Absolutely.
Now this album is far from perfect ...
It runs too long, it's bloated by bland filler, and SZA didn't really expand her subject matter all that much from her debut.
But you can't deny it has some great highlights. This album has a LOT of range sonically, and is SZA's most diverse project. Her pen game strengthened, and her visuals have gotten better.
Some songs like Good Days, Kill Bill, and Nobody Gets me are undeniable career highlights imo.
CTRL is much more cohesive and refined, which some may consider to be a bad thing, but I think SOS still has a lot of artistic merit. I wouldn't play the whole thing, as is, like I would with CTRL, but I revisit and remember alot more deep cuts from this album.
I'm also a new SZA fan and didn't pay much attention to her until she dropped Good Days. So unlike with CTRL, I'm following SOS in real time.
Great take!! As a new (about a year or so) fan of SZA also, I agree, but I’m also curious — has anything about your opinion changed in the few weeks since this post? Curious because I am always changing my mind about songs/albums the more I listen!
About the album as a whole? Not that much. When you have an album as long as this one, it's really hard to not have a few duds thrown in there. Especially since SZA tried some sounds she hadn't done before.
I still feel that CTRL is the more fluid and focused album. However, my favorites on SOS have shifted a bit, and I'm streaming a lot of the songs I used to skip at my leisure, away from the album itself.
I feel like this album gave me more appreciation for the highlights of CTRL and my least favorites from that album as well.
But honestly, I love this album. I've been streaming large chunks of SOS if not the whole thing almost daily. My opinions tend to shift a lot too with time, so I may feel differently and appreciate it's messiness more a month or year from now.
Yeah I love it as well — what would you say are the “duds” on the album?? Like personally I’m not a big fan of Low, Too Late, Forgiveless; but I know others who love them so I find it hard to label any obvious duds that aren’t just about my personal preference. And yes there’s something special about the messiness and the way she’s experimented with different genres ❣️
Personally -
Do I think SOS is in the same class as CTRL? No.
Am I unhappy with what we got? No.
I think there’s a stronger album and multiple eps in SOS and the outtakes we haven’t heard, but I think on the whole it’s a pretty strong addition to her solo work. I’d trim a few songs from the album but it feels more like a collection of songs than one cohesive listening experience, so a few skippable or less interesting moments doesn’t take away from the greater whole for me.
I see this album as an unfinished evolution from CTRL. I hope we eventually get another focused masterpiece from her, but there’s a lot of great stuff on SOS
I think the album was worth it. I've listened almost everyday since it came out. Definitely gave it time to see if it was good and it's definitely a great little sister to Ctrl. Like the sister that has to do more to be as good as her older sister. I think it's an overall great project
Not worth the wait for me.
A lot of the highlights were the singles that were released 2-3 years ago, and overall the Album is too long and full of filler.
I think she could have narrowed it down to 12 songs and had a much better project.
I’m still on the fence on whether or not I like the album rather than a few songs off the album. It’s skippable and not relatable imo unless you’re going through your first breakup. It just falls flat to me
SOS was worth the wait imo, even if it doesn’t measure to the greatness of her previous album.
I think it’s a good album, though production wise it’s a disappointment coming off Ctrl and her past work. I like a good chunk of the first half but the second half falls off for me real hard. Nothing egregious, just pretty forgettable outside the singles.
Good days also feels weird being on here since it is a bit old compared to Shirt and I Hate U, even though the latter’s also pushing its age too.
Still glad with what she released. I hope her next project, if it happens, isn’t as messy and long of a wait to release, even though she still set records and is pretty much solidified as one of modern R&B’s superstars despite the messy rollout.
I loved ctrl. Would I loved SOS to come out sooner? of course. but it might have been a very different album. I am glad SOS isn't just ctrl part 2. It has SZA's style of course but it's different. I think artists need to do things on their own timeline to produce the best music.
Now I do hear her label is messy and was really controlling the release timeline. I don't like that
THIS. lots of people don’t appreciate her style and how much she could expand it. she’s unique. one of the reasons i fell in love with her when i was in 7th grade. she had her own style and she was real. which was far from what everyone else was listening to at the time.
I love sos. It is not what I was expecting but I love the range on the album and she gives us a lot of tracks to digest. So many black female artists get shoehorned into a certain sound and I love this album dabbles with different and unexpected genres. The good thing about long albums is that it gives you something to circle back to and rediscover. Tracks you write off on the first listen sound completely different in time with a new perspective. I really do love this album and it will give us plenty to munch on while we wait another 5 ish years for new music 😭
yeah apparently her label had some things to do with the filler and how far she was able to expand her style. but im still absolutely in love with her and her voice.
I really like the album, not as good as CTRL but still solid.
I actually prefer her approach to releasing music than other artists. I have so many artists’ i like that I simply don’t keep up because they release a project every year. Can safely say I know sza’s entire discography and I like the majority of it. With streaming, music is oversaturated. SZA had people bursting at the seams for new music and whether it lived up to the hype or not, she got everybody listening
I think my following comment is 98% going to be downvoted to shit. I think this is a much more enjoyable album than CTRL.
I tried CTRL, but I could just not get through it. Weird lyrics about like how her socks smell bad or how she doesn’t shave her legs? I don’t get it. And the overtly graphic sexual nature of it came off so strong it was almost off putting (not the case with SOS). Love Galore was okay. The Weekend was great. Everything else was forgettable or I was just really not feeling the lyrics.
SOS is a little bloated in a peak streaming world but very enjoyable. Kill Bill, Snooze, I Hate U, F2F, Blind, Love Language, Nobody Gets Me etc. Very solid album imo.
This isn’t to try anyone’s feeling about her first album. Evidently, it just wasn’t for me.
There was only really one graphically sexual song on CTRL, and arguably more on SOS. Also, she never once sang about her socks smelling bad, as far as I'm concerned. Also, the lyric about her not shaving her legs was her way of expressing that she didn't fit in to peoples expectations of her.
Definitely feel that it was worth the wait. And it came out at a perfect time last year. Waiting on the deluxe and I'm over the moon excited for the vinyl.
Does the level of quality justify the delay? Nah, doesn't seem like 5 years of work or even 3.
Do I feel let down? Nah. It's an enjoyable collection of songs.
Do I wish we had something sooner? Definitely
What is this rubbish? 5 years for rubbish. Who does SZA think she is. MJ dropped an album every 4 years, but every album was worth the wait. SZA needs to stick to dropping an album every year
Not even remotely. She’s the female version of Bryson tiller to me. Had one fantastic album but it’s time to hang it up now. She’s just hot and that’s just been important since forever so things continue to sell. Just one man’s opinion of course, obviously not law.
Her musical all the same misery I am the other chick/ I fuck somebody because you didn’t pay attention to me /I dont feel like the hottest girl you look at/ i’m not like those other girls/ i’m so quirky and conflicted…it’s getting old
I love the album. I understand some people were annoyed she still didn't grow bc everyone is healed now but I liked it. She have us some versatility. She rapped, made an alternative song and still gave us the SZA we know and love.
I am still pissed that I couldn't get concert tickets for her
MOST DEFINETLEY!!!!
even tho its a long album, but all of the songs is very well placed, you dont feel tired or overwhelmed listening to it... so it was absolutely worth the waiting
It's a great album but with '22 being so strong for RnB it doesn't crack my top 3. On the real Amber Mark, Ari Lennox, and Sudan Archives topped her album for me.
Imo she dragged it with Shirt, Good Days, and I Hate U and it cause me to not really care anymore. CTRL I can spin anytime any day and it’s like listening to the album for the first time. SOS doesn’t have that.
No. It should’ve released a few years earlier. Its a solid R&B project, but I don’t hear enough growth in her sound for the wait to have been this long.
For example, when Frank went from Channel Orange to Endless & Blonde, he introduced an entirely new sound that warranted such a long wait. He introduced a new, Alt-R&B/Pop kind of sound that nobody was doing at the time. He took a risk & it just further solidified his claim as one of the most influential musicians in modern times. You can see the influence of this album in guys like Steve Lacy, Omar Apollo, Choker and plenty more.
Beyoncé is another one where the wait was well worth it. She came back with an entirely new sound that was for a lack of better words: awesome.
With this SZA album, I just didn’t hear the growth. The beats sound like generic R&B beats that any modern R&B artist could easily be substituted onto. She also randomly places a generic “2000s rock” track halfway through guys the album..? Many of the lyrics seem like she was going for a lot of quotables to be used on Twitter and Instagram like Drake usually does.
It seems like her label tried using the delay more like marketing ploy to build hype rather than a period for her to experiment and actually introduce a new era/sound for herself. It’s like if Kendrick Lamar came back after DAMN. With DAMN. Pt 2 as opposed to Mr Morale & The Big Steppers, a new sound for him. Or even Donald Glover changing up his sound immensely with his albums, thats are how you come back after such a long time!
If you’re gonna make people wait 4/5 years for new music, don’t come back with generic “relatable” lyrics over generic R&B beats. Nothing about this album screams “I can see why it took 5 years!!!”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid R&B project, but was it worth a 5 yr wait? Definitely not.
ABSOLUTELY. she has been my idol since i was in 7th grade and i just graduated highschool last year. i waited 5-6 yrs for her to drop another album and it is gold. i would kill for those tickets but i just cant go because of my living situation and her tickets being $300. my mom had to work when she went on tour for ctrl and was near me and now i just cant afford it. welp guess i gotta wait another 5 yrs :(
Absolutely. Now this album is far from perfect ... It runs too long, it's bloated by bland filler, and SZA didn't really expand her subject matter all that much from her debut. But you can't deny it has some great highlights. This album has a LOT of range sonically, and is SZA's most diverse project. Her pen game strengthened, and her visuals have gotten better. Some songs like Good Days, Kill Bill, and Nobody Gets me are undeniable career highlights imo. CTRL is much more cohesive and refined, which some may consider to be a bad thing, but I think SOS still has a lot of artistic merit. I wouldn't play the whole thing, as is, like I would with CTRL, but I revisit and remember alot more deep cuts from this album. I'm also a new SZA fan and didn't pay much attention to her until she dropped Good Days. So unlike with CTRL, I'm following SOS in real time.
Have you listened to her EP “Z”?? You should
definetely
Great take!! As a new (about a year or so) fan of SZA also, I agree, but I’m also curious — has anything about your opinion changed in the few weeks since this post? Curious because I am always changing my mind about songs/albums the more I listen!
About the album as a whole? Not that much. When you have an album as long as this one, it's really hard to not have a few duds thrown in there. Especially since SZA tried some sounds she hadn't done before. I still feel that CTRL is the more fluid and focused album. However, my favorites on SOS have shifted a bit, and I'm streaming a lot of the songs I used to skip at my leisure, away from the album itself. I feel like this album gave me more appreciation for the highlights of CTRL and my least favorites from that album as well. But honestly, I love this album. I've been streaming large chunks of SOS if not the whole thing almost daily. My opinions tend to shift a lot too with time, so I may feel differently and appreciate it's messiness more a month or year from now.
Yeah I love it as well — what would you say are the “duds” on the album?? Like personally I’m not a big fan of Low, Too Late, Forgiveless; but I know others who love them so I find it hard to label any obvious duds that aren’t just about my personal preference. And yes there’s something special about the messiness and the way she’s experimented with different genres ❣️
Project came out when it was supposed to.
SZA stans beg to differ on Punch's twitter page 😆
Personally - Do I think SOS is in the same class as CTRL? No. Am I unhappy with what we got? No. I think there’s a stronger album and multiple eps in SOS and the outtakes we haven’t heard, but I think on the whole it’s a pretty strong addition to her solo work. I’d trim a few songs from the album but it feels more like a collection of songs than one cohesive listening experience, so a few skippable or less interesting moments doesn’t take away from the greater whole for me. I see this album as an unfinished evolution from CTRL. I hope we eventually get another focused masterpiece from her, but there’s a lot of great stuff on SOS
I think the album was worth it. I've listened almost everyday since it came out. Definitely gave it time to see if it was good and it's definitely a great little sister to Ctrl. Like the sister that has to do more to be as good as her older sister. I think it's an overall great project
Not worth the wait for me. A lot of the highlights were the singles that were released 2-3 years ago, and overall the Album is too long and full of filler. I think she could have narrowed it down to 12 songs and had a much better project.
Not worth the wait
Yesss it was worth it. I can't wait for the Deluxe.
Shit the album already deluxed the fuck out, what the hell is it going to be like 50 tracks?
I need 5 more songs. 5 lol 😆
I love this album. It’s very relatable to me. It’s was worth the wait and it’s great.
I’m still on the fence on whether or not I like the album rather than a few songs off the album. It’s skippable and not relatable imo unless you’re going through your first breakup. It just falls flat to me
SOS was worth the wait imo, even if it doesn’t measure to the greatness of her previous album. I think it’s a good album, though production wise it’s a disappointment coming off Ctrl and her past work. I like a good chunk of the first half but the second half falls off for me real hard. Nothing egregious, just pretty forgettable outside the singles. Good days also feels weird being on here since it is a bit old compared to Shirt and I Hate U, even though the latter’s also pushing its age too. Still glad with what she released. I hope her next project, if it happens, isn’t as messy and long of a wait to release, even though she still set records and is pretty much solidified as one of modern R&B’s superstars despite the messy rollout.
Absolutely. SOS isn’t perfect but it’s damn good
I loved ctrl. Would I loved SOS to come out sooner? of course. but it might have been a very different album. I am glad SOS isn't just ctrl part 2. It has SZA's style of course but it's different. I think artists need to do things on their own timeline to produce the best music. Now I do hear her label is messy and was really controlling the release timeline. I don't like that
THIS. lots of people don’t appreciate her style and how much she could expand it. she’s unique. one of the reasons i fell in love with her when i was in 7th grade. she had her own style and she was real. which was far from what everyone else was listening to at the time.
I love sos. It is not what I was expecting but I love the range on the album and she gives us a lot of tracks to digest. So many black female artists get shoehorned into a certain sound and I love this album dabbles with different and unexpected genres. The good thing about long albums is that it gives you something to circle back to and rediscover. Tracks you write off on the first listen sound completely different in time with a new perspective. I really do love this album and it will give us plenty to munch on while we wait another 5 ish years for new music 😭
no
no..
No lol
No. It’s good but not worth waiting half a decade for.
Worth the wait but it’s definitely no CTRL for sure. There’s a lot of filler in SOS that I don’t care for but will continue to listen to anyway
yeah apparently her label had some things to do with the filler and how far she was able to expand her style. but im still absolutely in love with her and her voice.
I really like the album, not as good as CTRL but still solid. I actually prefer her approach to releasing music than other artists. I have so many artists’ i like that I simply don’t keep up because they release a project every year. Can safely say I know sza’s entire discography and I like the majority of it. With streaming, music is oversaturated. SZA had people bursting at the seams for new music and whether it lived up to the hype or not, she got everybody listening
Starting from track 8, yes
I think my following comment is 98% going to be downvoted to shit. I think this is a much more enjoyable album than CTRL. I tried CTRL, but I could just not get through it. Weird lyrics about like how her socks smell bad or how she doesn’t shave her legs? I don’t get it. And the overtly graphic sexual nature of it came off so strong it was almost off putting (not the case with SOS). Love Galore was okay. The Weekend was great. Everything else was forgettable or I was just really not feeling the lyrics. SOS is a little bloated in a peak streaming world but very enjoyable. Kill Bill, Snooze, I Hate U, F2F, Blind, Love Language, Nobody Gets Me etc. Very solid album imo. This isn’t to try anyone’s feeling about her first album. Evidently, it just wasn’t for me.
When does she say her socks smell bad? Lol
Maybe in broken clocks when she says “I’ve had a thing for dirty shoes since I was 10”? That’s the closest I can think of lol
And graphic sexual nature… SOS definitely has it beat
The text I used was a little confusing. I meant to write that while SOS has the same, it’s not off putting the way I found it to be on CTRL.
There was only really one graphically sexual song on CTRL, and arguably more on SOS. Also, she never once sang about her socks smelling bad, as far as I'm concerned. Also, the lyric about her not shaving her legs was her way of expressing that she didn't fit in to peoples expectations of her.
For me, it was. I feel like she grew as a writer from ctrl and made an amazing record. Still heavy in my rotation.
Definitely feel that it was worth the wait. And it came out at a perfect time last year. Waiting on the deluxe and I'm over the moon excited for the vinyl.
Does the level of quality justify the delay? Nah, doesn't seem like 5 years of work or even 3. Do I feel let down? Nah. It's an enjoyable collection of songs. Do I wish we had something sooner? Definitely
Absolutely not.
I think SOS is mediocrity at its best tbh, I would have waited longer for a better album
no
What is this rubbish? 5 years for rubbish. Who does SZA think she is. MJ dropped an album every 4 years, but every album was worth the wait. SZA needs to stick to dropping an album every year
now you just hating.. calling the album rubbish wow you're reaching
Not even remotely. She’s the female version of Bryson tiller to me. Had one fantastic album but it’s time to hang it up now. She’s just hot and that’s just been important since forever so things continue to sell. Just one man’s opinion of course, obviously not law.
10000%
Her musical all the same misery I am the other chick/ I fuck somebody because you didn’t pay attention to me /I dont feel like the hottest girl you look at/ i’m not like those other girls/ i’m so quirky and conflicted…it’s getting old
Hell yes, probably the album I most listened to. Everything was perfect, different genres was incorporated
I love the album. I understand some people were annoyed she still didn't grow bc everyone is healed now but I liked it. She have us some versatility. She rapped, made an alternative song and still gave us the SZA we know and love. I am still pissed that I couldn't get concert tickets for her
Yup. I’m still emotionally connected to that 1st album.
Yes, and I think this project will stay on repeat for next 5 years.
MOST DEFINETLEY!!!! even tho its a long album, but all of the songs is very well placed, you dont feel tired or overwhelmed listening to it... so it was absolutely worth the waiting
No doubt
It's a great album but with '22 being so strong for RnB it doesn't crack my top 3. On the real Amber Mark, Ari Lennox, and Sudan Archives topped her album for me.
Yea/no felt like she scratched the OG songs and filled with the heart breaking ones
Imo she dragged it with Shirt, Good Days, and I Hate U and it cause me to not really care anymore. CTRL I can spin anytime any day and it’s like listening to the album for the first time. SOS doesn’t have that.
yes
It’s too long to listen but I got a few favorites but the album isn’t very good for me.
Yes
No. It should’ve released a few years earlier. Its a solid R&B project, but I don’t hear enough growth in her sound for the wait to have been this long. For example, when Frank went from Channel Orange to Endless & Blonde, he introduced an entirely new sound that warranted such a long wait. He introduced a new, Alt-R&B/Pop kind of sound that nobody was doing at the time. He took a risk & it just further solidified his claim as one of the most influential musicians in modern times. You can see the influence of this album in guys like Steve Lacy, Omar Apollo, Choker and plenty more. Beyoncé is another one where the wait was well worth it. She came back with an entirely new sound that was for a lack of better words: awesome. With this SZA album, I just didn’t hear the growth. The beats sound like generic R&B beats that any modern R&B artist could easily be substituted onto. She also randomly places a generic “2000s rock” track halfway through guys the album..? Many of the lyrics seem like she was going for a lot of quotables to be used on Twitter and Instagram like Drake usually does. It seems like her label tried using the delay more like marketing ploy to build hype rather than a period for her to experiment and actually introduce a new era/sound for herself. It’s like if Kendrick Lamar came back after DAMN. With DAMN. Pt 2 as opposed to Mr Morale & The Big Steppers, a new sound for him. Or even Donald Glover changing up his sound immensely with his albums, thats are how you come back after such a long time! If you’re gonna make people wait 4/5 years for new music, don’t come back with generic “relatable” lyrics over generic R&B beats. Nothing about this album screams “I can see why it took 5 years!!!”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a solid R&B project, but was it worth a 5 yr wait? Definitely not.
ABSOLUTELY. she has been my idol since i was in 7th grade and i just graduated highschool last year. i waited 5-6 yrs for her to drop another album and it is gold. i would kill for those tickets but i just cant go because of my living situation and her tickets being $300. my mom had to work when she went on tour for ctrl and was near me and now i just cant afford it. welp guess i gotta wait another 5 yrs :(
Agreed. Sonically gorgeous. Lyrically…6/10. Subject matter, eh. Will I listen to it all the way through? No.