July 31, 2021

Abandoned Pools - Humanistic (2002)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 9 48106-2
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© 2001 Extasy Records
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
The Warner-distributed debut by Tommy Walter's alter ego, Abandoned Pools (he wrote, sang, and played almost everything here), is a curious culmination of ghostlike voices from the rock & roll ether. Walter sounds a lot like a harder-rock version of Tommy Gnosis, the character from Hedwig and the Angry Inch: vulnerable, lost, and wanting desperately to put it all into terms that are rock & roll enough to make him stand out from the crowd. But there's also the tenderness and the deep desire to write love song hooks like John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. And as if this weren't enough, this Woodland Hills, CA, kid is as pissed off as Kurt Cobain and obviously worships that trait among many others in his idol. What that adds up to is: Who is Tommy Walter? He's certainly encompassed all of the strands that create a musical persona, but do they make a personality? The songs themselves -- especially the dark, hooky "Mercy Kiss" (the single), the overdriven guitar-crunching refrain and bridge in "Monster," and the highly textured shifty-shuffle rock of "Sunny Day" -- hint that this kid's got something to say. And then there's the souled-out girl chorus-sounding backing on "Ruin Your Life," a shimmering reflection on desolation and the possibilities in its aftermath. "Seed"'s electronic hard rock and elongated riffs push the needle into the red and offer this kid's jaded view as a way out, a way toward something else. Perhaps listeners will discover what that is on the next disc. The ace production of Paul Q. Kolderie and Sean Slade handled the boards with great sensitivity and flair, erecting a dynamic, fluid alt-rock monolith. By he sound of this, Walter has more -- and better -- recordings in him as he emerges from behind his wall of identities, but this is an auspicious debut nonetheless.

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Abandoned Pools - Armed To The Teeth (2005)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: B0005269-02
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© 2005 Universal Records
AllMusic Review by Johnny Loftus
Tommy Walter made one of the more overlooked alt-rock albums in recent memory with Humanistic, his 2001 debut as Abandoned Pools. Of course it was overlooked -- by the turn of the 21st century, "alternative" wasn't really anything anymore, having fragmented into post-grunge, rap-rock, safe-sounding AAA, and a host of other subgenres. But there are still common twinges to all those records released on labels like DGC and American in the mid-'90s wake of Nevermind and Pablo Honey, and that's the sound Abandoned Pools continues to mine with 2005's Armed to the Teeth. At first Walter's falsetto resembles the wail of an overstimulated emo kid. But he's much too talented a songwriter to fall into that trap, and the rich late-album ballad "Maybe Then Someday" even beats that whole scene at its own game. Most of the songs on Armed to the Teeth are guided by strong guitar melodies that pay off in big choruses, particularly on "Catalyst" and "Lethal Killers," and the layers of strings, brass, keyboards, and programming in tracks like "Tighter Noose" and "Renegade" add intriguing depth. Abandoned Pools often suggests a less baroque version of VAST (Visual Audio Sensory Theater), the ongoing one-man project of fellow '90s alt-rock devotee Jon Crosby.

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Abandoned Pools - Sublime Currency (2012)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Pop Rock
Label Number: 5099995584324
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© 2012 LQP/Visionary Music/Tooth & Nails Records
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Lootpack - Soundpieces: Da Antidote! (1999)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: STH 2019
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© 1999 Stone Throw Records
AllMusic Review by Steve Huey
The Lootpack's debut album, Soundpieces: Da Antidote!, ushered in a string of excellent releases on Peanut Butter Wolf's Stones Throw label, and helped serve notice that the West Coast underground scene was becoming one of tremendous creative vitality. Much of the album's success is due to fantastic production by Madlib, who takes his place as one of the West Coast's most imaginative trackmasters, underground or otherwise. His style is subtly otherworldly, drawing bits and pieces from countless obscure sources; every listen reveals new, unexpected sounds layered into the mix. With 24 tracks over the course of a full CD, Soundpieces does feel a bit excessive, but most of the tracks are thankfully focused and concise, and a few clock in at around a minute or less. The exception is the multi-sectioned suite "Episodes," an impressive b-boy bouillabaisse that showcases Madlib's fragmented genius. The rapping, by Madlib and Wildchild plus a guest roster of West Coast scenesters, is consistently high-quality, and the album is studded with great singles: "Questions," "Whenimondamic," the eerie-sounding "The Anthem," and "Weededed," the latter an attack on MCs who rely on marijuana to enhance their rhymes (though not on the drug itself). Among the many guests, Dilated Peoples and Lootpack mentors Tha Alkaholiks shine brightest on "Long Awaited" and "Likwit Fusion," respectively. The Lootpack are vulnerable to the same criticism that's been leveled at Dilated Peoples, namely that in returning to hip-hop's basics, they've substantially limited their lyrical content by focusing almost entirely on battle rhymes. They're clever and well-crafted battle rhymes, to be sure, and the group's microphone technique is impressive, but in 1999, it was hard not to want them to pay attention to something besides wack MCs. That's especially true given the imagination of Madlib's subsequent projects (Quasimoto in particular), not to mention his production here. Still, that isn't enough to keep Soundpieces: Da Antidote! from being a resounding success.

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Jedi Mind Tricks - The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological & Electro-Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness (2002 Reissue)

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*Reissued in 2002 by Babygrande Records. 
This pressing contains 18 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: BBG-001
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© 1997-2002 Babygrande
AllMusic Review by Dean Carlson
With a title like The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological, and Electro Magnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness, it's probably a safe bet that Jedi Mind Tricks won't be talking about cell phones and whores very much. Truly, amidst eerie choirs and Biblical samples, the album creates an angular, symphonic sweatshop of mid-tempo beats with just the right amount of over-accustomed anger and intelligence to keep things interesting (where in slick gangsta rap or retrofitted old-skool would you find songs about Plexiglas, the Illuminati, or Voltron?). The standout track is easily "Books of Blood: The Coming of Tan." Laying the conspiracy theories flat out, El Eloh helps steer the song into a sprawling narrative of scatter-shot rhymes and paranoid rhythms that actually sounds unique in the troubled rap scene. It might take some time for Jedi Mind Tricks' sound to fully mature, but their metaphysical peculiarity is a promising new glow in the dark hip-hop underground.

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tags: jedi mind tricks, the psycho social biological and electro magnetic manipulation of human consciousness, 1997, 2002, reissues, flac,
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Jedi Mind Tricks - Violent By Design (2000)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: SUPR 109
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© 2000 Superegular Records
AllMusic Review by Dean Carlson
Like all excellent underground hip-hop acts, Philadelphia's Jedi Mind Tricks want to sound like Kool Keith but actually make some sense. That they've now moved on from their debut album's UFO-a-philia into more sociopolitical ramblings shouldn't distract you: Violent By Design again shows a group that still knows their nobly skewed stuff. Even when they add a third solid member, JusAllah (aka Megatraum), and about 400 guest spots. There are tales of pipe-wielding violence and obligatory Star Wars references, amusing uses of Hulk Hogan and Pi samples, but Stoupe's newly jagged and ominous turntablist hooks give you a new barren, kung-fu film landscape for those imaginative nights when you're truly feeling sinister. The Virtuoso, Esoteric, and Bahamadia collaboration "Exertions" superbly captures a sloping account of reparation, placentas, and Zodiac killers, while "The Prophecy" interlude sounds like a hip-hop cousin to the dark jazz played in the club scene of David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Hardcore vulgarity and pointed, Wu-Tang hooks notwithstanding, Jedi Mind Tricks are well-versed in contradictions. They know how to intimidate without gangsta pretensions and they know how to create menace without losing sight of humor or clarity.

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Jadakiss - Kiss Tha Game Goodbye (2001)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap, Pop Rap
Label Number: 069493011-2
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© 2001 Ruff Ryders/Interscope Records
AllMusic Review by Matt Conaway
In terms of sheer anticipation, Jadakiss' buzz was at an apex at the time of this album's release. While fellow LOX members Sheek and Styles flashed improved flows and lyrics on their group's sophomore strike, We Are the Streets, Jadakiss remained the group's undisputed frontman. And with the streets virtually foaming at the mouth, Jadakiss returned from the lab to birth his solo debut, Kiss tha Game Goodbye. As the last bars of Kiss tha Game Goodbye ring out, you can't help but be left with one lingering impression: kiss tha buzz goodbye. Sure, there are some bangers here: the celebratory, Alchemist-produced "We Gonna Make It," featuring Styles bubbles; the DJ Premier-blessed "None of Y'all Betta," featuring Styles and Sheek; and the gully "Un-Hunh," featuring DMX. Yet these harder-hitting efforts are leavened out by uncharacteristically smooth production, a lack of direction, and, gasp, Jadakiss' yearning for commercial love. With self-explanatory titles like "Nasty Girl," featuring Carl Thomas; "I'm a Gangsta," featuring Parlé; and "Cruisin," featuring Snoop Dogg, it becomes abundantly clear that Jadakiss is trying too hard to please everyone, with little success. But he is not the only one peeling wheels here, as the interchangeable production supplied by Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and a host of others offers very little assistance. After jumping ship from one former label of the moment (Bad Boy) to another (Ruff Ryders), what did Jadakiss' change of address really accomplish? After all, if he wanted to go the commercial route, who better then P. Diddy to lead him there? Somewhere in the midst of all this you can be sure the shiny-suit man is smiling.

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Jadakiss - The Last Kiss (2009)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap, Pop Rap
Label Number: B0012391-02
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© 2009 Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam Records
AllMusic Review by David Jeffries
In a genre where albums frequently miss their street date, Jadakiss' The Last Kiss is an especially late hip-hop release, having been pushed back, retitled, and retooled numerous times. This problematic arrival shows too in the final product, but the problem may not be the much maligned rapper's ability or inspiration but the constant mishandling of his material. So many prime street cuts have been given away to comps, mixtapes, and soundtracks in the five years since Kiss of Death was released that only the slick, polished numbers remain, save the misleading kickoff "Pain & Torture." Two tracks later he's singing the silly "If you're real and you know it/Clap your hands" over an unsurprising Swizz Beats production, but it's "Grind Hard" that really disappoints, with the Mary J. Blige support coming off as standard. That's a first, but "What If" isn't a first at all, using the exact same structure as Kiss of Death's Nas collaboration "Why." One of the more interesting cuts, the heartfelt "Letter to B.I.G.," already appeared on the Notorious soundtrack, and the album's title is nonsense, as Jada had already declared his intention to keep going. Despite what the haters say, this is another missed opportunity for Jadakiss, a man whose best work never lands on the high-profile releases.

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Bif Naked - Purge (2001)

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Country: Canada
Language: English
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: CD 83509

© 2001 Lava/Atlantic
For Canadian "riot grrrl" extraordinaire Bif Naked, mixing punk, pop, and the sound du jour has become second nature. Although many dismiss her embrace of more accessible forms of punk as selling out, she's out to prove that it's more a result of her growth as both a songwriter and an individual. With each album, she seems to get more comfortable opening up musically and emotionally, and Purge is no exception. With the album's prevailing theme of self-empowerment, Bif Naked walks a fine line between wanting more and having enough. On songs like "Tango Shoes" and "I Love Myself Today" (the latter being co-written by über-producer Desmond Child), Naked is bold, self-assured, and optimistic. On "October Song" and "You Are the Master," she explores her humility while searching for acceptance and guidance. She leaves a lasting impression with the album's final song, "Religion," exposing a raw sincerity while singing "I am naked before you. Look at me." Musically, Purge soars. It's a polished and more realized update of the raw and energetic sounds that made Naked's previous releases so enjoyable. The album does have some slower moments, but they are neatly slipped between the large helping of all-out rockers. Combining slick songwriting with a set of some of her most honest and self-explorative lyrics to-date, Bif Naked intrigues and entertains with a worthy follow-up to I Bificus.

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Juliana Hatfield - Made In China (2005)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: YOR-002

© 2005 Ye Olde Records
Around the summer 2005 release of Made in China, Juliana Hatfield posted a gutsy, revealing letter on her website. In it she writes proudly of the album's ragged feel, of her role as producer, of having released it through her own Ye Olde imprint. But there's also a weird, rambling defensiveness to the note. "People can buy this record or not," she writes. "I don't care. Or at least I pretend not to care. But I do care." She goes on to condemn artistic greed, industrial pollution, and the pressure on female artists to market themselves sexually. And then in her usual cynical fashion Hatfield winks at the whole notion, putting a photo of herself in a bathtub into the album's booklet. Made in China is as honest and unadorned as that letter. It unmasks her empty feelings on love (the slithery, dispassionate breakup song "On Video") and hate for a poisoned world ("Rats in the Attic," which musically is this record's closest amalgam to her past work), and in its strikingly direct recording quality it reacts to 2004's In Exile Deo, which despite being her strongest album in a long time was a little over-produced. For all these things China is terrifically rewarding. It's raw -- like a home-recording genius blistering the dry wall with four-track recordings, the solo confessionals "A Doe and Two Fawns" and "Send Money" shatter silence with twining tones and sly lyrics. ("If you want to pray for me, tell God to send me some money," goes the latter.) It bashes -- "What Do I Care" features the Boston band Unbusted and mulls over Hatfield's alternative rock darling past. And she considers whether any of it mattered, whether she was exploited, and whether or not she even cares in retrospect. She's accepting of those days, but rightly pissed that she'll be compared to them forever. In Exile Deo was her arrival as a mature, seen-it-all-and-still-wondering songwriter. But China is the truly unguarded version of that idea in both sound and song. Opener "New Waif" establishes that. As the music builds and bristles, Hatfield sings of love and missed chances, and the filter on her voice makes a total nonfactor of that girlish quality everybody used to fawn over so much. She's the new version of herself, the now version, and what does she care if you don't like it? But you will.

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Juliana Hatfield - How To Walk Away (2008)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: YOR006

© 2008 Ye Olde Records
Age agrees with Juliana Hatfield, lending an alluring huskiness to her girlish voice, a weariness to her love songs, and an assurance to her writing. All this is evident on How to Walk Away, a candidly confessional work that perhaps not so coincidentally arrives just before the publication of Hatfield's autobiography, When I Grow Up. How to Walk Away abounds with self-examination but it's not a journey through her back pages -- it's a break-up album. Hatfield doesn't focus on the aftermath of a doomed relationship but rather the process of a messy split, turning in a loose song cycle about love, lust, and loss, filled with false finishes, halted new beginnings, retreads and reversals. Romance and reflection aren't uncommon to Hatfield -- she's never shied away from unrequited crushes or moments of self-doubt -- but here she reveals a resigned caustic wit and sly eye for detail, something that renders the slow dissolving romance on "My Baby..." quite heartbreaking and turns "Just Lust" into a withering dismissal. When Hatfield launched her solo career at the start of the '90s, she couldn't quite deliver such bluntly carnal tunes as her voice quivered with insecurities, which was an appropriate match for the fragility of her jangle pop. Such delicate situations seem in the distant past on How to Walk Away, as there's a tattered edge to her voice and a growing complexity to her craft. She still is foremost a pop songwriter, turning out songs as melodically bracing as "Now I'm Gone," but she balances this jangling pop with slower, folky tunes, occasionally dipping into jazzy after-hours textures, then channeling all her aggression into the nasty, sneering "So Alone," as powerful a rocker as she's ever cut. These shifts in mood are made vivid by a production that has just enough color and detail -- looped rhythms or synthesizers, duets with Richard Butler and Nada Surf's Matthew Caws -- to turn these recordings into full-blooded realizations of Hatfield's heartbreaking, witheringly funny songs, giving How to Walk Away a sense of musical momentum that suits its emotional heft. It's a tight, cohesive record with a subtle but undeniable resonance, a record that Juliana Hatfield always seemed on the verge of delivering and finally has.

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The Beatnuts - A Musical Massacre (1999)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: REK-11722 (Club Edition)

© 1999 Loud Records
The fourth offering from the rambunctious hip-hop junkies the Beatnuts is an all-out assault on the eardrums. This is crack-open-a-party music, with beats that have been chiseled with a Latin feel. Lyrics are rough, rugged, and raunchy. Songs like "Watch Out Now" and "Turn It Out" (featuring Greg Nice) are just plain fun, as close to feel-good music as hardcore hip-hop gets. Other tracks that will satisfy include "Puffin' on a Cloud," "You're a Clown" (featuring Biz Markie), "Buddah in the Air," and the Spanglish headsplitter "Se Acabo." Even the thematic "Look Around," a departure from the Beatnuts' usual hedonistic content, is a pleasant surprise. The true core of the Beatnuts' sound is their fleshy, textured beats, which are dense and dipped in cannabis -- flutes, synthesizers, and various percussion instruments seem to float over and around deep drum machine kicks and snares. Swelling with an eclectic assortment of hypnotic sounds, A Musical Massacre is among 1999's most entertaining hip-hop albums.

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LL Cool J - Walking With a Panther (1995 Reissue)

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*Reissued in 1995 by Def Jam Records. 
Contains 18 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 314 527 355-2

© 1989-1995 Def Jam Records
Released at a time when hip-hop's anxieties about crossover success were at a fever pitch, Walking With a Panther found LL Cool J trying to reinvent his sound while building on the commercial breakthrough of Bigger and Deffer. Even though the album succeeded on both counts, it did so in a way that didn't sit well with hip-hop purists, who began to call LL's credibility into question. Their fears about commercialism diluting the art form found a focal point in LL, the man who pioneered the rap ballad -- and there are in fact three ballads here, all of them pretty saccharine (and, tellingly, none of them singles). Apart from that, some of the concerns now seem like much ado about nothing, and there are numerous fine moments (and a few great singles) to be found on the album. It is true, though, that Walking With a Panther does end up slightly less than the sum of its parts. For one thing, it's simply too long; moreover, the force of his early recordings is missing, and there's occasionally a sense that his once-peerless technique on the mic is falling behind the times. Nonetheless, Walking With a Panther is still a fine outing on which LL proves himself a more-than-capable self-producer. The fuller, more fleshed-out sound helps keep his familiar b-boy boasts sounding fresh, and force or no force, he was in definite need of an update. On the singles -- "Going Back to Cali," "I'm That Type of Guy" (inexplicably left off All World), "Jingling Baby," and "Big Ole Butt" -- LL exudes an effortless cool; he's sly, assured, and in full command of a newfound sexual presence on record. So despite its flaws, Walking With a Panther still ranks as one of LL's stronger albums -- strong enough to make the weak moments all the more frustrating.

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LL Cool J - Radio (1995 Reissue)

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*Reissued in 1995 by Def Jam Records. 
Contains 11 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 314 527 352-2

© 1985-1995 Def Jam Records
Run-D.M.C. was the first rap act to produce cohesive, fully realized albums, and LL Cool J was the first to follow in their footsteps. LL was a mere 17 years old when he recorded his classic debut album Radio, a brash, exuberant celebration of booming beats and B-boy attitude that launched not only the longest career in hip-hop, but also Rick Rubin's seminal Def Jam label. Rubin's back-cover credit ("Reduced by Rick Rubin") is an entirely apt description of his bare-bones production style. Radio is just as stripped-down and boisterously aggressive as any Run-D.M.C. album, sometimes even more so; the instrumentation is basically just a cranked-up beatbox, punctuated by DJ scratching. There are occasional brief samples, but few do anything more than emphasize a downbeat. The result is rap at its most skeletal, with a hard-hitting, street-level aggression that perfectly matches LL's cocksure teenage energy. Even the two ballads barely sound like ballads, since they're driven by the same slamming beats. Though they might sound a little squared-off to modern ears, LL's deft lyrics set new standards for MCs at the time; his clever disses and outrageous but playful boasts still hold up poetically. Although even LL himself would go on to more intricate rhyming, it isn't really necessary on such a loud, thumping adrenaline rush of a record. Radio was both an expansion of rap's artistic possibilities and a commercial success (for its time), helping attract new multiracial audiences to the music. While it may take a few listens for modern ears to adjust to the minimalist production, the fact that it hews so closely to rap's basic musical foundation means that it still possesses a surprisingly fresh energy, and isn't nearly as dated as many efforts that followed it (including, ironically, some of LL's own).

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LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out (1994 Reissue)

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*Reissued in 1994 by Def Jam Records. 
Contains 14 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 314 523 477-2

© 1990-1994 Def Jam Records
Increasingly dismissed by hip-hop fans as an old-school relic and a slick pop sellout, LL Cool J rang in the '90s with Mama Said Knock You Out, a hard-edged artistic renaissance that became his biggest-selling album ever. Part of the credit is due to producer Marley Marl, whose thumping, bass-heavy sound helps LL reclaim the aggression of his early days. Mama Said Knock You Out isn't quite as hard as Radio, instead striking a balance between attitude and accessibility. But its greater variety and more layered arrangements make it LL's most listenable album, as well as keeping it in line with more contemporary sensibilities. Marl's productions on the slower tracks are smooth and soulful, but still funky; as a result, the ladies'-man side of LL's persona is the most convincing it's ever been, and his ballads don't feel sappy for arguably the first time on record. Even apart from the sympathetic musical settings, LL is at his most lyrically acrobatic, and the testosterone-fueled anthems are delivered with a force not often heard since his debut. The album's hits are a microcosm of its range -- "The Boomin' System" is a nod to bass-loving b-boys with car stereos; "Around the Way Girl" is a lush, winning ballad; and the title cut is one of the most blistering statements of purpose in hip-hop. It leaves no doubt that Mama Said Knock You Out was intended to be a tour de force, to regain LL Cool J's credibility while proving that he was still one of rap's most singular talents. It succeeded mightily, making him an across-the-board superstar and cementing his status as a rap icon beyond any doubt.

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LL Cool J - 14 Shots To The Dome (1993)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Pop Rap
Label Number: CK 53325

© 1993 Def Jam Records
It's not the tour de force of Mama Said Knock You Out, but 14 Shots to the Dome is a solid effort finding LL Cool J maturing gracefully and strongly, without selling out. 14 Shots may not have sold as well as Mama either, but at least half of the album ranks with his best work.

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Bitch Magnet - Ben Hur (1990)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Hardcore
Label Number: COMM 21CD

© 1990 Communion Label
On their final recording, Bitch Magnet moves away from their streamlined noise attack to wallow in a messier, more open-ended sound; their songs stretch out as well, with the opening "Dragon" clocking in at over nine minutes in length. Ben Hur also exhibits a considerable expansion of the group's sonic range -- "Mesentery" is a blast of pure noise power, while the beautiful "Crescent" presages Sooyoung Park's more atmospheric work in his next project, the superior Seam.

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She Stole My Beer - Sparks off The Guardrail (1993)

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Country: Canada
Language: English
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: SMCD 608

© 1993 Spinner Records
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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She Stole My Beer - Mule (1995)

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Country: Canada
Language: English
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: SSMD6148

© 1995 FACTOR
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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July 30, 2021

S.H.E. - 3's A Charm (Promo C.D.) (1997)

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*Promotional disc. 
Contains 14 tracks total. 
A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: R&B
Label Number: INT3P-6162
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© 1997 T.W.IsM./Tauma/Interscope
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Buddha Klan - Big Al Presents Da Buddha Klan (1996) ⚓

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*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: G-Funk
Label Number: PRO-1468-2
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© 1996 Profile Records
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