MIA disappoints with weak third album, 'MAYA'

With two spectacular albums starting a career, it was not discreditable to wonder if M.I.A. could continue her streak of great albums with her third release, "MAYA."
"Arular," M.I.A.'s first album, was an introduction. It showed great potential. Fantastic songs such as "Bucky Done Gun" and "Galang" put her on the map in 2005. It wasn't until her second album, and a trailer for the movie "Pineapple Express," that the world would really know who M.I.A. truly was.
"Paper Planes," the first single off her second album, "Kala," took off and became a worldwide hit. It went gold and was on a number of album-of-the-year lists in 2007. M.I.A. had made it, but with the fame and success come the expectations to continue to impress.
With "MAYA," M.I.A. makes more of an electronic album than a hip-hop album. The first single, "Born Free", sparked controversy with the video for it. Upon viewing it, I saw it more as an attention grabber and pretentious shock value. The song is better on the album, sampling the song "Ghost Rider" by the electronic group Suicide. It kick-starts a very strong section of the album. Much like her previous albums, M.I.A. likes to save her best for last. 
The first half of the album consists of good but not great songs. As a long-time fan of her music, I kept listening to a track and thought, "That song was okay, but the next one will be great." Unfortunately, I had the same thought with the first six or seven songs.
The album starts with a short song talking about how corrupt Google is and how it is linked to the government. Track two, "Steppin Up," has a hardhitting bass line with the sounds of power tools revving up. It becomes a little too much with the bass line, power tools, guitars, and electronic noises going throughout. It really doesn't accomplish much. It's not very danceable, the tempo changes too often, and the lyrics are a little too simple. 
This continues throughout the next few tracks, sans power tools. It just does not seem like the songs reach their full potential. One of the main things I liked about her last two albums was the way she incorporated instruments from all over the world in her tracks. This is noticeably vacant in this album. There are hardly any real instruments on the album. She stepped away from what made her unique, which is really unfortunate.
As mentioned before, the second half really does impress with some strong tracks. "Born Free" and "Tell Me Why" are fantastic. The track in between those two, "Meds and Feds," is great, but has the same guitar loop as Sleigh Bells' song "Treats" and since I heard the Sleigh Bells' song first, I don't find "Meds and Feds" as good. The sample does work great on both tracks though. (Side note: If you haven't heard Sleigh Bells yet, you're missing out.)
M.I.A. does have a more reggae feel in her track "It Takes A Muscle," which talks about the challenge of falling in love. It is one of two songs about love on the album. The other is her second single, "XXXO," which is a watered-down electronic track with little depth. 
While "Space" slows things down, it works well in the placement on the album at track 12. While simple like previous tracks on the album, it doesn't try to be anything more than that, just mellow and easy-going. If you do not check out the deluxe edition, this is where the album ends, which is pretty fitting in my opinion.
With "Internet Connection", the song might be the first song that focuses on hip-hop rather than electronic on the album. Although, once again, it's a simple song that doesn't really go anywhere. The same goes with the other tracks on the deluxe edition. I'm a sucker for deluxe editions and still would have picked up this edition regardless of whether or not the songs were great. 
I don't mean to bash the album. It's not horrible by any means. I do like it, I really do, but M.I.A. just set the bar so high with her first two albums I can't help but to feel disappointed. Would I recommend it? Absolutely, to people who already like M.I.A. But for those who haven't heard much from this amazing artist, please listen to her first two albums first.
aaronvlasnik
@dailynebraskan.com