You must listen to the album below you: canon edition - Games

baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

1.

Nevermind by Nirvana

This definitely grew on me with a second listen. Great songwriting for the most part, and a good mix of heavy and soft music, both of which are well-done. The vocals have never been a selling point of Nirvana for me, but here they're probably better than on In Utero or Unplugged. Not every song is a standout, and this record's reputation exceeds it, but I now agree that it's a great album overall. 4/5.

~~~~~

2. Purplepash, try this. It's my favorite of their albums.

Music From Big Pink by The Band

~~~~~

3. My list:

33. Paul's Boutique - Beastie Boys [heard in 2014, rated 3/5]
37. Blonde - Frank Ocean [heard in 2016, rated 3.5/5]
40. Flower Boy - Tyler, The Creator [heard in 2017, rated 3.5/5]
54. Love Power Peace: Live At The Olympia, Paris, 1971 - James Brown
73. Lifestylez Of Da Poor & Dangerous - Big L [heard in 2016, rated 3/5]
75. The Powers That B - Death Grips
95. 1999 - Prince [heard in 2017, rated 3.5/5]
119. Mista Thug Isolation - Lil Ugly Mane
120. Lifes Rich Pageant - R.E.M. [heard in 2015, rated 3.5/5]
127. The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Skinny wrote:

Also, we're failing to address the fact that 'Shook Ones pt. II' is literally the hardest, most menacing hip-hop song ever made.

Yeah - I can't name anything off the top of my head, but I really didn't feel it like I've felt with others. What makes it tick for you like that? (I'm asking seriously).

On another note I find it incredibly interesting how some people can get into an emotional state to properly receive certain music and sometimes people just don't connect. I clearly am not connecting with this like others are and the same can be said for everyone pending on what it is.

I honestly felt like I've heard harder hitting rap... just can't name it right now.

"He ain't a crook son, he's just a shook one..." I just don't find this menacing or incredibly dark. He also talks about how the things he's done, etc. instead of talking about it in detail... that's the menacing/dark rap I suppose I can remember.

And it might be the delivery... idk. And like I've said the track's piano stuff and samples they use are pretty cool, but also sometimes missing something.

Last edited by RoundTheBend on 12/20/2018 02:32; edited 1 time in total

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

baystateoftheart wrote:

sethmadsen wrote:

1.
This started out really fantastic. That sample in the first song is fantastic (and many more to follow), even if it never resolved/gave dynamic. I think that's my biggest beef with the record, is it feels like it doesn't take off, just the engines revved. I realize this is like asking punk rock to be better produced, but I feel like this could have gone better with a better producer - someone who could've given a bit of better musical direction (not polished, rather more musical). I feel like I've heard way darker rap music... I'm not buying this as "the most" authentic gangster rap, so that aspect of it being real hard core and to appreciate it that way, it didn't really take that effect on me. It actually felt like they had heard others be harder and imitated it, and tried to hit harder, but didn't. 75/100

Wait, so you took points off for this not being hard/dark enough for you? Given some of your other rap preferences, I am mystified. Why not just meet the music where it is and evaluate it based on that, instead of comparing it to expectations?

Putting the full quote back in you'll see that that was one aspect (mostly because that's what the buzz is on this album... just it for what it's trying to portray and all), and the other was that it could have been better musically. What I also didn't mention is I didn't feel like the vocal delivery was that great. What I feel most reviews of this keep hitting is how hardcore it is and I really just didn't get that vibe at all. Much harder hitting stuff out there. I don't know, I didn't like how they dedicated a whole track to saying how badass they were... if you are truly badass you don't have to say it. But no, that's a 1/4 of why the rating sank - it's mostly that they had some fantastic elements to start with (great samples), but the rapping/musical delivery overall felt lacking to me to be considered an 80.

But hey, maybe I'll reconsider someday.

Another thing I'm learning is East Coast rappers... idk... I have had a harder time getting into them (ratio wise).

Last edited by RoundTheBend on 12/20/2018 02:34; edited 1 time in total

babyBlueSedan
Used to be sort of blind, now can sort of see

Gender: Male

Ironman by Ghostface Killah

When I added hip hop to my list I knew writing a first reaction for those albums would be tough, as it usually takes me a few listens to really get into hip hop albums. It's mostly because I tend to lose focus when listening to one for the first time and focus more on the beats than the rapping. Ghostface certainly didn't help me out on that front here; as much as I enjoy his frantic mile-a-minute flow it makes it really hard to follow along with. I liked this one less on first listen than Fishscale, which I also listened to for the first time recently. I thought that one had a bit more variety, and it kept me interested longer. I did enjoy this one for the most part, though it definitely lost steam by the end. What's with 90s hip hop albums being so damn long?

------------------

Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.

I was deciding between this and Flower Boy for you, but since you haven't heard this one since 2015 I think it's time for a relisten.

------------------

Top Hip Hop & Soul on RYM:

Talking Book by Stevie Wonder
Ridin' Dirty by UGK
The Main Ingredient by Pete Rock & CL Smooth
6 Feet Deep by Gravediggaz
Fôrça bruta by Jorge Ben
Dusty in Memphis by Dusty Springfield
Death Certificate by Ice Cube
I'm Still in Love With You by Al Green
Wild is the Wind by Nina Simone
Soul Food by Goodie Mob
_________________
And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.

Tha1ChiefRocka
Yeah, well hey, I'm really sorry.

Location: Kansas

Quote:

I didn't like how they dedicated a whole track to saying how badass they were... if you are truly badass you don't have to say it.

I'm pulling this quote from your Hip Hop chart

Quote:

Please mock me for my ignorance.

Dude, have you ever listened to a rap album before? Braggadocio is one of the five main lyrical components of rap. The others being sex, drugs, money & violence. Braggadocio kind of covers all of those things anyway.

Skinny
birdman_handrub.gif

sethmadsen wrote:

Yeah - I can't name anything off the top of my head, but I really didn't feel it like I've felt with others. What makes it tick for you like that? (I'm asking seriously).

On another note I find it incredibly interesting how some people can get into an emotional state to properly receive certain music and sometimes people just don't connect. I clearly am not connecting with this like others are and the same can be said for everyone pending on what it is.

I honestly felt like I've heard harder hitting rap... just can't name it right now.

"He ain't a crook son, he's just a shook one..." I just don't find this menacing or incredibly dark. He also talks about how the things he's done, etc. instead of talking about it in detail... that's the menacing/dark rap I suppose I can remember.

And it might be the delivery... idk. And like I've said the track's piano stuff and samples they use are pretty cool, but also sometimes missing something.

I just think every line of that first verse is the best line ever written.

I got you stuck off the realness, we be the infamous,
You heard of us, official Queensbridge murderers,
The Mobb comes equipped for warfare, beware
Of my crime family who got 'nough shots to share,
For all of those who wanna profile and pose,
Rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose bone,
You're all alone in these streets, cousin,
Every man for they self in this land we be gunning,
And keep them shook crews running, like they supposed to,
They come around, but they never come close to,
I can see it inside your face, you're in the wrong place,
Cowards like you just get they whole body laced up
With bullet holes and such,
Speak the wrong words, man, and you will get touched,
You can put your whole army against my team and
I guarantee you it'll be your very last time breathing,
Your simple words just don't move me: you're minor, we're major,
You all up in the game and don't deserve to be a player,
Don't make me have to call your name out,
Your crew is featherweight, my gunshots'll make you levitate,
I'm only 19, but my mind is old,
And when the things get for real, my warm heart turns cold,
Another nigga deceased, another story gets told,
It ain't nothin' really, ayo Dun, spark the Philly,
So I can get my mind off these yellow-backed niggas,
Why they still alive? I don't know, go figure,
Meanwhile, back in Queens, the realness and foundation,
If I die, I couldn't choose a better location,
When the slugs penetrate, you feel a burning sensation
Getting closer to God in a tight situation,
Now, take these words home and think it through
Or the next rhyme I write might be about you.

It's just stone cold. When I hear it, in Prodigy's measured monotone, I just think that he's already dead inside, and therefore not afraid of dying or of killing somebody else. Also, "rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose bone," is the most inventive, vivid threat I've heard in hip-hop this side of Meth's torture skit. But I can't explain it. You're entitled to your opinion. I just happen to think this verse in particular, over that piano loop, is the most threatening rap I know of (and a large part of that is in the emotionless delivery).
_________________
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baystateoftheart
Neil Young as a butternut squash

Age: 29
Location: Massachusetts

1.

Lifes Rich Pageant by R.E.M.

R.E.M. started out with an incredible 1-2-3 punch (Chronic Town, Murmur, Reckoning). However, their next four albums (haven't heard Out Of Time) didn't reach the same heights as the post-punk influence and its energy drained from their music. Lifes Rich Pageant is a fun listen with a few great songs. But my opinion on it hasn't really changed since 2015. 3.5/5.

~~~~~

2. babyBlueSedan, listen to this:

I'm Still In Love With You by Al Green

~~~~~

3. My list:

5. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles [heard in April, rated 3.5/5]
42. Animals - Pink Floyd [heard in April, rated 3.5/5]
55. Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth [heard in May, rated 3.5/5]
72. Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses
75. Paranoid - Black Sabbath [heard in April, rated 3.5/5]
83. Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols - Sex Pistols [heard in May, rated 3.5/5]
100. Back In Black - AC/DC
120. Quadrophenia - The Who
131. Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones [heard in 2016, rated 3.5/5]
135. Hot Fuss - The Killers
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RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

Quote:

I didn't like how they dedicated a whole track to saying how badass they were... if you are truly badass you don't have to say it.

I'm pulling this quote from your Hip Hop chart

Quote:

Please mock me for my ignorance.

Dude, have you ever listened to a rap album before? Braggadocio is one of the five main lyrical components of rap. The others being sex, drugs, money & violence. Braggadocio kind of covers all of those things anyway.

That's fair. And clearly I have listened to hip-hop albums. But to say it's my main thing is far from reality, so that's true. Also if you look at my top 10 on that list 8 of those albums have aspects to them that hit way harder imo.

I probably should have finished my sentence with "that way". If your a badass rapper, we'll know from your music.

I think it was because it was a monolog and wasn't actually rap. Specifically referring to (The Infamous Prelude).

And yes, I agree, boasting how badass you are is a main component of it, and I am just honestly saying they were the weakest braggers ESPECIALLY for an album boasting to be so badass. That was my assessment and clearly my opinion isn't popular. I felt like that monolog was the weakest "braggdocio" I've ever heard in rap. It felt empty to me. I just thought they sounded like punk kids trying to sound badass instead of actually being badass. That's the feeling I got and clearly I'm in the wrong.

Last edited by RoundTheBend on 12/21/2018 03:47; edited 1 time in total

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

Skinny wrote:

It's just stone cold. When I hear it, in Prodigy's measured monotone, I just think that he's already dead inside, and therefore not afraid of dying or of killing somebody else. Also, "rock you in your face, stab your brain with your nose bone," is the most inventive, vivid threat I've heard in hip-hop this side of Meth's torture skit. But I can't explain it. You're entitled to your opinion. I just happen to think this verse in particular, over that piano loop, is the most threatening rap I know of (and a large part of that is in the emotionless delivery).

See and this take is totally respectable. There were strong words, but for me I took the monotone delivery as limp and I'm now seeing your take as truly dead, which is a nice reading of it. Thanks for sharing.

Also to be clear, his dark words didn't take me there like others have... idk. Like I originally said, maybe that will change with a new point of view. For now I'm sticking with it feels like they didn't deliver the product I'm hearing everyone talk about and the music itself was solid, but then got stagnate quick for my taste.

RoundTheBend
I miss the comfort in being sad

Location: Ground Control

1.

Let Love In by Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Damn. I'm glad I listened to this. I've heard so many times I gotta check out Nick Cave and so I come to this site and check out the top ranked album The Boatman's Call and I give that a 75... not impressed (75 for me is like I can kind of see how someone would think it's good this, but I don't 60 and below is crap). Anyway, this really is much more enjoyable. At first I was like, eh, it's like a less aged fine drink like Tom Waits, but then it started sinking in as something I liked and not a Tom Waits wannabe. With more listens I could see this really growing on me. I did like the kind of range of emotion and music given. Something that I'll need to get over is the range he sings in... my first impression of it ruined it and I need to get Sixteen Tons out of my head so I can take it more seriously. 80-85/100.

2. baystateoftheart: I'm curious what your take on the Scaruffi masterpiece of Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses is.

3.
173. Blackwater Park by Opeth (2001)
208. Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo by Ennio Morricone (1966)
210. First Utterance by Comus (1971)
214. Painkiller by Judas Priest (1990)
215. Sevent Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden (1988)
220. Burzum by Filosofem (1996)
228. Vol 4 by Black Sabbath (1974) - needs a rating
240. Blues & Roots by Charlie Mingus (1960)
250. Bone Machine by Tom Waits (1992)
255. Dopethrone by Electric Wizard (2000)