Album: R.E.D.
Artist: Ne-Yo
Genre: Pop/R&B
Sounds Like: R.E.D. means STOP?making whack CDs like this
Reviewer: Beth
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Dear Ne-Yo
Oh Ne-Yo you have just never been right with me. I remember listening to your CDs and just wanting you to break out of your Michael Jackson copycat mode. I wanted you to test your talents. I think you are a rather talented dude but you seem to be OK with being stuck in a very boring lane.
So I was really not checking for you or this new CD. Honestly, Ne-Yo I didn?t even know you had a new CD coming out and what does that say?
But you know I held out hope for you as I pressed play on my iPod to listen to R.E.D. for the first time.
I got a little excited when I heard the first 2 tracks of your new CD. I really like Cracks in Mr. Perfect and Lazy Love is a nice little track too. But then Ne-Yo you went WAY left of center. You turned right at Albuquerque when you should have turned left.
You went off into this dark crazy pop Chris Brown, LMFAO land of horrid music. Ne-Yo did you lose your way? What were you thinking? Is this your way of expanding your horizons?
Track after track after track it just kept getting worse. I started calling your name?Ne-Yo! Ne-yo! Where are you?! Come back Ne-Yo I won?t talk about your Michael Jackson copycat sound ever again! But for the love of all things symphonic please stop making this kind of music!
About 10 songs in I realized that I couldn?t see a light at the end of this horrible musical tunnel. Where is the light Ne-Yo! Step into the light Ne-Yo! Then it dawned on me there are 17 damn tracks on this CD! 15 too many if you ask me! Ne-Yo why 17? Who does that? 17 isn?t even a nice number! What were you thinking, Ne-Yo?!
Then it finally ended! The CD was over! I could breathe again!
I?m going to be honest with you Ne-Yo this CD was not very good. Matter of fact it was whack, whacktacular even!
Ne-Yo I beg you to never make another CD like this again! It hurt to even listen to this CD. Please Ne-Yo! Please don?t ever make a CD like this again.
Signed:
Beth Lanai
OHN Music Editor
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Album: good kid, m.A.A.D City
Genre: Hip-Hop
Sounds Like: an extremely solid Major Label debut of ?Average Guy Style? Hip-Hop that?s actually not ashamed to be what it is; the West Coast & Aftermath showing it can drop more than tired ?Gangsta Rap? audio cliches (4 out of 5, worth copping the full album on sale or a decent amount mp3s here)
Reviewer: DJ Fusion
Compton, California?s Kendrick Lamar hit the ground as an MC to really pay attention to during his run in the early to mid-2000s in the independent Hip-Hop scene through his own solo mixtapes and group releases as a part of the Black Hippy collective.
After dropping the deservedly critically acclaimed and independently released ?Section.80? full-length project in 2011, he was scooped up by Dr. Dre?s Aftermath Entertainment to start work on a major label full-length release.
Per usual in the Hip-Hop scene, there were worries that the uniqueness of Kendrick Lamar?s style ? the average guy rapper who acknowledges his environment in a dangerous area but won?t be trapped by it mentally or artistically ? would either be crushed, hidden and compromised by the Aftermath/Interscope label machine or that his 1st mainstream album would be milk-carton status on arrival, lost and never to be listened to by anyone except the stray label interns who might be holding onto the ?Dextox? album for ransom.
While not a perfect project, ?good kid, m.A.A.d city? ranks as one of the most solidly constructed and creatively expressive albums that have dropped in 2012 from any of the major label cliques and crews.
Besides opening up Kendrick Lamar to some of the best production money can currently buy and some nice marketing dollars, it seems like Dr. Dre?s direct hand in the 12 track collection of songs was pretty minimal ? and it works out for the best.
The production on this album is insanely on point and fits the young MC?s flows & song construction perfectly. Quality contributions of soulful mellow grooves, boom bap elements and bouncy funk (parts heavy, parts minimal, parts ?G-Funk?) by Pharrell, Hit-Boy, Just Blaze, T-Minus, Scoop DeVille, Like of Pac Div, Skhye Hutch, Tha Bizness, Terrance Martin and more really make this a release straight ready for heads to ride to in the car or mellow out with in the home spot.
The subject matter on ?good kid, m.A.A.D City? goes through thought conflicts about Kendrick Lamar?s love/hate relationship with his home area of Compton plus his ?can?t live with it, can?t live without it? viewpoints on the music industry, women, gangs, life as a whole and the myth/reality American Dream itself.
Kendrick Lamar?s gift is being able to tie all of these thoughts together in to a cohesive, smart and FUN album to listen to.
Sometimes these kind of theme albums can get a tad too pretentious, boring or preachy. His average guy vibe, pretty cool song writing skills along with a really smooth and lively flow and REALLY smart, direct and to the point lyricism really save the day. He wants to get a point out there, but is able to acknowledge that he has to actually craft quality songs to get those points across.
There are some relatively minor issues with the album.
A bit of the skit material drags on for a tad too long along with some weird spacing in between hooks on various songs. The while the vast majority of this album flows smooth like butter from track to track, joints like ?Poetic Justice? are a little jarring with trying little too hard to pander to the current mainstream radio trends of salacious ?get the girls? songs and the ending song ?Compton? ? while it does knock ? feel a little derivative of West Coast G-Funk hometown pride songs. A LITTLE more tightness on those ends could?ve made ?good kid, m.A.A.D City? damn near perfect.
?good kid, m.A.A.D City? at the end of the day isn?t just a fine display of a young MC on the rise with his talents and fame, but an example of what can happen when the label actually more or less leaves an artist alone who has built up their own indie fame by crafting a sense of authenticity and skills with the music and letting them just do them. Hip-Hop can reach for the stars if folks actually allow everyone?s unique talents to breath a bit.
Kendrick Lamar has put out a very solid project that?s not pandering to the harsh schisms of the current mainstream rap world for male MCs ? either being placed into a ?nihilistic gangsta? box or a pseudo ?lover boy? corner ? and coming out out the better for it. As of now at least, the good kid has actually found and succeeded as an artist in the m.A.A.D City of payola fame and music industry games.
Hope that audio saga continues.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Sing About Me, I?m Dying of Thirst; The Art of Peer Pressure; B***h Don?t Kill My Vibe; Real feat. Anna Wise of Sonnymoon; good kid
Music Video: Kendrick Lamar ? Sing About Me, I?m Dying of Thirst
Music Video: Kendrick Lamar feat. Anna Wise of Sonnymoon ? Real
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Album: Talking Book
Artist: Macy Gray
Genre: R&B/Pop/Rock
Sounds like: All of her other stuff, except this time around you already know the words.
Reviewer: Hex
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What?s the first thing that jumps into your head when I say the name Macy Gray? ?Wacky haircut? Raspy voice? Funky clothing or huge sunglasses?
Sure Macy?s had a few hits in her day, and I?m willing to bet a bunch of you probably still have ?I Try? hiding on your iPod somewhere.
But in the end, Macy Gray is more of a personality than a songbook. Going to a Macy Gray concert isn?t so much a chance to hear her unique songs or artistic statements as much as it?s simply a chance to be a part of a retro-soul vibe for a few hours. You get the feeling a lot of players have Macy Gray songs on their make-out playlists, but don?t listen to her otherwise.
Not that there?s anything wrong with that ? especially if retro soul is your thing, but that in the end it seems like fans appreciate her overall style more far than they?re worried about the substance of what she?s doing. Macy Gray is a mood, kinda like soft jazz or that whole Michael Buble/Seth MacFarlane swing music thing.
So if you look at it that way, the fact that most of her music sounds exactly the same probably isn?t that big a deal in the larger scheme of things for her fans.
But as an artist, it sort of paints you into a corner.
And when you think of it that way ? the fact that Macy Gray has now released two albums of cover songs in the same year starts to makes a little more sense.
Famous musicians are kinda funny when it comes to breaking themselves out of creative ruts ? because you don?t want to stop the money train from showing up or alienate any of your hardcore fans, but if it?s not inspiring you to write new songs anymore, what can you do?
If you?re ?Macy Gray, you do exactly what a lot of other artists do ? you hire Hal Willner to produce your album.
Most of you have probably never heard of ?Hal Willner, but he?s kind of a legendary figure in the?industry. ?In addition to his work as an avant garde musician, Hal?s had a long and successful?career working as a composer of music for television shows based out of New York ? especially those looking to have music that sounds like popular songs on the radio. For example, Hal Willner writes the music for many of the parody songs on Saturday Night Live.
But what Hal Willner is most famous for are the albums he produces for artists who are looking for a way to express themselves outside of what their fans expect of them. He?s sort of the record industry?s crazy idea guy who says ?What if we got Elvis Costello to sing a bunch of Neil Young songs?? or ?Wouldn?t it be cool if we got a bunch of free jazz guys to do their versions of Sting??
Or to put it a little more simply, Hal Willner was the guy who put Lou Reed and Metallica in the same room to record an album version their interpretation of a 90 year-old Polish opera about a prostitute who wishes she was a dog.
This same Hal Willner was the guy who produced Macy Gray?s earlier 2012 release?Covered that saw her singing songs by Arcade Fire and Radiohead. It wasn?t particularly good (as I said in my?review) ?? but it seemed to re-energize Macy. So much so that she started discussing other ideas with Willner, who suggested Gray should re-interpret an entire album ? make it a tribute of sorts.
And so, Macy Gray?s version of Stevie Wonder?s album Talking Book was born.
Now before we do anything else let me say something ? having Macy Gray sing an entire album of Stevie Wonder songs was a great idea. Especially this album, which is a classic in it?s own right, but according to interviews was a also favorite of Macy?s when she was growing up. Not to mention the timing that puts the disc on the shelves on the 40th anniversary of it?s original release date, making it sort of a well-timed birthday present and honorary tribute for Stevie Wonder all at the same time.
And for her part, you have to imagine the process of learning, re-arranging, and presenting songs you?ve loved all your life was an amazing thing for Macy Gray to be a part of, especially for an artist possibly searching for new?inspiration ?but then when you crack the seal and start listening to the thing what you get is..
..welp
..More of that same Macy Gray wheezy-voiced slow-tempo crap she always comes up with.
I?m all for messing with conventions and trying things in different ways, but it seems like the plan here was to just slooooooowwwww everything down and drag things out ? which is an interesting twist at first,?but because this is an entire album, track-by-track (deep cuts included) what you end up with is a deep desire to find your original copy of the LP so you can get all the keyboard solos and energy back.
Hardcore fans might like this laid back approach, but really ? If the original groove to?Superstition was too bouncy and upbeat, why were you listening to Stevie Wonder in the first place?
Thanks for nothing, Hal.
See what you think, here?s ?Superstition?
And for a different view, here?s ?You and I?
Source: http://ohnblog.com/newohnblog/2012/11/06/new-music-tuesday-11612/
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