A few weeks ago, I blogged about a video that was a parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” single. Well, Thicke’s entire album is out, and our Chris Azzopardi has this review:
It’s probably safe to call “Blurred Lines” – Robin Thicke’s ubiquitous dirty ditty that your grandma can’t get enough of (hey, it’s catchy!) — the song of the summer. It’s the longest charting No. 1 single of the year so far, and because of its modestly produced, easy-on-the-ears groove, this is something we should all agree is a good thing. For Robin, it absolutely is; based on the single’s mega success, Blurred Lines the CD will likely be Thicke’s biggest disc (that’s d-i-s-c; not d-i-c-k) to date.
But should it be? It certainly keeps to the soul-daddy’s established paradigm of bedroom pillow talk and nightlife booty-bouncers, with “Get in My Way” — where he toughens up and drops the signature falsetto — thematically favoring a similarly named Kylie Minogue song and ranking high among the 11 tracks.
Its melty flow almost masks the disc’s raciest come-ons (including turning his own last name into a penis pun, as he should), and its nasty-good rap from Kendrick Lamar (“Give It 2 U” is up there, too). But otherwise, there’s a lot of blurring here, and it’s not just the lines: Despite his kinky teases, Thicke, the vanillaest of artists, is unable to overcome his “second-rate Justin Timberlake” billing. His namelessness also hasn’t changed. The club-pop predictability of tracks like “Go Stupid 4 U” and “Take It Easy On Me” do him few favors, and “The Good Life” sweetens his horned-up image but still flops. Despite all the sex talk, Blurred Lines needs a Viagra. Two stars.
