00:03Mr. Styles, the man that you are. This is my number one, man.
00:07I have it at number four. I found that wildly disrespectful.
00:11There is a choir shaking the listener awake.
00:14Harry's talking about un-intimate sex, which also kind of shakes the listener awake to some degree.
00:19Your mind is so powerful.
00:22Billboard staff is reacting to our ranking for Harry Styles' new album, Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally.
00:30I can take that decision to taste back.
00:33I love Harry's writing when it feels more journalistic like this, when there are specific references to places.
00:39And I think we can maybe guess who it's about.
00:42But I just think there are so many better songs that shine brighter on this album.
00:47I actually really like Taste Back. The synths are huge. The hook is huge.
00:53It's very warm. It's very dripping in nostalgia.
00:56I think that some of the lines are really effective.
00:59Placed in kind of the center of the album, right before that kind of mid-album pivot, it's pretty effective.
01:06I have this probably in the 10 to 8 range.
01:09I don't think it's the dead worst song on the album.
01:11But I do think that I really enjoy the way the restlessness of the beat kind of gives you this
01:17idea of reconciliation.
01:18But are you able to actually reconcile fully with this person or not?
01:21Or do you just want them for the moment?
01:23I like how his voice is kind of subdued on this track.
01:25Gives you a little bit of that apprehension that the lyrics are hinting at.
01:27I don't know. I don't think this is the number 12.
01:29But it's also definitely not a top half for the album.
01:35At number 11, we have Are You Listening Yet?
01:37This is probably where I differentiate from the published ranking most.
01:41This is a top five song for me.
01:42I love it.
01:43It gives Harry Meets the Dare.
01:45I think it's super, super dope.
01:46It's relentless, right?
01:48It is nonstop movement.
01:50There is a choir shaking the listener awake.
01:54Harry's talking about un-intimate sex, which also kind of shakes the listener awake to some degree.
01:59As the fourth song of the track list, Are You Listening Yet?
02:02is kind of the moment where things kick into high gear.
02:05Lyrically, I think it felt a little too on the nose for what he's trying to deliver conceptually here.
02:10I think that's more tastefully done elsewhere.
02:13I do love the instrumental, but the lyrics just overpower it for me.
02:22This was a little higher in my ranking, but seems to be a fan favorite already.
02:26I think maybe we're a little biased here in America.
02:29The first time I heard this, it sounded like a single to me.
02:33It sounded like late night talking in the sense of kind of that 80s indebted found sound pastiche a little
02:41bit.
02:41It has a little bit of stately piano in it.
02:43It's very kind of slinky and very catchy.
02:47And this is number two on the track list right after Aputure.
02:50And to me, that it really kind of had the same effect of as it was followed by late night
02:56talking,
02:56where you have kind of the big lead single followed by something a little bit more radio friendly.
03:04The payoff is undeniable.
03:05It's a fun, well done pop song.
03:07But I think the part of American Girls that is taking up most of my brain space is just the
03:12idea right now of kind of where America sits on the global stage.
03:16And some of our biggest non-American pop stars leaning into America as a concept.
03:26I would probably put this also at number nine.
03:29I think that I appreciate the concept and what Harry was going for more than the execution on this one.
03:34The lyrics are a little bit, we were saying this earlier about other songs, a little bit too on the
03:39nose here for me.
03:39Honestly, I would have liked a little bit more metaphor for The Waiting Game,
03:43only because The Waiting Game is already such a plain, obvious title.
03:46But I also just do like to hear him open up a little bit more about what pop stardom, what
03:51super stardom kind of means to him.
03:53The Waiting Game is all about compromising yourself and figuring out how to find success between the pressures around you
04:02versus what you actually want.
04:03This is kind of the middle section of the album where he's taking a little step back from the relentless
04:10tempo and is more kind of contemplative and a little bit sorrowful.
04:16Like the strings in this song are really kind of emotionally affecting.
04:20I also had this at number nine, so look at us.
04:23Okay.
04:24For me, it felt too safe sonically.
04:27It reminded me way too much of past work, like Sunflower.
04:31I think there are things we love about his past work, but I want him to get weird with it.
04:42At number eight, we have pop.
04:45Well, I don't have pop at number eight.
04:47Justice for pop, because I have it at number four.
04:51I found that wildly disrespectful.
04:53I thought of all the songs that would go hard live, pop would be up there at the top.
04:58And I think that for a really old, like, rock and roll, sex, drugs, rock and roll concept, it felt
05:05so fresh and so fun.
05:07And I can see Harry jumping around on stage to this.
05:11Pop is all about reckless fun.
05:14I wish that Harry, just in general, kind of leaned into this pose a little bit more, because when he
05:20has a lot of that kind of thrashing around energy, it's really effective.
05:26I actually had this one around, like, the four or five range, mostly because, like, it's a really fun, hedonistic
05:32pop bop.
05:33And, like, that's kind of what you want from a big blockbuster dance album.
05:36He gives it to you tenfold here.
05:45At number seven, we have Pain by Numbers, which is my very strong number two.
05:49I really, really, really adored this song.
05:52Even outside of the Beatles-ness of the instrumentation here, which plays really well against his voice,
05:58I just love how honest this song is, because we don't necessarily get a lot of pop songs that are
06:03about what it's like being the younger man in a relationship with an older woman in the aftermath of that,
06:08and what goes through your psyche with all of that.
06:11And I think it was really interesting to hear that perspective.
06:13For what was a semi-public relationship that we didn't really get much out of as consumers and as fans,
06:19this song was a really nice gateway into that, and I think it's executed very, very beautifully.
06:22It's almost like a guitar ballad, which is a little bit of a curveball on this album.
06:27It's very self-aware, self-prodding about who Harry is and what he wants to represent.
06:33I think that this song has, to me, kind of like the mission statement for the album.
06:40Quote,
06:41My ranking is lower, and that's no shade, because I loved it so much, and I was a really strong
06:52Beatles fan growing up,
06:52and I also heard that reference immediately.
06:55It just doesn't feel as compelling as the rest of the album, especially with, like, the disco undertones and the
07:03dance sets throughout.
07:04I wanted this concept more fleshed out.
07:11At number six, we have season two, Weight Loss, which I might have put too low on my ranking already.
07:18You know, these are ever-evolving situations.
07:20I have it at number 10, which I will probably regret.
07:24This, for me, is one of the best examples in Harry's whole discography of him really playing with texture and
07:31using his voice as an instrument.
07:33Season two, Weight Loss, is a lonely song.
07:35It's interesting to see how Harry is evolving on this album, where he's talking about themes and issues that he
07:43really hasn't explored to this extent.
07:46This, to me, might be the best produced song on the whole album.
07:51I think I have this around the number eight range.
07:53I appreciate this song as a concept more than an actual sound recording.
07:57I love the big swing with, like, the trip-hop elements.
08:00I think that's really, really dope to just hear Harry Styles attempt to do.
08:04I do feel like his voice is a little bit buried in this mix, kind of across the whole song,
08:08and that dampens the whole affair for me a little bit.
08:11Take pro Christmas for me.
08:15I'm told to relevate in...
08:18Number five, we have Aperture.
08:22Hmm.
08:23I'm not really an Aperture guy.
08:25I wasn't when the song dropped.
08:26I don't think I am now that the album's out.
08:29That's not to say the song's bad or forgettable or anything like that.
08:31I just do think there are stronger songs across the album.
08:34My reaction's probably a bit dampened because I didn't love its function as a lead single.
08:40I just feel like something more exciting could have been offered.
08:44But then I look at the track list and I'm like, this is probably the best choice for a lead
08:47single at the same time.
08:49I love a bold, ambitious lead single.
08:52Get me something that is going to shake people awake, subvert expectations, go for it, right?
08:59Not kind of sneak into what this album is supposed to be, but present itself fully on the first listen.
09:05I love this song.
09:07I think that it's something totally new for him, but this album kind of represents that, right?
09:12When I heard this, I love not only the kind of inclusivity, but I love the warmth of this song.
09:19It feels like a cozy kind of hug, but it's an anthemic, number one smash dance song.
09:27It's exactly what it needs to be for a lead single.
09:29I love Aperture.
09:31When I heard it as a single, I knew what was happening.
09:34And I think that Harry isn't like everyone in the sense that when he puts out a lead single,
09:39it's not because he wants it to be the absolute biggest hit.
09:43To me, this was the beautiful letting the light in, giving us a peek into the full concept.
09:47And I think that the idea of we belong together, tying everything together throughout this rollout is really special.
09:54It reminds me a lot of the whole treat people with kindness mantra.
09:58For me, giving fans that device to hold onto through this felt really special.
10:10At number four, we have Dance No More.
10:12I would like to dance more.
10:13I would like to keep dancing to this song because I am obsessed with it.
10:17Though it landed at number five on my ranking, I think this is going to be possibly number one from
10:22the album in terms of the vibe for the live shows.
10:25I want people dancing in the round to this.
10:28I want this to be the dance moment.
10:30I see it happening, not on some TikTok dance type movements, but on some real moving and grooving.
10:35To me, I think if anything best captures the disco that occasionally happens, this is it.
10:42This is actually my favorite song on the album.
10:44It is exactly as maximalist as I want Harry Styles' summer-ready call-and-response dance floor filler to be.
10:55It's cheeky, it's winking in the sense of it's called Dance No More, but it's obviously this enormous dance song.
11:01This is going to absolutely level cities when it's played live.
11:06Mr. Styles, the man that you are.
11:09This is my number one, man.
11:11This is so good.
11:12It's so groovy, it's so funky.
11:14I love how playful and sexy his voice is on this one.
11:17It's just, it's a banger.
11:19Everything seems to be coming up roses.
11:23Number three, we have Coming Up Roses.
11:25This is a good one.
11:27I think my favorite thing about Coming Up Roses is actually the arrangement here.
11:30I think these instruments sound gorgeous.
11:32I think from the viola to the tuba to the synths, everything is really, really, really meticulously put together.
11:38And I really appreciate how much care was put into that.
11:41Generally, in terms of this being, you know, Harry's dance album, there were just a little bit one too many
11:48somber moments than I expected on this one.
11:50But I think it's warranted.
11:51Coming Up Roses, on which Harry sings, just for tonight, let's go hangover chasing.
11:57This song made me think of Before Sunrise, that kind of fleeting moment where, you know, look, this is not
12:04a forever type of love, but we're both in the moment right now and let's make the most of it.
12:10It was really powerful to me.
12:12It is a season for yearning, folks.
12:15Yearning is in.
12:16This is in.
12:17Good is crazy.
12:20Because this is my number two.
12:23Oh, okay.
12:24Well, let's hear more.
12:30At number two, we have Ready, Steady, Go.
12:34Banger, bop, whatever you want to call it.
12:36It's got the rock influence, the pop influence.
12:39It's sonically referential to his past work, but also feels so grounded in the present burst of energy that he's
12:46bringing to this world out.
12:47For those of us who enjoyed the dance punk movement of the 2000s with, you know, LCD Sound System, who
12:53Harry has cited as an influence, but also the Rapture, Hot Chip, Chick Chick Chick.
12:59This is for them.
13:00This is the one that is all about that tension, right, of the dance floor release, but also the troubles
13:07that you're trying to escape from.
13:08And how within a dance song and within kind of like a funky, groove-ready track, you can have some
13:16harsh sound effects because that's what you're going through.
13:19I think number two is a solid spot for it.
13:21Maybe a little bit too high for my liking, but I definitely wouldn't drop it any lower than like five
13:25or anything like that.
13:26I think my big thing with this song is that lyrically it kind of feels like if someone made a
13:33vague posting a song, who's Leon?
13:36Would love to know.
13:39Would love to know.
13:40There is a bridge that leads to troubled water.
13:45And at number one, we have Carla's song.
13:48Not my personal number one, but I think it's definitely the top half of the album.
13:52I love the build here.
13:53I think this is definitely a song that is probably going to close out the live show.
13:56If I had to think of which one from the U album probably would take that spot, it'd be Carla's
14:00song.
14:01I can't wait to hear the crowd like really just take over the vocals from Harry and just, you know,
14:06make the song their own.
14:07My only gripe with it really is unfortunately the opening lyric.
14:10Nick, I rolled my eyes, sorry, like, girl, okay.
14:16Ridge Over Troubled Water.
14:18More than anything, I think it's a great track.
14:20More than anything, it's kind of like the Fineline title track where it's like, oh, obviously this had to be
14:25the closing track.
14:26Carla's song is very driving and motivational and kind of puts a bow on this album, right?
14:32It just kind of builds and builds and builds in the same way that Fineline did.
14:36Very different style of song as Fineline, but to me it's like, oh, immediately, like, no other song could have
14:43ended this album better than Carla's song.
14:45In the ranking that we published, it was number one, and it also was my number one.
14:50Uh-oh!
14:50Yes, it felt so aspirational, the since the 80s vibe.
14:55It felt so hopeful, and maybe that's just my personal bias of maybe I need some hope right now.
15:00The world's a little crazy.
15:02It's dark.
15:02But I think that this is one of the most, like, raw, powerful moments emotionally on the album, and it
15:09just feels like the culmination of everything he's trying to get across.
15:12To me, this is cinema.
15:21To me, this is cinema.
Comments