Charlie
| Charlie Puth
Charlie
Charlie (stylized CHARLIE) is the third studio album by American singer Charlie Puth, released on October 7, 2022 by Atlantic Records. It is Puth's first album in four years, after Voicenotes (2018), with Puth calling it is his most personal album to date. After deciding to scrap his progress of the original version of the album in 2020 due to poor performances and reviews of the singles he released, Puth took a moment to "recalibrate", and became inspired to tease the makings of the songs he was making, causing him to tease nearly the entire album on TikTok, which made several of the songs go viral on the app. Charlie was preceded by six singles: "Light Switch", "That's Hilarious", "Left and Right" featuring Jungkook of BTS, "Smells Like Me", "I Don't Think That I Like Her" and "Charlie Be Quiet!". -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
Show All-
Rolling Stone
On Charlie Puth's terrific, cohesive third studio album, the man with the perfect pitch proves he’s got the perfect formula for a great pop record too.
-
The Line of Best Fit
CHARLIE delivers some of Charlie Puth’s most authentic work to date.
-
Daily Beast
Unfortunately, TikTok may have stunted Puth’s vibe; spending months presenting yourself as some kind of quirky music guru only works if the end result is actually impressive. Instead, CHARLIE is generic-sounding pop that suffers from too many underbaked tracks, most of which come to a vexing halt after two verses and choruses. That’s fine in some cases—sometimes it’s best to leave the people wanting more—but here, it feels like TikTok’s palate for short attention spans crippled Puth’s songwriting and made him a lazier musician than he really is.
-
Riff Magazine
Puth remains a talent as a vocalist, though Charlie doesn’t break any new ground for him. His search for love—and a lover—sometimes makes for a compelling narrative, but these songs tend to blend into one another.
-
Stereogum
Puth is cheesy — there’s no getting around that fact. But on CHARLIE, he’s found a way to make the cheese work for him.
-
The Musical Hype
Puth has stepped up his game. The result is an enjoyable pop album that plays to his strengths. Charlie is not the second coming, but this is far and away his best work yet, and there’s replay value!
-
Clash Magazine
However, in spite of much of ‘CHARLIE’ missing complexity or a distinctive flair, the album remains punchy and bright and what Puth lacks in poetry, he makes up for with glimpses of pure pop excellence.
-
Our Culture
For all its liveliness and glamour, CHARLIE seems to prove that capturing attention in thirty-second videos doesn’t always translate to a memorable full-length release.
-
Uproxx
It feels like a reckoning that music can’t solve everything. The missing ingredient couldn’t be manufactured or serendipitously found by flipping a light switch. Puth just needed to live more life, experience heartbreak, and throw perfectionism to the wind (literally). As a result, he became what he, and his truest fans, always wanted him to be: a more complete human being and relatable pop star.
-
Metro
Charlie Puth's 'CHARLIE' Is His Most Authentic Showcase To Date.
-
Commedia
Overall, the album’s got tons of strong beats that feature piano, guitar, synth and drums to give its songs a fun vibe. It makes almost the whole album feel like its listeners should be dancing and singing along. A songwriting break for Puth is well deserved but listeners can’t wait to hear what he does next.
-
The Penn
All in all, Puth’s album is a great piece of work. He perfectly encapsulates the emotions that can result from a breakup, and his journey through the five stages of grief is musically expressed in a very impressive way. Definitely Grammy worthy, but if not that it at least deserves a listen if you are interested in his work.
-
The Daily Campus
To this date, “Charlie” ranks as one of Puth’s most popular albums of his career, in which he reveals to fans a never-before-seen side of himself.
-
AllMusic
As he processes the trauma of a broken relationship across a dozen tracks, Puth finally finds some respite on "No More Drama," declaring, "I'm so glad I finally realized I'm better off without you." Ending on that resolute note, Charlie offers hope to both the singer and to sympathetic listeners, closing this very relatable chapter of his life with optimism hard-won through this catchy pop package.
-
The Pop Break
This being the first album Charlie Puth released since his 2018 record Voicenotes, I was under the assumption that Puth had already established himself as a certain type of recording artist. However, this album goes to show that he has much more up his sleeve, breaking the mold his previous records had put him in. This album screams the realness of who Charlie Puth is, and bleeds the passion and real admiration he has for music.
-
The Post
Overall, “CHARLIE” is not a success for Charlie Puth, as much as I hate to say it. It’s hard not to compare this album to “Voicenotes,” his sophomore album, which was filled with No.1 singles and stories that were relatable and not overdone. The singer just seems burnt-out, fixated too much on singing of love instead of focusing on other themes that expand his musical catalog. Basically, this album only has a mere few standouts, and those are all listeners should consider listening to.
-
Sputnik Music
Ironically, this album has all the makings of what should be Charlie Puth’s most open, personal, and sincere outing to date and it really does sound like he’s trying. The contradiction, however, between Puth’s efforts and the result in my headphones is, aside from being nearly palpable, pretty disappointing. So while it will likely satisfy the masses of Charlie Puth fans who don’t know any better, it certainly isn’t as good as it should be, and is really just two backward steps for an artist who is probably capable of far more.
-
The Wichitan
Charlie Puth proves why he is a musical genius in his new album, “CHARLIE”.
-
The Ithacan
“CHARLIE” will take fans on an emotional ride with both highs and lows throughout the process. This album is Puth’s best work in terms of creativity and transparency. However, it falls short on the selection of songs. Overall, “CHARLIE” is successful at telling the story of Puth’s major breakups in an interesting and unique way.
-
Vinyl Chapters
The only competition that track has for me is Tears On My Piano, which is a feisty-sounding pop powerhouse. It fits beautifully into the grand scheme of the album, which is a wonderful depiction of who Puth truly is at heart. Charlie is the definition of pop perfection. The artist opens up in surprising ways on this electric, groovy, and sometimes emotional album that will be on repeat for years to come.
Rate This Album and Leave Your Comments