I thought Ed had promise early on and whilst he has absolutely blown up, he has done it at the expense of his art IMO, but why shouldnt he make millions off of pop music rather than be a poor folk singer... musically i wish he took the latter path - as songs like A team suggested he had it in him. I dont think anyone can argue he isnt a great talent. I feel like he could just put out a proper album at this point and win over everyone , and keep his pop status - but he is probably scared of rocking the boat so he puts out more chart fodder until he runs out of math symbols, good luck to him either way.
I bought my wife his latest album for Christmas and had to endure it while taking down decorations. His music and voice, to me, are bland. He comes off as a James Blunt wannabe.
I think he's a remarkable talent. Anyone who hand old the attention of a stadium audience with just an acoustic guitar and a looper pedal has a special talent. I quite liked his early material. But since he's decided to conquer the entire pop music world, I've found his music has become kind of manipulative. When I'm listening I can hear the business plan behind it -- this one sounds like it was tailor-made for CHR radio, this one for AC, this one for triple-A. This one has a lite version of the popular dancehall beat. That's one has the strummy guitars that will fit in at Starbucks. His writing as turned generic (like in "Perfect," writing "listening to our favorite song," instead of naming the song, it's a way to ensure that everyone can project their own favorite in there and you don't exclude anyone from naming a specific song, but the lyric becomes blandly generic and unspecific and the song become kind of characterless). One day one of his more recent tunes came on the radio and I asked my wife, just really rhetorically, "What happened to Ed Sheeran?" She responded, "He got bad." But obviously he was right about the business plan and it has worked for him and a vast number of people don't feel that way.
Not a fan, although I applaud his use of acoustic guitar and minimal production. I just don't like his voice and songs.
I seem to recall he described himself as "a ginger bloke who got lucky" or something similar, a (hopefully sincere) piece of humility which I try to remember when I am forced to endure his appalling music and near-ubiquitous cameos in films and television shows.
I agree with all of this… he is apparently a very likeable fellow… with his head screwed on unusually straight for a pop star. I still needed to vote “mediocre” because that is how I rate his music… I was not low-balling due to lack of exposure. Like the similar Adele poll, there is no middle-ground here to choose that doesn’t still praise the recorded output… perhaps if the third option in the poll had said “performer” instead of “artist”, I would have voted for that one.
Like the Adele thread the OP has deliberately worded the choices in the poll to get exactly the sort of reaction and posts that are now occurring. Its obvious what hes up to.
And a similarly poorly-written poll. 1) "One of the greatest artists of all time who has deservedly smashed many sales records" equates his commercial success with artistic success. 2) "A highly accomplished artist. One of the greatest male solo artists of his generation"? What accomplishments is the OP referring to? His Grammys? His Brit awards? 3) "A good artist but short of greats like Elton John." Elton is the biggest British solo act of all-time. The normal rules don't apply to him. Any comparison is unfair to begin with. 4) "A mediocre artist who has enjoyed success due to a lack of competition"? Each era yields its own crop of stars and superstars. The 00s and the 10s have produced a chitload of superstars. So how is there a lack of competition? 5) I'm not even going to bother...
Ed Sheeran… To go against the grain of the thread a bit, I don’t really think he’s among this generation’s best artists. The biggest commercially, sure, but there are so many other artists I enjoy more. Even out of huge commercially successful artists with over 30 million monthly listeners, artists like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Kanye West, The Weeknd, even Coldplay (their first two albums, Viva La Vida, Everyday Life) appeal to me more. So much of his music just sounds so hollow and bad, even his earlier material. That said, I don’t think he’s as horrible as many music enthusiasts (young and old) say he is. He has some good songs like Overpass Graffiti, Visiting Hours, Castle on the Hill, Thinking Out Loud, Sing, his cover of Make it Rain especially. It’s clear that, behind his bland and sterile pop music, there is a legitimate talent behind there. I do admire that he is a guitarist and writes his own stuff, but at the end of the day, I’d rather listen to a great album it took 60+ people to write (The Life of Pablo, Lemonade), than a bad one it took only one to write (Divide, Equals).
These threads are funny because the usual people are posting the usual things. It's practically impossible to have an intelligent discussion in a topic that's written and designed as dumpster. Over in the Adele thread you've got members admitting that they don't know her yet continue posting. Is there a name for that?
Agree. Not my cup of tea - but I don’t think anyone else has ever done that at Glastonbury and he sold out 4 consecutive nights at Wembley stadium. I don’t think that’s been done before either. he’s a massive artist. because he’s not in his 70s. Let’s be honest the demographic of this forum is never going to look positively on a younger artist.
He’s either “good” or “mediocre” — haven’t heard enough to really say for sure. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, and voted “good”.
I have no particular disdain for Sheeran. If God told me he could replace my voice with that of a well known artist, Sheeran's would not be my first choice. He has sold quite a lot of records and got a lot of airplay-I don't hold that against him. He is doing what he must love and was lucky enough to become a commercial powerhouse. No sour grapes here. Back in my day (says the old man in me) Three Dog Night for example were crucified by the critics but sold millions of singles and albums, and I loved them. I voted for good artist. I think he is good at what he does even if his work is just not meaningful to me.
So untrue, and quite a generalization. I'm in my 50s and enjoy listening to plenty of young artists. I have Alice Phoebe Lou on right now; she's fantastic, and she's 28. I don't care much for Ed Sheeran's music but I think he's talented. I don't hate his music at all or look on it negatively. I just find it boring. I think many here feel the same way I do, if you read through the comments.
of course it’s a generalisation - but lets be honest it’s a pseudo Beatles forum! His audience (which is massive), won’t be on this forum. I am in my 40s (and only just…) - he doesn’t do anything for me, but he’s not only one of the biggest solo acts out there, he’s one of the biggest acts full stop. seems a very affable and decent chap when I’ve seen him interviewed.