Looking for good catchy music that’s not to mainstream? Then look no further. Whether you are hipster or not Marina and the Diamonds is the singer for you. If Alternative/Indie Pop music isn’t really your cup of tea, then I suggest that you dump out that old tea and start drinking a different flavor. Marina’s music is catchy and fun to listen to. This not-so-well known artist, Marina Lambrini Diamandis, is a Welsh singer who just released her second album, Electra Heart, in the United States. Personally, I have never heard of Marina and the Diamonds before. I have never heard of her past album or any of her music. But now, she has had three top charting singles from Electra Heart, so far. Some of you may have heard these songs before, and let me tell you; they are amazing. These songs include Primadonna Girl, Power and Control, and finally How to be a Heartbreaker (which is a bonus track, but deserves to be on the album).
Let’s get started with the album art, shall we? The CD cover did not catch my eye at all. The colors are very light and so is Marina, which made me skip right over it while looking for the CD. The album cover is of singer, Marina Diamandis, with a stylish up-do. Needless to say, my expectations of this album were not very high solely based on the fact that her face was the album cover and I missed it in the CD isle at Wal-Mart. Granted, Marina is pretty, but I feel the album art chosen for the CD wasn’t the best. In my opinion, they could have done more with the album cover that tied into the story line of the whole album, if there was one at all, or the word Electra Heart could have been sprawled across the front of the album, instead of under Marina’s face. Either way, something different should have been done with the cover.
Now, you aren’t reading this blog to hear my ideas about album art, so let’s move on to the guts of this CD; the music. Listening to Marina’s past album, The Family Jewels, I must say that she defiantly stepped up the bar. There are eleven songs on Electra Heart, which I find to be a weird number to stop at, but it’s the perfect amount of songs to tell a wonderful story. The album as a whole, I feel, tells a story of a singer’s career that has just taken off. The first two songs, Bubblegum B**ch and Primadonna Girl, are very upbeat and peppy. These two songs symbolize the beginning of a pop star’s career, showing that it is fun to be famous and the center of attention. Closer to the middle of the album the tone of the album gets a bit heavier, which is awesome. With songs like State of Dreaming, Power and Control, and Valley of the Dolls the lower tone of the songs start to show a dip in the story of the singer’s career. The listener really starts to get a feel for the artist, and that being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. At the end of the album the last song, Fear and Loathing, picks up a bit, but not too much. This song symbolizes the end of the career or could be interpreted as a reflection period on the artist’s career. Either way it’s a perfect ending to a well written album. Throughout these eleven songs you can’t help but feel yourself being enveloped into the music. Every song is catchy, whether the tone is heavy or not, each song is very well written and very well thought out. Personally, my favorite song is Valley of the Dolls. The tone of the song is so heavy and powerful. The lyrics really speak to the listener about how everyone tries to fit in, and there are “holes” that form inside of us if we just follow a crowd, like we are empty. The repetitiveness of the lyrics in each of the songs is alright. Personally, I don’t like to hear the same thing over and over and over again, but Marina uses the “repetitive curse” with ease. Every single song, along with the lyrics that accompany them, are amazing. Marina and the Diamonds really out did herself on this album. To me this album deserves listening to. Whether you like pop, rock, punk, or any other type of music, definitely give Marina and the Diamonds a chance. She’s worth it.
1. “Bubblegum Bitch” 0:00
2. “Primadonna” 2:38
3. “Lies” 6:19
4. “Homewrecker” 10:05
5. “Starring Role” 13:27
6. “The State of Dreaming” 16:56
7. “Power & Control” 20:33
8. “Living Dead” 24:22
9. “Teen Idle” 28:23
10. “Valley of the Dolls” 32:37
11. “Hypocrates” 36:52
12. “Fear and Loathing” 40:56
Musicstache 