Album Battle: Halcyon vs Warrior

Like many people nowadays, I have quite a media backlog of things I'd like to consume on streaming services, and yes, even things I've paid money for too. What better way to go through a music backlog than by writing about it? Instead of writing typical reviews of even slightly older albums, and in the spirit of my habit of ranking songs, I thought I would start a new series. In Album Battle, I compare two somewhat similar albums. In this first installment, I compare two 2012 albums by female pop singers: Halycon by Ellie Goulding and Warrior by Ke$ha.

Track 1

“Don't Say a Word” opens with some soulful wailing. I love this kind of mystical poppy Ray of Light-like stuff. “Warrior” is a manifesto with the typical Ke$ha sound. The chiptune bridge is really out of place.

POINT: Ellie

Track 2

“My Blood” has a great chorus (both the part of the song as well as the group vocal).

“Die Young” is fun to do at karaoke. That's how classics are made!

POINT: Ke$ha

Track 3

“Anything Could Happen” is a little too twee. The chorus is just the title repeated many times, then repeated high pitched “oooh oooh oooh.”
“C'mon” is a midtempo pop song that has the typical lyrical content of a Ke$ha song, but the chorus sounds a little Katy Perry-ish.

POINT: Ke$ha

Track 4
“Only You” has some crazy chipmunk effects. Ellie's breathy soulfulness works well here.

“Thinking of You” is pop-rock that's a little too angry. There's some weird autotune effects on the bridge, which don't work as well as the voice effects on “Only You.”

POINT: Ellie

Track 5

“Halcyon” is more of the same.

“Crazy Kids” has some awkward rapping, and is a little too close to “We R Who We R.”

POINT: Ellie

Track 6

“Figure 8” is a dark pop song over a heavy beat that is barely disguised dubstep.

“Wherever You Are” is bouncy, but a little too tame.

POINT: Ellie

Track 7

“Joy” is sweet but a lacking in power.

“Dirty Love” has Iggy Pop.

POINT: Ke$ha

Track 8

“Hanging On” has some sweet vocals and dubstep elements.

“Wonderland” is a country-ish singer-songwriter song. Ke$ha has always been a singer-songwriter, but her songs don't sound like the stereotype.

POINT: Ke$ha

Track 9

“Explosions” is an appropriately powerful ballad.
“Only Wanna Dance With You” is trivial and bouncy, but not particularly catchy.

POINT: Ellie

Track 10

“I Know You Care” is solemn, composed ballad.

“Supernatural” sounds like a single, with pop and dance in balance.

POINT: Ke$ha

Track 11

“Atlantis” sounds mystical and has some dreamy harp.
“All That Matters (The Beautiful Life)” is catchier but doesn't have a very good message. Partying is a lot of things but it isn't everything!

POINT: Ellie

Track 12

“Dead in the Water” is another quiet ballad with a moving chorus.

“Love into the Light” is a quiet ballad, too, until the chorus where it picks up energy and percussion. Actually, it's the closest Ke$ha gets to Ellie's material.

POINT: Ke$ha

Track 13

Ke$ha's album ends in twelve tracks, but Ellie's still has one more. “I Need Your Love” is a major dance single and is better than most of the songs on Ke$ha's album.

POINT: Ellie

WINNER: Ellie, so go listen to it on Spotify.