So what’s the end result then? Having listened to all four of Ed Sheeran’s albums, do I still hate him, or have I come to a better appreciation of both him as a person and his music? Well, yes and no. That is, yes I still hate him and no I haven’t come to appreciate him, not at all. I won’t deny some of his music, particularly on his first album, is all right, but the rapping and the attempt to be the next, “nice” Eminem while still pandering to his fanbase of folky pop kids bugs the hell out of me, I must admit. It’s not even good: I mean, he swings from one to the other like someone who isn’t really sure what he wants to do, what direction he wants to take. Or like someone who’s trying to be all things to all men, please everyone, and we know that’s nigh on impossible.
His most recent album though says it all. It’s almost an abandoning of the themes and ideas explored on the first three albums, and his diving head-first into hip-hop and soul. For me, it just doesn’t work. It’s too crowded. If this had been just him paying tribute to the hip-hop artists he admires, that might have been something, but essentially he seems to have handed control over to Eminem, Khalid, Scott et al and the album became more a collaboration/compilation (which, to be fair, he both titled it and considers it to be) than a pure Ed Sheeran album.
But even had it been the latter, I don’t believe his music speaks to me. I just don’t like it. I mean, I like some of it, and there’s no questioning the fact that he’s both a good musician and a good songwriter, but so are hundreds of other people. What makes him so special? What has he got that they don’t? Why do millions wet themselves at the thought of a new Ed Sheeran album or going to see him live? You got me.
Maybe I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m too old. Maybe I prefer my music to have a bit more direction and heart, and not seem like it’s written to appeal directly to a pre-selected audience. Maybe I just don’t like him. But as some sort of
wunderkind of the pop world, as every teenage girl (and maybe boy)’s fantasy, as a role model for generations? Nah. I get that he’s basically safe, so kids can go to see him with their parents and both enjoy the concert, and fair play to them and him. But he’s not for me, and I don’t get the cult of celebrity, the almost worship that has arisen around him, to the point that were his next album to be him sitting humming a tuneless tune all through it, these fans would declare it the greatest pop record ever recorded. Don’t think I’ll ever understand his appeal.
So, now that I’ve listened to and read about him, is he still on my Hate List?
Does the pope sh
it in the woods?
