channel ORANGE

AlbumJul 10 / 201217 songs, 55m 47s
Alternative R&B Contemporary R&B
Popular Highly Rated

Stepping away from both the pop songwriting machine and his former crew Odd Future’s stoned anarchy, Frank Ocean guides us on a meandering but purposeful journey through his own vast mythological universe on his major-label debut. *Channel ORANGE* breezes from sepia-toned Stevie Wonder homage (“Sweet Life”) to the corrosive cosmic funk of “Pyramids,” which stretches from ancient pharaoh queens to 21st-century pimps. Rendered in pristine detail with calm, dazzled awe, even his most fantastical narratives feel somehow familiar—at once unprecedented and timeless.

© 2012 The Island Def Jam Music Group ℗ 2012 The Island Def Jam Music Group

9.5 / 10

Frank Ocean has quickly proven himself to be among the most gifted singer-songwriters of his generation. His major-label debut swings from Stevie-style keyboard breeziness to 90s R&B to mystic psych rock to crunching 8-bit funk without thinking twice. It already feels like a classic.

A

Breaking R&B’s age-old Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, Frank Ocean came out this month not with a major statement, but with a story. Addressing speculation triggered by several songs from his debut album, Channel Orange, the 24-year-old singer took to Tumblr and resisted clear labels like “gay” or “bisexual” as he…

7 / 10

9 / 10

Frank Ocean’s stunning studio debut takes the greatest strengths of last year’s mixtape and spreads them, top to bottom, across a whole album.

8.7 / 10

As a guest voice on Watch the Throne or a modest presence in the rabble-rousing rap group Odd Future, Frank Ocean tends to…

Check out our album review of Artist's Channel Orange on Rolling Stone.com.

Def Jam's contracted edition of Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra never materialized.

9.0 / 10

After word surfaced that his debut mixtape, Nostalgia, Ultra, wouldn't see a deluxe rerelease from label Def Jam, it seemed there was a real risk he'd be left behind, another victim of label politics and the machinations of men in suits who don't really

9 / 10

Frank Ocean belongs to a tiny sub-genre of artists who possess the ability to sing in falsetto about a girl smoking crack and still sound like a fucking angel.

<p>Frank Ocean's major-label debut is a slow-burning classic, writes <strong>Killian Fox </strong></p>

An important element of Channel Orange is its retaining of the uneven feel of a mixtape.

8 / 10

<strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>: Frank Ocean has got a lot of people talking about his sexuality – but his brilliant, beautiful new album is the real story

70 %

91 %

4.0 / 5

Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE review: A one-man cult and cyanide in my styrofoam cup

Frank Ocean's new album Channel Orange shows the singer has the edge on everyone else, writes Neil McCormick.

Superb debut solo album that single-handedly ups R&B's game. CD review by Nick Levine

8 / 10