album reviews
Reviews of albums old and new from iconic artists and up and coming musicians alike.
Documentary 2 + 2.5 Review
The Documentary 2 Opening Opinion 9.9/10 The Documentary 2.5 Opening Opinion 10/10 Okay, so this is technically a double in depth review… but let me kill two birds with one stone. These albums really blew me away. In October of 2015, I knew The Game was dropping a sequel to his former best album, The Documentary. What I didn’t know, is that he was dropping another album right after that… like a week after that. First I’ll talk about 2, then 2.5.
By Matthew Sullivan7 years ago in Beat
Drake Albums
8)What a Time to Be Alive (84) Drake’s collaboration with Future is his worst album and it's just a collection of songs that aren't really about much of nothing special. Still catchy tho. If you like Future you won’t mind these songs. Top Tracks: Jumpman, Big Rings, Digital Dash.
By Matthew Sullivan7 years ago in Beat
Despise You/Coke Bust Split 7" Review
For those so far uninitiated, "powerviolence" is a hyper aggressive style of music taking its main cues from 80s hardcore punk, grindcore, and, oddly enough, certain styles of progressive rock. This means short songs at blinding speeds, blast beats, sludgy breakdowns and tempos that can shift on a dime. Half the fun of powerviolence, coming from an admitted superfan of the genre, is the twists and turns you get while listening to each 30 second burst of high-speed noise; you might think that you may be only getting two or three riffs per song with those kinds of lengths but in 30 seconds it's easy to get blindsided by a half a dozen different riffs that don't even share a similar tempo.
By Charles Spitzner7 years ago in Beat
Circle—Making Rounds Around The Square
Screaming is a national art in Finland. They even have a men's choir (30 members strong) that shouts everything from pop hits to national anthems. But then Finland is also the country with the strongest Tango musical line after Argentina. You also have everything in between. So it might be no wonder that the newest Circle album, Terminal (one of the 52 they made, although some accounts say it is over 60!) includes almost any modern rock style imaginable (screams included, of course). No tango though, a shame, I think they could have fitted it in!
By Ljubinko Zivkovic7 years ago in Beat
The Carousels—The Boat To West Coast
Let’s start with a simple introduction this time around. The Carousels are a band from Scotland and Sail Me Home St. Clair is their second album. Looking at the album cover, you’d expect a ton of whiskey flowing around and a bunch of sea shanties. The whiskey might have been flowing around in jugs but sea shanties are nowhere to be found. You see, The Carousels sound like one of the better 70s style country rock bands from the West Coast with all these gentle strumming guitars, pedal steels, and ever-expanding harmonies. Scottish weather is not exactly known for too many sunny, balmy days but you wouldn’t guess it by listening to this album.
By Ljubinko Zivkovic7 years ago in Beat
Into the Slipstream: The Internet's Undiscovered Talent
With the popularity of platforms like Bandcamp and Soundcloud it's now literally easier than ever to throw your artistic talents out into the wolfish world of picky consumers and bask in the due adulation (or sulk in the corner if you suck or something and everybody calls you names). Combing through these sites opens up whole worlds of creativity previously inaccessible from your home a decade ago and, you know what, some of them definitely aren't getting the celebration that they deserve for putting themselves out there in the world. It's not easy wading through the creating process in the hopes of releasing something you can be truly proud of, but I bet a few worthy souls deserve more listens than they get.
By Charles Spitzner7 years ago in Beat
Kanye West Discography Ranked
808s and Heartbreak - 80 This is the oddball in his discography. I always liked this album even if it took some getting used to. He abuses auto-tune here. I think it works, for the most part, like on songs like “Paranoid” and “Heartless.” Kanye sings a LOT on this album. The lyrics aren’t up to K’s standards (Old Kanye or New). The songs are pretty catchy, however. This album kind of changed the game so if it were which Kanye album was most important, this would be higher on the list. Top Tracks: "Heartless," "Love Lockdown," "Coldest Winter," "Amazing."
By Matthew Sullivan7 years ago in Beat
'The College Dropout' Review
Before I was put on to this album by my friend Jay (Jimmy), R.I.P.; I had heard very little from Kanye (Like most everyone else at the time). After hearing the album for the first time I had concluded that Mr. West wasn’t just a good rapper and a great producer, but he was going to be in the game for a long time.
By Matthew Sullivan7 years ago in Beat
Eminem Show Review
Opening Opinion: 9.3/10 It’s no secret that The Eminem Show, released back in 2002, is my favorite Eminem album. I actually only bought it about 3 years ago. I know, that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I had a bootleg copy of the album before that. This is the album where Em seemed to come to grips with his superstardom.
By Matthew Sullivan7 years ago in Beat
Review of 2 Chainz's 'Pretty Girls'
Pretty Girls Like Trap Music serves as a follow up to his 2016 ColleGrove. Debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Pretty Girls is his second highest ranking album. His first album, Based on a T.R.U. Story, debuted No. 1 back in 2012. He spoke with Billboard about the album’s big debut.
By Sadé Sanchez7 years ago in Beat
Review: Vince Staples 'Big Fish Theory'
Big Fish Theory is one of the examples of the evolution and diversity of hip-hop. The album is something that your average hip-hop fan might not be compelled to listen at first but they should. The production of the album is different and innovative. In combination with the wittiness and intelligence of the bars of Vince Staples it makes for an amazing project. Big Fish Theory proves that you can make great music without trying to fit into one specific genre or approval of your peers.
By J.R. Gonzalez7 years ago in Beat