https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg Divide by Ed Sheeran en-us 2017-11-20 06:24:50 UTC 2023-02-12 04:28:50 UTC hello@padlet.com stephanierutherford https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208590565 Ed Sheeran has been one of the most popular musical artists in pop music for a few years now, and is continuing to make his mark on the industry with each new album he offers. Released on March 3,2017, Sheeran’s third studio album entitled Divide, had become the bestselling album of 2017 just six months into its release. A year before the release of the album, the artist had announced he’d be logging off social media for a while to work on his new album, as well as to just take a break from the screen. It goes without saying that we didn’t expect him to come back with an album that would break barriers in the music industry. Since his first musical outbreak in 2011, Sheeran has been known to tug at the listener’s heart and evoke many emotions with his own personal love songs and stories about his life; and with his latest album, well he did it all over again! ]]> 2017-11-20 06:25:47 UTC https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208590565 stephanierutherford https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208590847 An article written in 2011 for BBC by Natalie Shaw shared with its audience exactly how Sheeran’s first album was truly making them feel and how it resonated with them…or how it didn’t. When going into depth about many of Sheeran’s song lyrics, the article states “his auto-biographical approach to writing has a very limited shelf-life because, essentially, the story just isn’t interesting enough to stretch across 12 tracks” (BBC, 2011). The author is addressing Sheeran’s use of his songs to talk about himself. What we can assume she is saying is that while this is an interesting trait of his album, it seems to be boring after a while and tiring to the listener.  As we consider this side of BBC’s critique, we can’t ignore what else they had to say about Sheeran and his undeniable success.

]]> 2017-11-20 06:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208590847 stephanierutherford https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208591097 As we are now in 2017, of course things are a lot different than they were in 2011. The music industry has changed in many ways. Musical taste shifts almost every year, there is always a new artist on the market, and people are constantly trying to influence others’ opinions. With that being said, it is usually hard for me to have my own thoughts on music nowadays due to today’s world having a huge impact on everything I do. Although this is true, it didn’t stop Ed Sheeran’s album, Divide, from standing out to me in many ways. I believe that Sheeran was successful in conveying his feelings of his lyrics to his audience throughout many of his songs. Sheeran seems to still be holding onto his story-telling mojo from his early years throughout his album and in my opinion, it definitely works for him; and I’m not the only one who thinks so! In an article from the Daily Express, Martin Townsend wrote "Ed does the toughest thing in pop music disarmingly well, he writes and performs songs which are rooted winningly in small-town everyday life but which strike a universal chord” (Daily Express). This is a trait of the album that I think draws me in even more.  ]]> 2017-11-20 06:29:50 UTC https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208591097 stephanierutherford https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208591183 There is a variety of ideas on Sheeran’s newest album that we clearly see. He hits us with ones that tug at the heart strings, some that make us really connect with our ‘love life’, and simply some songs that are fun to listen to with lyrics that are just as fun. No matter which one it is, Sheeran uses his music to connect with his audience. It seems to us that he can truly see what he needs to write to stay relevant, but he also stays true to his musical roots. We don’t see his stray too far from his typical ways of writing lyrics, but at the same time, we see a lot of originality and difference within all aspects of the album. If you ask me, that’s what makes music a success!]]> 2017-11-20 06:30:34 UTC https://padlet.com/stephanierutherford/il3qin00ehvg/wish/208591183