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{{Short description|Book by Farrah Abraham}}
{{Infobox album
{{Infobox album
| name = My Teenage Dream Ended
| name = My Teenage Dream Ended
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| cover = My Teenage Dream Ended.jpg
| cover = My Teenage Dream Ended.jpg
| alt =
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2012|08|1}}<ref name="itunes">https://music.apple.com/us/album/my-teenage-dream-ended/551865949</ref>
| released = {{Start date|2012|08|1}}
| recorded =
| recorded =
| venue =
| venue =
| studio =
| studio =
| genre = <!-- GENRES ARE SOURCED IN THE "CRITICAL RESPONSE" SECTION. DO NOT ADD A GENRE WITHOUT CITING A SOURCE. -->{{hlist|[[Outsider music|Outsider]]|[[Pop music|pop]]|[[Electronic dance music|EDM]]|[[dance-pop]]|[[Noise music|noise]]}}
| genre = <!-- GENRES ARE SOURCED IN THE "CRITICAL RESPONSE" SECTION. DO NOT ADD A GENRE WITHOUT CITING A SOURCE. -->{{hlist|[[Outsider music|Outsider]]|[[witch house (genre)|witch house]]|[[House music|house]]|[[Dance-pop]]|[[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]]|[[Noise music|noise]]|[[Hyperpop|proto-hyperpop]]<ref>{{cite web|first= Grace|last= Robins-Sommerville |title= What Happens To A TEENAGE DREAM Deferred? Farrah Abraham's MY TEENAGE DREAM ENDED at 10|website= Merry-Go-Round Magazine |url= https://merrygoroundmagazine.com/farrah-abraham-my-teenage-dream-ended/|date= August 5, 2022|access-date= September 12, 2022}}</ref>}}
| length = {{Duration|m=27|s=24}}
| length = {{Duration|m=27|s=24}}
| label =
| label =
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| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
| exclude_cover = yes
| subject = Autobiography
| subject = Autobiography
| publisher = MTV Press
| publisher = MTV Press
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| isbn = 978-1576875988
| isbn = 978-1576875988
}}
}}
'''''My Teenage Dream Ended''''' is the title of both the debut [[Autobiography|autobiographical]] book and the accompanying album by American reality television personality, singer, and writer [[Farrah Abraham]]. The latter was released in August 1, 2012, and the former was published thirteen days later.
'''''My Teenage Dream Ended''''' is the title of both the debut [[Autobiography|autobiographical]] book and the accompanying album by American reality television personality, singer, and writer [[Farrah Abraham]]. The latter was released on August 1, 2012, and the former was published 13 days later.


The book was commercially successful, landing on number 11 at ''[[the New York Times]]'' [[The New York Times Best Seller list|Best Seller list]]; the album was met with strongly negative response from audiences, as well as both bewilderment and acclaim from contemporary music critics, who considered it to be a bizarre example of [[outsider art]]. It was placed on year-end lists from ''[[The Guardian]]'' and ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]'', who also placed it at number 46 on their list of favorite releases of the decade.
The book was commercially successful, landing on number 11 at ''[[the New York Times]]'' [[The New York Times Best Seller list|Best Seller list]]. The album was met with strongly negative response from general audiences, as well as both bewilderment and acclaim from contemporary music critics, who considered it to be a bizarre example of [[outsider art]]. It was placed on year-end lists from ''[[The Guardian]]'' and ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]'', who also placed it at number 46 on their list of favorite releases of the decade.


==Background and production==
==Background and production==
Abraham made her debut appearance on television in the 2009 [[MTV]] [[reality television]] show ''[[16 and Pregnant]]'', and came to prominence due to her role in the spin-off series ''[[Teen Mom]]'', also by MTV. Abraham met [[mixing engineer]] FRDRK (Fredrick M. Cuevas) at the post-production facility of ''16 and Pregnant''. Several months after, she approached Cuevas and asked him to produce a record for her, inspired by the song "[[Cinema (Benny Benassi song)|Cinema]]", by [[Benny Benassi]].<ref name="Fader"/>
Abraham came to prominence due to her role in the 2009 [[MTV]] [[reality television]] show ''[[16 and Pregnant]]'', as well as its spin-off series ''[[Teen Mom]]'', also by MTV.<ref>{{cite web|quote=Abraham rose to fame in 2009 as a star of the MTV series '16 and Pregnant,' as well as its subsequent spinoff series 'Teen Mom.'|last=Dillon|first=Nancy|title=Farrah Abraham takes no-jail plea deal in Beverly Hills battery case, agrees to steer clear of wanky Polo Lounge|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-news-farrah-abraham-pleads-guilty-beverly-hills-resisting-peace-officer-20181102-story.html|work=[[New York Daily News]]|date=November 2, 2018|access-date=November 6, 2020}}</ref> Abraham met [[mixing engineer]] FRDRK (Fredrick M. Cuevas) at the post-production facility of ''16 and Pregnant''. Several months after, she approached Cuevas and asked him to produce a record for her, inspired by the song "[[Cinema (Benny Benassi song)|Cinema]]", by [[Benny Benassi]].<ref name="Fader"/>


⚫
Abraham recorded her vocals for the album to a [[click track]], while the production of the music was handled separately.<ref name="Fader">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefader.com/2017/11/21/farrah-abraham-album-producer-interview|title=Farrah Abraham's pop music should make her an avant-garde icon|work=[[The Fader]]|last=Cooper|first=Duncan|date=November 21, 2017|access-date=December 21, 2017}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[The Fader]]'', Cuevas stated: "Like, she'd heard it before and approved it for that song, but as she was recording we never had the music on."<ref name="Fader"/> Abraham also wanted the [[Auto-Tune]] effects on her vocals to sound "edgy", so worked with Cuevas to make them more aggressive.<ref name="Fader"/>
In August 14, 2012, Abraham released the [[autobiography]] ''My Teenage Dream Ended'', published by [[MTV Press]].<ref name="book">{{cite web |last=Durham |first=Jessica |url=http://www.booksnreview.com/articles/791/20120823/my-teenage-dream-ended-farrah-abraham-lands-on-new-york-times-bestseller-list-reveals-drug-abuse-and-one-night-stands.htm|title='My Teenage Dream Ended:' Farrah Abraham Lands On New York Times Bestseller List; Reveals Drug Abuse and One-Night Stands|publisher=Books & Review |date=August 23, 2012 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref> The book chronicles her teenage pregnancy and the problems she faced during the time, including her drug use, the arrest of her father, and the death of her daughter's father, Derek Underwood.<ref name="book"/> The music album is a companion work to her autobiography; each of the ten songs shares a title with a chapter of her book.<ref name="Wetpaint">{{cite web |last=Bonner |first=Mehera |url=http://www.wetpaint.com/teen-mom/articles/farrah-abraham-releases-her-debut-album-listen-to-every-track-now|title=Farrah Abraham Releases Her Debut Album|publisher=[[Wetpaint]] |date=August 13, 2012 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref> The book was a relative commercial success, making number 11 on ''[[the New York Times]]'' [[The New York Times Best Seller list|Best Seller list]].<ref name="book"/>


Abraham released ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' on August 1, 2012,<ref name="itunes">{{Cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/my-teenage-dream-ended/551865949|title = My Teenage Dream Ended by Farrah Abraham on iTunes}}</ref> with its first single, "Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom", being released two days later through ''[[In Touch Weekly]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://starcasm.net/archives/169126|title = A stab at transcribing Farrah Abraham's debut song * starcasm.net|date = 6 August 2012}}</ref> On August 14, 2012, the homonymous [[autobiography]] was published by [[MTV Press]].<ref name="book">{{cite web |last=Durham |first=Jessica |url=http://www.booksnreview.com/articles/791/20120823/my-teenage-dream-ended-farrah-abraham-lands-on-new-york-times-bestseller-list-reveals-drug-abuse-and-one-night-stands.htm|title='My Teenage Dream Ended:' Farrah Abraham Lands On New York Times Bestseller List; Reveals Drug Abuse and One-Night Stands|publisher=Books & Review |date=August 23, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> It was a relative commercial success, reaching number 11 on ''[[the New York Times]]'' [[The New York Times Best Seller list|Best Seller list]].<ref name="book"/>
⚫
Abraham recorded her vocals for the album to a [[click track]], while the production of the music was handled separately.<ref name="Fader">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefader.com/2017/11/21/farrah-abraham-album-producer-interview|title=Farrah Abraham's pop music should make her an avant-garde icon|work=[[The Fader]]|last=Cooper|first=Duncan|date=November 21, 2017|accessdate=December 21, 2017}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[The Fader]]'', Cuevas stated: "Like, she'd heard it before and approved it for that song, but as she was recording we never had the music on."<ref name="Fader"/> Abraham also wanted the [[Auto-Tune]] effects on her vocals to sound "edgy", so worked with Cuevas to make them more aggressive.<ref name="Fader"/> The album's first single, "Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom", was released on August 3, 2012, through ''[[In Touch Weekly]]'' magazine.<ref>http://starcasm.net/archives/169126</ref> The album parallels the book's "rendition of a tragic story across death, drug abuse and depression".<ref name="dummy">{{cite web|last=Kretowicz|first=Steph|title=Comment: Why 'Teen Mom' Farrah Abraham's dream is our reality|url=https://www.dummymag.com/features/comment-why-teen-mom-farrah-abraham-s-dream-is-our-reality|work=Dummy|date=October 3, 2012|accessdate=November 5, 2020}}</ref>


==Themes==
⚫
==Critical response==
Upon release, the accompanying album received an overwhelmingly negative response from audiences.<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite web |last=Moore |first=David Cooper |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/the-scary-misunderstood-power-of-a-teen-mom-stars-album/262237/|title=The Scary, Misunderstood Power of a 'Teen Mom' Star's Album|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=September 12, 2012 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref> It has been widely criticized for its extensively [[Auto-Tune]]d vocals and bland production. Her song "On My Own" was derided as one of the worst works of pop music ever made, eclipsing [[Rebecca Black]]'s "[[Friday (Rebecca Black song)|Friday]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thetrendguys.com/2012/08/30/farrah-abraham-made-the-worst-song-and-music-video-of-all-time/|title=Farrah Abraham Made the Worst Song and Music Video of All Time?|publisher=The Trend Guys|date=August 30, 2012 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref> Feminist website [[Jezebel (website)|''Jezebel'']] called the lead and sole single, "Finally Getting up from Rock Bottom", "the most horrible combination of sounds to ever be assembled in the history of audio recording."<ref>{{cite web|last=Morrissey|first=Tracie Egan|title=Teen Mom Farrah Abraham Releases the Worst Song You Will Ever Hear. Ever.|url=http://jezebel.com/5932228/teen-mom-farrah-abraham-releases-the-worst-song-you-will-ever-hear|work=Jezebel|accessdate=March 5, 2013|date=April 6, 2012}}</ref>
The book chronicles her teenage pregnancy and the problems she faced during the time, including depression, drug use, the arrest of her father, and the death of Derek Underwood, her [[On-again, off-again relationship|on-again, off-again]] boyfriend with whom she had a daughter.<ref name="book"/><ref name="dummy">{{cite web|last=Kretowicz|first=Steph|title=Comment: Why 'Teen Mom' Farrah Abraham's dream is our reality|url=https://www.dummymag.com/features/comment-why-teen-mom-farrah-abraham-s-dream-is-our-reality|work=Dummy|date=October 3, 2012|access-date=November 5, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Atlantic">{{cite web |last=Moore |first=David Cooper |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/09/the-scary-misunderstood-power-of-a-teen-mom-stars-album/262237/|title=The Scary, Misunderstood Power of a 'Teen Mom' Star's Album|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=September 12, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> The music album is a companion work to her autobiography, paralleling its themes;<ref name="dummy"/> each of the ten songs shares a title with a chapter of her book.<ref name="Atlantic"/><ref name="Wetpaint">{{cite web |last=Bonner |first=Mehera |url=http://www.wetpaint.com/teen-mom/articles/farrah-abraham-releases-her-debut-album-listen-to-every-track-now|title=Farrah Abraham Releases Her Debut Album|publisher=[[Wetpaint]] |date=August 13, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> The album contains recurring [[Motif (narrative)|motifs]], such as "plucking flower games" like "[[He loves me... he loves me not]]".<ref name="Atlantic"/>


⚫
==Critical response and legacy==
⚫
{{Album ratings
Upon release, the accompanying album received an overwhelmingly negative response from audiences.<ref name="Atlantic"/> It has been widely criticized for its extensively [[Auto-Tune]]d vocals and bland production. Her song "On My Own" was derided as one of the worst works of pop music ever made, eclipsing [[Rebecca Black]]'s "[[Friday (Rebecca Black song)|Friday]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thetrendguys.com/2012/08/30/farrah-abraham-made-the-worst-song-and-music-video-of-all-time/|title=Farrah Abraham Made the Worst Song and Music Video of All Time?|publisher=The Trend Guys|date=August 30, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> Feminist website [[Jezebel (website)|''Jezebel'']] called the lead and sole single, "Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom", "the most horrible combination of sounds to ever be assembled in the history of audio recording."<ref>{{cite web|last=Morrissey|first=Tracie Egan|title=Teen Mom Farrah Abraham Releases the Worst Song You Will Ever Hear. Ever.|url=http://jezebel.com/5932228/teen-mom-farrah-abraham-releases-the-worst-song-you-will-ever-hear|work=Jezebel|access-date=March 5, 2013|date=April 6, 2012}}</ref>

⚫
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''
|rev1 = ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''
|rev1Score={{rating|4|5|full=Disc Plain red.svg|half=Cercle rouge 100%.svg|empty=Plain Disc 20% grey.svg|rating=mark}}<ref name="tmt">{{cite web|last=Savage|first=Rowan|title=Farrah Abraham - My Teenage Dream Ended|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/farrah-abraham-my-teenage-dream-ended|work=[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]|accessdate=November 2, 2020}}</ref>
|rev1score={{rating|4|5|full=Disc Plain red.svg|half=Cercle rouge 100%.svg|empty=Plain Disc 40% grey or 20% black.svg|rating=mark}}<ref name="tmt">{{cite web|last=Savage|first=Rowan|title=Farrah Abraham – My Teenage Dream Ended|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/farrah-abraham-my-teenage-dream-ended|work=[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]|access-date=November 2, 2020}}</ref>
}}
}}
Despite garnering mockery in the popular media, the arrhythmic and cheaply digitized presentation of deeply confessional lyrics was bewildering enough to be viewed as a contemporary example of [[outsider art]].<ref name="Atlantic"/><ref name="Fact">{{cite web |last=Macpherson |first=Alex |url=http://www.factmag.com/2012/09/27/my-teenage-dream-ended|title=My Teenage Dream Ended: Album Review|work=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|date=September 27, 2012 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="io9">{{cite web |last=Freeman |first=Phil |url=http://io9.com/5940002/the-secret-cyborg-genius-of-mtv-teen-moms-farrah-abraham|title=The Secret Cyborg Genius of MTV Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham |publisher=io9 |date=September 3, 2012 |accessdate=March 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>https://www.vice.com/en/article/65ydz6/farrah-abraham-teen-mom-turned-porn-star-made-an-album-and-its-amazing</ref> ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' was met with general acclaim from critics,<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/28/farrah-abraham-teenage-dream-ended|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Farrah Abraham: the reality TV Teen Mom behind the weirdest pop record of the year|last=Renshaw|first=David|accessdate=April 11, 2019|date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> who considered it to be among the weirdest albums of the year.<ref name="Fact"/><ref name="Guardian"/> Most critics didn't assign a score to the album; an editor note on Alex Macpherson's review of the album for ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]'' states that "we decided to run this review without a rating. It's such an anomaly ... that trying to fit it into any kind of scale seems pointless – there are no comparison points. Consider it either a 0/5 or a 5/5, depending on your perspective, tolerance and general sanity."<ref name="Fact"/>
Despite garnering mockery in popular media, the arrhythmic and cheaply digitized presentation of deeply confessional lyrics was bewildering enough to be viewed as a contemporary example of [[outsider art]].<ref name="Atlantic"/><ref name="Fact">{{cite web |last=Macpherson |first=Alex |url=http://www.factmag.com/2012/09/27/my-teenage-dream-ended|title=My Teenage Dream Ended: Album Review|work=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|date=September 27, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="io9">{{cite web |last=Freeman |first=Phil |url=http://io9.com/5940002/the-secret-cyborg-genius-of-mtv-teen-moms-farrah-abraham|title=The Secret Cyborg Genius of MTV Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham |publisher=io9 |date=September 3, 2012 |access-date=March 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/65ydz6/farrah-abraham-teen-mom-turned-porn-star-made-an-album-and-its-amazing|title = Farrah Abraham's Music is Way Better Than Her Sex Tape| date=7 May 2013 }}</ref> ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' was mostly met with acclaim from music critics,<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/28/farrah-abraham-teenage-dream-ended|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Farrah Abraham: the reality TV Teen Mom behind the weirdest pop record of the year|last=Renshaw|first=David|access-date=April 11, 2019|date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> who considered it to be among the weirdest albums of the year.<ref name="Fact"/><ref name="Guardian"/> Most critics did not assign a score to the album; an editor note on Alex Macpherson's review of the album for ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]'' states that "we decided to run this review without a rating. It's such an anomaly ... that trying to fit it into any kind of scale seems pointless – there are no comparison points. Consider it either a 0/5 or a 5/5, depending on your perspective, tolerance and general sanity."<ref name="Fact"/>


{{quote box
{{quote box
| quote = [''My Teenage Dream Ended''] is the sound of a [[postmodern]] nervous breakdown. In being so, paradoxically, it creates its own weird authenticity. Sonically, we encounter the fresh, shard-like ruins of contemporary [[dance-pop]], each beat or fragment teasing but failing to resolve into regularity. Over this, Abraham intones in a voice masked by Auto-Tune so consistently and heavily applied that it speaks to the alienation of the recorded voice — the impossible struggle to hear oneself truly [...].
| quote = [''My Teenage Dream Ended''] is the sound of a [[postmodern]] [[nervous breakdown]]. In being so, paradoxically, it creates its own weird authenticity. Sonically, we encounter the fresh, shard-like ruins of contemporary [[dance-pop]], each beat or fragment teasing but failing to resolve into regularity. Over this, Abraham intones in a voice masked by Auto-Tune so consistently and heavily applied that it speaks to the alienation of the recorded voice [...].
| source = Rowan Savage, writing for ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''<ref name="tmt"/>
| source = Rowan Savage, writing for ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''<ref name="tmt"/>
| align = left
| align = left
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| salign = left
| salign = left
}}
}}
In ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'', Andrew Nosnitsky called it a "haunting and fascinating mess of outsider pop music".<ref name=Wire>''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'' '''345''', p. 56.</ref> Writing for ''[[The Atlantic]]'', David Cooper Moore suggested that the album "is to teen angst what ''[[Eraserhead]]'' was to domestic angst", making it "a dark and compelling experiment in abstracting and compressing the vicissitudes of 'high school drama.'"<ref name="Atlantic"/> ''[[The Village Voice]]'' compared it to critically acclaimed [[Witch house (music genre)|witch house]] band [[Salem (Michigan band)|Salem]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnston|first=Maura|title=Farrah Abraham: The Salem Of Teen Mom?|url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/08/farrah_abraham_getting_up_from_rock_bottom.php|work=[[The Village Voice]]|accessdate=March 5, 2013|date=August 7, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s David Renshaw described the album as "an agonising, disconcerting clatter" and "as if someone is translating chart music into an alien language and back again." Discussing the album's positive reception among [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]] circles, Renshaw concluded: "All in all, it's as if [[Joey Essex]] had ditched [[The Only Way Is Essex|Towie]] to record an album with [[Autechre]] and [[Lars von Trier]]."<ref name="Guardian"/>
In ''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'', Andrew Nosnitsky called it a "haunting and fascinating mess of outsider pop music".<ref name=Wire>''[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]]'' '''345''', p. 56.</ref> Writing for ''[[The Atlantic]]'', David Cooper Moore suggested that the album "is to teen angst what ''[[Eraserhead]]'' was to domestic angst", making it "a dark and compelling experiment in abstracting and compressing the vicissitudes of 'high school drama.'"<ref name="Atlantic"/> ''[[The Village Voice]]'' compared it to critically acclaimed [[Witch house (music genre)|witch house]] band [[Salem (Michigan band)|Salem]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnston|first=Maura|author-link=Maura Johnston |title=Farrah Abraham: The Salem Of Teen Mom?|url=http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/08/farrah_abraham_getting_up_from_rock_bottom.php|work=[[The Village Voice]]|access-date=March 5, 2013|date=August 7, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130907193521/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/08/farrah_abraham_getting_up_from_rock_bottom.php}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]''{{'}}s David Renshaw described the album as "an agonising, disconcerting clatter" and "as if someone is translating chart music into an alien language and back again." Discussing the album's positive reception among [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]] circles, Renshaw concluded: "All in all, it's as if [[Joey Essex]] had ditched ''[[The Only Way Is Essex|TOWIE]]'' to record an album with [[Autechre]] and [[Lars von Trier]]."<ref name="Guardian"/>


In a commentary for ''Dummy'', Steph Kretowicz praised ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' for "its realistic portrayal of a mind mashed by mass media" and accidental [[camp]] aesthetic, stating that Abraham "present[s] a truly thought-provoking challenge to the ''[[status quo]]''". On the other hand, she commented that the album "offers few dynamic shifts, no hooks and nary a sustained rhythm"; and opined that it "certainly" wasn't the most challenging record of the year, favoring [[Laurel Halo]]'s ''[[Quarantine (Laurel Halo album)|Quarantine]]'' and [[Maria Minerva]]'s ''Will Happiness Find Me?'' instead.<ref name="dummy"/> ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' panned the album and labeled it "the least essential album of 2012", calling it "terrible" and "cringeworthy", and dismissed the album's avant-garde status as "giving Abraham way too much credit".<ref>https://music.avclub.com/the-least-essential-albums-of-2012-1798236685</ref>
In a commentary for ''Dummy'', Steph Kretowicz praised ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' for "its realistic portrayal of a mind mashed by mass media" and accidental camp aesthetic, stating that Abraham "present[s] a truly thought-provoking challenge to the ''[[status quo]]''". On the other hand, she commented that the album "offers few dynamic shifts, no hooks and nary a sustained rhythm"; and opined that it "certainly" was not the most challenging record of the year, favoring [[Laurel Halo]]'s ''[[Quarantine (Laurel Halo album)|Quarantine]]'' and [[Maria Minerva]]'s ''Will Happiness Find Me?'' instead.<ref name="dummy"/> ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' panned the album and labeled it "the least essential album of 2012", calling it "terrible" and "cringeworthy", and dismissed the album's avant-garde status as "giving Abraham way too much credit".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-least-essential-albums-of-2012-1798236685|title = The least essential albums of 2012| date=14 December 2012 }}</ref>


In 2014, Mitchell Sunderland of ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'' interviewed Abraham, and referred to ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' as a "critically acclaimed [[Noise music|noise]] album", to which she replied "I just create therapeutic music."<ref>{{cite web|last=Sunderland|first=Mitchell|title=Is Farrah Abraham the Last Outsider Artist?|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/yvq54g/farrah-abraham-the-last-outsider-artist-666|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=July 4, 2014|accessdate=November 2, 2020}}</ref> In a 2017 review for [[Charli XCX]]'s ''[[Pop 2 (mixtape)|Pop 2]]'' mixtape, Meaghan Garvey of ''[[Pitchfork (magazine)|Pitchfork]]'' retrospectively summarized: "Sweepingly ridiculed as one of 2012's worst albums, that judgment, five years later, feels wildly narrow-minded. It is a baffling work, to be sure: frantic layers of [[dubstep]], [[Electronic dance music|EDM]], witch-house {{sic}}, and [[breakbeat]]s seem to run in the opposite direction as Abraham's absurdly AutoTuned narratives about surviving the death of her husband. [...] After my first full spin of ''Pop 2'', I couldn't shake the thought: 'This sounds like Farrah, but good.'"<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-pop-2/|title=Charli XCX: Pop 2 Album Review|work=[[Pitchfork (magazine)|Pitchfork]]|last=Garvey|first=Meaghan|date=December 20, 2017|accessdate=December 21, 2017}}</ref> In late 2017, Duncan Cooper of ''[[The Fader]]'' wrote that "Farrah Abraham's pop music should make her an avant-garde icon."<ref name="Fader"/>
In 2014, Mitchell Sunderland of ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'' interviewed Abraham, and referred to ''My Teenage Dream Ended'' as a "critically acclaimed [[Noise music|noise]] album", to which she replied "I just create therapeutic music."<ref>{{cite web|last=Sunderland|first=Mitchell|title=Is Farrah Abraham the Last Outsider Artist?|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/yvq54g/farrah-abraham-the-last-outsider-artist-666|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=July 4, 2014|access-date=November 2, 2020}}</ref> In a 2017 review for [[Charli XCX]]'s ''[[Pop 2 (mixtape)|Pop 2]]'' mixtape, Meaghan Garvey of ''[[Pitchfork (magazine)|Pitchfork]]'' retrospectively summarized: "Sweepingly ridiculed as one of 2012's worst albums, that judgment, five years later, feels wildly narrow-minded. It is a baffling work, to be sure: frantic layers of [[dubstep]], [[Electronic dance music|EDM]], witch-house, and [[breakbeat]]s seem to run in the opposite direction as Abraham's absurdly AutoTuned narratives about surviving the death of her husband. [...] After my first full spin of ''Pop 2'', I couldn't shake the thought: 'This sounds like Farrah, but good.'"<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-pop-2/|title=Charli XCX: Pop 2 Album Review|work=[[Pitchfork (magazine)|Pitchfork]]|last=Garvey|first=Meaghan|date=December 20, 2017|access-date=December 21, 2017}}</ref> In late 2017, Duncan Cooper of ''[[The Fader]]'' wrote that "Farrah Abraham's pop music should make her an avant-garde icon."<ref name="Fader"/>


===Accolades===
===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Accolades for ''My Teenage Dream Ended''
! Publication
! Publication
! Accolade
! Accolade
Line 82: Line 88:
| Best Albums of 2012
| Best Albums of 2012
| {{center|32}}
| {{center|32}}
| {{center|<ref name="Guardianlist">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/nov/26/guardian-best-albums-2012-40-21 |title=Best albums of 2012: 40-21 |work=The Guardian |date=November 26, 2012 |accessdate=January 21, 2018}}</ref>}}
| {{center|<ref name="Guardianlist">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/nov/26/guardian-best-albums-2012-40-21 |title=Best albums of 2012: 40-21 |work=The Guardian |date=November 26, 2012 |access-date=January 21, 2018}}</ref>}}
|-
|-
|rowspan="2" | ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''
! scope="row" rowspan="2" | ''[[Tiny Mix Tapes]]''
| Favorite 50 Albums of 2012
| Favorite 50 Albums of 2012
| {{center|33}}
| {{center|33}}
| {{center|<ref>https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2012-favorite-50-albums-of-2012?page=1</ref>}}
| {{center|<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2012-favorite-50-albums-of-2012?page=1|title = 2012: Favorite 50 Albums of 2012}}</ref>}}
|-
|-
| Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade
| Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade
| {{center|46}}
| {{center|46}}
| {{center|<ref>https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2010s-favorite-100-music-releases-decade?page=2</ref>}}
| {{center|<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/2010s-favorite-100-music-releases-decade?page=2|title = 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade}}</ref>}}
|}
|}


==Track listing==
==Track listing==

Tracklist extracted from [[iTunes]].<ref name="itunes"/>
{{track listing
{{tracklist
| title1 = The Phone Call That Changed My Life
| title1 = The Phone Call That Changed My Life
| length1 = 2:50
| length1 = 2:50
Line 122: Line 128:
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Authority control}}


[[Category:2012 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:2012 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:2012 debut albums]]
[[Category:2012 debut albums]]
[[Category:Farrah Abraham albums]]
[[Category:Farrah Abraham albums]]
[[Category:Concept albums]]
[[Category:2010s concept albums]]
[[Category:Show business memoirs]]
[[Category:Show business memoirs]]

Latest revision as of 04:10, 19 November 2024

My Teenage Dream Ended
Studio album by
Farrah Abraham
ReleasedAugust 1, 2012 (2012-08-01)
Genre
Length27:24
ProducerFredrick M. Cuevas
Singles from My Teenage Dream Ended
  1. "Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom"
    Released: August 3, 2012
My Teenage Dream Ended
AuthorFarrah Abraham
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAutobiography
PublisherMTV Press
Publication date
August 14, 2012
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardcover
E-book
Pages240
ISBN978-1576875988

My Teenage Dream Ended is the title of both the debut autobiographical book and the accompanying album by American reality television personality, singer, and writer Farrah Abraham. The latter was released on August 1, 2012, and the former was published 13 days later.

The book was commercially successful, landing on number 11 at the New York Times Best Seller list. The album was met with strongly negative response from general audiences, as well as both bewilderment and acclaim from contemporary music critics, who considered it to be a bizarre example of outsider art. It was placed on year-end lists from The Guardian and Tiny Mix Tapes, who also placed it at number 46 on their list of favorite releases of the decade.

Background and production

[edit]

Abraham came to prominence due to her role in the 2009 MTV reality television show 16 and Pregnant, as well as its spin-off series Teen Mom, also by MTV.[2] Abraham met mixing engineer FRDRK (Fredrick M. Cuevas) at the post-production facility of 16 and Pregnant. Several months after, she approached Cuevas and asked him to produce a record for her, inspired by the song "Cinema", by Benny Benassi.[3]

Abraham recorded her vocals for the album to a click track, while the production of the music was handled separately.[3] In an interview with The Fader, Cuevas stated: "Like, she'd heard it before and approved it for that song, but as she was recording we never had the music on."[3] Abraham also wanted the Auto-Tune effects on her vocals to sound "edgy", so worked with Cuevas to make them more aggressive.[3]

Abraham released My Teenage Dream Ended on August 1, 2012,[4] with its first single, "Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom", being released two days later through In Touch Weekly magazine.[5] On August 14, 2012, the homonymous autobiography was published by MTV Press.[6] It was a relative commercial success, reaching number 11 on the New York Times Best Seller list.[6]

Themes

[edit]

The book chronicles her teenage pregnancy and the problems she faced during the time, including depression, drug use, the arrest of her father, and the death of Derek Underwood, her on-again, off-again boyfriend with whom she had a daughter.[6][7][8] The music album is a companion work to her autobiography, paralleling its themes;[7] each of the ten songs shares a title with a chapter of her book.[8][9] The album contains recurring motifs, such as "plucking flower games" like "He loves me... he loves me not".[8]

Critical response and legacy

[edit]

Upon release, the accompanying album received an overwhelmingly negative response from audiences.[8] It has been widely criticized for its extensively Auto-Tuned vocals and bland production. Her song "On My Own" was derided as one of the worst works of pop music ever made, eclipsing Rebecca Black's "Friday".[10] Feminist website Jezebel called the lead and sole single, "Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom", "the most horrible combination of sounds to ever be assembled in the history of audio recording."[11]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Tiny Mix Tapes[12]

Despite garnering mockery in popular media, the arrhythmic and cheaply digitized presentation of deeply confessional lyrics was bewildering enough to be viewed as a contemporary example of outsider art.[8][13][14][15] My Teenage Dream Ended was mostly met with acclaim from music critics,[16] who considered it to be among the weirdest albums of the year.[13][16] Most critics did not assign a score to the album; an editor note on Alex Macpherson's review of the album for Fact states that "we decided to run this review without a rating. It's such an anomaly ... that trying to fit it into any kind of scale seems pointless – there are no comparison points. Consider it either a 0/5 or a 5/5, depending on your perspective, tolerance and general sanity."[13]

[My Teenage Dream Ended] is the sound of a postmodern nervous breakdown. In being so, paradoxically, it creates its own weird authenticity. Sonically, we encounter the fresh, shard-like ruins of contemporary dance-pop, each beat or fragment teasing but failing to resolve into regularity. Over this, Abraham intones in a voice masked by Auto-Tune so consistently and heavily applied that it speaks to the alienation of the recorded voice [...].

Rowan Savage, writing for Tiny Mix Tapes[12]

In The Wire, Andrew Nosnitsky called it a "haunting and fascinating mess of outsider pop music".[17] Writing for The Atlantic, David Cooper Moore suggested that the album "is to teen angst what Eraserhead was to domestic angst", making it "a dark and compelling experiment in abstracting and compressing the vicissitudes of 'high school drama.'"[8] The Village Voice compared it to critically acclaimed witch house band Salem.[18] The Guardian's David Renshaw described the album as "an agonising, disconcerting clatter" and "as if someone is translating chart music into an alien language and back again." Discussing the album's positive reception among avant-garde circles, Renshaw concluded: "All in all, it's as if Joey Essex had ditched TOWIE to record an album with Autechre and Lars von Trier."[16]

In a commentary for Dummy, Steph Kretowicz praised My Teenage Dream Ended for "its realistic portrayal of a mind mashed by mass media" and accidental camp aesthetic, stating that Abraham "present[s] a truly thought-provoking challenge to the status quo". On the other hand, she commented that the album "offers few dynamic shifts, no hooks and nary a sustained rhythm"; and opined that it "certainly" was not the most challenging record of the year, favoring Laurel Halo's Quarantine and Maria Minerva's Will Happiness Find Me? instead.[7] The A.V. Club panned the album and labeled it "the least essential album of 2012", calling it "terrible" and "cringeworthy", and dismissed the album's avant-garde status as "giving Abraham way too much credit".[19]

In 2014, Mitchell Sunderland of Vice interviewed Abraham, and referred to My Teenage Dream Ended as a "critically acclaimed noise album", to which she replied "I just create therapeutic music."[20] In a 2017 review for Charli XCX's Pop 2 mixtape, Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork retrospectively summarized: "Sweepingly ridiculed as one of 2012's worst albums, that judgment, five years later, feels wildly narrow-minded. It is a baffling work, to be sure: frantic layers of dubstep, EDM, witch-house, and breakbeats seem to run in the opposite direction as Abraham's absurdly AutoTuned narratives about surviving the death of her husband. [...] After my first full spin of Pop 2, I couldn't shake the thought: 'This sounds like Farrah, but good.'"[21] In late 2017, Duncan Cooper of The Fader wrote that "Farrah Abraham's pop music should make her an avant-garde icon."[3]

Accolades

[edit]
Accolades for My Teenage Dream Ended
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
The Guardian Best Albums of 2012
32
[22]
Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite 50 Albums of 2012
33
[23]
Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade
46
[24]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."The Phone Call That Changed My Life"2:50
2."After Prom"2:59
3."Caught in the Act"1:44
4."With Out This Ring..."2:53
5."Liar Liar"3:37
6."Unplanned Parenthood"2:31
7."Searching for Closure"3:49
8."On My Own"2:55
9."The Sunshine State"1:44
10."Finally Getting Up from Rock Bottom"2:22
Total length:27:24

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Robins-Sommerville, Grace (August 5, 2022). "What Happens To A TEENAGE DREAM Deferred? Farrah Abraham's MY TEENAGE DREAM ENDED at 10". Merry-Go-Round Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  2. ^ Dillon, Nancy (November 2, 2018). "Farrah Abraham takes no-jail plea deal in Beverly Hills battery case, agrees to steer clear of wanky Polo Lounge". New York Daily News. Retrieved November 6, 2020. Abraham rose to fame in 2009 as a star of the MTV series '16 and Pregnant,' as well as its subsequent spinoff series 'Teen Mom.'
  3. ^ a b c d e Cooper, Duncan (November 21, 2017). "Farrah Abraham's pop music should make her an avant-garde icon". The Fader. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "My Teenage Dream Ended by Farrah Abraham on iTunes".
  5. ^ "A stab at transcribing Farrah Abraham's debut song * starcasm.net". 6 August 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Durham, Jessica (August 23, 2012). "'My Teenage Dream Ended:' Farrah Abraham Lands On New York Times Bestseller List; Reveals Drug Abuse and One-Night Stands". Books & Review. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  7. ^ a b c Kretowicz, Steph (October 3, 2012). "Comment: Why 'Teen Mom' Farrah Abraham's dream is our reality". Dummy. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Moore, David Cooper (September 12, 2012). "The Scary, Misunderstood Power of a 'Teen Mom' Star's Album". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  9. ^ Bonner, Mehera (August 13, 2012). "Farrah Abraham Releases Her Debut Album". Wetpaint. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  10. ^ "Farrah Abraham Made the Worst Song and Music Video of All Time?". The Trend Guys. August 30, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  11. ^ Morrissey, Tracie Egan (April 6, 2012). "Teen Mom Farrah Abraham Releases the Worst Song You Will Ever Hear. Ever". Jezebel. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  12. ^ a b Savage, Rowan. "Farrah Abraham – My Teenage Dream Ended". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Macpherson, Alex (September 27, 2012). "My Teenage Dream Ended: Album Review". Fact. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  14. ^ Freeman, Phil (September 3, 2012). "The Secret Cyborg Genius of MTV Teen Mom's Farrah Abraham". io9. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  15. ^ "Farrah Abraham's Music is Way Better Than Her Sex Tape". 7 May 2013.
  16. ^ a b c Renshaw, David (September 28, 2012). "Farrah Abraham: the reality TV Teen Mom behind the weirdest pop record of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  17. ^ The Wire 345, p. 56.
  18. ^ Johnston, Maura (August 7, 2012). "Farrah Abraham: The Salem Of Teen Mom?". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  19. ^ "The least essential albums of 2012". 14 December 2012.
  20. ^ Sunderland, Mitchell (July 4, 2014). "Is Farrah Abraham the Last Outsider Artist?". Vice. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  21. ^ Garvey, Meaghan (December 20, 2017). "Charli XCX: Pop 2 Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  22. ^ "Best albums of 2012: 40-21". The Guardian. November 26, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  23. ^ "2012: Favorite 50 Albums of 2012".
  24. ^ "2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade".
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