Release Date: 24 March 2024
Song Count: 26
Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes, 25 seconds
Rating: 9.6/10
Description:
Song Count: 26
Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes, 25 seconds
Rating: 9.6/10
Description:
Here is one that I have been excited to review since I was made aware of its existence not too long ago: Warriors, a concept album from around two years ago. The reason for this is that this monstrous piece is no ordinary album
with a narrative contained within; it is a musical theatre-style work
made by the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda, in collaboration with musician and playwright Eisa
Davis. A gender-flipped adaptation of the 1965 novel and 1979 cult-classic film of the same name, the album incorporates heaps of the two masterminds' songwriting conventions and Broadway-esque musical flavours whilst also subtly breaking away from the formula that has sought much success in the past. Miranda in particular is a creative juggernaut whose works (à la In The Heights and Hamilton) yours truly has been a fan of for years, so it was only natural that the hopes going into Warriors was high, and boy, did this not disappoint one bit.
Without going too deeply into the details of the story to avoid major spoilers, the album follows a gang of the titular name from Coney co-existing amongst many others in the New York area. They get framed for the murder of a highly respected gang leader, Cyrus, by a malicious individual, and as such are on the run away from all sorts of other groups wishing to hunt them down to get back to their home at Coney. All sorts of action-packed scenes occur and members of the Warriors get seperated and reunited on the way in the brutal and violent setting in multiple ways, and everything resolves as one complete journey all around that constantly keeps one on their toes.
The storytelling, both in a lyrical and musical sense, is nothing short of spectacular. Along with leitmotifs and callbacks to previous songs, the assignment of a talented singer to each and every character and their heartfelt performances really elevate the experience. From past Broadway collaborators such as Philippa Soo and Jamie Cephas Jones to ground-shaking hip-hop figures like Busta Rhymes and RZA, along with many other talented artists left unmentioned, the vocal line-up for this project is simply stacked with skill and passion for the craft of music.
One more detail to mention is the amount of drastic musical variation present in every track of this work - though hip-hop is dominantly used to bring forth the setting of the shady parts of New York and contemporary musical theatre drives the narrative surrounding the Warriors forward, loads of hard left turns add further dashes of interest into this already artistically rich package. The likes of System of a Down-esque metal music for the main villain's major appearances and Korean pop music for a particular rival gang known for their interpersonal charm are the most prominent examples of this, and further musical subtleties tell every major force present in the story apart as well.
There are so many details and moving parts to Warriors as an album that if one were to highlight each and every single one, this review would be as long as a science thesis. What can be said about this record, however, is that it is a work of immaculate talent, compelling narration and endless creativity that redefines what it means to make genre-crossing music. Hats go off to every single individual who has contributed to making this masterpiece come to life, as they have all more than earned their praises. Truly an album blowing every expectation out of the water that comes its way, and definitely one that has to be experienced at least once in life at some point.
Warriors, show 'em what you got!