Yeah if this lawsuit goes through, it sets a *really* bad precedent that affects basically every artist past, present & future. No music fan should want this.

You know.... I was always a fan of Marvin Gaye, and this may be the best blessing we ever have received from him. Forget 'What's Going On', the thought of Sheeran's music career being over is stunning

There’s nothing good about this lawsuit.

 

(I doubt he’ll quit anyway though, it seems more like a joke or something quickly fuelled by emotion)

Yeah if this lawsuit goes through, it sets a *really* bad precedent that affects basically every artist past, present & future. No music fan should want this.

Yeah, exactly this. The whole lawsuit is utterly ridiculous and I hope to God it gets thrown out of court.

I watched all of the episodes of his documentary released on Disney+ today, for all that it feels that so many people have a massive issue with Ed and a desire for him to fail, I still think he's a very talented singer-songwriter, a genuinely nice guy, who has clearly had a very difficult couple of years. And his human side really comes across on this documentary.

 

Nice to see a lot of his wife Cherry too, she seems very normal and clearly helps to ground him and bring him back to earth as he clearly has very high self belief and determination to succeed, so I can see why that can come across as desperate or borderline arrogant sometimes. But he also seems self aware enough to realise Divide/Shape Of You was his career peak and there's no point carrying on chasing success on that scale.

 

The stuff about Jamal Edwards and his gig previewing the songs from Subtract at Union Chapel (which is a beautiful venue) was very touching, and he seemed genuinely choked up at every turn.

 

Also, he laid out his album titles and what they meant, which I found interesting: + was an addition to his series of early EPs, x was designed to multiply the success of +, Divide was supposed to be a double album of R&B and pop/acoustic (I guess it didn't quite turn out that way but there definitely was a grab bag of styles on that album, the first four singles were basically all different genres), and = was supposed to bring all of the elements of those albums together. Subtract he said he's been working on for a decade trying to get right, which I think he's mentioned before.

 

I'm not huge on Eyes Closed but the clips played from Subtract in the documentary sound more promising to me and I'm looking forward to hearing it.

Edited May 3, 20232 yr by gooddelta

I'm not the biggest Ed fan, he does have some good songs though.

 

Agree with those that say it's not good if he loses this court case though.

This Marvin Gaye lawsuit is just toxic for the industry and I hope it fails miserably. If only the last one had then this wouldn't be a thing.

 

 

Also, he laid out his album titles and what they meant, which I found interesting: + was an addition to his series of early EPs, x was designed to multiply the success of +, Divide was supposed to be a double album of R&B and pop/acoustic (I guess it didn't quite turn out that way but there definitely was a grab bag of styles on that album, the first four singles were basically all different genres), and = was supposed to bring all of the elements of those albums together. Subtract he said he's been working on for a decade trying to get right, which I think he's mentioned before.

 

The thing is, his music has been so mainstream and inescapable for a decade that nobody really gets these nuances. If '-' really is a very low-key and acoustic, then it can be regarded as a shift to somewhere, but Eyes Closed isn't that low-key either so...

 

Also, didn't he insist that No 6 the Collaborations Project was not a proper album (somehow it included 3 number ones) and all that kinds of bs is fairly off-putting. There are artists who really fight and try their best to get at least one or two number ones in their career, so he comes out fairly arrogant saying that mega successful project shouldn't count as a proper album.

Edited May 4, 20232 yr by Sour Candy

I've said it before but in my view No.6 Collaborations Project is quite blatantly a separate case to the other albums, and it's a direct continuation of something he started early in his career. It was basically a side project between the Divide and = albums but, being Ed Sheeran and having such huge names involved, it obviously wasn't low key. I don't think saying it's not a "proper" album is arrogant or diminishes how big it was. For me, it's comparable to a Christmas album, which is technically a studio album but clearly not the same case as a typical studio album from any artist.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense to some extent.

Yeah I agree with that too.

Ed wins the court case just in time for the album release. It’s a good bit of publicity for the album which to be honest with the timing you would think they planned that.

Ed wins the court case just in time for the album release. It’s a good bit of publicity for the album which to be honest with the timing you would think they planned that.

 

Yeah it’s funny how that timing has worked out, isn’t it?

I'm glad the jury saw sense in the end. It would have been a sad day indeed for music if it had gone the other way.

Good. Copyright law owning common chords is nonsense and would have had horrible consequences for pop music.

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian called it "easily his best ever album", an "insular record" on which Sheeran's "crowd-pleasing excesses are nowhere to be seen". Petridis acclaimed Sheeran's work with Aaron Dessner, who provides "atmospheric and beautifully done" as well as "understated string arrangements; twinkling, spectral synthesisers; gentle breezes of feedback and reverb-drenched electric guitars". Neil McCormick of The Telegraph gave the album five out of five stars, describing it as "a fluid, emotional, anxious and atmospheric album of therapeutic self-healing, in which the raw immediacy of Sheeran’s feelings takes priority, shaking and warping material in subtle, twisty and deeply personal directions"

 

This seems promising!

This is getting incredibly mixed reviews, ranging from 2 star 'misfire' types to 'as good as Bob Dylan' 5 star reviews.

 

I've just bought the deluxe CD in Asda (where they only usually stock standard versions) so I'm quite eager to hear it in a bit.

‘Curtains’ should have been the lead single! Would have been a much better way to launch the album!

This is just a really good album, to me anyways.

There's some actually really good tracks on this album. Agree that 'Curtain' is the standout on first listen!

Curtains is my favourite too (great chords!), as well as Salt Water and Dusty, although I think the latter one could be marmite for people. Vega and No Strings are both great too and so are a couple of the bonus tracks - Toughest and Moving.

 

This for me is a FAR better album than Equals, with a lot more to keep me coming back. It helps that Subtract feels more real and personal and not just hit chasing, it sort of reminds me of the + album in places, and his earlier EPs, which is exactly why I loved his music in the first place. I don't mind that he morphed into this unlikely global popstar over the years but the likes of Shape Of You and Bad Habits are so far removed from what people - including me - loved about him in the first place. But this album brings it back to that.

 

I guess Eyes Closed does sound most commercial but there are many, many more interesting songs on this album.

 

Pretty much instantly my favourite album of the year so far.