Elsey's Word Salad.

Unbeknownst to Colleen Hoover's reputation, I added this to my Amazon wishlist when it first came out some years back. Now, I am not a Colleen Hoover fan. If anything, I might describe myself as a Colleen Hoover hater. I digress that this is a somewhat well-written book, with good intentions and partial follow through. Yes, it might seem like a graduated Wattpad, and is only really enjoyable for 15-year-olds that can ignore plot holes consistently for the sake of a shallow narrative. With that being said, I have even more grievances since going back to reread years later from a more critical lens, but we'll get into all of that.

Art has several recognized mediums, as it is a continuously evolving concept. Through its evolution, however, there tends to be dispute over the ability to describe “good” art, or if such a ranking is meant to exist. "The Mona Lisa" is the masterpiece of painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, in which the center of attention calmly stares at the viewer, her beauty present amidst the almost apathetic expression she dons. This painting is a nice complement to the realism present during its period in the Italian Renaissance. While the Mona Lisa painting is beautifully done, the artistic merit of the work comes from its influence from generation to generation, not just the articulate brush strokes and understanding of color theory. In likeness, while not as culturally renowned as Leonardo da Vinci’s work, there are plentiful more “art pieces” worth recognizing for the social implications, symbolism, and motifs present; such as the short web series titled “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared.”

To hard launch music analysis on Elsey's Word Salad, I find it fitting to start with work from my favorite artist in the entire world: Muse. This is the first time you're seeing them on here, but it won't be the last. If you are unfamiliar with the British band, then think about the first Twilight movie and the iconic baseball scene. That's Muse. Beyond making sexy rock songs, there is much to unpack with the works from this band spanning over three decades: existentialism, religion, mental illness, toxic relationships, and identity. "Absolution" is one of the albums in their Holy Trinity of my favorite studio albums of theirs that I will examine, while honing in on the lyricism present in my favorite song from it, called "Fury."