It's probably not surprising that Mac Miller's major label debut, GO:OD AM, is a little less weird than his last two outings, but in the case of Mac Miller, that's not an entirely bad thing. It just means Miller's penchant for psychedelic, lurching beats and intentionally awkward pacing has been reigned in, just a little. (Miller being kind of sober-ish probably helped with that, too.)
Content wise, GO:OD AM manages to run the gamut from over the top boasts about money and women to a very warts-and-all introspective examination of Miller's history with substance abuse. There are even a couple of sappy numbers on here. Sonically, there's still lots of hazy psych-rap weirdness — most notably on "Time Flies" — but there are also catchy pop-rap tunes ("100 Grandkids"), straight up rowdy bangers ("When in Rome") and an eight-minute-long, two-part, blues-sampling magnum opus.
If there's one flaw with this album, it's its length. If you make a 70-minute album, all 70 of those minutes better be phenomenal, and that's not the case here. Dropping two or three songs would be enough to turn this very good record into a brilliant one.
(Warner/REMember Music)Content wise, GO:OD AM manages to run the gamut from over the top boasts about money and women to a very warts-and-all introspective examination of Miller's history with substance abuse. There are even a couple of sappy numbers on here. Sonically, there's still lots of hazy psych-rap weirdness — most notably on "Time Flies" — but there are also catchy pop-rap tunes ("100 Grandkids"), straight up rowdy bangers ("When in Rome") and an eight-minute-long, two-part, blues-sampling magnum opus.
If there's one flaw with this album, it's its length. If you make a 70-minute album, all 70 of those minutes better be phenomenal, and that's not the case here. Dropping two or three songs would be enough to turn this very good record into a brilliant one.