New Vibrations
ARTIST: Joe Budden
ALBUM: The Padded Room
LABEL: Amalgam Digital
RELEASED: Feb. 24, 2009
These days in hip-hop, a rapper can't have an album without dedicating a song or verse to a rant about the industry and label troubles. After all, the music industry and labels serve as some of the several causes for the rumored death of hip-hop.
For example, Joe Budden is one rapper who is more than entitled to vent about label troubles. After experiencing numerous album delays from his previous label Def Jam, the ringleader of the Mood Muzik mixtape series strikes back with his official second album, Padded Room - only six years after his first was released.
The album cover depicts Budden in a straightjacket, representing him as a psycho, whether it be in the lyrical or actual sense. Budden stated in an interview that he came up with the theme because he always felt misunderstood, perhaps even perceived as a psycho by everyone else. The tracks on this album are somewhat consistent with this theme as some come equipped with chilly production that evokes the same feelings as the film, Psycho.
The opening track "Now I Lay" starts the album off with a lyrical bombast; his topics range all over the place - from his beginnings as a rapper to what he is now - including lines laced with puns and punchlines. The fast tempo meshes with the chilly jack-in-the-box-like beat to accompany the straightjacket theme of the album.
In terms of lyrical quality, Budden has some hits and misses. With an unexciting beat and typical party track lyrics, "The Future," featuring The Game, fails to maintain the buzz after "Now I Lay."
Padded Room is Budden's fine attempt to get back on track with his music. The album theme and the appropriate song titles go nicely with his style. The consistency of theme is something to admire because it reveals a side of integrity as an artist. As Budden changes styles, the diversity within the consistency maintains the same theme. The album will definitely meet the standards of any listeners already familiar with Budden's work.
-Wakil Ahmed
ARTIST: Thin Lizzy
ALBUM: Still Dangerous
LABEL: VH1 Classics
RELEASED: March 2, 2009
Still Dangerous was originally recorded by the Irish hard rock band, Thin Lizzy, in Philadelphia, in the year 1977. The band was on tour promoting its album Bad Reputation after having massive radio success with the album Jailbreak and its hit single, "The Boys Are Back In Town." This was a band that seemed to be on its way to stardom and everlasting fame.
Now, in the year 2009, the world has forgotten about them. The band released albums after Jailbreak, and some of them were good, but none achieved that same level of success. But even music that nobody listens to can be good music, and Thin Lizzy is good music. This album, for the most part, is good music. The question is (and this is the question with any live album): Is it worth getting if one already owns the studio albums?
There are some bands that sound better live. Their songs, when played in the studio, lose some of their punch; they are a little slower, a little gentler and the words are a little too easy to understand. Then, when they get out in front of a crowd and crank up their amps, their music suddenly takes life. The effect of the live audience is electric and every song runs wild.
Thin Lizzy is not one of those bands.
It is rumored, and backed by Wikipedia, that the band recorded over sections of their classic live album, Live and Dangerous, in the studio because they were disappointed with its sound.
Thin Lizzy is a perfectly competent band and whether they play live or in the studio, they rock the hell out of every song on their set list, each to perfection. This is a band of spirited professionals. But whereas some bands are drastically improved, and completely changed in character when performing before a live audience, Thin Lizzy is just a hair better than they are without the audience.
On classic songs like "Jailbreak" and "Opium Trail," the sound is faster and harder than on the studio album releases, but they are not significantly improved. They are not all that different in arrangement from the original album versions, and while the energy is higher, it might not be enough of a difference to justify the purchase of this album if one already owned the other two.
Perhaps it is the bias of this reviewer towards studio albums and against live albums. Perhaps other listeners are more impressed by extended guitar solos and drum breaks and the sounds of the crowd, and the interplay between audience and frontman. If that is the case, then this review should not discourage those listeners from picking up this album. It's '70s hard rock at its finest, played live by one of the best bands of that decade. And for Thin Lizzy fans, this album is most certainly an essential purchase.
The song selection offers a decent selection of Phil Lynott's (frontman, bassist and songwriter) compositions prior to 1977. Some highlights are the two aforementioned songs and also "Cowboy Song," which, as played here, somehow becomes very gentle and touching, but also powerful and thunderous as Zeus on the warpath. However, "Still In Love With You" still sounds cheesy and overwrought, and Lynott's dedication before the song, "for all the ladies," does not help things one bit.
In any case, Still Dangerous, as a whole, is pretty good, even if one has never heard of Thin Lizzy. If one likes '70s hard rock and that sort of thing, this album can definitely be pleasurable to listen to.
-Alex Neville
ARTIST: Cursive
ALBUM: Mama, I'm Swollen
LABEL: Saddle Creek
RELEASED: March 10, 2009
Following up 2006's explorative (both musically and lyrically) Happy Hollow, Cursive's newest, Mama I'm Swollen, comes as a bit of a backpedal for the Nebraskan quartet. It's a slice out of the emo songbook, all misery and melodrama but less of the sheer catchiness that makes your average Fall Out Boy rip-off so shamefully entertaining.
These guys (Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, Ted Stevens and Cornbread Compton) are upwards of 30 and it seems about time for them to step back from opening veins all over the pages of their own diaries.
Indeed, Happy Hollow took up themes from religious hypocrisy to vapid suburbia, which makes this foray back into self reflection and vague musings on humanity, and hell, all the more lackluster.
Still, there is some good stuff here, even if it's not particularly substantial. Opener "In The Now" has a bit of Von Bondies flavor, combining stuttering guitars with a propulsive, fist-pumping chorus and Kasher's increasingly unhinged vocals as he repeats, "Don't want to live in the now/ Don't want to know what I know." In the span of under three minutes, the song keeps alternately uncoiling and imploding, establishing Cursive's much-appreciated penchant of playing with time and space, even as the lyrics repeat themselves into numbness.
"From The Hips" fumbles this beginning burst of energy until about halfway in as the drums begin to pound and the riffs climax, echoing Kasher's self-loathing but pro-love sentiments ("I hate this damn enlightenment/ We were better when we were animals").
From a fairly cliché love anthem only made interesting by the throbbing, thriving instrumentation ("I Couldn't Love You Anymore"), Mama, I'm Swollen finally gets a little interesting with "Donkeys." Its wry, occasionally yowling vocals, ominous strains of guitars and touches of brass, are a scathing indictment of a society fixated on pleasure and hoarding.
"Caveman" continues in a similar vein, this time mixing in punchy guitars and bouncing brass sections but keeping to a theme of only getting worse as we evolve ("Because I'm tired of standing upright/ The taller we become the more dollars we can grab from that highest branch").
Musically, Cursive stretches less here than they did on earlier discs, which is especially unfortunate considering they stay parsing the same subject matter lyrically.
Mixing up the song structures a bit more could make hearing "We're going to hell!" for the 16th time more palatable (possibly). "Let Me Up," which blends in flutes and some fuzzed-over riffs into its energetic key-shifts, makes a nice reprieve.
However, it's the final track, "What Have I Done?" that swerves most welcomingly off pace with its swelling electronic atmospherics; it tells the story of a dejected would-be novelist "scratching lyrics on paper plates," as Kasher repeatedly yowls, "What have I done?" growing increasingly hysterical as the album veers towards its finish.
Mama, I'm Swollen is mostly a case of missed expectations, rather than real unfulfillment. There are some excellent moments, but not enough to prove the ambition Cursive has previously shown themselves to possess.
-Melanie Love
ALBUM: The Padded Room
LABEL: Amalgam Digital
RELEASED: Feb. 24, 2009
These days in hip-hop, a rapper can't have an album without dedicating a song or verse to a rant about the industry and label troubles. After all, the music industry and labels serve as some of the several causes for the rumored death of hip-hop.
For example, Joe Budden is one rapper who is more than entitled to vent about label troubles. After experiencing numerous album delays from his previous label Def Jam, the ringleader of the Mood Muzik mixtape series strikes back with his official second album, Padded Room - only six years after his first was released.
The album cover depicts Budden in a straightjacket, representing him as a psycho, whether it be in the lyrical or actual sense. Budden stated in an interview that he came up with the theme because he always felt misunderstood, perhaps even perceived as a psycho by everyone else. The tracks on this album are somewhat consistent with this theme as some come equipped with chilly production that evokes the same feelings as the film, Psycho.
The opening track "Now I Lay" starts the album off with a lyrical bombast; his topics range all over the place - from his beginnings as a rapper to what he is now - including lines laced with puns and punchlines. The fast tempo meshes with the chilly jack-in-the-box-like beat to accompany the straightjacket theme of the album.
In terms of lyrical quality, Budden has some hits and misses. With an unexciting beat and typical party track lyrics, "The Future," featuring The Game, fails to maintain the buzz after "Now I Lay."
Padded Room is Budden's fine attempt to get back on track with his music. The album theme and the appropriate song titles go nicely with his style. The consistency of theme is something to admire because it reveals a side of integrity as an artist. As Budden changes styles, the diversity within the consistency maintains the same theme. The album will definitely meet the standards of any listeners already familiar with Budden's work.
-Wakil Ahmed
ARTIST: Thin Lizzy
ALBUM: Still Dangerous
LABEL: VH1 Classics
RELEASED: March 2, 2009
Still Dangerous was originally recorded by the Irish hard rock band, Thin Lizzy, in Philadelphia, in the year 1977. The band was on tour promoting its album Bad Reputation after having massive radio success with the album Jailbreak and its hit single, "The Boys Are Back In Town." This was a band that seemed to be on its way to stardom and everlasting fame.
Now, in the year 2009, the world has forgotten about them. The band released albums after Jailbreak, and some of them were good, but none achieved that same level of success. But even music that nobody listens to can be good music, and Thin Lizzy is good music. This album, for the most part, is good music. The question is (and this is the question with any live album): Is it worth getting if one already owns the studio albums?
There are some bands that sound better live. Their songs, when played in the studio, lose some of their punch; they are a little slower, a little gentler and the words are a little too easy to understand. Then, when they get out in front of a crowd and crank up their amps, their music suddenly takes life. The effect of the live audience is electric and every song runs wild.
Thin Lizzy is not one of those bands.
It is rumored, and backed by Wikipedia, that the band recorded over sections of their classic live album, Live and Dangerous, in the studio because they were disappointed with its sound.
Thin Lizzy is a perfectly competent band and whether they play live or in the studio, they rock the hell out of every song on their set list, each to perfection. This is a band of spirited professionals. But whereas some bands are drastically improved, and completely changed in character when performing before a live audience, Thin Lizzy is just a hair better than they are without the audience.
On classic songs like "Jailbreak" and "Opium Trail," the sound is faster and harder than on the studio album releases, but they are not significantly improved. They are not all that different in arrangement from the original album versions, and while the energy is higher, it might not be enough of a difference to justify the purchase of this album if one already owned the other two.
Perhaps it is the bias of this reviewer towards studio albums and against live albums. Perhaps other listeners are more impressed by extended guitar solos and drum breaks and the sounds of the crowd, and the interplay between audience and frontman. If that is the case, then this review should not discourage those listeners from picking up this album. It's '70s hard rock at its finest, played live by one of the best bands of that decade. And for Thin Lizzy fans, this album is most certainly an essential purchase.
The song selection offers a decent selection of Phil Lynott's (frontman, bassist and songwriter) compositions prior to 1977. Some highlights are the two aforementioned songs and also "Cowboy Song," which, as played here, somehow becomes very gentle and touching, but also powerful and thunderous as Zeus on the warpath. However, "Still In Love With You" still sounds cheesy and overwrought, and Lynott's dedication before the song, "for all the ladies," does not help things one bit.
In any case, Still Dangerous, as a whole, is pretty good, even if one has never heard of Thin Lizzy. If one likes '70s hard rock and that sort of thing, this album can definitely be pleasurable to listen to.
-Alex Neville
ARTIST: Cursive
ALBUM: Mama, I'm Swollen
LABEL: Saddle Creek
RELEASED: March 10, 2009
Following up 2006's explorative (both musically and lyrically) Happy Hollow, Cursive's newest, Mama I'm Swollen, comes as a bit of a backpedal for the Nebraskan quartet. It's a slice out of the emo songbook, all misery and melodrama but less of the sheer catchiness that makes your average Fall Out Boy rip-off so shamefully entertaining.
These guys (Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, Ted Stevens and Cornbread Compton) are upwards of 30 and it seems about time for them to step back from opening veins all over the pages of their own diaries.
Indeed, Happy Hollow took up themes from religious hypocrisy to vapid suburbia, which makes this foray back into self reflection and vague musings on humanity, and hell, all the more lackluster.
Still, there is some good stuff here, even if it's not particularly substantial. Opener "In The Now" has a bit of Von Bondies flavor, combining stuttering guitars with a propulsive, fist-pumping chorus and Kasher's increasingly unhinged vocals as he repeats, "Don't want to live in the now/ Don't want to know what I know." In the span of under three minutes, the song keeps alternately uncoiling and imploding, establishing Cursive's much-appreciated penchant of playing with time and space, even as the lyrics repeat themselves into numbness.
"From The Hips" fumbles this beginning burst of energy until about halfway in as the drums begin to pound and the riffs climax, echoing Kasher's self-loathing but pro-love sentiments ("I hate this damn enlightenment/ We were better when we were animals").
From a fairly cliché love anthem only made interesting by the throbbing, thriving instrumentation ("I Couldn't Love You Anymore"), Mama, I'm Swollen finally gets a little interesting with "Donkeys." Its wry, occasionally yowling vocals, ominous strains of guitars and touches of brass, are a scathing indictment of a society fixated on pleasure and hoarding.
"Caveman" continues in a similar vein, this time mixing in punchy guitars and bouncing brass sections but keeping to a theme of only getting worse as we evolve ("Because I'm tired of standing upright/ The taller we become the more dollars we can grab from that highest branch").
Musically, Cursive stretches less here than they did on earlier discs, which is especially unfortunate considering they stay parsing the same subject matter lyrically.
Mixing up the song structures a bit more could make hearing "We're going to hell!" for the 16th time more palatable (possibly). "Let Me Up," which blends in flutes and some fuzzed-over riffs into its energetic key-shifts, makes a nice reprieve.
However, it's the final track, "What Have I Done?" that swerves most welcomingly off pace with its swelling electronic atmospherics; it tells the story of a dejected would-be novelist "scratching lyrics on paper plates," as Kasher repeatedly yowls, "What have I done?" growing increasingly hysterical as the album veers towards its finish.
Mama, I'm Swollen is mostly a case of missed expectations, rather than real unfulfillment. There are some excellent moments, but not enough to prove the ambition Cursive has previously shown themselves to possess.
-Melanie Love
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