« NBC's "Friday Night Lights" | Main | Norman Mailer »
In Rainbows, American Gangster, Serj.....
November 12, 2007The recent release of music has been promising. I'm waiting, not so patiently, on Alicia Keys' new album tomorrow, but I've like the fall end of the music business this year.
I'll start with two tried and true vets - Radiohead and Jay-Z, released their albums in completely different manners and both are solid.
Since I learned that I could get the Radiohead album for free, I've never intentionally listened to a Radiohead song before. I took a shot, again mainly because I could get it for free, and I'm slowly becoming infatuated with Radiohead.
I had a buddy let me listen to Bends and still impressed. Check out In Rainbows. The deluxe album, going for like $80, is supposed to be a Radiohead fan's wet dream and will be released in December-ish.
On to Jay-Z. American Gangster, aptly titled after American Gangster the film, is a collection of solid songs. Some are better than others and some suck. Well not really suck, but they pale in comparison to other Jay-Z cuts.
The guy knows how to brag. He references Tony LaRussa and the St. Louis Cardinals in a song and it works. The song featuring Lil Wayne (I'm definintely waiting on his new release after 2005's Carter II) is the best. Lil Wayne steals the show on "Hello Brooklyn."
I'm a big Jay-Z fan and I'd have to say American Gangster isn't as good as the Black Album or close to the Blueprint, but its good. A lot better than the Blueprint 2, and on par with maybe Kingdom Come. Jay-Z went back to dealing crack on this album, but he's growed up.
The lead singer of System of a Down, Serj Tankian, is got a lot of things on his mind. I'm about three tracks deep on his new album and its a hardcore fan listen only. I'm looking forward to hearing "Beethoven's C***," just because it caused a stir in Rolling Stone for a 1/2 a page.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Posted by Clayton Hein at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
