VIVI'S WORKS

BRITNEY SPEARS: ...BABY ONE MORE TIME (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 76/100 I'm really not understanding the mass hatred towards this album, sure it's not amazing, but it isn't bad either, people seem to be taking it way too seriously. It's a fun album, Britney was young, and for her age this sure was well done, she did a great job with her vocals and giving her career a huge start.

BRITNEY SPEARS: BRITNEY JEAN (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 57/100 I didn't hate this album honestly, it had some great songs come out of it. I think the issue with it to me is the fact it sounds very generic and somewhat lazy, the production sounded like everything else that was being made in this time period. Tik Tik Boom and Work Bitch were both really good songs in my personal opinion, those were the high points of the album. Not Britney's best work by any means, but it's not horrible either.

BRITNEY SPEARS: BRITNEY JEAN (DELUXE) (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 67/100 I liked the bonus tracks, the rest hasn't changed. But I think Brightest Morning Star is one of my favorites, it's beautiful lyrically and vocally.

JANET JACKSON: DAMITA JO (January 19, 2023 & February 4, 2023) ORIGINAL SCORE (January 19, 2023): 72/100 A pretty good album, I personally really liked this album, I thought a lot of the songs were very well done and overall I just really enjoyed it. There isn't a ton I can say about it, but I can say I liked it and I would recommend it, the R&B sound of the album was really well done and I think all of the production was perfectly matched to Janet's voice EDIT (February 4, 2023):  SCORE: 91/100 Edit: 72-91, MAN was I bad at reviews at this time, good god. I re listened to this album recently and now that I'm capable of writing reviews here's a bit more: Damita Jo is a lovely album, the lyrics are (mostly) sweet and loving and the production is infectiously amazing. For such a long album everything flows so well and it's really consistent and amazing, most of everything was good but there was a couple weak points here and there, still a really solid and well...

PRINCE: FOR YOU (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 87/100 Early Prince, before his style was found. I find this album to actually be quite enjoyable, I love the funk/disco sound it has to it and I also like hearing the vocal style that Prince used when he was young. I think this is an essential album for Prince fans, to hear how he sounded before he fully shaped out his style.

My plans for this new, more relaxed blog forum are for me to archive hopefully all of my AOTY reviews to have them backed up and available on a wider scale. This will help me to review my growth and make new comments about old reviews, and it will allow for a smoother organization of my oldest projects (by year tag, genre tag, archive tag). This will make it easiest for me to organize my writing and have a portfolio of sorts readily available at all times. I still absolutely adore AOTY and it will continue to be my main platform, but this allows for me to have another outlet for my writing, which can go outside of just music and into other forms of media and personal posts. This new outlet will allow for me to write more drabble-esque posts (posts that are short in length, although they are only similar to drabble[s] in that sense, since my posts are not fiction), and to branch out more into other forms of writing and media - outside of just music and review-based writing.  It'll t...

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION: AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 94/100 What an interesting switch up in styles from Purple Rain, but still a lovely album. Prince seemed to be able to effortlessly change his musical style again and again and make it sound amazing in the process every time. I find this album to be somewhat underrated, since I don't really seem to hear about it when people talk about Prince much. I think the experimental style of this album is stunning and it is yet another work of art from Prince, definitely would recommend to any Prince fans that have not already heard it before

JANIS JOPLIN: I GOT DEM OL' KOZMIC BLUES AGAIN MAMA! (January 19, 2023) I was semi-recently told by a family member that I have a strong resemblance to Janis Joplin, being called a "mini Janis Joplin" and being told that I'm similar to her in nearly every fashion, from way of speak to the tone of my voice. It was a really interesting thing for me to hear, and I think I'll always be reminded of it when it comes to her and her music. SCORE: 81/100 The vocals and instrumentals are both strong on this one. I think that this album sounds ahead of its time, and I found it to be very enjoyable. This album, with only 8 tracks, is short but sweet, with each track being pretty good. I would recommend this album if you are already a fan of psychedelic rock or blues rock.

  RAY CHARLES: MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC VOLUME TWO (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 96/100 Just as strong as volume one. Another must listen album, everything that I wrote in my review for the first volume still stands true to this volume too. I find the soul/country blend to be very interesting, but Ray makes it work in such a lovely and fun way. Definitely a must hear album for any music lovers looking to hear something new.

RAY CHARLES: MODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY AND WESTERN MUSIC (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 96/100 My first Ray Charles album, I didn't know what to expect really, but needless to say I loved this album! I've never been into country music really, but I think that this is a stunning album. I really enjoy the sound of Ray's vocals, and overall I found the album to be quite enjoyable. I fell in love with the album from the first track, Bye, Bye Love, it caught my attention right away and it is one of my favorites off of the album. I would recommend this album, as well as it's second volume, even if you are not a fan of country music, it is a must hear album from the 60s.

GEORGE MICHAEL: FAITH (January 19, 2023) SCORE: 96/100 Another one of my favorite albums of the 80s. I think that this album has a very unique sound to it, blending many genres together to make an overall amazing album. This album pushed a lot of boundaries and had some very daring tracks on it. George had very strong production and vocals throughout, making it an enjoyable album. I would highly recommend this album to anyone wanting to get more into either 80s music or George Michael

PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION: PURPLE RAIN (January 19, 2023) An album I desperately need to revisit, Prince's 'Purple Rain' is an album that I practically made my entire personality upon hearing it. Prince's music changed my entire viewpoint on music and his albums introduced me to a whole hidden world of funk rock that I never knew existed until I was introduced to 'Purple Rain'. I went through a HUGE Prince phase, and it still shows wholeheartedly by my extensive collection of Prince-related goods I have acquired since discovering his music. I don't listen to him nearly as much as I used to, but he remains an artist that I hold close to my heart due to many good memories and so much incredible music. My huge Prince phase was around Christmastime in 2022, so it seems even more fitting to revisit this old review of mine . PRINCE/PRINCE AND THE REVOLUTION: PURPLE RAIN SCORE: 100/100 One of my all time favorite albums. Absolutely flawless album with killer produc...

FIRST EVER REVIEW AS @vivi (January 19, 2023) My first ever review to albumoftheyear.org was published on January 19, 2023. Never in my life would I have guessed the journey it would take me on - but I am forever thankful for this ignition of a writing spark I never knew I had in me until discovering the art of the music review. Since I uploaded that first review, my life has changed drastically - I'm older, more matured, and an even better writer than I could've ever imagined. I've always had a knack for vocabulary and reading comprehension, but I would've never guessed that it would lead me down a brand new path of wonderful opportunities.  My earliest reviews were nothing to marvel at by any means, but they're such an interesting thing to look back on - to see how much I have grown as both a person and a writer. I want to use this blog to chronical more than just music reviews - and I feel as if I can be more casual here on an informal blogging service rather tha...