Classic Album Review: Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon

You hear some of the songs on this album and they can take you right back to 2009, which is odd because it definitely feels unique from other Hip Hop albums of that era. With the spacey themes and heavily reliance on melody, it'd be fair to say this album was before its time, especially looking at some of the albums that have come out more recently, Astroworld by Travis Scott and Eternal Atake by Lil Uzi Vert. The influence of this album on the current generation seems to be up there with the likes of 808's & Heartbreak by Kanye West. 

So I only heard this album for the first time like a year ago, at first I could see why it was so popular. Every song had some catchy melody, the instrumentals were really unoffensive and hit the ear really comfortably, Kid Cudi's humming was perfect, the features were well placed and it was overall just a nice listen. At the time, to me, that's all it was.

Although it's kind of cool when you instantly like a song, I think the songs can get boring quicker. When music grows on you over time, over a few listens, I think they usually end up being your favourite tracks. I liked Man on the Moon straight away, but basically stopped listening to it after like a few weeks. Originally, I thought the album was just a bit cheesy. It was only now, where I have sort of started again with the album, that the lyrics have started to resonate with me, and I can see why this album is a classic.

It was great, he has a skill for vivid storytelling with the instrumentals providing a hazy dream-like backdrop. Even though he told interesting, lucid stories, he still left a lot for the imagination. Throughout the album you can really see the inner workings of Cudi's mind. It seems like there's so much going on in Cudi's mind, maybe even too much. Either way, it spilled out into the music brilliantly. Soundtrack 2 My Life  is a classic example of this.

The sampling on this album was pretty cool, Make her Say with Kanye and Common was entertaining, heavily sampling Poker Face by Lady Gaga, that was a bit of a throwback, I was like what the fuck. That unfortunately dates the song quite a bit and definitely gave it that 2009 feel - but that doesn't really matter because the album came out in 2009, so who cares?
I was thinking that about the entire album. Maybe the album does feel dated, but that doesn't mean it hasn't aged well. When the music feels real, relatable, it will always age well. Someone somewhere is always gonna feel it.

In terms of rapping, Kid Cudi is never gonna blow your head off, but his lyrics might. There were too many lyrical highlights on this album to count. The lyrics, the melodies were everything. Look at Pursuit of Happiness; big song, remix obviously was classic, synonymous with Project X which is a classic film, the original on this album proved to be just as good. I think slowed down you can process the song even more, it's great. "Everything that shine's ain't always gonna be gold".

Do I have anything bad to say about this album? Not really. Is There Any Love at the end felt slightly out of place as it went for a more typical Hip Hop sound, the beat felt kind of 80's and all. It's still a great song though.

I thoroughly enjoyed this album, it was entertaining, likeable, pure and it just felt legit and real. On this album Kid Cudi had like a knack for making you want to support him, maybe it was his honesty in his lyrics, but either way when the music sounds as quality as it does on this album, you can't help but oblige.

Star Track - Soundtrack 2 My Life

9.75/10