Illuminate
| Shawn Mendes
Illuminate
Illuminate is the second studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes. It was released on September 23, 2016, through Island Records and Universal Music Group. Musically, the album contains music genres pop, rock and blues.The album debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart. It was preceded by the lead single "Treat You Better", which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was supported by the Illuminate World Tour, which began in March 2017. - Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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RollingStone
Shawn Mendes’ ‘Illuminate’ Brings Personal to Modern Popcraft
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The New York Times
On his last album, “Illuminate,” the young pop singer and guitarist Shawn Mendes found a way to invigorate conventional pop-rock with agitation. On a troika of excellent singles — “Treat You Better,” “Mercy” and “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” — he sang with punch and vigor, chopping his round voice into something spikier and more tense.
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The Young Folks
Nonetheless, Shawn Mendes is someone who definitely deserves recognition for his own original work in the midst of being given an often tainted reputation for being a mainstream, top 40 artist. Props to him!
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CelebMix
Shawn Mendes has just released his second studio album “Illuminate”, and we absolutely love it! All of the songs are amazing and touching; the album (including the cover art), is a work of art.
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Renowned for Sound
On Mendes’s second studio album, Illuminate, he continues to expand his network and industry presence by working with the Grammy nominated producer, Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran’s X), and the team who collaborated with him on his well received first album, Handwritten, Scott Harris and Teddy Geiger.
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NME
Shawn Mendes moves away from twee pop to embrace stadium rock and slick funk
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Plugged In
Mendes often sounds like a old soul on Illuminate, spinning stories of love and sex and breakups that belie the fact that he's still actually a teenager.
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USA Today
Sadness suits Shawn Mendes on his grown-up self-titled new album.
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Idolator
Shawn Mendes delves even deeper into the sounds of last year’s Handwritten by carrying over the songwriting team, tightening up the production and hiring Sheeran’s producer, Jake Gosling.
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HollywoodLife
‘Illuminate’ Proves He’s On His Way To Superstardom.
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TeenVogue
Illuminate is the kind of album you can turn to, not only when you're upset about something, but when you're in the mood to ruminate on what it feels like to be upset about something. It's the emotion in the abstract.
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EveningStandard
'as a product, highly impressive'
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GiGsoup
Whether it’s falling in love, breaking up, or growing up, Mendes pretty much covers all the bases in this brand new 14 track record ‘Illuminate’.
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The Decaturain
Mendes truly did a great job on his album.
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Popcrush
-while pleasant, the back half of the record doesn’t particularly thrill, beyond the shrewd pair-up with Khalid on the ostensibly woke earworm “Youth” — though the hook (“As long as I wake up today / You can’t take my youth away”) is a tad nonsensical.
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star2
Shawn Mendes projects a more mature sound on sophomore album Illuminate
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Green Light Music Reviews
-a pretty good album, but it settles too much into cliches and recurring ballads that don’t do much except for sound alright and then they end.
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Immortal Reviews
- isn't as bad as it may seem when it starts, but quickly becomes the boring, bland album you'd expect from him.
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El Broide
This is a pleasant album, but don’t expect it to make a major impact.
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United by Pop
-one of my favourite albums of the year
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The Flash
-one of Mendes’ most popular album, with the popularity still sky-rocketing
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radiowave
-safe, but expertly-packaged, sophomore album from an undeniably talented musician a little unsure of his target audience.
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The Sassologist
If you are looking for new music to listen to when you want to relax and just hang out (perhaps even make out?) Shawn Mendes’ Illuminate is definitely an album you should listen to!
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Thomas Bleach
- not flawless but it is a massive growth from his debut and sees him creating music you can tell he’s actually passionate about.
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