Mayer can’t top the sparkling “White” that already exists on this year’s “The Odd Future Tape Vol. White (featuring John Mayer) – Guitar noodling courtesy of Mr. The song shimmies forward in a daze, with Ocean trying to find his love within the seduction of sin.ġ2. Lost – After the slow burn of “Pyramids,” “Lost” offers an unexpected rush of ornate pop - about a drug-cooking girlfriend, no less. The real triumph here is Ocean’s song structure: verses and hooks collapse onto each other, rhymes pop up out of nowhere, and the singer acts like minutely balancing a 10-minute concept piece is no big deal.ġ1. The centerpiece of “Channel Orange” conjures images of Cleopatra’s ancient betrayal before the dream slithers to an end, and an even more dour vision of romance comes into view. The ordeal sounds great, but the songwriting is looser than it should be. Crack Rock – While the cymbals come to life and twinkling keys inject some gravitas, Ocean delivers a scattershot examination of drugs, corruption, broken homes and gun violence. The central concept here is not as fleshed-out as on other “Orange” tracks, but the footprints that do exist are striking.ĩ. Pilot Jones – Bleary electronic blips soundtrack this ode to a strung-out woman that Ocean can’t help but adore. The steadiness of the beat is immediately familiar but wholly fresh - it’s like Ocean snatched “Benny and the Jets” and threw the composition down a trap door into another universe.Ĩ. Super Rich Kids (featuring Earl Sweatshirt) – A celebration of excess quickly dissolves into a basic plea for honest emotion, and Ocean’s Odd Future mate scoops up some rhymes about reckless driving. In 60 seconds, a woman explains why money it not just money - it is everything, including happiness.ħ. Not Just Money – Another quick interlude that once again ties together the two songs flanking it on the album. “Why see the world, when you got the beach?” he asks rhetorically.Ħ. Ocean places his sunglasses on and becomes the captain of a sumptuous soul cruise, prodding the privileged to reach for more by unraveling their lavish realities.
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A meditation on sex, pregnancy and childhood dreams that begs for repeated listens in order to crack its elliptical code. Sierra Leone – The percussion stays buried as Ocean sounds like he’s debating with his own spoken-word statements. On its own, it’s a lost pop doodle, but in context, the track makes weird sense.Ĥ. Fertilizer – An AM radio jingle about bullshit, “Fertilizer” is a bridge between Tracks 2 and 4 that underlines the importance of listening to “Orange” in order. Still, the woozy heaven of “Thinkin Bout You’s” backing track and Ocean’s clawing falsetto still ring true, and bestow “Channel Orange” with a unique backbone.ģ. It’s as if Frank is giving his listeners 46 seconds to strap in.Ī bold choice to lead off his major label debut with a song that’s floated around the Internet for a year. Start – Patches of silence and flickers of noise get “Channel Orange” underway. Which songs on “Channel Orange” are the best of the bunch? Check out this track-by-track review of the R&B singer’s major label debut.ġ. Either way, it’s one of the best albums of the year, and Ocean, hopefully, will keep making more like it, without a hint of reservation. “Channel Orange” may make Frank Ocean a household name, or it might not. Yet Ocean’s irrepressible spirit carries all 55 minutes of this opus, shining light on subjects that are not discussed often enough and spinning new webs of ideas around familiar R&B tropes. “Channel Orange” does not contain any bad songs, although there are times when Ocean’s themes could be a bit tighter. The production never smothers the singer’s sumptuous vocals, which spill over into pockets of air that the listener didn’t know could be filled. But no matter what Ocean’s mood is on the album, the songs sound fantastic.
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