The Chainsmokers - Memories... Do Not Open

The Chainsmokers - Memories... Do Not Open (2017)

Genre: Electropop, Trap, Synth-pop, Tropical House

Infamous for being known as the duo to only be able to write "one song," I just had to give their debut a shot. Oh boy... As a reminder, I do not intend for this to be a really in-depth and complex review. I'm just sharing my quick personal thoughts on the album. As for any album review I do, I try to be objective without letting any personal bias get too much in the way of the final grade.

When I'm listening to a record, I try to keep track of all the songs that stick with me, the ones I was especially fond of. Two songs into this record, I had already forgotten what the first one sounded like. This is literally how the entire thing played out for me. Upon finishing, I had no recollection of any songs. Everyone of them just seemed to bleed into each other, and so I now understand what people mean by The Chainsmokers only being capable of writing one song.

As a result, I can't even comment on individual tracks on here, because they're all pretty similar. If I had to comment on some positives, it would be that the female guest singers do liven up the record, just a tiny bit. The music itself is uninspired, all throughout. This duo seems to rely on very generic, basic piano chords that do nothing to spice up the tired four chord pop formula. And if the music itself is very basic and bland, I would at least expect some interesting lyrics, but there's none to be found here either. This is a collection of generic love/heartbreak songs that lend themselves well as modern radio muzak. 

Taggart does not have an unappealing voice by no means, but he's incredibly devoid of much charisma, and while the guests aren't really doing much to improve the quality of this record, I would have disliked this album much more than I already did if every song was sung purely by him. In conclusion, as I'm sure many have already made light of such a pun, do not open the contents of this album. This is generic, lazy songwriting that had no right to get much attention. While the music wasn't unpleasant, per se, it was certainly putting me to sleep. I wish I could flesh out this review some more, but there really isn't more to say when there's so little going on here.

D-

Favorite Tracks: The One, Wake Up Alone (If I had to pick)

Least Favorite Track: Pretty much all of them.