The Batlord

I was originally planning on reviewing this when it came out, but I didn't want to post my initial thoughts without chewing on the album for a bit, and then I got lazy, but after all this time I think I have a real opinion on it so I'm finally taking the plunge. As always I'm doing this track by track so I can talk about Kesha as much as possible. And yes, I am calling her Kesha since she clearly wants to cut ties to her old style and all the baggage that comes with it, and also because this is a clean break that is almost like a second debut, so Kesha she will be from now on, though when discussing her old music I will refer to her as "Ke$ha". And on that note I will also mention that even though I initially wanted to keep this purely about the music and not her history over the past few years it would obviously be impossible to do so, both because of the lyrical content of certain songs and because Rainbow's very nature requires context. But unless a song requires that context I will try to keep the focus on the music and not be like all the other reviews I've read that concentrate almost entirely on god damn Dr. Luke and their "relationship".

So without further mother****ing ado, let's check out mother****ing Rainbow...

1. Bastards: I honestly haven't listened to this song as much as others on the album. In the grand tradition of me and Ke$ha albums I generally skip the first track, not because I don't like it (far from it), I just always like the second track more and want to get to it.

This song is no different even if it has none of the drunk, party girl auto-tune that defined her early career (which is also absent from 100% of Rainbow). It introduces Kesha's love of country, being a reserved ballad that encourages with moderate profanity to give the finger to the haters and be who you want to be. That's all well and good but it's honestly kind of boring. Not terrible, but I really don't have much to say about it beyond it being easily the worst single from the album. I don't even really want to talk about the country aspect since other songs on Rainbow did this sound better. The best I can say about it is that it introduces the album well as far as it being her most diverse and unapologetically oddball album yet.

But yeah it's kind of boring.

2. Let 'Em Talk: What is this? Garage pop? **** it who cares cause as I said this second track is what I always skip to when starting this album cause GOD DAMN ****ING **** ALMIGHTY IS IT ONE OF KESHA'S ABSOLUTE MOST CATCHY AND ANTHEMIC SONGS OF ALL-TIME AND IT'S AMAZING AND RULES AND OMG I WANT TO LISTEN TO IT ALL THE ****ING TIME **** YOU AND **** GOD!!!

Ahem... JESUS ****ING CHRIST I LOVE KESHA AND ANYTHING TO DO WITH KESHA SHE'S AMAZING AND...

Ahem... alright... so... this song exemplifies everything that Kesha is about while sounding almost entirely unlike anything she has done before with, off the top of my head, the exception of "Party at a Rich Dude's House" and "Dirty Love". It's euphoric, silly, pop majesty, and more fun than shooting fish in a barrel. It shows all of her personality and justifies her performances from previous albums as not just flash-in-the-pan schtick. Kesha just seems like a fun person who I'd probably like to meet in real life.

Lyrically it's all about empowerment and not giving a **** about anything but making yourself happy and fulfilled. Not exactly original stuff, but Kesha is a person who is uniquely suited to this kind of in-your-face happy **** that makes you want to dance and present yourself to the world in all your fractured glory.

This song is also a perfect intro to the diversity of Rainbow, which completely divorces itself from the four-on-the-floor, dance pop club hits of days past and simply revels in pop music in general and all of its possibilities for joy and catchiness. It feels somehow 80s while also sounding unlike anything that I could associate with any style of mainstream pop over the past few decades. It's proof that Kesha doesn't need her hand held by that soulless, robotic, trendy **** Dr. Luke. He may be a hit factory but he has no ideas of his own beyond taking the current pop music zeitgeist and knocking it out of the park. Kesha simply has more personality, originality, and charm in her adorable pinky than he has in his entire diseased body. This is a punch in the face of any detractors who would question her ability to walk on her own two feet. Kesha is a pop goddess who has the potential to rival any other pop icon on her own merits.

3. Woman: I legit hated Kesha's second single. It wasn't thumping dance pop like "Tik Tok" or "We R Who We R", and I think that just made me sneer without really listening to just how amazingly fun it is. Jesus. It's so anthemic and godlike that I feel stupid for having underrated it. It's Kesha. I should have known better. The instrumentation is certainly not the Kesha of old with it's actual instrumentation and heavy use of horns, but that just makes it a different single for her that still hits as hard as any other single of her career.

The lyrics are certainly pandering and I won't deny that. It's a woman's anthem to be played in a car packed with dolled up ladies on their way to a club, even if it's not a standard club hit. But **** it I don't really care cause it's just a brilliant pop banger that every pop and/or Kesha fan needs in their life. I literally had the chorus stuck in my head all day at work and it made me want to make this entry. She has the absolute knack for sticking the dog's bollocks in your head.

**** yeah, Kesha. **** yeah.

4. Hymn: I guess I could say that this is another departure for Kesha. She's had downtempo, ballad-esque songs, but this still sounds like something different from anything she's previously released. Its lyrics are generic as an anthem for the rejects, but Kesha herself is an oddity in pop music in that she presents her personality as it is without conforming to trends. She just so happens to be the kind of weirdo who would make the kind of Facebook-bait, anti-bullying song that this is. Not that she is necessarily not tapping into that trend, but this is still her wheelhouse.

That said, it's a good song, but it's also not one of her best. She's clearly doing what she wants to do but it's still not a knock-out-of-the-park. I like it but I don't love it. Kind of emblematic of my problems with the album honestly; it's a good album, but not entirely consistent. I still don't skip it when it comes on.

5. Praying: Okay, this is going to be a long one. I hated this when it came out. Hated it. Even loathed it. It sounded like a corny, faceless, Elton John piano ballad that made me terrified that her new album would be a cheap attempt at making herself out to be a "legitimate" artist in the same vein as Lady GaGa's misguided attempt at "art pop".

It is indeed an Elton John piano ballad. But when I actually listened to it in the context of the album it just clicked very, very hard. I was pretty high at the time to be honest, but I stand by the tears I shed.

An admission: when all the **** surrounding Kesha and Dr. Luke was happening I refrained from forming an opinion. I had no 1st hand knowledge of either person or their relationship, and the impossibility of proving rape charges without immediately reporting it made it foolish to take either side. I also refused to keep up on the details as I found it disrespectful and kind of creepy to immerse myself in that kind of court case. I wanted my love of Kesha to be about the music, and all of that **** was just repulsive. Consequently I couldn't help but doubt her claims at least just a little, tiny bit, as her persona did kind of paint her as odd and at least slightly crazy. The contract dispute didn't help. I didn't actively form an opinion of Dr. Luke's guilt or innocence, but the whole thing still slightly tainted my opinion of Kesha for no good reason other than my attempt at objectivity. I know it was unfair, but I simply couldn't help it. Now I feel like a disloyal ****.

At first I tried to ignore the lyrics to "Praying" because I simply didn't feel comfortable judging them for their truthfulness. But when I finally really heard the song, not just listened to it, there's no way I could pretend that anyone who could put that sheer amount of emotion into such a song could be lying for the sake of spite. This was a woman who had truly been wronged and was exorcising her demons in the only way she knew how. I stand by that opinion and will legitimately feel crushed if it turns out that she is lying, but I don't believe that this is the case and will never believe so unless proven otherwise.

I'm honestly forgetting all the things that I wanted to say as tears run down my cheeks. Kesha does not hold back her resentment and hatred for Dr. Luke with lines like, "When I'm done they won't even know your name!", but I believe in her magnanimity when she claims that she hopes that he will find his peace, and that his soul will change. This song, and this album could easily have been a morass of dark emotions, and she would be completely justified for it, but Kesha is a pure soul who will never allow anything to crush her joyous soul.

To be honest, I feel like I've regained my best friend without even realizing that I'd lost her. I said that I feel like a **** for having doubted her, and I mean that wholeheartedly. This is a person whose goofy, positive, beautiful charm simply will not be crushed by even the most horrifying of experiences. A person who can come through hell and still be herself. For whatever it is not worth, I am proud of Kesha Rose Sebert. I am proud that she is a person of such character. And I am grateful that such a person has chosen to share herself with the world. Even if I'm just a hopeless fanboy, I believe that she is a national treasure, even if the rest of the country isn't quite on the same page... yet. If you thought I was pathetic with my Kesha love before, then just know that I love her more now than ever, not just as an artist, but as a person.

**** me, that's out of the way, and I'm still crying, but if Kesha by any strange chance ever reads this then just know that I stand by you and this song is an amazing oddity in the world of mainstream pop music that the world should be grateful for hearing. You are beautiful.

Oh yeah, and it's actually a pretty fantastic song. I even like the corny, Elton John **** since I can totally picture Kesha's corny ass thinking that it was time to get on the piano when she was writing this song. This is certainly not a song that she would ever have phoned in. She's not Christina Aguilera, but her vocal prowess still carries this song beautifully and makes it the most dramatic pop song I have ever heard, redeeming a genre that doesn't need to be redeemed, but if it did, this would be the song with its emotional honesty. If I don't listen to this song as often as other Kesha songs it's simply because I would find it disrespectful to listen to it for anything but as a monument to her worth as a person. OMG let's move on I can't take this ****...

6. Learn to Let Go: This isn't one of the absolute best songs on the album, and again isn't a usual dollar sign Ke$ha song, but it's still a very fine pop song. It reflects the lyrics of the previous song, and reinforces her determination to not let her demons overcome her. The lyrics would be kind of cheesy in any other context (the title sums up the song pretty entirely) but in this album and after "Praying" it's a nice counterpoint to show that Kesha is trying her absolute hardest to live her life as a person and not a victim.

And even if it's not a Kesha classic it's still a very good song with moments that are euphoric, catchy, and memorable in the way that a pop song should be. The chorus has vocal highlights that are some of my favorite in her career, but still, this is an example of how Kesha is clearly learning how to write on her own, successfully, but still learning. She's got that pop knack, but if I'd have to guess this kind of song is a stepping stone for what may very well be an album to be feared by all, near and far.

Even so it still has plenty of personality and shows that even what might be another artist's filler is Kesha's promising learning process.

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