Hi! I bet you forgot this website existed! I personally didn't, I swear. Recently, the desktop that I've been using for every single one of my projects died. There was a thunderstorm, all the power got knocked out for a split second, everything came back on except for the desktop, and I haven't spent the time since then feeling absolutely horrible because of it. Not at all. But anyway, I now use a laptop that runs Linux for the time being, so it's back in business for Throw The Harpoon! I have several larger projects lined up, but I wanted to come back with something simple: Oliver Tree, one of my current favorite musical artists, aka the boy who cried album, has finally released Ugly is Beautiful. After a series of delays, which I'm not gonna hold against Tree himself, it started to look like we wouldn't be getting the album for a while, but then it finally dropped on July 17th of 2020. It's been in the works for five years according to Tree, and he recently confirmed during an interview with Anthony Fantano on Twitch that he'd be retiring from music now that this album is here. He's cited him battling his label for nearly half a decade as his reasoning, and I honestly can't blame him. That sounds immensely frustrating. But, at any rate, Ugly is Beautiful is here at long last, and so it is time for me to give my thoughts on it to the maybe four people I'm friends with that will actually care about it. Was it worth the wait? I'm gonna answer that from my perspective. Maybe people will like what I have to say, but probably not!
Track #1 - "Me, Myself & I"
Opening up this album, we have a song that I'm honestly not too into. It's not a bad song, but I do think it's the weakest of the tracklist. Kinda sucks that it's the first taste of the album in that case, but I guess it's good that we get the lowest point out of the way at the beginning. Like I said, though, this isn't a bad song at all. The guitar sounds great, the vocal melodies are nice, the instrumental has a nice funky groove to it that I like a lot, I really dig the more laid back approach Oliver's taken with his singing on this track. There is quality here, but one thing I absolutely cannot get past no matter how hard I try is the really out of place distortion effect that was put on Oliver's vocals. Now don't get me wrong, I like distorted vocals in songs when they're done right. In moderation, distortion in vocals can add a lot to a song. When you use it for the entire song, however, like how it is in this song, all it ends up doing is get annoying to listen to after, like, a minute. For me, at least. Oliver's singing voice is pleasant, I just wish the distortion wasn't so distracting. The lyrics are pretty nice, though. The rhyming is solid in the chorus, and the first verse is also a highlight, although it got a little repetitive during the refrain. Also, what in God's green earth does "You're still and now and don't remember" mean? That's not just me mishearing something, that came directly from the official lyric video that was posted to Oliver's official YouTube channel that I linked above this section of the review. I have no idea what that is even remotely hinting at, and, quite frankly, I'm scared of it. One other thing, when I first heard the song, there were, like, three parts when it felt like the song was about to end before it actually did, but then it just kept going every time. That doesn't really add anything, I just thought it was funny.
Track #2 - "1993 (ft Little Ricky ZR3)"
This song gives us the only feature on the entire project, with an artist named Little Ricky ZR3. I have no idea who that is. Googling his name just brings up results about Oliver Tree, so I'm gonna assume Little Ricky is one of Oliver's friends or something. At any rate, "1993" is a huge step-up from "Me, Myself & I" in terms of quality. This is a definite banger, I love this song. The instrumental is insanely good, with the horn riffs scattered all around it and the thumpy bassline heard while Oliver is singing. My favorite part is towards the end when Little Ricky's verse happens and he ends it by rapping over some record scratches, some punchy hihats, some bouncy synths. It's great. Speaking of Little Ricky, I thought his addition to the song was really solid. His voice sounds like Oliver's but pitch-shifted down, which is odd, but I'm willing to bet that that's gonna come back at a later date. I also thought Oliver's vocals sounded more lively than in this song than they did in the previous track. That same horrible distortion effect is once again present, but it's not as jarring this time around. It actually blends in with the beat quite nicely. And the songwriting is once again very good. The rhyme scheme in the intro bit sticks out to me more than anything. If I had to gripe, I'd say there's a bit more repetitiveness in the form of how the "Don't pretend you're someone else" bit is worded. I understand the deeper meaning to it, I just wish it hadn't been worded in such a reiterative way. All in all, though, I love this song a whole lot.
Track #3 - "Cash Machine"
Now, we have one of the many songs that were initially released a while ago. First thing I wanna talk about with "Cash Machine" is the distortion. It was used in the first two tracks, and it's back again here, but it's at its worst with this song. It straight-up sounds like Oliver is singing into a megaphone. The vocal melody is instantly catchy, it's a massive ear-worm, it's just a shame that it sounds like Oliver is playing this song through a blown out speaker. Please don't misunderstand, I love this song a whole lot. I just feel like the mix is a little weird. I can understand the hooks matching the intensity of the instrumental, but it still sounds way too loud even on the softer spots in the track. I could go on and on about how much the distortion hurts this song, but there's other things to talk about. Firstly, I really like the message that this song has. It tackles materialism and over-spending in a mature and fun way, and I have to respect it for that. It's a little weird to hear coming out of Oliver Tree's mouth, an artist that is known for his expensive and flashy music videos, but it's still a good message nonetheless. And hey, he mentions the "shut up and take my money" meme at one point, so it can't be that bad. And the instrumental is also very appealing, I like the slick acoustic guitar and the punchy drums. There's a couple EDM-esque breaks that are really catchy, Oliver's vocalizations also add to those sections in a nice way. I think Oliver's voice also sounds very good, setting aside the fact that the distortion makes it sound like he's singing into an intercom at a high school. "Cash Machine" is a very solid song, and I really enjoy it.
Track #4 - "Let Me Down"
Another somewhat older track, next up is what Oliver released as his supposed "last song ever" several months ago after it was announced that Ugly is Beautiful would be delayed indefinitely due to Covid-19. "Let Me Down" is one of the best songs on the whole album, in my opinion. It's got the most earnest lyrics, one of the catchier instrumentals on the project. Don't get me wrong, the distortion is still awful. It still sounds like Oliver is yelling into a McDonald's drive-thru speaker, but not anywhere near as bad as "Cash Machine" had it. From what says, "Let Me Down" was written from the perspective of an Oliver Tree fan that felt let down by all the constant delays the album got. If that is the case, I'd say he nails it. Though the delays were always completely understandable, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a sense of "Aw, really?" to it every time it would happen. Like I said in the intro, though, I'm not placing the blame on Oliver's shoulders. It's his label that deserves the criticism. But anyway, Oliver mentioned on Facebook that he remastered all the old songs that you hear in this album. I don't know what constitutes as an "old song", but this version of "Let Me Down" sounds different than the single version, whereas "Cash Machine" didn't. It sounded exactly the same. It's pretty weird. Maybe "Cash Machine" was remastered and I just couldn't tell, but it's a lot more noticeable with "Let Me Down". There's slightly more bass in the instrumental, some of the distorted backup vocals are better mixed, and it even sounds like the vocals were rerecorded (though I could be wrong about that one). At any rate, this is a solid remaster of a great song. It's got a nice heavy beat, emotional lyrics, good vocal melodies. My only real issue with it is that it's too short. And the recent remix that features Blink-182 is also really good. Maybe it'll end up as a hidden track on a deluxe edition of this album, if that were to happen.
Track #5 - "Miracle Man"
Finally, a break from the constant distortion. My ears and my heart both thank you, Oliver. "Miracle Man" is another really good song. It's extremely upbeat, it's catchy, it's funky. It's a solid track. It has one of the more thought out instrumentals on the whole project, with all the different sections and different blended musical styles. I love the muted guitar in the first verse, the sudden explosion of electric guitars in the middle is wonderful, the slower acoustic guitar sections sound lovely. Oliver's vocals sound very nice on this track as well. And there is a little distortion still present, but it's handled so much better here than it was in the last two tracks. It's used to great effect when those sudden electric guitars hit in the middle, that part sounds awesome. I'd say lyrically is where this song falls short. The lyrics are a little repetitive, gotta be honest, most noticeably in the bridge section, where he repeats the same thing four times over. The refrain/chorus combo also takes up a bulk of the track. Maybe if the track had been a little longer, it could have been a little more fleshed out, at least from a lyrical standpoint, but what we got is very enjoyable. And it does sound like it was remastered a little, which makes "Cash Machine" sounding the exact same to me even weirder. This new version of "Miracle Man" doesn't have a lot of changes, but the most prominent one that I noticed was better mixed backing vocals in the chorus. No matter what version you get, though, this is still a great song. I enjoyed it on the Do You Feel Me? EP and I enjoy it even more now.
Track #6 - "Bury Me Alive"
Next up, we've got the track Oliver released some time after "Let Me Down" dropped as a return teaser after that first big delay. I enjoyed it back then, and I still enjoy it now. This song is great. "Bury Me Alive" sees a pretty fun stylistic shift from the rest of the album. Oliver sings like he usually does, but he also does some more traditional rapping, which is, if I remember correctly, something he hasn't done on a song since "All That" from Alien Boy EP. The version of "Bury Me Alive" sounds exactly the same as the single version Oliver released two months ago, but that's okay because the song was always really good. The beat is extremely catchy, and Oliver's jumpy and aggressive vocals sound awesome against it. I love the old school hip hop feel of the beat while he raps, it's so groovy. In addition to having one of the catchiest instrumentals on the album, I'd say "Bury Me Alive" is also Oliver's best performance. His vocal melody on the chorus is a massive ear-worm, his flows are very energetic, and I really liked that he interpolated a song he made during his Tree Collaborations days. That was dope. The lyrics are also very nice. There's a lot of good rhyming, callbacks to things that happened during live shows or in previous music videos, some solid wordplay sprinkled in here and there. The whole track has a very good sense of hype to it, I bet it sounds fantastic live. The music video is pretty funny, too. Seeing Oliver dance around with droopy testicles on his face where his chin should be shouldn't be as funny to me as it is, but, then again, I do have the sense of humor of a toddler.
Track #7 - "Alien Boy"
Okay so, just as an aside, I don't understand why Oliver insists on putting "Alien Boy" on every project he releases. Alien Boy EP was different because it was the title track, but putting it on Do You Feel Me? felt a little forced, and now it's back once more as the seventh spot on this album. To be fair, given how his label pushed back this album every chance they could, it very likely isn't in his control, but I still wanted to point it out. And, besides, it's arguably Oliver's most viral hit ever. It's the song that put him on the map, so it makes sense why it'd be used in this album. At any rate, "Alien Boy" is back and it sounds better than ever. This is another one that sounds to me like it was remastered, although the differences between this version and the one from 2018 aren't as apparent as the other remasters were. I noticed a few better mixed harmonies here and there, and that was basically it, but it's still different enough that I'd consider it a solid remaster. This song is a classic. The chorus is probably the most famous thing Oliver has ever done, the beat is instantly recognizable, it's the first thing lots of people think of when they think about Oliver Tree. On the topic of the beat, I wanna start there because it's the most intriguing aspect of the song to me. I love this instrumental so much. The calming piano notes at the intro, the synth melody during the break sections, the scratchy hihats and drum kicks during the verses. Oh, and the part when Oliver is vocalizing over the synth/strings breakdown in the bridge? Absolutely heavenly, it's so pretty. The vocal melodies are catchy, the lyrics are fun, Oliver's voice sounds great. The only gripe I have with this song is the fact that the chorus repeats four times. I don't usually have a problem with choruses that repeat a lot in songs, but that the fact that this song barely scrapes over 2:30 in length makes it feel more repetitive than it actually is. I will say, though, the lyric "I won't be here long at all" really hits different now. It didn't make sense before, but now it does.
Track #8 - "Joke's On You!"
And now we leave the area of familiarity for a while and move into some new songs. Unfortunately, we aren't starting on a high note. I really don't care too much for this song. Remember earlier when I said that "Me, Myself & I" was the weakest of the tracklist? Yeah, I was wrong. "Joke's On You!" is definitely the weakest. I think this might be the only song on this album that I just straight-up dislike. It's not a bad song at all, at least not in the technical sense, but it's just so cringy that I can't take it seriously at all. I don't really like the beat all that much, as a start. The more hip hop inspired elements that come in during the verses sound nice, but that plucky synth string that never stops going through all of it got really annoying after a while. Oliver's voice sounds good like usual, the lack of distortion that these last few songs have had is hugely refreshing. Oliver does a bit more rapping on this song, and it once again comes across nicely, but my main problem with this song is the lyrics. Holy Lord, these lyrics are so stupid. This song is apparently supposed to be about how you shouldn't judge people based on how they look, but I don't get that feeling at all. A lot of these lyrics sound like something you'd find on Tumblr next to a drawing of Rick Sanchez. Like, some of the lines are okay. "I've seen death in my nightmares" is a fun visual. I like a lot of what this song tries to do, but I just can't get over how much it sounds like something Jared Leto's Joker would bump in his car. Like, if this song had been around in 2016, it would have definitely been used in Suicide Squad. 100% guaranteed. And, oh my God, whatever it is that Oliver does when he sings "why'd you laugh" both times? Yeah, I'd be really happy if I never heard that again. It makes me want to cut my ears off and eat them. Now that I think about it, the title is fitting. This song sounds like a big joke.
Track #9 - "Again & Again"
Moving on, we have another song I'm not too crazy about. I could say I like it more than the previous track, but that honestly wouldn't be saying much. To start off on a positive note, I think the vocal melody Oliver busts out in the intro and in the outro is very groovy. As was the case with "Joke's On You!", Oliver's singing is the one good thing this song has going for it. For me, "Again & Again" is another case of me knowing there's supposed to be a deep meaning behind it but not feeling like the lyrics do a good job of expressing it. It doesn't come off anywhere near as fake deep this time around, but still. I massively respect the message that is meant to be there, I just wish the song had handled it better. For starters, the back and forth "head, head" parts are awful. The mix of the vocals for the second utterance of "head" in the chain sounds absolutely dreadful. It's everything I complained about with my distortion comments in the first few tracks, but turned up to the worst possible setting. It's very, very bad. I can't even get behind the instrumental this time, it just sounds so generic and boring to me. I appreciate the tambourine hits that sometimes appear, but everything else about it just doesn't sound interesting to me. Generic "kick-snare-kick-snare" drum pattern, basic guitar chords. It's bouncy, but it's just so bland. This song also has the worst backing vocals in the whole album, Jesus Christmas. It's at its worst during the second verse. It's worth repeating that this is a significantly better song than "Joke's On You!" was, I would much rather listen to this song again over that one, but that honestly isn't saying much.
Track #10 - "Waste My Time"
Just like that, we're back at good songs again. This song easily has the biggest ear-worm of the whole album in the form of the chorus. I have had that melody stuck in my head on repeat ever since I first heard it, it's so good. And when a whole choir of people sings at the end to close the song? That's easily one of the best music moments of the whole year so far. I like the message of this song, and I feel like it does a good job of saying exactly what it wanted to. This song is like the workaholic's anthem, and I mean that in the best possible way. Everything about this song is a massive step-up from the previous two tracks. The same basic "kick-snare-kick-snare" drum pattern is once again present for a good portion of the track, but it's much punchier this time. The aggressive, crunchy symbol hits give me the impression that they owe the drummer money and he really wants it back, I love it. The guitar licks sound much nicer here, and I just absolutely love the cello/violin combo at the end. It sounds gorgeous. The random "I won't waste your time" refrains here and there sound kinda corny, but the lyrics greatly succeed in every other regard. It tells the story it wants to tell in the exact way it wants to tell it, which is more than I can say about "Joke's On You!". Oliver's voice sounds like he's in genuine pain while he sings, so it's obvious that this song means a lot to him. And, to go back to the chorus for a bit, the backing vocals here sound so much better than they did in "Again & Again". It's the exact same type of backing vocal used again, but this use of it is vastly different from the previous, and I find that very interesting. But yeah, this song overall is great. Honestly, it would've been a pretty fitting closing track. The string section at the end has pretty big finale vibes to it. I really wish the previous two songs had worked as well as this one did.
Track #11 - "Jerk"
Real quick, this feels like the exact song as "Joke's On You", except a thousand times better. Both songs read like they have the same idea, it's just that "Jerk" isn't littered with cringe. It's definitely much more relatable for me. Yeah, this song is good. I don't know why I keep mentioning the tracks I dislike, but "Jerk" is a good song. The slow guitar riffs in the intro sound slick, the rattling hihats sound dope, the booming electric guitars are great. The lyrics tell a very relatable story of a person who feels like most people don't like them. I certainly know how that feels, trust me. This song has what is probably my favorite chorus out of all of them on this album, and the second verse sticks out to me a lot. Oliver once again delivers very appealing-sounding vocals as well, The chorus brings back the distortion a little bit, but it's miles more tolerable here than the first few tracks used it, it actually kinda reminds me of how well it was used in "Miracle Man". I do have one gripe, though (it's not really that big, but it is worth mentioning). It's the same problem I have with "Alien Boy" now that I think about it, the short length of the song makes the lyrics feel more repetitive than they actually are. "Jerk" barely scrapes over two minutes, which makes the act of repeating the intro as a refrain in the middle feel lazy. I guess I'm glad that the repeated refrain is there, because the song would barely be a minute and a half long without it.
Track #12 - "Hurt"
Fun fact: This was the first Oliver Tree song I ever heard. One of my Discord friends told me I should listen to it, so I did, and I was hooked on him ever sense. This song holds a very special place in my heart, so I'm really happy to hear it again on this album. Yes it's a reused track from a previous EP, but I'm biased in this case. Can you honestly blame me, though? This song still slaps. I don't think the lyrics are the most personal Oliver's gone so far, but they're definitely up there. I have a hard time believing that this song is meant to be about a scooter crash he suffered, though I'm glad the crash didn't leave him with permanent damages. He's very fortunate to still be with us, but the lyrics honestly seem like they can be applied to so many things, so it's hard for me to only see it as a scooter song. What I'm trying to say is that this song speaks to me in a different way than the artist intended, which is the whole point of art. This another one of Oliver's more viral hits, arguably on the same level as "Alien Boy", and it's not hard to see why. Firstly, the instrumental is a bop. The claps in the drumline sound slick, the bassline is so funky, the electric guitars sound angry and awesome, and I think there was even a faint gong at the beginning? It sounded like it, at least. I really like the lyrics as well, specifically the pre-chorus. That hits me really hard. To be honest, the same "shorter length makes the repeated choruses feel more repetitious than it actually is" issues apply here, but to a much lesser extent than it did with "Alien Boy" or "Jerk". This song comes together marvelously. It's been one of my favorite songs for a while, and for good reason. "Hurt" rocks.
Track #13 - "Introspective"
This is another song that was previously used on a past EP, the same one that "Hurt" was on. As was the case with "Alien Boy", using "Introspective" on another project feels weird. I'll give "Hurt" a pass because of my personal bias and also because it was initially released as an Ugly is Beautiful single, but this song wasn't. Setting the weirdness of it being reused aside, this song is still just as great now as it was a year ago. That being said, it stills the exact same now that it did on Do You Feel Me? a year ago. Come to think about it, so did "Hurt". So, Oliver remastered all the old songs, except for the ones he didn't. Great! But anyway, "Introspective" is a sad song. This song makes me feel things. It's the softest song on the whole album by far, which honestly makes it one of the highlights for me. Most of the beat is a depressing-sounding, almost Mac DeMarco-esque guitar lick. The drumming that is present is more simple, which I'd normally say is a bad thing, but I really like how well it fits the guitar strumming. And the lyrics really shine on this song. I can tell Oliver was in a bad place when he wrote/recorded this, because the lyrics, combined with his pained vocal delivery, really live up to the title. At times, it almost sounds like he's berating himself. All I can say is that I really hope he's doing okay. Songs like these are ones you should really pay attention to. And I gotta give Oliver's vocals credit here, because this song does the same "head, head" thing that "Again & Again" did, only this one doesn't make me want to die! You did good, Oliver, I'm proud of you. You're really moving up in the world.
Track #14 - "I'm Gone"
A very fitting name for the closing track of the album, and I'd also say this was the perfect song to end this album on. It picks up the sad vibes left by "Introspective" perfectly. I wanna start with the instrumental once again. I think this is the best beat on the whole album. The buzzing electric guitars and constant crash symbol string on the chorus mixed with the softer acoustic guitar chords on the verses, with a bow on top in the form of Oliver's more subdued vocal performance. It somehow feels both heavy and gentle at the same time. I wanna bang my head and keep tempo, but I also wanna cry. I don't know how you managed to do that, but God bless you for it. This song is also incredibly well-written, with the third verse being the highlight for me. It feels like Oliver taking the piss out of the portion of his fanbase that kept giving him hate for things that weren't his fault. They either don't know that the delays were the label's doing, or they just don't care. It's good that Oliver directly spoke to them at least once. And his vocal performance here is also top notch. Special mention goes to the parts when Oliver redoes the shouty vocals he does in songs like "Again & Again", but he does it in a way that sounds so much better this time around. It honestly sounds like he's pouring his soul into these lyrics, like he saved his most heartfelt performance for last. Though I still feel like "Waste My Time" works better as a finisher, "I'm Gone" was perfect to end this particular album on. If this is indeed the last new song Oliver is ever gonna put out, I gotta say that he went out on a high note. We're gonna miss you, man.
There you have it! The long-awaited release of Ugly is Beautiful. In my personal opinion, I think it was worth the wait. I have some issues with it, and I feel like I addressed them to the best of my ability in the individual track breakdowns, but I really enjoyed this album as a product. I could've done without "Joke's On You!" and "Again & Again", but the rest of the songs on here were very enjoyable for me. If I had to give my top five favorites, in no particular order: "Introspective", "I'm Gone", "Miracle Man", "Hurt", and "Bury Me Alive". It's not that I think the rest of the songs sucked, I just think these are my five favorites. Those five are the ones I'd show people if they asked me about this album. And yeah, that's pretty much all there is to say. I'm feeling a 7.5/10 on Ugly is Beautiful. Thank you for all the good music, Oliver. I wish you the best of luck in the future. I'm gonna try and be more active with the blogs from now on, so be on the look out for that. Next on my agenda is that new Logic album, going from one "final album" to another. In the meantime, though, you can follow me on Instagram here if you'd like. Also, check out my Spotify! I only have one song out right now, but more is on the way soon. Give me feedback on this review in the comments if you like, or just tell me how much you love your wife. Either one.
