album reviews
Reviews of albums old and new from iconic artists and up and coming musicians alike.
Review: Rob Markman's 'Write To Dream'
From covering rappers as editor and writer for platforms like Complex, VIBE, The Source, MTV, XXL, to currently holding down the position of Head of Artist Relations at Genius—Rob Markman has now embarked on a new venture. Last month he released his official debut album, Write To Dream, and it was a surprise to everyone. A pleasant surprise, that is.
By Sadé Sanchez7 years ago in Beat
Review of Tyler, The Creator's 'Flower Boy'
Tyler, the Creator has released his fourth studio album, FlowerBoy—the follow up to his 2013 CherryBomb. The 14-track album features the likes of Frank Ocean, Lil Wayne, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell, Estelle, Rex Orange County and more. On the production side, Tyler enlisted... well just himself. Yup, Tyler produced and wrote the entire album. Surprised? Not really, his name is "the Creator” and well he's always been the master mind behind his albums. The guy is a creative genius, you should expect this by now. What happens next is not much of a surprise either.
By Sadé Sanchez7 years ago in Beat
Dry The River - Shallow Bed
In 2009, Dry the River made their name through numerous festival performances and charity gigs. Although they were members of post-punk hard-core bands, their folky gospel sound is refreshing to the ear. Shallow Bed, their debut album released in 2012 is far from disappointing with a distinct depth across the album acquired by the effective layering of instruments.
By Maddie Christy7 years ago in Beat
Album Review- ACCEPT -Rise of Chaos (Nuclear Blast Records)
Legendary German metal stalwarts Accept have just released their new album Rise of Chaos, the follow-up to their 2014 release Blind Rage and their first since yet another lineup change. On the final track "Race To Extinction," vocalist Mark Tornillo sings, "We can change this story, adapt and compromise, balance is mandatory, open your eyes. Is this the race to extinction... a race to the end." He's singing about deeper world issues of course, but in the opinion of some longtime fans, he might as well be singing about his band and their place in the 2017 metal landscape.
By John Parks7 years ago in Beat
Positive Metal
If the Deftones would constantly have two guitar players on duty, this would be it. Welcome! Grab a chair, lean back, and get ready to enjoy a good piece of art. Just as if you were about to drink great wine but with just a little bit of cork aftertaste. Whether the latter is pleasing or not lies in the ''mouth'' of the beholder (or ear, to be more precise).
By Pierre Feltz7 years ago in Beat
Album Review — Dirkschneider
Available now on all formats (well, okay not cassette) is this live document of heavy metal icon Udo Dirkschneider and his current band kicking all sorts of ass on his legendary Accept back catalog. This title is actually a reissue of last year's CD release but with the added bonus of a DVD/Blu-ray (more on that later) as well as extra tracks and some special new colored vinyl variations.
By John Parks7 years ago in Beat
Deliberating the Go-Go’s Vacation on its 35th Anniversary
After a six-week run atop Billboard’s 200 album chart with the multi-platinum debut album Beauty and the Beat, all-girl rock group the Go-Go’s hurriedly released the follow-up sophomore effort, Vacation. Echoes of previous singles “We Got the Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed” could still be heard across radio airwaves when “Vacation” became the band’s third hit single in the summer of ’82. The bubbly title track was the first-ever cassette single and was accompanied by its vivid and playful music video, which revealed the band members hamming it up while pretending to be highly skilled water skiers.
By Eric Allen7 years ago in Beat
Review of Meek Mill's 'Wins And Losses'
Although he's dropped music in between projects, Wins and Losses is Meek Mill's first studio album in two years since his last 2015 Dreams Worth More Than Money. That album did very well, extremely well - debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in its first week.
By Sadé Sanchez7 years ago in Beat
#OverloadMondays: Visuals, Projects, News - Oh My!
I know I've been down and out the past few weeks - blame Hov for that - I missed some releases that came out, but the series is back. Tomorrow I'll be covering the Billboard updates on last week's release of Tyler the Creator's Flower Boy and Meek Mill's Wins and Losses. Both albums are amazing and are reported to be neck and neck with sales projections. Well, we'll see how they'll do.
By Sadé Sanchez7 years ago in Beat
Unpacking Jay Z's '4:44'
I'll admit I was both excited and nervous to write this review. I've given quick verbal reviews for people who've asked but it’s been hard for me to sit down and write. For me, it’s overwhelming. Not only is this Jay-Z’s 13th album, but there’s just so much to unpack. The album covers literally (yeah, I’m from Jersey) everything. I can’t mess this up, but I put my nerves to the side and decided to do it. I had to formally review the album, how can I not? So I lived with the album, more so than any other project.
By Sadé Sanchez7 years ago in Beat