We don't fit in well 'cause we are just ourselves

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts

10/01/20 : No. 6 Collaborations Project - Ed Sheeran


Sigh - I could see this has been going to happen for the past couple of weeks and finally it has.  Bloomin' Ed Bloomin' Sheeran.  And his mates.  Sigh.  It's safe to say I'm not exactly looking forward to this.

Well.  Hmmm.  "Beautiful People" (the opening track) is OK, I guess - but after that it's a bit of a slog.  The other main thing I took away from the album is that I don’t hate “I Don’t Care” (which Bieber collaboration) nearly as much as I feel I should - and I kinda hate myself as a result.  I'd also say that the Eminem track really doesn’t work for me, which is odd because I didn't mind the one they did on Eminem’s album.

Overall, a lot of the tracks just sound a bit odd and don't really work for me.  Being fair to the lad, I actually think he’s a bit of a musical magpie and just enjoys playing with all the different genres - I'm not sure he even overly cares whether the tracks work or not, which is interesting in a way.  However, it's also very possible to see the whole thing as a cynical market broadening exercise - and I’m sure some of his collaborators definitely saw it that way, which doesn't overly endear me to the project.  And it's a crap album title as well.

We're at #3 in the charts this week on the 26th week of a 127 week run.  It then dropped out of the charts for two weeks and is back on a 22 week run - it seems like people give up Ed Sheeran for Xmas but can't resist him for the rest of the year.  Above him in the chart this week were Stormzy and Lewis and there were no new entries in the top ten - the only new entry in the entire chart was Gene Pitney at #30!

Wikipedia has the expected huge amount (228 milliPeppers) and yes, most of it does just list all the guest artists involved.  The critics weren't convinced by it - they thought it was a bit of a bland mess.  But the public just didn't care what they thought, with it getting into the top ten pretty much everywhere - including Japan, and very few of the albums we meet manage that.  #1 in the US never hurts the bank balance either.

"Customers also listened to" Lewis Capaldi, Shawn Mendes and, errr, The Hobbit soundtrack.  Obviously.  I didn't hate this as much as I wanted to, but I really struggle to understand its huge appeal.

03/01/20 - Well, that could have been worse
17/01/20 - One that's just not for me

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