Next time I log on, tomorrow or Thursday, I'm going to do Regina Spektor's "Far" and I might take a [late] look at Mos Def's "The Ecstatic". Check back soon!
-- UPDATE --
Okay, well obviously that didn't happen. I still haven't gotten "The Ecstatic" in its entirety, but I could probably do "Far" sometime. Just gimme a little while.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Eminem - "Relapse"
If you read my Black Eyed Peas review, you will know that I'm not a rap fan. Disregard that for a moment.
This review is late because I didn't buy "Relapse". My friend burned it for me, and I just popped it in for a listen. I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. Eminem tells stories with the beginning songs of "Relapse"...of drug addiction, abuse, assault...in "My Mom", Em talks about how his mom got him hooked on prescription drugs. "Insane" is about being sexually abused by his stepfather. "3 A.M." is about the consequences of doing drugs. But behind all these dark life stories, Eminem includes some of his trademark humor, including breaking the musical fourth wall in "Medicine Ball" (He says a few slightly offensive lines about Christopher Reeves and then apologizes for the fact that so many words rhyme with Reeves).
This album is produced quite well by Dr. Dre. He makes a couple cameos as well, one of which is the song "Crack a Bottle", which, despite the assinine lyrics, is very catchy.
Overall, the beats and rythyms of all of the songs are great, but Marshall Mathers' lyrics are too contrived to be considered great. This is why I don't recommend you buy the whole thing, but you might want to invest in a few tracks.
Key tracks: "3 A.M.", "We Made You", "Crack a Bottle", "Medicine Ball", "Beautiful"
Florence & the Machine - "A Lot of Love, A Lot of Blood" (EP)
Today, Florence & The Machine (Florence Welch) released "A Lot of Love, A Lot of Blood", an EP to support her debut album "Lungs", coming in early July. Listening through the tracks ("Dog Days are Over", "Kiss With a Fist", "You've Got the Love", "Hospital Beds" and the Optimo remix of "Dog Days are Over"), I can definitely feel a hunch coming on that F&TM will likely become a legit indie pop singer/songwriter. Her songs have just the right amount of soul hooked inside, and a little bit of lively fire in her first single, "Kiss With a Fist". Florence is definitely one to watch.
Key tracks: "Kiss With a Fist", "You've Got the Love"
God Help the Girl
While on tour with Belle & Sebastion, vocalist Stuart Murdoch started to write songs that he considered to be aside from B&S. He began to tell a story with the songs of a Scottish girl hospitalized with mental insanity. He decided to audition singers to tell the story on an album entitled God Help the Girl. All of the songs on God Help the Girl, which was released today, are new songs, with the exception of "Funny Little Frog" which appeared on the B&S album the Life Pursuit.
The vocalists chosen by Murdoch to tell the story behind God Help the Girl are Catherine Ireton, Brittany Stallings, Neil Hannon, Asya, and himself, on two of the tracks. The album feels like a Belle & Sebastian album minus Stuart...all of the songs have a distinctly B&S feel, without the distinct B&S vox. This does not make the album bad, just different. Most of the vocalists are really good...Ireton is fantastic, and I believe that she will go on to have quite a career in music.
I realize that some are saying GHTG is underwhelming, but, listening to it, I think it is very well written, sung greatly and played brilliantly. I don't know if this is due to a bias that I hold (Belle & Sebastian are one of my favorite bands of all time), but whatever the case be, I would highly recommend God Help the Girl.
Key tracks: "God Help the Girl", "Pretty Eve in the Tub", "Hiding 'neath the Umbrella", "Funny Little Frog", "Come Monday Night", "I'll Have to Dance With Cassie".
New!
You may have noticed that CDBOOM has become Ultrabear. I figured Ultrabear was a cooler name.
It's New Music Tuesday tomorrow (err, today), you know what that means...reviews! Expect reviews of Mars Volta, Regina Spektor, Florence & the Machine and a late one of Eminem. I'll also do a single review of Modest Mouse's "Autumn Beds". Get pumped!
It's New Music Tuesday tomorrow (err, today), you know what that means...reviews! Expect reviews of Mars Volta, Regina Spektor, Florence & the Machine and a late one of Eminem. I'll also do a single review of Modest Mouse's "Autumn Beds". Get pumped!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sonic Youth - "The Eternal"
Being a young'n, I missed out on the prime of Sonic Youth. I decided to "catch up" with the long-awaited new record, "The Eternal", which was released yesterday.
They don't mess around, starting off the album with their single, "Sacred Trickster". This is a fuzzy, deshevled rock song not unlike the "prime" of Sonic Youth that I mentioned previously, the one that I missed out on. This song is imperfect, in a good way. It is raw, and it's what rock today should be.
This leads into the second track, "Anti-Orgasm". This is in the same style as the opening track, a tad bit more polished but the same sound. The slight polishedness doesn't last long, the shredding starts soon along with the keyless vox. The guitar riffs explore areas of the traditional guitar neck that I did not know were existant. This song as a whole sounds like some crazy Satanist nightmare, and I don't mean that in a bad way.
Then we have "Leaky Lifeboat", which starts out cute, but very spotty and untuned, in an almost mocking way. The verse transitions from the raw, keyless sound into a more perfect sound in a very drifty way. The chorus gets a tad quieter and a bit more pizzacato in a way that reminds me of sad modern indie rock. This shows that Sonic Youth are themselves, but they try other stuff too.
After that, "Antenna" comes on, which has stood out as the most popular track throughout the last couple days. It starts quiet with slight drifty fuzz in the background. It builds up to a pounding rock verse. The vocals of Thurston Moore come in deep and distant. This track is fogged with feedback, making it seem farrer-off. The verse makes you want to pound your head...a feeling that hasn't come along in alternative/indie rock for years.
The next track is "What We Know", which begins with some interesting drug patterns and a cool bass riff. Then the signature fuzzy distorted guitars cue in. The male vocalists begin singing with voices that are half-keyed and half-talking into the mic. The drum work stands out on this track a bit more than on the others.
"What We Know" fades into "Calming the Snake" which starts with light, sort-of scary-ish guitar. It then comes in with ting-ting like drums and bass, and then, go figure, some distorted guitar. Cue untuned riffage. Cue untuned wailing vocals. It's not that this song isn't good, it just seems like it's the same as the past few tracks. I'm liking the sound, but it seems like they aren't doing enough with it.
After this we have "Poison Arrow", which has a couple different riffs coming over each other and contrasting in a way that fits. This song probably has the longest intro out of any song on this album so far. The vocals come in surprisingly close and clear, mirroring the guitar in the background. It has a chorus with soft vocals being repeated, and then the same riffs from the beginning come in.
Then there's "Malibu Gas Station", which starts differently from the other tracks. It's soft, and there isn't really any major guitar pounding or fuzz. Don't get me wrong, there is eventually riffing guitar and rock drums, but it isn't the same raw distortion that all of the other tracks have, which, at this point, could be a good thing. The guitar goes up step by step before going back down...there are some good female vocals on this track. This one stands out for me.
Next is "Thunderclap for Bobby Pyn". The vocals come in fast with the guitar...the soft, surly vocals go on and off with the speedy verses and choruses. Not a bad track, but really not special.
After that, "No Way" comes on. You may think it's going to be another drifty soft one at the very beginning, but that same guitar and voice come in. This one has one of those choruses that takes you a bit by surprise...exploring notes and chords that weren't previously explored in the verse. Probably the outstanding of the not-very-outstanding tracks.
Then "Walkin' Blue". The guitar that comes on is not too imperfect...a refreshing sound. The verse is reminiscent of simple grunge rock of the 1990's, which is a sound that many rock bands are afraid to explore these days. I like this track for it's simplicity of a sort...I can really respect all of the artists on this one.
It finishes off with "Massage the History". The intro is simple enough, calmer than other tracks. Then, believe it or not, a guitar comes on that is not at all affected by anything, just a guitar being strummed, which is a great thing to hear. It surprises the ears after listening to a majority of "The Eternal". The intro is strummy and backed up by drum patterns that remind you sort of Led Zeppelin intros. The vocals come on and the closeness makes it sound like Kim Gordon is singing through a paper towel roll directly into your ear. The repetition and softness of this song is good.
Overall, it's a good sound, and it's pretty refreshing, but I can't help but sprout the thought that Sonic Youth just pulled out the same bag of tricks on all of the tracks. Of course, there are other things that are done, but it seems like it's always just some oddly tuned guitar, distorted with high levels of foggy feedback, playing desheveled riffs. For this reason, I wouldn't buy the whole thing.
Key tracks: "Sacred Trickster", "Anti-Orgasm", "Leaky Lifeboat", "Antenna", "Malibu Gas Station".
They don't mess around, starting off the album with their single, "Sacred Trickster". This is a fuzzy, deshevled rock song not unlike the "prime" of Sonic Youth that I mentioned previously, the one that I missed out on. This song is imperfect, in a good way. It is raw, and it's what rock today should be.
This leads into the second track, "Anti-Orgasm". This is in the same style as the opening track, a tad bit more polished but the same sound. The slight polishedness doesn't last long, the shredding starts soon along with the keyless vox. The guitar riffs explore areas of the traditional guitar neck that I did not know were existant. This song as a whole sounds like some crazy Satanist nightmare, and I don't mean that in a bad way.
Then we have "Leaky Lifeboat", which starts out cute, but very spotty and untuned, in an almost mocking way. The verse transitions from the raw, keyless sound into a more perfect sound in a very drifty way. The chorus gets a tad quieter and a bit more pizzacato in a way that reminds me of sad modern indie rock. This shows that Sonic Youth are themselves, but they try other stuff too.
After that, "Antenna" comes on, which has stood out as the most popular track throughout the last couple days. It starts quiet with slight drifty fuzz in the background. It builds up to a pounding rock verse. The vocals of Thurston Moore come in deep and distant. This track is fogged with feedback, making it seem farrer-off. The verse makes you want to pound your head...a feeling that hasn't come along in alternative/indie rock for years.
The next track is "What We Know", which begins with some interesting drug patterns and a cool bass riff. Then the signature fuzzy distorted guitars cue in. The male vocalists begin singing with voices that are half-keyed and half-talking into the mic. The drum work stands out on this track a bit more than on the others.
"What We Know" fades into "Calming the Snake" which starts with light, sort-of scary-ish guitar. It then comes in with ting-ting like drums and bass, and then, go figure, some distorted guitar. Cue untuned riffage. Cue untuned wailing vocals. It's not that this song isn't good, it just seems like it's the same as the past few tracks. I'm liking the sound, but it seems like they aren't doing enough with it.
After this we have "Poison Arrow", which has a couple different riffs coming over each other and contrasting in a way that fits. This song probably has the longest intro out of any song on this album so far. The vocals come in surprisingly close and clear, mirroring the guitar in the background. It has a chorus with soft vocals being repeated, and then the same riffs from the beginning come in.
Then there's "Malibu Gas Station", which starts differently from the other tracks. It's soft, and there isn't really any major guitar pounding or fuzz. Don't get me wrong, there is eventually riffing guitar and rock drums, but it isn't the same raw distortion that all of the other tracks have, which, at this point, could be a good thing. The guitar goes up step by step before going back down...there are some good female vocals on this track. This one stands out for me.
Next is "Thunderclap for Bobby Pyn". The vocals come in fast with the guitar...the soft, surly vocals go on and off with the speedy verses and choruses. Not a bad track, but really not special.
After that, "No Way" comes on. You may think it's going to be another drifty soft one at the very beginning, but that same guitar and voice come in. This one has one of those choruses that takes you a bit by surprise...exploring notes and chords that weren't previously explored in the verse. Probably the outstanding of the not-very-outstanding tracks.
Then "Walkin' Blue". The guitar that comes on is not too imperfect...a refreshing sound. The verse is reminiscent of simple grunge rock of the 1990's, which is a sound that many rock bands are afraid to explore these days. I like this track for it's simplicity of a sort...I can really respect all of the artists on this one.
It finishes off with "Massage the History". The intro is simple enough, calmer than other tracks. Then, believe it or not, a guitar comes on that is not at all affected by anything, just a guitar being strummed, which is a great thing to hear. It surprises the ears after listening to a majority of "The Eternal". The intro is strummy and backed up by drum patterns that remind you sort of Led Zeppelin intros. The vocals come on and the closeness makes it sound like Kim Gordon is singing through a paper towel roll directly into your ear. The repetition and softness of this song is good.
Overall, it's a good sound, and it's pretty refreshing, but I can't help but sprout the thought that Sonic Youth just pulled out the same bag of tricks on all of the tracks. Of course, there are other things that are done, but it seems like it's always just some oddly tuned guitar, distorted with high levels of foggy feedback, playing desheveled riffs. For this reason, I wouldn't buy the whole thing.
Key tracks: "Sacred Trickster", "Anti-Orgasm", "Leaky Lifeboat", "Antenna", "Malibu Gas Station".
Passion Pit - "Manners"
Having listened and re-listened to Chunk of Change (I still don't know whether it's an album or an EP...), I was excited when I saw a legit Passion Pit full-length coming out. I spent some time on their MySpace listening to the single, "The Reeling", which is not as simply catchy as their previous hit "Sleepyhead" but is in many ways better and more listenable. When Manners dropped on 5/19, I bought it and let it spin a few times, and now I think I'll be able to break it down.
The album starts with "Make Light", a song with a somewhat epic intro that fades into the softer vox of Michael Angelakos, the keyboardist/lead vocalist. During the end of the first verse, the synth riff from the intro makes a reappearance and then it fades into the second verse, which is slightly boppier than the first with the looping ting-ting drum pattern and the female "bop bop bop bop" vox in the back. It then segues into a magnificent chorus that takes you by surprise with the slowing of the tempo and the sudden slightly melodramatic turn, and the chorus finishes off with the synth riff. It then goes back to the same chorus which is then promptly ended with another chorus. "Make Light" is a great song to open the album, and a great song in general.
It then leads into the second track, "Little Secrets". This is one of my favorites from the album because of the synth and the beat's playful positivity. And frankly, it's dancable. Fo sho. The chorus is composed of some short keyboard riffs and Michael wailing like crazy as usual. The chorus is very catchy and contains a childrens' choir, which is a plus in any situation. If you buy only a few songs from Manners, "Little Secrets" should be one of them.
The next track is "Moth's Wings". It is slow and emotional in a way that doesn't divert from Passion Pit's usual style. This song is one of the more beautiful songs on the album...Passion Pit was definitely "on a roll" or so to speak with the first few tracks of this album. The chorus incorporates vocals from the whole band in a brilliant way, making you want to start the song over to hear that first fade from verse-to-chorus again. "Moth's Wings" should be at the end of some movie that has to do with tragedy. In the next few decades, if anybody makes a movie about the Titanic, the sinking scene should definitely contain "Moth's Wings". If a Titanic movie pops up, somebody write a letter or let me know so that I can.
"Moth's Wings" is followed by the single, "The Reeling". As previously stated, it is a pretty great song. It's the sort of song that makes you want to start moving. I'm not really a dancey person, but as I sit here writing this review my hips are swinging the computer chair side-to-side with the beat. It's like a disease. If you don't own Manners, you should at least own "The Reeling".
Next we have "Eyes as Candles", which opens with a surprisingly ordinary drum riff which fades into a 80's love ballad synth pattern which makes you want to grin from ear-to-ear, as do many of Passion Pit's more adventurous ideas. The chorus is surprising...the verse was "cute", but the chorus is actually "good". Once the chorus came on, I remembered why "Eyes as Candles" stood out to me upon first listen. Not better than "The Reeling", but definitely a highlight.
After this, it's "Swimming in the Flood". The intro is some far-off strings that sort-of pulsate louder towards you until a hip-hoppy beat comes in with a electric piano riff...the strings fade off to Michael singing softly (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!). This song is soft in a charming way, but that being said, it doesn't necessarily stand out. This song is good by general standards, but compared to the songs that we just heard on Manners, it isn't anything to go crazy over.
After that, "Folds in your Hands" comes on. It's another song that's slightly "retro" at some parts. The verse is actually nothing special (despite the fact that I love throwback songs, see my Black Eyed Peas review), but the chorus is actually pretty good. Passion Pit has a way of changing their songs greatly from verse-to-chorus. For the chorus, "Folds in your Hands" is a good song but for everything else, it isn't really special. It's better than some of the songs on the album, but not as good as those first few.
Then we have "To Kingdom Come" which has a surprisingly down-to-Earth intro, for Passion Pit, but then we get some synth, as we usually do. Passion Pit has a way with their synth, being an alternative-electronic hybrid band. "To Kingdom Come" has a pretty good verse...not as wild and jumpy as most of their songs but still good in its own right. Passion Pit takes a break from their magnificent choruses with this song...the chorus sounds like a slightly louder version of the verse. It has a pretty good bridge...most PP songs don't even really have a bridge, but this one has a good one. Worth a listen or two.
After this, their original hit single "Sleepyhead" from Chunk of Change makes a reappearance. This song is brilliant, as you should know if you're already a PP fan...this is the song that introduced many of us (including me) to the band. I personally put this song on repeat for at least an hour when I first got Chunk of Change. If you don't already own this song, you should definitely buy it, even if you don't buy anything else.
After that we get "Let Your Love Grow Tall", which immediately has a pretty playful verse and fades into a short, drifty second part, which is a trick that Passion Pit pulls out often. this happens twice in the first minute of the song. Then the chorus starts, and alas! There's another childrens' choir! This is probably one of my favorites from the latter half of this record.
After that is the final song, "Seaweed Song", which, excluding "Sleepyhead", is the best song of the second half of Manners, IMO. It has a great chorus. This isn't a song that you would usually think of dancing to, but the beat that appears in the chorus is way too jungley and cool to not move a little bit to. The verse is slow in a satisfying way...it makes it seem like a happy song even though it usually wouldn't sound like one. This is another song with a bridge, which is pretty nice, slapped there in the middle of the song. A great song in whole.
So overall, I definitely think you should purchase Manners in full. I find it to be better than Chunk of Change...it seems like all of the things I liked from the debut were magnified x10 and all of the things I didn't like about the first effort by Passion Pit were snipped completely. Manners is outstanding, as an album.
Key tracks: "Make Light", "Little Secrets", "Moth's Wings", "The Reeling", "Eyes as Candles", "Sleepyhead", "Seaweed Song". Too many tracks are "key" on this album to purchase them individually, though, I think...it would do the album much more justice to just buy the whole thing.
Below is "Sleepyhead" and "The Reeling".
The album starts with "Make Light", a song with a somewhat epic intro that fades into the softer vox of Michael Angelakos, the keyboardist/lead vocalist. During the end of the first verse, the synth riff from the intro makes a reappearance and then it fades into the second verse, which is slightly boppier than the first with the looping ting-ting drum pattern and the female "bop bop bop bop" vox in the back. It then segues into a magnificent chorus that takes you by surprise with the slowing of the tempo and the sudden slightly melodramatic turn, and the chorus finishes off with the synth riff. It then goes back to the same chorus which is then promptly ended with another chorus. "Make Light" is a great song to open the album, and a great song in general.
It then leads into the second track, "Little Secrets". This is one of my favorites from the album because of the synth and the beat's playful positivity. And frankly, it's dancable. Fo sho. The chorus is composed of some short keyboard riffs and Michael wailing like crazy as usual. The chorus is very catchy and contains a childrens' choir, which is a plus in any situation. If you buy only a few songs from Manners, "Little Secrets" should be one of them.
The next track is "Moth's Wings". It is slow and emotional in a way that doesn't divert from Passion Pit's usual style. This song is one of the more beautiful songs on the album...Passion Pit was definitely "on a roll" or so to speak with the first few tracks of this album. The chorus incorporates vocals from the whole band in a brilliant way, making you want to start the song over to hear that first fade from verse-to-chorus again. "Moth's Wings" should be at the end of some movie that has to do with tragedy. In the next few decades, if anybody makes a movie about the Titanic, the sinking scene should definitely contain "Moth's Wings". If a Titanic movie pops up, somebody write a letter or let me know so that I can.
"Moth's Wings" is followed by the single, "The Reeling". As previously stated, it is a pretty great song. It's the sort of song that makes you want to start moving. I'm not really a dancey person, but as I sit here writing this review my hips are swinging the computer chair side-to-side with the beat. It's like a disease. If you don't own Manners, you should at least own "The Reeling".
Next we have "Eyes as Candles", which opens with a surprisingly ordinary drum riff which fades into a 80's love ballad synth pattern which makes you want to grin from ear-to-ear, as do many of Passion Pit's more adventurous ideas. The chorus is surprising...the verse was "cute", but the chorus is actually "good". Once the chorus came on, I remembered why "Eyes as Candles" stood out to me upon first listen. Not better than "The Reeling", but definitely a highlight.
After this, it's "Swimming in the Flood". The intro is some far-off strings that sort-of pulsate louder towards you until a hip-hoppy beat comes in with a electric piano riff...the strings fade off to Michael singing softly (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!). This song is soft in a charming way, but that being said, it doesn't necessarily stand out. This song is good by general standards, but compared to the songs that we just heard on Manners, it isn't anything to go crazy over.
After that, "Folds in your Hands" comes on. It's another song that's slightly "retro" at some parts. The verse is actually nothing special (despite the fact that I love throwback songs, see my Black Eyed Peas review), but the chorus is actually pretty good. Passion Pit has a way of changing their songs greatly from verse-to-chorus. For the chorus, "Folds in your Hands" is a good song but for everything else, it isn't really special. It's better than some of the songs on the album, but not as good as those first few.
Then we have "To Kingdom Come" which has a surprisingly down-to-Earth intro, for Passion Pit, but then we get some synth, as we usually do. Passion Pit has a way with their synth, being an alternative-electronic hybrid band. "To Kingdom Come" has a pretty good verse...not as wild and jumpy as most of their songs but still good in its own right. Passion Pit takes a break from their magnificent choruses with this song...the chorus sounds like a slightly louder version of the verse. It has a pretty good bridge...most PP songs don't even really have a bridge, but this one has a good one. Worth a listen or two.
After this, their original hit single "Sleepyhead" from Chunk of Change makes a reappearance. This song is brilliant, as you should know if you're already a PP fan...this is the song that introduced many of us (including me) to the band. I personally put this song on repeat for at least an hour when I first got Chunk of Change. If you don't already own this song, you should definitely buy it, even if you don't buy anything else.
After that we get "Let Your Love Grow Tall", which immediately has a pretty playful verse and fades into a short, drifty second part, which is a trick that Passion Pit pulls out often. this happens twice in the first minute of the song. Then the chorus starts, and alas! There's another childrens' choir! This is probably one of my favorites from the latter half of this record.
After that is the final song, "Seaweed Song", which, excluding "Sleepyhead", is the best song of the second half of Manners, IMO. It has a great chorus. This isn't a song that you would usually think of dancing to, but the beat that appears in the chorus is way too jungley and cool to not move a little bit to. The verse is slow in a satisfying way...it makes it seem like a happy song even though it usually wouldn't sound like one. This is another song with a bridge, which is pretty nice, slapped there in the middle of the song. A great song in whole.
So overall, I definitely think you should purchase Manners in full. I find it to be better than Chunk of Change...it seems like all of the things I liked from the debut were magnified x10 and all of the things I didn't like about the first effort by Passion Pit were snipped completely. Manners is outstanding, as an album.
Key tracks: "Make Light", "Little Secrets", "Moth's Wings", "The Reeling", "Eyes as Candles", "Sleepyhead", "Seaweed Song". Too many tracks are "key" on this album to purchase them individually, though, I think...it would do the album much more justice to just buy the whole thing.
Below is "Sleepyhead" and "The Reeling".
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Black Eyed Peas - "The E.N.D."
I'm going to come out and say that I don't want first impressions of me to be reflected on the fact that I reviewed a Black Eyed Peas album. This is not the kind of music I usually listen to nor am used to listening to. That is a disclaimer. If anything I say in the remainder of the entry makes you want to pound my face in with a sledgehammer, please let me know so I can purchase a sledgehammer and a round trip plane ticket to my place of residence so that you can do so.
When the song "Boom Boom Pow" was released, it shattered the charts and soon rose to the top of the iTunes bestseller list. I did not like this song. I found it kind of annoying and just another song that was #1 on iTunes for a few days that would as a direct result never be a song that I would enjoy. As this cycled and recycled on the ghetto radio stations, I grew a fondness for it similar to a fondness that a white chick would have for a Beyonce song. This slight familiarity-induced fondness lead me to check out the other BEP singles...to, sort of, "humor" myself. I tried "Imma Be". And "Alive". And "Meet Me Halfway". I soon realized that I inexplicably loved The E.N.D. This is the part that kind of makes me want to buy the sledgehammer and pound it into my own face. After the dreadful "Where is the Love"...the unbearable "Let's Get It Started" (or, as known to some, "Let's Get Retarded"), and the virtually unlistenable "My Humps" (what is it even about?), I still had the nerve to enjoy listening to this music.
The things I enjoyed about "Alive" and "Meet Me Halfway" were that they're delightfully 80's. I saw lots of reviews on the iTunes store from eleven-year-old girls saying things sort of like "OMMGGGG BEP suck now, this sounds like a song from the 80s, omg don't buy" which I'm sure is an opinion held by a lot of the [lesser-educated] long-time fans of the Black Eyed Peas that I think I don't have because of my very recent induction into the fan club. The homage to musical styles of the past with modern hip-hop touches was carried out brilliantly - Will.i.am shows great production qualities with tracks such as these.
Other tracks where Will.i.am shows great behind-the-scenes prowess are cuts like "One Tribe" and "Imma Be", which contains very ghetto but also kind of delightful vox from Fergie, both of which are pretty similar to rap/hip-hot hits which are frowned upon by most indie reviewers but are also pretty high in musical value. You're listening and you're bopping along to the music and you like it, and then all of a sudden you think to yourself, "Holy crap, this is a rap song."
Will.i.am, Fergie, and those two other guys do crazy stuff to your mind with this record. If you're like me, you may not want to buy the whole thing, but I recommend getting all of the tracks mentioned in my review and also maybe "Rock that Body" because of the awesome Rob Base sample and "I Gotta Feeling" because it's actually shockingly catchy.
When the song "Boom Boom Pow" was released, it shattered the charts and soon rose to the top of the iTunes bestseller list. I did not like this song. I found it kind of annoying and just another song that was #1 on iTunes for a few days that would as a direct result never be a song that I would enjoy. As this cycled and recycled on the ghetto radio stations, I grew a fondness for it similar to a fondness that a white chick would have for a Beyonce song. This slight familiarity-induced fondness lead me to check out the other BEP singles...to, sort of, "humor" myself. I tried "Imma Be". And "Alive". And "Meet Me Halfway". I soon realized that I inexplicably loved The E.N.D. This is the part that kind of makes me want to buy the sledgehammer and pound it into my own face. After the dreadful "Where is the Love"...the unbearable "Let's Get It Started" (or, as known to some, "Let's Get Retarded"), and the virtually unlistenable "My Humps" (what is it even about?), I still had the nerve to enjoy listening to this music.
The things I enjoyed about "Alive" and "Meet Me Halfway" were that they're delightfully 80's. I saw lots of reviews on the iTunes store from eleven-year-old girls saying things sort of like "OMMGGGG BEP suck now, this sounds like a song from the 80s, omg don't buy" which I'm sure is an opinion held by a lot of the [lesser-educated] long-time fans of the Black Eyed Peas that I think I don't have because of my very recent induction into the fan club. The homage to musical styles of the past with modern hip-hop touches was carried out brilliantly - Will.i.am shows great production qualities with tracks such as these.
Other tracks where Will.i.am shows great behind-the-scenes prowess are cuts like "One Tribe" and "Imma Be", which contains very ghetto but also kind of delightful vox from Fergie, both of which are pretty similar to rap/hip-hot hits which are frowned upon by most indie reviewers but are also pretty high in musical value. You're listening and you're bopping along to the music and you like it, and then all of a sudden you think to yourself, "Holy crap, this is a rap song."
Will.i.am, Fergie, and those two other guys do crazy stuff to your mind with this record. If you're like me, you may not want to buy the whole thing, but I recommend getting all of the tracks mentioned in my review and also maybe "Rock that Body" because of the awesome Rob Base sample and "I Gotta Feeling" because it's actually shockingly catchy.
Hello
Hello, I'm Will, and this is CDBOOM. This is where I write about albums that I buy. I like music, and I like people who like music. Welcome to my blog.
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