit or miss for me. Her first couple albums really didn’t do too much for me, if I’m being honest, but her last album, 2020’s Manic, really caught me. Unlike the title, that album seems very refined and ended up really intriguing me to see if Halsey was going to progress as an artist. Right as this album was announced, though, I felt that there was something new happening. I mean, that’s with most albums, but this was special. Before any other details came out about this album, it was revealed that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from Nine Inch Nails would be producing the entire album. Then, the title got revealed to be If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, and with that, I was pretty excited about this. There’s even an IMAX short film, but I personally haven’t seen it yet. There really weren’t any expectations for this since there weren’t any singles released before it, so let’s get right into If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
Let’s start with Halsey herself. She explained the concept of the album as the pros and cons of pregnancy and childbirth. I think it’s pretty obvious with the album cover, which is most definitely based on the Jean Vouquet painting, Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels, which depicts Madonna, who is a different representation of the Virgin Mary. It’s a very personal album, so I think it’s a great move to keep the crew on it small. This album’s pretty much only Halsey and Nine Inch Nails, outside of a couple key people like Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham. Halsey’s writing is the main standout, oddly enough. I think her pen has improved drastically from each album she’s released, and it’s at its strongest here. The one part I think lacks, oddly enough, is the production. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good and it fits the narrative of this project perfectly, but I personally was just hoping there would be more left-field stuff from them, and while I’m not mad at what we got, part of me just wanted a tiny bit more.
I was honestly pretty surprised by this album. I had a feeling I was gonna dig it, but it’s mainly why I liked it that surprised me. Halsey’s writing here is on point and it needs to be shown that it is this good. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is one of the better concept albums of this year, and quite frankly, I think she could top this album if she keeps up this quality pen. This is without a doubt the best album of her career so far.
7/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a Capitol release.
Halsey has been an artist that’s been incredibly hit or miss for me. Her first couple albums really didn’t do too much for me, if I’m being honest, but her last album, 2020’s Manic, really caught me. Unlike the title, that album seems very refined and ended up really intriguing me to see if Halsey was going to progress as an artist. Right as this album was announced, though, I felt that there was something new happening. I mean, that’s with most albums, but this was special. Before any other details came out about this album, it was revealed that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from Nine Inch Nails would be producing the entire album. Then, the title got revealed to be If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, and with that, I was pretty excited about this. There’s even an IMAX short film, but I personally haven’t seen it yet. There really weren’t any expectations for this since there weren’t any singles released before it, so let’s get right into If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power.
Let’s start with Halsey herself. She explained the concept of the album as the pros and cons of pregnancy and childbirth. I think it’s pretty obvious with the album cover, which is most definitely based on the Jean Vouquet painting, Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels, which depicts Madonna, who is a different representation of the Virgin Mary. It’s a very personal album, so I think it’s a great move to keep the crew on it small. This album’s pretty much only Halsey and Nine Inch Nails, outside of a couple key people like Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham. Halsey’s writing is the main standout, oddly enough. I think her pen has improved drastically from each album she’s released, and it’s at its strongest here. The one part I think lacks, oddly enough, is the production. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good and it fits the narrative of this project perfectly, but I personally was just hoping there would be more left-field stuff from them, and while I’m not mad at what we got, part of me just wanted a tiny bit more.
I was honestly pretty surprised by this album. I had a feeling I was gonna dig it, but it’s mainly why I liked it that surprised me. Halsey’s writing here is on point and it needs to be shown that it is this good. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is one of the better concept albums of this year, and quite frankly, I think she could top this album if she keeps up this quality pen. This is without a doubt the best album of her career so far.
7/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is a Capitol release.
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