"Hollywood's Bleeding" Album Review
Post Malone has made another hit album after nearly a year of releasing Beerbong & Bentleys in 2018. Nothing has changed much with the pop musician, however, in his new album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, Posty's signature blend of different beats and pop culture references made social media blow up.
After a week of the album’s release, Malone’s top songs “Circles”, “Take What You Want,” “Enemies,” and many others are still on top trending charts including United States Top 50 on Spotify. If you’ve listened to the entire album, you can agree that most of these songs are/will be radio hits based on the beat and lyrics.
Nonetheless, Malone’s new album delivers a new type of message that fans have never seen before. Malone usually talks about money, parties, being a stoner, and relationships that have hurt him in the past. However, in Hollywood’s Bleeding, he creates this true reflection about himself.
In the first track, he harps on the idea of women never getting to know him, “never took the time to get to know me,” and if the drugs fade away, who will be at his funeral? In “Saint-Tropez”, he talks about his lifestyle of partying but realizes he’s not having a good time but rather, “waiting for a long time,” on something else. Malone finally realizes that maybe his celebrity lifestyle isn't so what it seems. In “Myself,” Malone describes his life touring and all the places he’s been but he wishes he could have been there “himself” with his friends, family, or even significant other. Lastly, “Take What You Want” features Posty with Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott. I don’t think we all knew we needed that collab. Guitar shredding, catchy chorus, and verses made it an iconic song on the album with raw emotion.
Sure, you can argue that most of the songs have an upbeat or “catchy” tune but in each song, Posty has a different emotional experience and story in itself. No song is the same. Everything in this album including the visuals, album cover, and lyrics reflects the person Post Malone is. This album is not for everyone, I think we can all admit that. I’m definitely not an expert on albums nor music but I can tell that Hollywood's Bleeding is one in the books of pop culture and the year of 2019.
(Cover Photo from Republic Records, 2019)