Post Malone is back. The New York born rapper, hailing from Texas has released his second studio album to commercial success. ‘beerbongs & bentleys’ has reached Platinum status, despite a clear mixed reaction from critics. However, fan reaction has been positive, although many believe that the overall album did not have the exact impact of his first, ‘Stoney’. In this review, we will go over each of the 18 songs, giving a short general review and opinion.
My personal favourite of the lot is ‘Over Now’, featuring the best chorus in the entire album and some of the best lyrics and vocals throughout, feeling both powerful and catchy, you can really feel the emotion in this song especially through the electrifying chorus and instrumental. It feels like a mixture of ‘Go Flex’ and ‘I Fall apart’, the two best songs featured in his debut album ‘Stoney’; although it has a faster pace, even in comparison to a couple other songs in this album, but still manages to stay powerful. Its quintessential Post Malone, and I hope we see more like it in the future.
‘Blame It On Me’ keeps with the script set by ‘Over Now’, featuring a stirring performance by Post and some emotional lyrics that set the bar high for the rest of the album.
One of the strangest songs on the album is also one of its best. ‘Jonestown (Interlude)’ is a short, simple but powerful song; with lyrics referencing the Jonestown massacre in 1978, where 918 people died in what was called a “revolutionary suiciude”. The track focuses on its acoustics and instrumental to carry the dramatic impact, and it works to great effect here. Hopefully, this is a look into the future of Mr. Malone’s music career.
‘Better Now’ is also another favourite of mine, while being much more upbeat than Over Now, it sticks with the theme, the downsides of fame and fortune as an obstacle to true happiness.
‘Rich and Sad’, the 2nd track featured on the album, is probably the closest song in tone to ‘Congratulations’ from ‘Stoney’. Featuring a catchy chorus with a focus on money and its impact on relationships as he grows richer. Keeping with the overall theme of the album.
‘Zack and Codiene’ gained popularity due to its clear reference to the Disney Channel show, ‘The Suite Life Of Zack and Cody’. The track isn’t entirely unique and the chorus isn’t all that special. Not a bad song, but not the most exciting of the bunch. The general fan and critical consensus behind the album is that a lot of the songs feel like repeats of stuff that we’ve already seen, maybe this is why Zack and Codeine struggles to stand out among the crowd.
‘Stay’, another unique song in this album, features an instantly recognisable guitar instrumental, slower than most. The vocals are powerful and go along very well with the instrumental, creating another powerful piece of work by the young rapper.
‘Rockstar’, ‘Candy Paint’, ‘Psycho’ and ‘Ball For Me’ are all singles for the album, with the first three being released before the album’s release. ‘Candy Paint’ is a good song and is consistent in flow for the most part. But in a way it suffers from this. It takes until the 2:20 mark for the flow to switch up and it isn’t exactly groundbreaking. The chorus is catchy but weak in comparison to the rest of the album.
Both ‘Psycho’ and ‘Paranoid’ are both very popular tracks, but are very different in tone. ‘Paranoid’ is much more upbeat in tempo and the vocal performance is much more impressive by Post Malone, making it one of the better songs available; whereas, ‘Psycho’ has a slower pace and the delivery of some lyrics aren’t as great as ‘Over Now’ for example. It is one of the more overrated songs in the album due to Ty Dolla $ign’s feature, and its early release, Despite this, it is not a bad song, but the standards were set high earlier and have yet to be reached.
The songs with featured artists are rather hit or miss in the album. This is especially apparent in ‘Ball For Me’, which seems to have had a boost in popularity due to its feature of Nicki Minaj. While not being an inherently bad song, it just doesn’t feel like Post Malone. Though this may be a good thing usually, especially in the case where some songs may feel repetitive; however, Nicki’s verse just feels out of place in an album focusing on the darkness behind money and would be better suited elsewhere, similarly to ‘Candy Paint’.
The most surprising feature for me is in ‘Rockstar’. While not the best by any means, 21 Savage’s verse fits with the theme and kept the flow of the song mostly intact. With a catchy and memorable chorus to boot, its popular for a reason, which makes it one of the better songs in the album. As opposed to this, Swae Lee’s feature on ‘Spoil My Night’ is rather forgettable, in one of the more mediocre tracks.
G-Eazy and Post Malone stand out together in the song ‘Same Bitches’, a song that is almost perfect for the club scene and will certainly be played on repeat at your local. The song also features YG, whose contribution doesn’t have the same impact as the rest. ’92 Explorer’ follows suit with ‘Same Bitches’, almost guaranteed to be a major feature in the club scene in the months to come.
‘Takin’ Shots’ suffers from the curse of repetition, feeling too similar to past tracks. Almost copying a short part of ‘Congratulations’, but to a less impressive effect. Again, not a bad track, but not the best.
‘Sugar Wraith’ is the closest song in terms of the pace of ‘Over Now’, even repeating a line from the same track. However, it’s impact isn’t as great and is one of the weaker songs in the album. ‘Otherside’ is very similar in the fact that it is one of the weaker tracks on the album due to its failure to really do anything different or unique, but maybe my view may change as I continue to listen in the future, as I can see the songs potential.
Overall, while not being as much of a ‘hit’ as his Debut, ‘beerbongs & bentley’ is certainly no miss. Featuring some of the best work Post Malone has produced, despite slight feelings of repetition. The album deserves a 4 out of 5 stars. ‘Jonestown’ and ‘Over Now’ are great omens for the future and hopefully we see more like that in his next album.
Overall Rating: 4/5
By Jimmy Ioannou
Images provided by Post Malone/Twitter
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