Emotion is never lost, of course, and the key difference is Blonde has not only sounds but colors and imagery. Blondeīlonde, on the other hand, feels very different. It is a cohesive album and has a lot of quality throughout. Aside from the bizarre final 8 minutes that sounds like a robot advertising Apple and Samsung, Ocean accomplished his mission with Endless. Granted, every artist strives to make albums that you listen to from song 1 to song 15, but most will skip around to their favorite songs and becomes more of a compilation. You are challenged to see the work as a collective. It is meant to be played from start to finish and not skipped around, but rather viewed as a whole. By making this album only available in one context, with no playlists and just a video, Ocean made an album that forced the listener to focus for it’s entirety. Songs like “Wither” and “Slide On Me” (12:56, 19:00) show pinpoint craftsmanship but show Ocean’s classic vulnerability. EndlessĮndless almost feels like it was recorded under water, meant to put you in a trance on a rainy and gloomy day. The actual album, Blonde, has a few sonic differences. Frank is building stairs, walking around aimlessly in a black and white setting. The piece, which runs 45 minutes long, is an oddity. There is very little background or context to the “visual album” Endless. However, it all changed this past weekend. Memes of long tortured die hards and diatribes of anguish have been comically filling the void of music for four long years. However, during this absence, ironically Ocean is at his peak of social media supremacy. To be fair, Ocean has completely detached himself from social media, aside from a handful of tumblr posts over the years. There was little to give fans any belief that a record would come out. If you have been following the incessant internet trolling during this four year period, you know that Ocean has teased albums, not delivered, sent out hints, but there was nothing concrete. Ocean appeared on Jay Z and Kanye West’s album Watch The Throne, but musically, there was a lot left to be desired. When this album came out, Frank had created a decent and palpable buzz with songs like “Novacane” and “Swim Good.” Ocean was not, however, considered among the biggest artists in the game. Earlier in that same weekend, Ocean also dropped maybe the most cryptic series of pictures, videos, and obscure live streams in recent memory, which led to the visual album, Endless.Ī lot has changed since Frank released his unanimously praised 2012 debut album, Channel Orange.
I’m referring, of course, to Frank Ocean’s follow-up studio album Blonde (Or as it’s also been called “Blond”). On Saturday, August 20th around 7:30 PM, a mythical and enigmatic voice entered back into our lives after a four year hiatus.
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