More Album Reviews

Jedi Mind Tricks - A History of Violence 8.5/10
Brand new album from JMT that marks the return of Jus Allah to the group after a 3 album absence. The production was awesome. Usually I'm the one saying that production only hurts a record if it becomes distractingly bad, but this album is proof that great production can also really strengthen an album. Really complex beats with samples and a lot of strings, coming from DJ Stoupe, and sometimes accompanying scratches by DJ Kwestion. Vinnie Paz sounded great on the album. Lots of passion, great rhyming, and some serious topics. It was good to hear Jus Allah back, but his verses were actually forgettable, for the most part. Although I feel he is still important to the group for balance purposes. My only problem is that the best songs are the first, "Deathbed Doctrine", and last, "Death Messiah". While I enjoyed everything in between, I think the flow of the album could have been better. Great album though, definitely glad I checked it out.

88-Keys - The Death of Adam 8.5/10
At first I didn't like the album. But after I was done listening to it, I thought about it for 10 or 15 minutes and realized the genius. I hadn't just listened to an album, I had just listened to a movie. I initially thought the narration between songs was lame, but now I realize how important it was to the story. The beats were very well produced, which was kind of the meat of the album, I think. The lyrics/verses/guest appearances were all good, but nothing special. They did their part to tell a piece of the story. But rather than think of it as an album, like I did originally, you have to think of it as an audio movie. I can honestly see a real movie play before me as I listen to it. You know the whole plot and each scene and even some of the dialogue, and could elaborate from there. Someone should make this movie; it would either be great or terrible. So I'd say its a decent album, musically, but the ingenuity, creativity, and pure genius behind the concept really make it special. I'd love to see something like this about a more serious topic.

The Killers - Day & Age 9/10
Okay. I'm two listens deep, and to be honest I think I need more. But I'll give it a shot anyways. I had slightly different expectations going in, so the first listen threw me off-balance which is why I needed to go back. I was surprised to not hear any Guitar Hero worthy anthems like "When You Were Young". I was expecting the album to be more loud and dance-inducing. However, I didn't hold that against it. I went back and re-listened, knowing what I was getting into, and it resulted in a more enjoyable experience, not to say that the first listen wasn't. The songs are great, both instrumentally and lyrically. Brandon's voice sounds more crisp and clear than it has on any previous work. I think the "experimental" tracks where they tried to do something completely different, like "Joy Ride" and "This Is Your Life", sound a little out of place at first, but I liked them even more the second time around. I think the album is going to really grow on me and I'll end up loving it more than I do now. The only tracks that I don't really feel at the moment are "Dustland Fairytale" and "I Can't Stay". I feel like the most powerful tracks are the first 4 and the last (10th), leaving you wanting a little more "umph" in the middle, even though I love middle tracks like "Neon Tiger" and "This Is Your Life". The bonus tracks, "A Crippling Blow" and "Forget About What I Said", seem to be the louder more anthem-sounding tracks that I was looking for in the album, leaving me unsure of why they didn't want to include them. Overall, the shortcomings are little compared to the quality of all the positives. I had trouble choosing between an 8.5 and 9, but I can tell that this is the type of album that gets better with each listen, so I went for the higher of the two.