Alongside Ocean's compassion for his characters is a feeling of rest - he's been there, he's weathered it, and he's set out away with his Zen-like mind in place. On Channel Orange, there is an empty or eerie presence sprinkled with crackling feelings. It's all in the opener "Thinking Bout You", where he fights his own mind while thinking back around a first love. The "Thinking about you" mistake was telling for another reason, as well. As thought of, it's all things considered a unisex creation, and the line, "my eyes don't shed tears, yet kid they pour when I'm thinking session you," didn't appear to be particularly uncovering since Ocean composed the melody for a lady. In light of the letter he distributed not long ago, in which he expressed that his first love, at age 19, was with a man, that line- - and others on the collection - increases some individual and chronicled setting. For a culture that can be woefully progressive in terms of sexuality. This is changing, and Frank Ocean is helping it to change, and if his disclosure motivates others to accept themselves and/or the world more-so, then that could be one of Channel Orange's finest legacies. Be that as it may, it won't be the collection's only legacy.
Its lovely ambiguities had individuals responding with amazing reviews. Whether deliberately or not, Channel Orange's dialect is splendidly - and skillfully- - comprehensive. As opposed to motivating audience members to look over through the verses for specific words or references, Ocean blends things up so well- - and coats the whole undertaking with substantial measurements of masterful production. While Channel Orange is loaded down with unique points of interest and characters, its general extension is great, as is Ocean's. We give this a 9/10" - Fro
" Kendrick Lamar’s
album “To Pimp a Butterfly”, demonstrates his artistic
progression. The tone(s) of voice used and the ideas he is portraying
are amazing. Kendrick does not seem to care about ones that lack
understanding of his mission. The rapper has created a platform of
funk, soul and jazz to set the mood throughout. The blended genres create a sound that will surely make you listen again and again. It
takes a wise person to understand all of the messages Kendrick
desperately wants to share with us. t.p.a.b is an album that will
make you think for a long time even after you finish enjoying the
sounds. But don't let that keep you from listening through it again,
there are always more to discover when dealing with an artist like
Kendrick Lamar.
“He is an
artist, a poet, lyrical genius, and the state of California recently
rewarded him for being a positive icon.” - Ellen Degeneres before
Kendrick performed “These Walls” on her show. This man tackles a
multitude of some of societies hottest issues today. Although the
strong ideas touched upon in t.p.a.b can be consuming, the direction
Lamar is pulling hip-hop in terms of sound production is very
exciting and obvious in almost every track. The vocals,
instrumentals, tones and the beats which swing the mood of the music
and create emotions are perfectly syncing with each other. “How
much a dollar cost”, a track where you experience a story where
Lamar refuses to give cash, with “reason”, to a poor man. Later
on, the poor man turns out to be God testing him.
This is one of
those albums that you really do need to hear in order to understand.
But what else do you expect from someone like Kendrick Lamar? So
without giving too much away, we rate the album an easy 8.5/10!" - Fro
"Whether it’s
love or hate, just about everyone today has an opinion about Kanye
West. From the now-numerous VMA incidents, to his marriage with
reality star Kim Kardashian, the outspoken musician has given the
public quite a bit to talk about. Despite all of the controversy
between his actions and relationship(s), the truth is that West has
been allowed such a consistent spot underneath the spotlight because
of the quality of music that he records. Numerous reality TV stars
have come and gone from the public eye over the years, but the
enduring quality of West’s music—despite other controversies—has
afforded him a good deal of dedicated fans that may not be around
through the drama—but most certainly will be when the his next
album drops.
It wasn’t
always this way for West, who for many years struggled to find a
record deal. Although successful as a producer, West was believed by
many executives and musicians to have qualities generally unsuited
for a successful career as a hip hop artist. West’s debut album,
The College Dropout (2004), silenced the disbelievers
and opened the floodgates for what would later be considered one of
the most-successful rap careers of all-time.
The College
Dropout is an excellent album because it is different, in very
notable ways. While the beats, rhythms, melodies, and lyrics are all
well-composed and arranged, as those of many other top rap songs are,
the overall content and meaning of the work within the album—in
coordination with the abnormally impressive sound—separate it from
other hip hop albums of recent times.
The College
Dropout goes everywhere in its songs—from sad, to thought
provoking, as well as comical, West evidently went all-out in its
four year production, in terms of not only assuring that the sound
was of a high quality, but also that the meaning behind the album
was noticeable, and a big part of its overall appeal.
The first half of
the album provides contextual background into West’s own origins,
and personal life before fame, as well as some interesting social
commentary that still has meaning today. “All Falls Down” delves
into modern day consumerism and materialistic nature, often based
around one’s image, which is rampant, from West’s perspective.
It’s well-presented and thought-provoking, all without becoming
overly informative or political. The beauty is, West isn’t telling
listeners what to think, but rather conveying his own thoughts in a
very interesting fashion; it’s the towed balance between thought
provoking and smug that make the album so great, in part.
The first half continues strong, stopping off with “Jesus Walks”
at about the quarter mark, which explores West’s religious beliefs,
as well as his perception of the status of religion and criminal
culture in the media and news. It’s a technically enjoyable song in
terms of sound, but really works best as West presents his thoughts
as just that—thoughts, as opposed to fact. It’s been mentioned,
but it’s why the album is so excellent. The first half of the album
concludes with “The New Workout Plan”, which offers a look into
the money-based appearances of men, and the beautiful women that they
find, only because of their money—and the looks of the women.
The second half
of the album is no let down. “Slow Jamz” increases the speed
of the second half initially, and provides an all-around excellent
hip hop track by any measure. It demonstrates that West is truly able
to make hits with sounds as good as or better than the best of hip
hop, while injecting the emotion and feeling that separate his music
from that of other artists. “Wired Shut” was recorded while
West’s mouth was still, well, wired shut after a near-fatal car
crash, and really drives the entire album home.
The College Dropout undeniably has heart. The skits are all
well-placed, and the culmination of emotions and feelings of the
songs within the album are excellent.
As a whole, The
College Dropout is impressive. It’s wide-ranging, good-sounding,
thought-provoking, and an excellent all-around listen. West would do well to
return to the style of The College Dropout with his newer
work. The problem is, with an album this good, it’s not an easy
thing to do. The College
Dropout gets a 8/10." - Fro
"Green Day has
undoubtedly made some of the most exciting—and best-selling—music
of the last (nearly) thirty years. The California-based punk rock
trio has stood the test of time—both success-wise, and on a
personal level (thirty or so years is a long time to work with the
same two people!). However, their continuing success hasn’t come
without some re-branding of their initial punk rock sound.
The first album
of Green Day to really demonstrate the band’s musical diversity—in
quite a few different ways—was their fifth studio album, Nimrod
(1997). This eighteen-track masterpiece goes anywhere and
everywhere in terms of music genres and diverse sounds, featuring all
new instruments intertwined into tracks, as well as themes of heavy
metal, folk, ska, and traditional rock noticeable in small portions
of music, as well as entire songs. Nimrod has proven that
Green Day can perform essentially any type of music that they please.
Moreover, they can do it well.
As is common with
artists and bands that decide to delve into a style of music that
they’re not familiar with, the final product—no matter how much
fun it may have been to record—just doesn’t hold up in terms of
quality. Thankfully, as has been said, Nimrod is awesome.
Additionally, the tracks that encompass Green Day’s traditional
punk rock style weren’t put on the back-burner and released in an
unfinished state, to allow more time for the perfection of new-genre
tracks.
When the album kicks off with the fast-moving “Nice Guys Finish
Last”, fans can be sure, regardless of whether or not they
appreciate the style, that the music on the album is of a high
quality. The first half of the album plays in the same general Green
Day style that fans are used to (the same ballpark style, that is),
with the aforementioned new instruments, melodies, and features
integrated, to create unique-sounding tracks. “Hitchin’ a Ride”
has achieved quite a bit of notoriety, and is of course kicked-off by
a solo violin part. Yeah, it’s still weird for me too, even though
I’ve listened to it for years; Green Day was able to make an
awesome song that opens with a violin solo!
The first half of
the album continues to be largely enjoyable, with tracks like
“Redundant” and “Scattered” on the way to the halfway point.
Although the general sound of the first half is a bit different than
longtime fans may be used to, the really big departure(s) from
traditional Green Day music can be found in the last nine songs.
The instrumental
“Last Ride In” gets the second half moving (a bit slowly), and is
an enjoyable listen, but may be better-suited for a different
position on the album. The violin makes a well-integrated appearance
in this track as well (yes, two songs on a Green Day album featuring
the violin—and one of them is an instrumental!). Next, some
interesting and variably paced tracks—from “Jinx’ and
“Haushinka” to “Walking Alone”—take us to the grand finale,
which represents the ultimate departure from traditional Green Day
sounds. “Take Back” is a short track at just over a minute in
length, which can be described best as somewhere between death metal
and hard rock. Trust me, you haven’t heard anything quite like it
from the band (even the earlier track, “Platypus (I Hate You)”
isn’t quite as violent). From there, the ska-inspired “King For a
Day” takes over with exciting sing-along lyrics and surprisingly
effective use of the horn, until the now-classic “Good Riddance
(Time of Your Life)” serves as another excellent song—and
interesting musical point—on the album, being an entirely acoustic,
solo-performed song. Finally, the solid “Prosthetic Head”
finishes the album off, in an exciting and fairly (for whatever
reason) obscure fashion, in terms of commercial success. What a ride!
To be clear,
Nimrod isn’t perfect. Although all of the songs have some
quality-based merits, there are certainly tracks that are better than
others. “Grouch” and “Take Back” are alright for a listen
every now and then, but won’t be heard regularly, by and large.
Additionally, even though it’s a solid track, “Last Ride In”
does throw off the pacing of the album a bit as a whole, and may have
been better-suited for a hidden final track. However, as a whole,
Nimrod is an impressive collection of awesome songs. It’s
really rare to enjoy such a diverse—and high-quality—album. If
you haven’t given it a listen, do yourself a favor and do so as
soon as you can. It’s a crazy ride, but an admittedly enjoyable
one, from start to finish; each track, despite its individual sound,
is well-crafted, written, and performed. The quality of its
uniqueness is what separates the album from the rest of Green Day’s
work—and music, largely. Nimrod gets a 8.5/10." - Fro
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