![audio review : Reachin [ A New Refutation Of Time And Space ] ( album ) ... Digable Planets](https://marcellee.com/posts/66920.jpg)
Digable Planets do sound cool. I’ll give them Dat. This album, as ridiculous as its full title may be, has the monotone rappers vibing over an array of hip-hop beats inspired by jazz and funk. Perhaps “inspired” is an understatement. Every track, song or otherwise, includes an old sample from a funk or jazz record. That puts the word New in quotation marks and slaps a big question mark on the trio’s perceived talent. Good To Be Here is my jam though.
my rating : 3 of 5
1993
You don’t have to be a skier to imagine how scary it would be to get stuck on a lift, in the bitter cold, for almost a week. That’s the dilemma the three protagonists in this Stephen King styled story face. It’s a girlfriend-boyfriend couple, Parker and Dan, along with Dan’s third wheel best friend. Their decision to ride the lift one last time, despite the resort closing early due to an on-coming snow storm, becomes their doom.
You’d think they’d use their hats and hoods to protect their faces from the wind. You’d think the owners of a public ski resort would’ve long ago done something about their killer wolf infestation. Those are two major plausibility faults in a story that’s otherwise terrifically realistic. The tension heads high about a quarter of the way in and only gives way to moments of desolation. The death scene near the middle is especially poignant.
my rating : 5 of 5
2010
The normal songs are decent; My Jimmy even adds a nice chorus to the mix; but they’re not good enough to justify the rest of this album; abstract bits of experimental rubbish. There’s even a track called Spittin Wicked Randomness.
Lyrically The Jungle Brothers don’t sound much different than they did four years back when they dropped their comparatively classic Forces Of Nature set. What happened to their musical focus between then and now is anybody’s guess.
my rating : 2 of 5
1993
This military-style anthem, about the effects of terrorism in Britain, doesn’t get great until near the end. That’s when Phil Collins finally gets a chance to let loose vocally. “We wait and we wonder,” the title chant goes and he sings it, seeming to ad-lib the melodies; a skill past songs suggest he has quite the knack for; with passion… over bagpipes and all.
my rating : 4 of 5
1993
Though the spooky soundscape; a thumping in the floor, a creep behind the door; suggests otherwise, this isn’t just a song about ghosts. The term seems to be a metaphor for something deeper, something real. “Who gave you the right to shake my family tree,” the controversial King Of Pop asks rhetorically, “Tell me; are you the ghost of jealousy?” He’s apparently addressing his many detractors, but the point is nearly lost in the groove.
The beat, produced by Teddy Riley, is as cold as the concept and the bridge conjures 1970s funk, but it’s the aforementioned chorus; not the words themselves but their harmonic melodies; that haunts. It’s a majestic masterpiece; one of the best I’ve heard, in my life, from Michael Jackson or anyone else. There’s just something (special) about the way it’s layered that, at the right moment, can literally send chills down your spine.
my rating : 5 of 5
1997
![audio review : Blood On The Dance Floor [ History In The Mix ] ( album ) ... Michael Jackson](https://marcellee.com/posts/7893.jpg "audio review : Blood On The Dance Floor [ History In The Mix ] ( album ) ... Michael Jackson")
This is fast, at least for a Janet Jackson song, so the concept shouldn’t revolve around anything “slo”. And if it had to be about “love”, her and her partner; man, woman, who knows with Janet; should be dancing instead of fucking, which is apparently what’s going on here. “Can’t control the heat when our bodies meet,” she says, “Baby, take it to another level tonight.”
The beat, a slick groove gorgeously produced by Anders Bagge and Arnþór Birgisson; you’d swear it were Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis; serves as the backbone to what stands as, musically speaking, one of Janet Jackson’s best songs. With a totally different title and slightly altered theme; it has a romantic summer night dance vibe; it could even near classic status.
my rating : 4 of 5
2004
Fambly Cat was supposed to be their final album, but it’s common for bands to foolishly announce retirement only to reunite years later, so Grandaddy is back. Their sound, semi-psychedelic folk-rock led by a stoned Jason Lytle, picks up where it left off a little over a decade ago.
There’s nothing here as instantly catchy as Elevate Myself, let alone AM 180; probably their best song; but This Is The Part is a real winner. Clear Your History, a new song released to promote the coming of this album, should’ve been included in place of one of the inferior others.
my rating : 3 of 5
2017
This concert anthem doesn’t get good until near the end when what serves as the chorus; a bit of an old Elton John ballad sampled and looped; is dropped for something more original and much easier on the ears. The drums stay the same, but the enveloping music changes into a melodic wonderment of sorts.
“A million watts are shaking the room,” Q-Tip sings as you wonder why the whole song doesn’t sound like this, “In just a few hours, you’re going to feel the burn.” Is that really new Elton John singing with him? If so, that’s epic. I just wish they’d abandoned the Bennie And The Jets sample and used this part for the chorus.
my rating : 3 of 5
2016
![audio review : We Got It From Here [ Thank You 4 Your Service ] ( album ) ... A Tribe Called Quest](https://marcellee.com/posts/63788.jpg "audio review : We Got It From Here [ Thank You 4 Your Service ] ( album ) ... A Tribe Called Quest")
Eating a bowl of plain Cheerios is a bland affair in comparison to this sweet alternative, one that happens to be almost as healthy. It’s a blend of honey and almond, or natural almond “flavor”; there are no actual almond pieces on the Ingredients list; that makes this Honey Nut variety taste good.
my rating : 4 of 5
The title has to do with friends, which is appropriate considering there are just two solo songs on the album. Every other features a guest vocalists from Clicksters like Suga-T to Cash Money’s Baby and No Limit’s Mystikal.
Nate Dogg should be limited to one song and the Nah Nah beat sounds too much like Lucy Pearl’s You; both are produced by Battlecat; but Ya Blind, a dedication to Captain Save-A-Hoe, is fun and Doin The Fool is a major slapper.
my rating : 3 of 5
2000
The beat is a slapper. It’s a distorted drum loop led by a monster bassline and nothing else, but its ghetto simplicity serves as part of its allure. The song starts with a burp because it’s for, and by, “playa-ass niggas” who like to get tipsy and fuck bitches. “I told her I’d buy her some clothes,” Too Short says, “but I be lying to hoes.” E-40, whose verse proves that style over substance can be a damn good thing if you have the charisma to pull it off, fucked one at his place and shot a “fat-ass” cum shot on her breasts.
Doin the fool, which means the same as acting (like) a fool; my only complaint about the song is that potentially confusing twist on what was already a perfectly suitable slang phrase; encompasses more than sex and drugs (alcohol/weed) though. It also has to do with money, guns, flashy vehicles and 64-dollar cologne; the latter of which Pimp C flaunts to attract hoes, taking us back full circle. But make no mistake about it. This one is for the guys; all you “haters” included, “just to let you know this shit don’t stop.”
my rating : 4 of 5
2000
Hush, about a masked murderer intruding the home of a deaf/mute woman, is relatively uneventful until about twelve minutes in. That’s when the tension takes hold and never really lets go. It’s a balance between thrills and realism, trills tipping the scale more often than not, as the two protagonists play a night game of cat and mouse for the sake of the plot. The killer’s mask should’ve stayed on till the end though as it only adds to the creep factor in a movie built upon a premise that is genuinely scary.
my rating : 4 of 5
2016