Sam Smith's The Thrill of it All reclaims Number 1 album

To celebrate '÷' rebounding back to #2 in today's chart, I decided to do a review of it because, well, why not? I enjoyed doing my 'reputation' review last week, so I thought that I'd do another one, and the obvious choice was '÷'.
'÷' is an album from my 2nd favourite artist (and, at the time of '÷'s release, my favourite artist) so I had very high expectations going into the album, and, in general, it's lived up to those expectations for the past 9 months. It starts off with a song that I love, 'Eraser'. I like a lot of rap music, and I've loved Ed's previous rap songs 'Take It Back' and 'You Need Me, I Don't Need You', so it's no surprise that I love this one as well.
The album then goes into the one of the 2 tracks released as a part of the inital promotion for the album, 'Castle on the Hill', before heading into one of the most vocally straining songs on the album, 'Dive'. This is a song that I really liked upon the release of the album, but I have started to go off it a little bit after hearing it so many times.
We then get to the record-breaking megahit that is 'Shape of You'. After quite a bit of deliberation, I decided that this was my favourite out of the initial 2 tracks from the album, but at the point it wasn't by much. 'Shape of You' has since extended its lead over 'Castle on the Hill', however. Straight after that we have Ed's current single and this week's #1 single, 'Perfect'. While I do like the song, I would say that it is one of my least favourite songs from the album. I usually prefer faster and more upbeat songs to slower songs, with a few exceptions, so 'Perfect' isn't really a song that I keep coming back to.
'Galway Girl' is a song that I LOVED when the album was first released, but I have lost interest in it in the past 9 months. I still like the song, just nowhere near as much as I used to. Ed's next single, 'Happier', is the next song on the album, and this is one of the few songs that has kept its inital appeal all the way through to now. It was one of my favourite songs on the album when it was released, and it still is.
'New Man' was my favourite song on the album 9 months ago, but, like 'Galway Girl', I've lost a lot of interest in it since then. I'd still say that it's one of the best tracks on the album, though. Coming from that high the album goes straight into 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here', which is one of my least favourite songs on the album. I just find the song boring whenever I listen to it, so it's definitely not a song that I find myself coming back to very often.
'What Do I Know?' is an incredibly catchy and fun song that I just love listening to! It's proven to be one of the more popular album songs and I can definitely see why. If you listen to it once, you just want to listen again! 'How Would You Feel (Paean)' is an instant grat song that was released just a few weeks before '÷', and it's one of my least favourite songs from the album. While I like this more than 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here', it's far from being one of the best.
The last track on the regular version of the album, 'Supermarket Flowers', is an emotional song about the passing of Ed's grandmother that ends up being my favourite slow track on the album. While it is a long way from being my favourite overall, it really impressed me for being a genre of music that I generally dislike. Then the first of the deluxe tracks, 'Barcelona', is a complete juxtaposition to 'Supermarket Flowers'. It's just an upbeat, feel-good track that could make almost anyone want to dance and sing along.
'Bibia Be Ye Ye' follows much of the same theme, and the title of the song literally means "All will be well" in Twi, the Ghanaian dialect. 'Nancy Mulligan' is a song that has Irish roots, much like 'Galway Girl', and I like it almost as much. The final song on the album, 'Save Myself', is another emotional song that almost anyone can relate to if they've ever felt down. This is another song that I was very impressed with for being a slow song.
Overall, I'd give '÷' an 8/10. It doesn't quite live up to its immediate predecessor, 'x', for me, but just how much do I actually like 'x'? Well, you'll have to wait until my review of it next week to find out. ;)

Track by track rating (from worst to best):

16) 'Hearts Don't Break Around Here' (59/100)
15) 'How Would You Feel (Paean)' (63/100)
14) 'Perfect' (66/100)
13) 'Save Myself' (71/100)
12) 'Supermarket Flowers' (72/100)
11) 'Castle on the Hill' (75/100)
10) 'Bibia Be Ye Ye' (77/100)
9) 'Dive' (79/100)
8) 'Nancy Mulligan' (80/100)
7) 'Galway Girl' (82/100)
6) 'What Do I Know?' (85/100)
5) 'Barcelona' (86/100)
4) 'Shape of You' (89/100)
3) 'New Man' (90/100)
2) 'Happier' (92/100)
1) 'Eraser' (95/100)

Demi at 26 on streaming chart but not even top 100 overall. Surprising, I thought streaming would be worth more these days.