The Album Review Thread

As the title implies, come in and review an album!

I'll get it rolling with the best album of the best band ever:

Abbey Road
The Beatles

The Beatle's last release, as they didn't want Let it Be the be their final statement as a collective unit. Troubles with the band had been culminating, and more than ever it was obvious that each Beatle was soon to persue solo careers. Some attribute it to Yoko Ono "leading Lennon away" from the band, while other's believe it was Harrison's frustrations at McCarthy-Lennon's near monopoly on the songwriting of the albums. But before they left, they wanted a final statement, and what a statement it was:

The album opens with "Come Together." The dirty, rocking style of it was imintated, but never duplicated by other bands, and even in Lennon's solo albums. Lennon mysteriously describes an unnamed man throughout, culminating at the blatantly sexual but "unintentional" lyric of "Come together, right now, over me." Ringo's rapid fire drumming at the chorus really ads to the track, as well as the light guitar at the end.

After the opening, you are trust into the album with the greatest song ever written by Harrison: Something. Frank Sinatra called in the greatest love song ever written, and later did a cover of it. That's saying something.

Next is a very ... strange track. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" obviously a very light hearted jokeing-around song, describing a boy who goes around killing people with his silver hammer. Obviously nothing to write home about, but it's a little humorous, and certainly far from bad.

Lennon had a big hard-on for this next track, and was angry at McCarthy for not letting him do the vocals. McCarthy is the master of old style rock'n'roll, and proves it with "Oh! Darling."

We get some classic blues guitar to open up the light hearten, child-like pop of Ringo's "Octupus's Garden." Much like "Silver Hammer", this is a very light-hearted, un serious song, but as a song, it's much better. I always loved Ringo's vocals, ever since I heard "With a little help from me friends." Ringo was very underrated. Don't wory Ringo, I still love you.

It becomes obvious in "I Want You(She's so heavy!)" that Lennon was at the point of obsession with Yoko Ono. Many people hate this song, because they attribute Ono to the breakup of The Beatles, but it's a great song. A strong wind kicks in at the end, and it become a little eerie ...

And it transitions wounderfully into the folk-pop beuty of "Here come the sun." The transition between the two songs is really cool. The last Harrison track on the album is not a far shot from the quality of the first, with the happy folk guitar that makes you feel as if the sun is just rising on a summer morning.

Another sharp transition into the eerie melody of "Because." It really is one of the most eerie melodies you will ever hear. It is toped off with unnerving but beutiful vocals, including some great lines. ("Becuase the sky is blue, it makes me cry~")

That ends the stand-alone tracks of the album and brings in the Medleys. The first one includes, "You never give me your money," with an amazing opening with sobering lyrics, "The Sun King" with a low energy beat that makes you want to tap your foot, "Mean Mr. Mustered" with lyrics with as much meaning as non-sensical, "Polythene Pam", and ending with the somewhat old-school Beatle's style of "She came in through the bathroom window." The medly is amazing, with one-two minute songs being thrown together to seem like a loosley put together "best of" album.

The second medley is the highlight of the album. It starts off with "Golden Slumbers," a calming track leading into the high energy "Carry that Weight", wich in the middle goes back to a much more high energy, less subdued verse of "You Never Give Me Yor Money", and ending the final medly with "The End" where Ringo gets the first drum solo of the album. "In the end, love you take, is equal to the love you make" and the song fades out with the powerful guitars becoming quite, leading into the long break before "Her Majesty." The track really dosn't fit, but it's not complainable.

Best Beatles Album.

10/10

Nice review! Abbey Road, coincidentally, is my favourite Beatles album :D

I didn't need to use "coincidentally", but I've been waiting all week.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...CMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Rate: http://:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou...u::bou:/4rdifm

GRACE JONES
Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions

By all means a phenomenal compilation that covers her outstanding years at Island Records.
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare takes a lot of the credits; an outstanding band leaded by the best musician there is makes for an experience beyond the limited range music in the 80’s had to offer. Grace Jones, whipped up some truly remarkable songs, like Sting’s “Demolition Man” with its electro-beat and crackling whip lashing makes for what I’d classify as downright naughty.
Warm Leatherette the first of three albums by Sly, Robbie and Grace; the album represents some of Jones’ most experimental stuff to date, she covers songs from Tom Petty “Breakdown” to The Pretenders “Private Life” and the truly magnificent rendition of The Motown’s “The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game”. The aforementioned song is one of her most delicious tracks; the amazing beat is perfectly complimented by Grace’s soulful vocal deliverance (anyone who claims that Grace Jones can’t sing should take the time to listen to this marvelous song).

Her cover of The Normals “Warm Leatherette” is something special, indeed. The continuous hints at sex and the amazing band is truly something that everyone should experience, once in a life time that is. My favorite track off Warm Leatherette is the exotic French tune: Pars.
Amazing capable of a tranquillest buzz, the breathy, sexy vocals are amongst some her finest and once again the band drains each beat to the bone, truly stunning.
Also included is the hypnotic “Private Life” (Presented in both a long and a dub version) stands as one of her biggest hit singles to date. Grace hit the height of her career in 1981 with the album: Nightclubbing. The album was something completely new, a perfect kind of chill: making sex on warm leatherette. The jungle rhythm of “Pull Up to the Bumper” still sounds as fresh and naughty as did nearly 25 years ago and the dog breathing slob of “Feel Up” is equally matched by the mysterious On-Paris-streets-at-night “I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango).
Seldom have I heard Grace sound as intimate as she does on “I’ve Done It Again” which slides right down and strips you off instant breath.

The final session the album cull songs from is “Living My Life” which contains songs of the more personal direction. On the album Grace co-wrote and eventually co-produced each and every song on the album. The beast songs chosen from Living My Life are: the stunning “Nipple to the Bottle”, “My Jamaican Guy”, “The Apple Stretching” and the heart-throbbing “Unlimited Capacity for Love” which stands as one of my personal favorites. Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions is stunning representation of Grace’s Island material; includes 26 songs and many of them are presented in extended and in different mixes. It also includes 2 previously unreleased songs prior to the album release: the funky “Vamp-ish” Man Around the House and the reggae influenced Johnny Cash cover “Ring of Fire”. Private Life: The Compass Point sessions are mostly aimed at hard-core Grace Jones fans (who anxiously await a new album release) but it also makes for a great listen to the casual fan who wants to explore the “Grace Jones Legend” a little closer.

Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd


The cultural phenomenon and bar non the most popular and successful Floyd album of all time. You'll be hard pressed to find many people who've never heard of this album or can't recognize the cover. Before this album people were clammoring about the amazing production and sound effects of Beach Boy's Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band but in those areas Dark Side came out and blew them again. The effects, production, and song transition were of a quality never seen before, and never duplicated again.

The opener, "Speak to me/Breathe" goes a supurb job of setting up what the album with be. The guitar and keyboard almost blend together into one unit, the sound effects at the beggining, and setting up the general theme: Life passing you by, while still being a great song.

With absolutley no break, so song transitions perfectly into "On the Run." As a song it's not much, but just a great chance to show off the sound effects used in the album.

A low roar soon becomes the chiming of hundreds of clocks to introduce one of Floyd's most sucessful radio songs, "Time." A slow drum/key board beat build up to the song. Walter's tells a story of your life slipping away from you, "Staying home to watch the rain, you are young and life is long ,and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you, no one told you when to run - you missed the starting gun."

A slow piano melody leads into "Great Gig in the Sky." Over the melody an old man can be heard saying "Why should I be afraid of dying? There's no reason for it, you gotta go sometime." setting a contrast from the last track, which seemed to speak of death in a very frightened way. The moaning vocals are supurb.

"Money", perhaps Floyd's most well known song follows. Once again, the guitar and keyboard seem to blend together to create an amazing flowing sound. Dick Parry plays a moaning saxophone solo at the climax.

More great song transitioning as "Money" leads into the album highlight, "Us and Them." An absolutley beutiful song that opens up with a light piano melody and more great, more subdued, sax playing by Perry which continues throughout. The three end-verse climaxes of the track are simply breath taking.

No room for a break after that epic though, as it leads into the third lyric-less song of the album, "Any Colour You Like." The song sounds very much like a non-objective painting, with diffrent, dramatic sounds splashed throughout.

The brilliant song transitions don't take a break for a minute, as we head into the eerie "Brain Damamge." The hauntic lyrics are matches by the sounds of the same feeling. As eerie as the lyrics are, they are quite nonsensical, "The paper hold their folded faces to the floor, and every day the paper boy brings more."

The final track, "Eclipse" sums up the album, sending the message that life is what you make it. The last thing you hear on the album is the very fitting "There is no dark side of the moon, actually ... matter of fact, it's all dark."

The theme, sound, and production is some of the best of all time. Almost everyone will tell you this is the best Floyd Album ever.

9.6/10

I'll do a rock album since most people here won't like it if I do a rap album.

Maroon 5: Songs About Jane

With Maroon 5's debut album, there is little doubt that this band might be one to remember for years to come. After radio hits Harder To Breathe, This Love, Sunday Morning, and She Will Be Loved, it's hard to imagine better songs on SAJ.

With the more upbeat Shiver and Not Coming Home to the more subdued Secret, SAJ prevents a wide variety of listening for all types. It's clear after hearing these 3 songs that they could have easily been radio hits, but I think it's suffice to say that 4 radio hits is enough.

With the pop-rock vocals of Adam Levine, M5 fits more along with rock and a hint of soul. The band's jazzy rhythms to songs like The Sun and Ragdoll shows the band's wide variety of talents that suits Levine's vocals. Nothing over the top and nothing to cheesy that would have the listening frowning. Although the album is not a lyrical genius, as this type of genre has been done a million times over, it is not a lyrical pushover either, with some songs that delve deeper into relationships such as that of The Sun. Yet the band seems intent on the lyrics being relatable to everyone who has been in a relationship of some type and getting over a breakup with an ex. The album does its job here.

The debut album was released in 2 separate albums; a standard album with all of the band's studio efforts and another one with extra tracks. The extra tracks version contains acoustics of This Love and Harder To Breathe along with an exclusive track Ragdoll and Kanye West's remix of This Love. Though supposedly the extra tracks is an import, it can be found in many stores like Target and Best Buy. It's worth noting that if you have the original US release, it's not worth fretting over if you missed out on the import. The acoustics can be found on M5's 1.23.03.Acoustic album, which contains an excellent cover of Highway To Hell.

It is still unclear as to whether Maroon 5 will become this great band or just a one-hit wonder. Songs About Jane are clearly about Adam's ex, but many doubt whether M5 can actually carry the same theme onto their next album and actually have success the 2nd time around and if the band is willing to actually devote more time to Adam's ex rather than more love in general. Regardless, SAJ is clearly one of the best albums of any genre released in 2004 and it's evidently clear why M5 was nominated for multiple Grammys.

9/10

You wouldn't happen to be the same Dingo Jellybean who's written a walkthrough for every single videogame ever created on GameFAQs, would you?

In any event:


Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd

Dark Side of the Moon was a cultural phenomenon, and Floyd wanted to top the bill. Many people said it couldn't be done, and many people still say it wasn't done. I say they did the impossible. Wish You Were Here is not only my favorite Floyd album, but my second of all time, only behind Abbey Road. They dedicated it to former band member Syd Barret, who was forced to leave the band and seek mental help after heavy drug abuse. What a dedication it was.

The album opens with the 13 minute epic, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" and song many people think very foundly of getting stoned to. Floyd was always a "stoner band" which causes some people to downplay their true artistic talent. The slow melody of the beggining is the greatest build to a guitar solo of all time. And the solo it's self, calming, relaxing, brilliant. I could listen to it all day and not want to change. The vocals are incredible and, to my reccolection, cause Roger Walters to rupture his vocal chords. Dick Perry comes back again to play a long sax solo leading into ...

"Welcome to the Machine." The effects are pretty good, also dedicated to Syd.

"Have a Cigar", with it's high energy movment-inducing sound, takes the point of view of a quick talking record executive trying to sucker some band into signing a contract. The lyrics are perfect, "You're gonna fly high, you're never gonna die, you're gonna make it if you try, they're gonna love you!" The track is immortalized by the famous like "By the way, which one's Pink?"

"Wish You Were Here" ... not enough can be said about it. The title track and also my favorite song of all time bar none. It's a true masterpeice of the guitar, and the most beutiful song I've ever heard lyricly. They wanted to make a tribute to Syd Barret. What better tribute than the greatest song ever written?

The final track finishes off where the first left off, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" part 2. Much more high energy than the former, and less lyricly dense.

The set out to do the impossible. They did it. Wish You Were Here > Dark Side of the Moon. What a tribute.

10/10

No one is going to read this.

J Ralph - Music to Mauzner By

Short version:
www.jralph.com

Long version:
The experimental debut album from an NYU student, J Ralph has never played an instrument he wasn't good at. Over this album, he produces songs in nearly every imaginable style, from the sweeping haunting new age sound of One Million Miles Away to the unrelenting grooviness of Fire It Up to the beautiful orchestral Untitled 17. If you have very wide and varied taste in music, this album is definitely worth your time.

01. One Million Miles Away (10/10)
02. Baby (7/10)
03. 31 Seconds (10/10)
04. Won't You Come Down (8/10)
05. Wanderer (6/10)
06. Leave Me Alone (9/10)
07. The Desert Suit Conspiracy (10/10)
08. Mauzner Detroit (*/10)
09. Fire It Up (10/10)
10. Bulletproof (8/10)
11. Goonies (8/10)
12. Stay Away (9/10)
13. Leonard's Lounge (7/10)
14. Untitled 17 (10/10)

The album starts most appropriately with One Million Miles Away, a haunting song that gives the feeling of travelling far away from home. The female vocals are startling, at first they seem to be scat, but are they really words? You decide.

The album moves to Baby, a dance rock piece that has been occassionally featured on MTV#. It's got a good pulsating beat, but just as it starts to appear boring and generic, it completely changes gears and keeps the listener interested.

Next is 31 Seconds, the most energizing piece on the album. It starts out with a sound byte from a rocket launch "31 seconds and we're go for auto-sequence", and a movie quote "I'm not a bad guy, just a disturbed guy". A groovy bass and drum line combine with pounding guitars to form a great basis for J's modified vocals to move over.

The album changes directions again with the funky Won't You Come Down, definitely something from a soft-core flick or a 70s TV hookup show. Not an exceptional song, but it definitely fits it's genre to a T.

After that comes Wanderer, featured on the She's All That soundtrack. It's got a great introduction, with snapping strings leading into the rest of the song. It's mostly pop and repeated.

After that comes the great house song Leave Me Alone. It's got an amazing beat, great bass, and vocals. The vocals aren't as great as the rest of the song, but the song is definitely one to get you on your feet and start grooving.

Next comes another change, which the listener should be used to by now, as a bass guitar and drums lead into one of the coolest songs ever, The Desert Suit Conspiracy, a song so genre-defying it can only be called "Spy Music". Everything in the song reeks of cool and suaveness, and the electric guitars give it an edginess that keeps the listener on the edge of his or her seat.

The album makes a quick interlude with Mauzner Detroit, and returns to being totally badass with Fire It Up, a great blend of syncopated beats, animated bass lines, and an electric violin solo. It all combines to give a great groove.

The album changes pace again with the slower Bulletproof, a dark song which feels like walking in an alley in a bad part of town late at night. J's vocals are modified again to give a raspy feel.

Goonies, which has been described as everything from "the grooviest elevator music" to "new jazz that actually makes you stand up" (I agree with the latter more) is another great song with a great beat. It takes a while to build up, but once it does, it surges forth with great energy. This is primarily percussion driven, but an electric guitar comes forth with a fresh melody.

Stay Away is another brilliant song on this album, featuring a choir singing... gospel? That's right, another crazy turn on this album and we're down in Harlem late at night, fusing slow blues beats with gospel choirs warning the listener to "stay away". Two gospel soloists are featured on the track at the end, and their skill is simply mesmerizing.

Leonard's Lounge is another late night chill song, which one might expect to listen in a bar or lounge late at night. What the listener would not expect is the band to be a mariachi band, playing a slow wistful melody which is actually a slowed down version of the melody in "31 Seconds"! The versatility of J Ralph really shines forth in this track with several instrumental solos in mariachi style.

The last and most amazing surprise on this album concludes most appropriately with Untitled 17, a beautiful orchestral masterpiece. It gives a supreme feel of relaxation, of existing in utter tranquility, while still having a definite rising tension, climax, and conclusion.

At the end of this track, and at the end of this album, you'll be amazed at how you could have visited so many different places and yet remained right where you are.

Score: My favorite album of all time. 10/10

Meddle
Pink Floyd

This is the album that started what, in my mind, make Floyd one of the greatest bands of all time. They released three consecutive albums, each of incredible quality, but somehow topping the last each time. Meddle - Dark Side of the Moon - Wish You Were Here. Consecutive releases of albums that quality (and rising each time) is rivaled only by The Beatles, if of any band ever. And this started it. Unlike the latter albums, it had no true focused theme and was a very happy upbeat album, but the musical quality fits right it with it's followers.

The album is opened by the lyricless "One of These Days." The wind is the begining turns into a precussion beat, slowly building, getting darker and darker, eerier and eerier until it erupts into the faster paced guitar solo finishing it off.

It transitions well into "Pillow of the Winds." The beautiful melody is set by differing layers of acoustic guitar. Walter's tells a relaxing story of falling asleep and later waking up while the layers of guitar set the mood and melody, perfectly playing off each other and the lyrics.

The much more upbeat "Fearless" follows. It seems to convey the message of "do what you want." "You pick the place and I'll choose the time, and I'll climb that hill in my own way." More acoustic-sounding guitars set up the wounderful melody. The lyrics are beautiful, "And as you rise above the trees, light, and the clouds, you look down, hearing the sound of the faces in the crowd."

"San Tropez", the next track, is a very happy upbeat song. Mason's precussion and Wright's piano do a great job of setting the mood.

"Seamus", a light hearted ballad to a dog, is a very bluesy-feeling song, and in a very good way. More great acousting guitar and piano, which seems to be the musical theme of this album.

Finishing Meddle off is the 23 minute epic "Echoes." We are greeted with the sound of a distand submarine soon leading into one of the greatest melodies I have ever heard perfectly accompanied by a light, Shine on You Crazy Diamond-esque guitar. The only downfall of this epic is the slightly boring middle portion.

Meddle is what started Floyd's magnificant three album chain of greatness and was a perfect start.

8.9/10

Two minor things. Waters, not Walters. And the vocals on Shine On You Crazy Diamond are done by Gilmour. Waters strained his voice on Welcome to the Machine. Roy Harper did the vocals for Have a Cigar. Good reviews. :)

WIDER ANGLE

HYBRID

CD 1

1. Opening Credits
2. If I Survive
3. I Know
4. Beachcoma
5. Dreaming Your Dreams
6. Snyper
7. Theme From Wide Angle
8. Sinequanon
9. Kill City
10. Altitude
11. Finished Symphony
12. Altitude (Red Square Reprise)

CD 2

1. Kid 2000
2. Burnin'
3. Snyper
4. Accelerator
5. High Life
6. Finished Symphony
7. Kill City
8. Altitude
9. Kid 2000 (12" Original Mix)

This album is my all time fav by my favourite band of mine Hybrid, if you like any kind of dance music you will love this, it has a film score like quality with tracks like "Beachcoma" and the made for a spy thriller "Snyper". It also has probably the greatest orchestral dance anthem ever "Finished Symphony".

CD 2 is a live recording of a tour they did in Japan, I believe this coincided with their support for Moby, who loves their style. It starts with the very funky techno breakbeat "Kid 2000" and goes off in lots of directions, while my fav track gives me goosebumps every time I here it, "High Life" it starts of with a pounding drum kick and has a massive riff at the end which sounds like old skool rave you use to hear. I hear that Hybrid have contributed some music to "Man On Fire" and orchestral work for "Kingdom Of Heaven", great but I hope they have some more albums coming out soon. 10 out of 10.

No one will have heard of these.

TRESPASSERS WILLIAM

Different Stars

The second album from the American collective.
Trespassers William's strength is summed up in their front-women: Anna-Lynne Williams. The singer/songwriter of the group may be the only women but it his her lyrics, and her voice that make Trespassers William stand out.
Like most frontwomen, she is the focal point of the band, with the spotlight on the album thrust upon her. So it must be assumed that any fault is her own, but unlike Courtney Love & Amy Lee, Anna-Lynne does noth bathe the album in herself, and despite being the main point, it is not a sole effort, and thus "Different Stars" is the bands own.

And the bands own it is. Many women try (without them knowing it) and are often hyped (Norah Jones, Dido) to create a second album that surpasses the first, but here Anna-Lynne has. Her voice feels more fragile, the band's instruments create a entheral, poetic backdrop to the crystalised voice of the front-women tahtnot only supports the lyrics, but adds to it.
Some would say that the album has a negative feel, with this lisetner feeling so close to the singer's soul it's unnerving emotion's deep within. However, the subject of Love has never been delt with so honestly, from a women's aspect. While Dido often tried to portray a strength surpassing her male counterparts (White Flag), only to then fall weak at the knees (Here With Me),
Trespassers William talk of a love that is believable and portrays the inner hurts of a heart under so much emotion. This cannot not fail in bringing emotions to the surface.

All in all, Trespassers William (Who incidentadly have just finnished theire third album) have surpassed expectations and despite it being not a huge commercial sucess, their cult following makes it a strong release. This album brings so many emotions to the the fore-front and reminds one of what feelinsg like heart-break and true love and the relationships with the ones we love felt like and can make us appreciate the purity of such a feeling. To appreciate it more and to take it when it does take us.

TRACK-BY-TRACK

INTRO
A sonic introduction that spurs the heart. A good instrumental for the album which makes a good entry for...

LIE IN THE SOUND 9/10
The first single. The song speaks of "love you more than I should, so much more that is good for me" This song made me want to buy this album after hearing on a preview disc, and so will you. The acoustic guitar is gentle, and Anna-Lynne unsettles us with this ode and makes us feel alone.

DIFFERENT STARS 9/10
The title track. As soon as this starts, tears can well in the listener. The electronic sounds vcreates imagy iof galaxies far away, where the lovers are split, lying under different stars. Here, they wonder if their ex thinks of them all, despit being so far away. The song makes one feel isolated from the rest of the universe, alone with their thoughts.As a teenager, it's a feeling that one feels so often, and is easily relatable.

ALONE 8.5/10
Alone starts very happily, and could be considered as the happy song of the album. However, the lyrics tell a different story, and yet the listners cannot help but feel swept along by the jangly pace and the chorus, which makes good use of the instruments.

ET YOU DOWN 6.5/10
The only bad song (in my opinion), the desolate pace which drags and the lyrics arn't as solid. However, it fits with the album, and a such is a very good filler.

VAPOUR TRAIL 7.5/10
The only cover on the record, and a fine one too that follows the theme with the album, as well as sounds superior to the original.

FRAGMENT 9.5/10
Fragment is (IMO) the best solo song on the collection. It is soft and makes one feel loved, yet alone at the smae time, caught by the beautiful voice of Anna-Lynne. Her hope of loving no one as much as she does, takes you along, and makes everything make sense.

JUST LIKE THIS 7.5/10
A song that is like "Let You Down" in pace, but this actually works in it's favour, with the cold mettalic drums coupled with the dry bass makes the song hum with love, and you too will feel the emotions riding on the singer's tones.

LOVE YOU MORE 9/10
On first listen sounds rather like a slower "Alone", but on second listen the song is touching and heart-felt. Every person on the planet can relate to this song, and no one I've met (and heard this)hasn't been touched by Anna-Lynne's desire.

UNTITLED 7/10 - 10/10

The epic of the album (12:52) is a souble-header with a hidden track which is better IMO then the first and is the best song on the album.
The first one is mixed in mystery and is hard hitting.
The second one is the most nest song there, with Anna-Lynne and her acoustic guitar singing of love, and this rawness makes it clench around your heart and refuse to let it go till she whispers "You held my throat like a violin, never to be held again,Cause there's no-body like you." You'll be gripped until the final strum of this song.
It is beautiful and a fitting epitaph to the most heart-wrenching album I've heard. "Love was supposed to save me" (which is pretty good since I the only bourght it just cause I'd been paid)

This album is the finest discovery I've ever found, and I hope you will "discover" it too.

Jay-Z: The Black Album

Supposedly Jay-Z's last album before his "retirement", this lastest installment from Jay-Z is an instant classic, even though some might not consider it his best album.

The album starts off with an interlude that speaks of inevitability: All good things must come to an end. In the album Jay-Z touches on subjects from being the greatest rapper alive to being racially profiled. In 99 Problems JZ speaks of an ongoing problem in the United States, especially down in the south where racial profiling is more rampant. It's actually one of JZ's most intuitive lyrical bombs and is as compelling as it is enjoyable to the ear. JZ even gets more personal with his critics in What More Can I Say, leaving them the reminder of what happens when he "no longer exists."

By far the weakest song on the album is probably Threat, somewhat of a lyrical enigma with beats that never goes with JZ's flow. December 4th entitles JZ's earlier life (from the day he was born) and how he became the status symbol for rap that he is now. It gets into a more personal level as his mother does the voiceover for the chorus. Encore is exactly as the title implies, those wanting to see another JZ album must yell their lungs out (as I'm sure many have), it subsequently became the most played collision song with Linkin Park's Numb, though LP's vocals don't nearly hold as much weight as John Legend's.

Dirt Off Your Shoulder will easily become one of JZ's greatest songs, with sick beats and smooth flow aiding this lyrical masterpiece. DOYS symbolizes the entire album, as JZ wanted to go out on top and not have a weak album as many artists do at the tail end of their career. It's clear from the album that JZ did just that, delivering a powerful message that he'll be remembered along with Pac and Biggie as one of the greatest rappers and MCs ever to grace the mic.

9.5/10

http://:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou::bou...u::bou:/4tv7rk

Grace Jones - Island Life (Greatest Hits)

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Legendary for her looks, attitude and amazing talents.
Grace Jones took the universe by storm in 1977 with her musical debut “Portfolio” which included her gold selling single La Vie En Rose. After three disco releases she changed her image with a little help from her then husband Jean Paul Goude. The first result came in 1980 in titled “Warm Leatherette” and it was a hit, finally Grace got the acclaim that she’s so longly deserved.

Her amazing covers hit right between the eyes; Private Life is a perfect odd couple tune that Grace adapted with full capability and her rendition of The Normals Warm Leatherette was something comepletely new.
A great addition to this “Best Of” cd is the “Thorngren Remix” of Love Is the Drug which has not been available anywhere else.
Her perhaps biggest hit album came in 1981, titled: Nightclubbing. A compilation of various of covers, everything from David Bowie to Sting. But despite Grace’s amazing talents as an intepretor her own stuff was just as stunning, an example of this can be heard on her biggest chart success: Pull Up to the Bumper. The third Dunbar/ Shakespeare collaboration arrived in 1983 dubbed: Living My Life, which ought to be last collaboration bewteen the couple and Grace. This time around Grace was fully involved in everything, writing and even eventually co-producing each song on the album. Living My Life stapled Grace as a fully grown-up star My Jamaican Guy is closer to Reggae than any of her previous work and the 7” single of Living My Life helped Grace to become the star-of-music videos.

After three years of playing movie parts Grace put together a biography titled Slave to the Rhythm which still sounds as freash as it did then. Legendary for her looks, attitude and amazing talents.