Brightest Blue
by Ellie Goulding
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 286 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 248 out of 286
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 286
  3. Negative: 23 out of 286
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  1. persi4n
    Jul 18, 2020
    4
    Definitivamente le falta algo a Ellie. Reacio a los discos en los que tres o cuatro canciones son perfectas para la radio, pero el disco no sabes por dónde cogerlo. Por desgracia, por el potencial que posee, este es uno de esos discos.
  2. juangalmeidx
    Jul 17, 2020
    5
    i saw the high metascore and i really thought i’d like this... but unfortunately “brightest blue” is such an disappointment. there’s nothing much about it, no inventiveness, it all sounds similar to previous efforts by other artists... but still provided some bops, such as power, how deep is too deep, new heights, bleach and flux.
  3. FairyLand
    Jul 17, 2020
    4
    I’m genuinely confused.. this album feels so subpar compared to her other bodies of work. Lights, Halcyon, those sounded so fresh, new, and innovative. Brightest Blue is just a disappoint for me. I waited five years for this and I just feel like it’s just not even comparable to her other albums. When she transitioned to main stream pop [which is around when Delirium came out], I felt likeI’m genuinely confused.. this album feels so subpar compared to her other bodies of work. Lights, Halcyon, those sounded so fresh, new, and innovative. Brightest Blue is just a disappoint for me. I waited five years for this and I just feel like it’s just not even comparable to her other albums. When she transitioned to main stream pop [which is around when Delirium came out], I felt like the authenticity in her music began to diminish.… Expand
  4. sammyanthony
    Jul 20, 2020
    4
    The first 2 tracks made the perception that Ellie Goulding has grown in musicality. It marks Ellie's effort to break through the constant sad-sad heartbreak song structures with fatiguing choruses that demented her on her delirium. But then comes the disaster upon the majority of the rest, especially the second half on the side A. Its side B is just feed for livestock of the mainstream industry.
  5. HeyLeeeo
    Jul 27, 2020
    5
    "In several interviews, Goulding hinted that her new album would be a kind of complex project that would bring together her best faces to compose intimate, deep and equally captivating songs. Unfortunately, she seriously failed in that. The album is divided into two parts, according to her: the first, “Brightest Blue,” shows the tracks composed by her in her most unique essence, while the"In several interviews, Goulding hinted that her new album would be a kind of complex project that would bring together her best faces to compose intimate, deep and equally captivating songs. Unfortunately, she seriously failed in that. The album is divided into two parts, according to her: the first, “Brightest Blue,” shows the tracks composed by her in her most unique essence, while the second, “EG.0,” combines the singles already released, collaborations and the songs written by Ellie’s alter ego. You will hardly see it or feel it. While the first part is relatively slow, sluggish and tedious, the second has more lively tracks, however, which do not go far beyond songs that follow a standard mold—that is not so current anymore— to be among the most played. It is really sad to see that after 5 years, Ellie shows us a project full of tracks without personality that, despite having well written lyrics, are drowned out by a sonority that struggles to be relevant and captivating in nowadays."

    Read the full review and support me: https://thesoundx.home.blog/2020/07/27/ellie-goulding-brightest-blue/    … Expand
  6. RageNate
    Sep 3, 2020
    4
    Worthies (7/16):
    - Start
    - How Deep Is Too Deep
    - Bleach
    - Brightest Blue
    - Worry About Me
    - Close To Me
    - Hate Me
  7. GamePlayer77
    May 25, 2021
    5
    Ellie's 2020 LP is a very mixed bag. There are some GREAT pop cuts on this record, but the others are ruined by awful production and vocals. The features are also surprisingly good.

    FAV TRACK: Worry About Me
    LEAST FAV TRACK: Wine Drunk

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Most Discussed Album of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. AllMusic
    Jul 23, 2020
    80
    Brightest Blue's main disc is Goulding's deepest emotional journey yet, a triumph of empowerment and self-discovery.
    Read full review
  2. Pitchfork
    Jul 22, 2020
    64
    While Blue is thoughtful and beautiful, it’s a drag to sit through. The interludes have more personality than the full-length songs.
    Read full review
  3. Slant Magazine
    Jul 21, 2020
    30
    For the most part, she doesn’t have the chops or soul of contemporaries like Florence Welch, who sings of similar subject matter with a real torch, and who shares a collaborator in Joseph Kearns, who produced almost every song on Brightest Blue. At Kearns’s behest, the album takes a relatively new tack for Goulding, trading the garish for the palatable, but it’s no less grating as a result.
    Read full review
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