G I R L
by Pharrell Williams
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Mar 3, 2014
User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 166 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 102 out of 166
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 166
  3. Negative: 27 out of 166
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  1. SimpleMethod
    Mar 16, 2014
    4
    It has been a slow, slow year for music so far. I've been heavily relying on most of my older stuff lately, and this album does nothing to change that. Happy is of course a fun, cheery song. But the other tracks are junky, generic, and repetitive. Pass.
  2. JonoHartley
    Mar 6, 2014
    4
    Pharrell should be treated like a four year old when making music – he should never be left alone.

    Pharrell smashed radio and the US charts last year on three songs that sounded fresh and rejected most modern conventions, instead favouring progressive melodies and lyrical narratives. For this reason, I was very excited about what he would deliver in his “sophomore” album. On the    Pharrell should be treated like a four year old when making music – he should never be left alone.

    Pharrell smashed radio and the US charts last year on three songs that sounded fresh and rejected most modern conventions, instead favouring progressive melodies and lyrical narratives. For this reason, I was very excited about what he would deliver in his “sophomore” album.

    On the surface, this looked like a tight album where Pharrell had trimmed all the fat down to ten inspiring pop-tunes. As a result of this decision, there is a certain amount of goodwill that I was willing to offer him as a result of having left out those extra ‘filler’ tracks that were also presumably laid down.

    How wrong I was.

    In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I believe this album was rushed and Pharrell should hang his head in shame. He is better than this. In fact, at his best, there are only equals. In submitting these ten tracks, he satisfied the minimum requirement to qualify this work as an album, but he has failed in producing a single additional track that is suitable for radio airplay. (Alright, maybe “Marilyn Monroe” will sneak on the radio at some point, but I like to speak in definitives.)

    The only ways that I can explain this mess of a submission, are that he has been partying a little too hard on the back of the success of his three singles, or that he needs an external pressure in order to produce his best. The reality is, no doubt, a little of both.

    In “Lose Yourself to Dance” and “Get Lucky” he was working with contemporaries whom he surely did not want to let down. In “Happy” he had the pressure of a film soundtrack sweating out the genius. Sadly, on all but one of the other tracks on this album, he only had his own **** standards to worry about.

    I can’t finish this overview without mentioning the lyrics. They are consistently **** in a way that you won’t possibly be able to fathom until you have listened to this album all the way through.

    Enjoy.    … Expand
  3. geedup
    Mar 5, 2014
    4
    I am a fan of Pharrell's cuz of his originality and ability to take artists in different directions they might not have been/gone before. But As for Pharrell's own album, there isn't much I can listen to. Almost the entire album, he is singing in this falsetto voice-which after 2 songs is HIGHLY irritating. The song where he has Timberlake and then Keys, I keep thinking-"please, get themI am a fan of Pharrell's cuz of his originality and ability to take artists in different directions they might not have been/gone before. But As for Pharrell's own album, there isn't much I can listen to. Almost the entire album, he is singing in this falsetto voice-which after 2 songs is HIGHLY irritating. The song where he has Timberlake and then Keys, I keep thinking-"please, get them singing already!" I gave this a 4 cuz of the sounds mostly, but the rest, I can leave.… Expand
  4. MooziikMaster
    Mar 3, 2014
    5
    An inescapable marshmallow-y glob of pop compositions trickle out of Pharrell's newest effort. Stealing rhythms comparable to Justin Timberlake and Daft Punk's 2013 albums, Pharrell is swimming in familiar, yet shark-infested territory. Yes, he has a lovely voice and his style is decent, but this album is a yawn of "been there, done that". Even with the star-studded appeal stuck to theseAn inescapable marshmallow-y glob of pop compositions trickle out of Pharrell's newest effort. Stealing rhythms comparable to Justin Timberlake and Daft Punk's 2013 albums, Pharrell is swimming in familiar, yet shark-infested territory. Yes, he has a lovely voice and his style is decent, but this album is a yawn of "been there, done that". Even with the star-studded appeal stuck to these glossy tracks, the overall experience seems like a waste of time.

    Portrayed as merely a continuation of last year's hits such as "Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines" (ew), Pharrell misses the mark when trying to incorporate his own unique brand to the recording studio. He even brought Daft Punk back into the picture with what sounds like a b-side from Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. And that's a compliment, in case you didn't catch that. However, tracks like "Come Get It Bae", which includes 3 minutes of Miley Cyrus yelling "hey!" at you, drag the album down to a stifling low. Yes Miley, we heard you. No Miley, we won't give you more attention. With feel good melodies on "Happy" and sultry falsetto on "Brand New" (which features, you guessed it, Justin Timberlake!), the album tries to compliment its faults with its successes.

    Unfortunately, G I R L only measures up as a mediocre pop record. So let's just sit back and wait a few months before the radio gets a hold of all these songs and overplays them to death.

    Check out more music/film reviews at Impossible Soul Reviews on Facebook!    … Expand
  5. arvintaylor138
    Mar 8, 2014
    6
    Seems Pharrell is focusing more on the background instruments than vocals, Impressing Intro but unimpressive vocals, but after track 2, it's like the album is on loop and it feels like you've heard it all before. I'm being generous with my rating..
  6. adhamhany
    Mar 31, 2014
    6
    On the most part, it's pretty generic stuff. It works well as background music while you're doing something else. But i will say that the second half of the album is much better than the first one.
  7. justachair
    Apr 30, 2014
    5
    Pharrell has been in the industry longer than any other popular artist out there, but the boom of popularity he enjoyed last year has achieved him a new, single album. Well, not actually single.
    G I R L opens with Marilyn Monroe, a tender homage to women in a way, using the world's most famous sex symbol in the title, but putting other names like Cleopatra and Joan De Arc. Then, the album    Pharrell has been in the industry longer than any other popular artist out there, but the boom of popularity he enjoyed last year has achieved him a new, single album. Well, not actually single.
    G I R L opens with Marilyn Monroe, a tender homage to women in a way, using the world's most famous sex symbol in the title, but putting other names like Cleopatra and Joan De Arc. Then, the album turns into more-sexist-than-sexy funky tracks (Except "Happy", of course, which if you somehow managed to not have heard it yet, is a joyously infectious track that is simply mesmerizing at first but turns really, really, REALLY repetitive and tiring after a while) that gets big name in the feat. space such as Daft Punk, Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. "Know Who You Are", with Alicia Keys, talks about Women's power, but it feels rather ironic when you hear it after Pharrell brags about how he gets so much pu**y in the disgusting "Gush", or how he hunts you down with countless sex references in "Hunter". The Miley Cyrus collaboration, "Come Get It Bae" is a somehow remix of "Happy", Justin Timberlake's friendly vocals in "Brand New" make us want to turn to the great assembled works of Timberlake instead, and the robotic voices of Daft Punk in "Gust Of Wind" are pretty outstanding, besides the entire song being pure pop cliches and not one-in-a-kind even in the slightiest of chances.
    G I R L does not work. It should be an album about how much we love women, and it is an album about sex. That means, nothing new, or at least nothing new done better. It is just another quick pop cash grab, and it feels like it. Next!    … Expand
  8. chr1so
    May 6, 2014
    6
    Pharrell's gone overboard with the pop music atm, just my opinion but everything he's bringing out is too 'happy'. Prefer his Neptunes stuff with more of a hip hop edge. The album does have a Michael Jackson vibe about it tho, & JT, so it's not too bad
  9. Hypocritics
    Mar 24, 2014
    5
    Pharrell will always be an excellent producer... for other artists. He simply doesn't have the vocal talent and seems to play it safe with solo albums. Everything I love about the collaborations he does with other Hip Hop greats is either scarce or nonexistent on this project. Nothing against him, but he's not an album guy.
  10. ecbudapest1
    Mar 9, 2014
    4
    I am very disappointed with this album. I was expecting some funk, and I got fluff. Where is the energy ? The vocal hooks are lacking. He could have just written simple catchy pop songs, instead we get difficult R&B overproduction.
    I think he has been too busy, and his record company pressured him to write an album. He is better than this. In My Mind was much better. At least the    I am very disappointed with this album. I was expecting some funk, and I got fluff. Where is the energy ? The vocal hooks are lacking. He could have just written simple catchy pop songs, instead we get difficult R&B overproduction.
    I think he has been too busy, and his record company pressured him to write an album. He is better than this. In My Mind was much better. At least the hooks were there, and the attitude, also.    … Expand
  11. GHartley
    Jan 8, 2015
    5
    Overall, a weak, tacky sounding album consisting of a number of very funk-influenced cuts with nasty, repetitive basslines, poor lyrics and generally feeble vocal performances. Highlights include worldwide hit single "Happy" and record opener "Marilyn Monroe", but the album, as a whole, sounds cheap. The production is wearisome and corresponds to an idea that Pharrell's production style isOverall, a weak, tacky sounding album consisting of a number of very funk-influenced cuts with nasty, repetitive basslines, poor lyrics and generally feeble vocal performances. Highlights include worldwide hit single "Happy" and record opener "Marilyn Monroe", but the album, as a whole, sounds cheap. The production is wearisome and corresponds to an idea that Pharrell's production style is very repetitive, with similar intros to many tracks.

    Overall: 52/100    … Expand
  12. ughnicewatch
    Mar 27, 2015
    4
    Pharrell is the one people always talk about when it comes to the Neptunes... perhaps Hugo is the brains of the duo after all, or maybe Pharrell has just sold all his best beats and not kept enough for himself...

Awards & Rankings

39
#39 Most Discussed Album of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
67

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 35
  3. Negative: 3 out of 35
  1. Mojo
    Apr 23, 2014
    60
    Only a few moments--Happy, the Daft Punk-featuring Gust Of Wind and I Know Who You Are--sound truly out of the ordinary. [May 2014, p.86]
  2. Q Magazine
    Apr 23, 2014
    80
    An album that manages to pile on fresh, innovative production without drowning out the frequently spectacular songwriting. [May 2014, p.118]
  3. cokemachineglow
    Mar 25, 2014
    50
    G I R L is safe, universal, and unforgivably dull. It should be a huge hit.
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