Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1
by Calvin Harris
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Jun 30, 2017
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 144 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 119 out of 144
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 144
  3. Negative: 9 out of 144
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  1. Cintra1
    Mar 17, 2022
    10
    The best album of the king of electropop! The vibe is insane and the collabs are so wonderful. Congrats, Adam. This is art
  2. LilScience
    Jan 14, 2022
    6
    Trazendo um estilo mais 'Funk' junto com o eletrônico, Calvin Harris mostra um álbum mais diversificado do que já tinha lançado com participações especiais como a de Katy Perry, Migos, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott entre outros, o álbum é para quem curte um r&b mais denso, e acho que foi uma ótima sacada para Calvin, pena que são apenas 10 músicas; ainda esperamos o Volume 2, mesmo sabendo queTrazendo um estilo mais 'Funk' junto com o eletrônico, Calvin Harris mostra um álbum mais diversificado do que já tinha lançado com participações especiais como a de Katy Perry, Migos, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott entre outros, o álbum é para quem curte um r&b mais denso, e acho que foi uma ótima sacada para Calvin, pena que são apenas 10 músicas; ainda esperamos o Volume 2, mesmo sabendo que ele não vai lançar (rs).

    Faixas favoritas: Slide, Skrt On Me, Heatstroke, Feels, Faking It.    … Expand
  3. Mike_Medeiros
    Jun 3, 2020
    10
    O melhor album da carreira dele, com uma sonoridade muito boa e otimas colaborações como em Slide e faking it, foi uma otima surpresa.
  4. Kaderbenya31
    Jul 27, 2019
    10
    This an Album that i would never be bored off , Just a cool summer Vibe project . PERFECT.
  5. gabrielcipriano
    Dec 21, 2018
    10
    This Calvin album exceeded all my expectations. I was expecting a very generous thing, but it was something different and it took a touching touches of the 90's and it made the album incredible. Partnerships have been super right. Expectacular for an album only!
  6. DavidWasHere
    Nov 6, 2017
    7
    This album is fun! Calvin Harris deciding to change from hard and stiff electronica to warm, vibrant late 70s funk and disco is one of the best decisions he has ever had! The album is, like I said, warm and vibrant, and adds a lot of character to the summer vibes he is clearly aiming for. From breezy tunes like Slide and Holiday to straight up dance jams like Feels and Heatstroke, theThis album is fun! Calvin Harris deciding to change from hard and stiff electronica to warm, vibrant late 70s funk and disco is one of the best decisions he has ever had! The album is, like I said, warm and vibrant, and adds a lot of character to the summer vibes he is clearly aiming for. From breezy tunes like Slide and Holiday to straight up dance jams like Feels and Heatstroke, the album is one for summer listens. However, there is one major Achilles Heel to this album, and that is it's guest features. While some are great. like Frank Ocean and Migos bouncing off each other well on Slide, to Snoop Dogg and Takeoff being laid back and cooler than cool mixed with John Legend's soulful voice on Holiday, to the absolute party jam of Young Thug, Pharrell, and Ariana Grande on Heatstroke, there are others that just do not mix at all, like Travi$ Scott on Prayers Up just not meshing well at all (although the terrible synth choices on that song doesn't help matters), Jessie Reyez's slurry voice just drags on album closer Hard to Love, and Future's dull delivery does not raise Rollin as much as it does flatten it. Or other artists clearly doing heavy lifting for weaker performaces (I.E. Pharrell and Big Sean saving Feels from Katy Perry's utterly terrible inflection), and Kehlani ruling the R&B slow jam on Faking It before Lil Yachty monotone mumble kills the vibe. Like I said this album is better than Calvin Harris's past albums, and there is a lot of fun to be had. But the album is too inconsistent from reaching true greatness… Expand
  7. jimykx
    Oct 10, 2017
    10
    The most amazing funky groovy fresh but old school tunes of 2017, and many years to come.
    It comes perfectly on time with all the tendy old school film-like summer visuals. I love it!
  8. PretentiousGeek
    Aug 16, 2017
    7
    Overall, this album is a nice departure from his usual style of electronic music, instead settling for a summery funky vibe that carries the record through about 80% of the track-list. Sure, it's easily digestible funky pop music, but there's a place for that in the mainstream market, with the likes of DJ Khaled acting as the main competitor to have the record of the summer. This album isOverall, this album is a nice departure from his usual style of electronic music, instead settling for a summery funky vibe that carries the record through about 80% of the track-list. Sure, it's easily digestible funky pop music, but there's a place for that in the mainstream market, with the likes of DJ Khaled acting as the main competitor to have the record of the summer. This album is such a vast improvement over the overlong mess of half-baked collaborations that was Grateful, but this isn't without its lows. Faking It loses most of the vibe and feel that makes this album such a good listen, and devolves to a meh-sounding Kehlani song with an ever-irritating Lil Yachty feature consisting of some of the most absurd struggle bars ever written. "Remember that time I put those pepperonis on your face / Made you a creature / Now I think about you every single time I eat pizza, ohh"... uh, sure. Great. His ad-libs and outro add nothing endearing to the track and are just plain annoying. Regardless, it's a good summer album and marks the start of a new style for Calvin.

    Best tracks: Cash Out, Slide
    Worst tracks: Faking It, Skrt On Me    … Expand
  9. ultimatemusic
    Aug 11, 2017
    6
    The main thing I guess I wanted to ask myself, is Calvin Harris’ career taking a dive? I mean, this album by far has to be one of, if not the worst in his career. I also find myself making excuses like perhaps he’s in a place in his life where he wants to try something different, or he’s trying to keep up with a certain trend, but then I also find myself disproving these excuses inThe main thing I guess I wanted to ask myself, is Calvin Harris’ career taking a dive? I mean, this album by far has to be one of, if not the worst in his career. I also find myself making excuses like perhaps he’s in a place in his life where he wants to try something different, or he’s trying to keep up with a certain trend, but then I also find myself disproving these excuses in defending him. I want Calvin to do well, and I want him to release great music like he has down for over a decade now, but the harsh reality is, that recently he’s not been living up to those Calvin Harris standards.

    I don’t think Calvin’s career is taking a dive, I just assume it’s a moment he’s having. Calvin was a trendsetter for so long in his career by releasing smash hit after smash hit, and it’s not even been a year since those 3 massive singles with Rihanna and the Disciples. I hope this is just a project that he was doing aside what he does best and just wanted to try something different, which of course, is fine but I can’t say it’s being recieved as well as what his other songs would.

    Calvin is a really clever guy, and as mentioned in a review about him before, if he wanted to get a #1 smash hit single, he could indeed do so.

    In terms of the album, I feel it’s very divided, you have your really bad songs, your mediocre songs, and then your really good songs, so I’m left stuck on the fence with the whole thing. Seeming as the album is titled with a volume 1, I can only assume will be a volume 2, and perhaps furthermore volumes. Perhaps volume 2 will really sway my decision on this era, but if I’m completely honest, if volume 2 never happens, I can’t say I will be devastated. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the future.

    Kudos to Calvin for trying something different, but the whole thing literally is just average.    … Expand
  10. Hec
    Jul 15, 2017
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. without a doubt a very attached to tones album imposed by the summer, is one of the best albums of Calvin, although I still don't overcome MOTION.....… Expand
  11. RK13
    Jul 11, 2017
    2
    I was quite surprised after seeing the score for this album because I was very disappointed with Harris' work. The first pitfall was the fact that the amazing This Is What You Came For was cut from the album. The second was the departure from classic electronic dance that Harris is known for. The third is the fact that Slide somehow was a single. Migos just need to stop and that high pitchI was quite surprised after seeing the score for this album because I was very disappointed with Harris' work. The first pitfall was the fact that the amazing This Is What You Came For was cut from the album. The second was the departure from classic electronic dance that Harris is known for. The third is the fact that Slide somehow was a single. Migos just need to stop and that high pitch elf singing is so annoying. There are two decent tracks on the album- those being Skrt on Me and Feels. I hope this is a blip for Harris.… Expand
  12. DODODOD
    Jul 9, 2017
    10
    Gooood use the great guests, good production with DAW! I should praise his radical and brave change. Amazing album! I don't wanna be like people making fun of him because of his EDM image.
  13. TimW001
    Jul 7, 2017
    8
    The name matches the album. It's a very fun album with good funk and good grooves. It's a perfect additional to any summertime playlist. None of the features feel shoe-horned in, instead all of the features work quite well with the music.
  14. estevancomn
    Jul 7, 2017
    6
    I don't like EDM at all, so this is the first Calvin Harris' album I enjoyed. I think he was really smart dropping that album in American Summer because each song is good for every situation in this season. However, when I heard the LP for the first time, I notice the first 6 songs sound the same. It's like i've been hearing the same tune for 20 minutes and this is bad. 'FWB' give toI don't like EDM at all, so this is the first Calvin Harris' album I enjoyed. I think he was really smart dropping that album in American Summer because each song is good for every situation in this season. However, when I heard the LP for the first time, I notice the first 6 songs sound the same. It's like i've been hearing the same tune for 20 minutes and this is bad. 'FWB' give to people a good 70s/80s nostalgia, but Harris is not bringing funk back as everyone says.… Expand
  15. NETMUSIC
    Jul 7, 2017
    9
    Great pop-funk music. Defo album of the summer

    Best Song(s):
    Feels
    Faking It
    Slide
    Rollin
    Cash Out

    Worst Song(s):
    Hard to Love
    Skrt On Me
  16. Jevus
    Jul 6, 2017
    9
    One of the best albums I've heard this year, I love that funky sound that has, the rhythms, the collaborations, everything perfect, except track 9, a genius and a musical growth in Calvin Harris, hopefully volume 2 equals great that this.
  17. eagleeyeviking
    Jul 6, 2017
    7
    While not all R&B grooves hit the mark due to mis-casted singers, Calvin Harris' new album is a predominantly funky and universally laid-back throwback to the retro style of the 80's.
  18. Beyqueen
    Jul 5, 2017
    10
    One of his best piece of music work, i really love the rhythms, the lyrics and the collaborations. all of this songs need a music video My favorites songs are Slide, Rollin, Feels , Cash out and Skrt on Me
  19. dtxphobia
    Jul 5, 2017
    10
    One of his best piece of work so far! I really love the vibe. I could totally listen to the album while watching the sunset on the beach sipping a margarita. I really don't get why people hate it. Calvin's trying some new stuff. Yes there are a lot of features and less Calvin but that's the vibe he wanted to create. It'd be doll if he would still do "EDM music" like Motion or 18 Months.One of his best piece of work so far! I really love the vibe. I could totally listen to the album while watching the sunset on the beach sipping a margarita. I really don't get why people hate it. Calvin's trying some new stuff. Yes there are a lot of features and less Calvin but that's the vibe he wanted to create. It'd be doll if he would still do "EDM music" like Motion or 18 Months. Congrats Calvin!… Expand
  20. chidime
    Jul 5, 2017
    3
    This album pisses me off. The instrumentals are so good. They're different from what Calvin makes normally, and so funky/groovy. However, all of those positives went out the window, thanks to his strange choice of collaborators. He makes an album of beautiful, funky, groovy instrumentals and then gives them to trap artists to sing. The disconnect is baffling, and the album/songs sufferThis album pisses me off. The instrumentals are so good. They're different from what Calvin makes normally, and so funky/groovy. However, all of those positives went out the window, thanks to his strange choice of collaborators. He makes an album of beautiful, funky, groovy instrumentals and then gives them to trap artists to sing. The disconnect is baffling, and the album/songs suffer greatly from this perplexing choice. These songs needed soulful and groovy artists on them (The Weeknd, more Pharell, Justin Timberlake, even Rihanna, and many more out there, both obscure and popular). But yet, he packs the entire album with Frank Ocean, Migos, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, and others in that vein. Sadly, those people should never mix with these kind of instrumentals because they just don't flow. The instrumentals are wasted on terrible, boring songwriting, producing dull, uninspiring songs that are difficult to groove to, but easy to sleep to. Maybe he was trying to cash in on the popular trap craze in music right now, but this was such a misguided move that it destroys the entire album. Worst Calvin Harris album to date.

    3/10    … Collapse

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed Album of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 15
  3. Negative: 1 out of 15
  1. Under The Radar
    Aug 14, 2017
    60
    The album is custom made for summer parties and long drives, just do not expect more out of multiple listens.
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  2. The 405
    Aug 11, 2017
    65
    At times, you catch a glimpse of a singer on the verge of something great, who is only able to suggest it due to limited time, space, or an aesthetic misalignment.
    Read full review
  3. PopMatters
    Jul 12, 2017
    70
    Funk Wav Bounces manages to avoid the stench of corporate contrivances and instead offers a laid-back experience that evokes hanging out with your friends.
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