Review - David Guetta - Listen

Let me just saw this right away, upfront: the new David Guetta holds few (if any) surprises. Is it odd that that statement itself if not a surprise as well? I mean, when was the last time that Guetta really pulled out something entirely new or shocking on one of his albums?

I don’t necessarily mean this in an entirely negative way. The French DJ didn’t become one of the world’s most sought-after producers and performers out of pure luck: he found a sound and a system that works for him, and he has replicated it ever since.

Listen, his third major album in the States (though he released plenty of music before this around the world) is full of guest spots, some more famous than others. While he typically likes to work with only the biggest names in music, it looks like this time around, he is looking to make himself one of the bigger names on the record, choosing to give valuable spots to a few newcomers and lesser-known artists such as Sonny Wilson, Bebe Rexha, Jaymes Young, and Sam Martin. Of course favorites like Sia and Nicki Minaj make return cameos, as do first time Guetta collaborators (at least on his own records) Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and John Legend.

The album is fun enough, but feels like it is missing something. Where his last two CDs had several standout tracks that you knew upon first listen would be massive international hits, Listen is lacking a bit. Sure, plenty of these songs have potential, and are performing well around the world, but we’ve heard much of this before--even if it wasn’t by Guetta himself. Even sadder than that is the fact that though he is one of the most creative and energetic guys in the field, he felt the need to hop on Avicii’s country-meets-EDM game on “Lovers On The Sun”, only he doesn’t do it nearly as well.

What is a bit surprising is that Listen hasn’t managed a single top 40 hit in the US, something I bet his record label was counting on. Maybe we’re witnessing the beginning of the end for EDM’s hold on top 40?

Listen to: “Yesterday (ft. Bebe Rexha)”, “What I Did For Love (ft. Emeli Sande)”, “Shot Me Down (ft. Skylar Grey)” and “Bad (ft. Vassy)”