April 10, 2021

Radiohead - Kid A (2000)

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Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Electronica
Label Number: CDP 7243 5 27753 2 3

© 2000 Capitol Records
In the wake of OK Computer, it became taken for granted among serious rock fans of all ages that Radiohead not only saved rock from itself, but paved the way toward the future. High praise, but given the static nature of rock in the last half of the '90s, it was easy to see why fans and critics eagerly harnessed their hopes to the one great rock band that wanted to push the limits of its creativity, without grandstanding or pandering. Daunting expectations for anyone, even for a band eager to meet them, so it's little wonder that Kid A was so difficult to complete. Radiohead’s creative breakthrough arrived when the band embraced electronica -- which was nearly a cliché by the end of the '90s, when everyone from U2 to Rickie Lee Jones dabbled in trip-hop or techno. The difference is that the wholehearted conversion on Kid A fits, since OK Computer had already flirted with electronica and its chilly feel. Plus, instead of simply adding club beats or sonic collage techniques, Radiohead strove for the unsettling "intelligent techno" sound of Autechre and Aphex Twin, with skittering beats and stylishly dark sonic surfaces. To their immense credit, Radiohead don't sound like carpetbaggers, because they share the same post-post-modern vantage point as their inspirations. As perhaps befitting an album that’s coolly, self-consciously alienating, Kid A takes time to unfold; multiple plays are necessary just to discern the music's form, to get a handle on quiet, drifting, minimally arranged songs with no hooks. This emphasis on texture, this reliance on elliptical songs, means that Kid A is easily the most successful electronica album from a rock band: it doesn't even sound like the work of a rock band, even if it does sound like Radiohead.

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Radiohead - Hail To The Thief (2003)

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Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Art Rock
Label Number: CDP 7243 5 84543 2 1

© 2003 Capitol Records
Radiohead's admittedly assumed dilemma: how to push things forward using just the right amounts of the old and the older in order to please both sides of the divide? Taking advantage of their longest running time to date, enough space is provided to quench the thirsts of resolute Bends devotees without losing the adventurous drive or experimentation that eventually got the group into hot water with many of those same listeners. Guitars churn and chime and sound like guitars more often than not; drums are more likely to be played by a human; and discernible verses are more frequently trailed by discernible choruses. So, whether or not the group is to be considered "back," there is a certain return to relatively traditional songcraft. Had the opening "2 + 2 = 5" and "Sit Down. Stand Up." been made two years before, each song's slowly swelling intensity would have plateaued a couple minutes in, functioning as mood pieces without any release; instead, each boils over into its own cathartic tantrum. The spook-filled "Sail to the Moon," one of several songs featuring prominent piano, rivals "Street Spirit" and hovers compellingly without much sense of force carrying it along. Somewhat ironically, minus a handful of the more conventionally structured songs, the album would be almost as fractured, remote, and challenging as Amnesiac. "Backdrifts" and "The Gloaming" feature nervous electronic backdrops, while the emaciated "We Suck Young Blood" is a laggard processional that, save for one outburst, shuffles along uneasily. At nearly an hour in length, this album doesn't unleash the terse blow delivered by its two predecessors. However, despite the fact that it seems more like a bunch of songs on a disc rather than a singular body, its impact is substantial. Regardless of all the debates surrounding the group, Radiohead have entered a second decade of record-making with a surplus of momentum.

tags: radiohead, hail to the thief, 2003, flac,
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April 09, 2021

Radiohead - OK Computer (1997) ☠

By , 2 comments
*U.S. first pressing. 
Contains 12 tracks total.
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: CDP 7243 8 55229 2 5
☠: Selected by Lass
© 1997 Capitol Records
Using the textured soundscapes of The Bends as a launching pad, Radiohead delivered another startlingly accomplished set of modern guitar rock with OK Computer. The anthemic guitar heroics present on Pablo Honey and even The Bends are nowhere to be heard here. Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular, and Thom Yorke's voice effortlessly shifts from a sweet falsetto to vicious snarls. It's a thoroughly astonishing demonstration of musical virtuosity and becomes even more impressive with repeated listens, which reveal subtleties like electronica rhythms, eerie keyboards, odd time signatures, and complex syncopations. Yet all of this would simply be showmanship if the songs weren't strong in themselves, and OK Computer is filled with moody masterpieces, from the shimmering "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the sighing "Karma Police" to the gothic crawl of "Exit Music (For a Film)." OK Computer is the album that established Radiohead as one of the most inventive and rewarding guitar rock bands of the '90s.

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Coldplay - Parachutes (2000) ☠

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Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 0 6700 30162 2 3

© 2000 Parlophone
The London foursome Coldplay were early critics' darlings in their native U.K., showcasing melodic pop on a slew of EP releases and constant live shows just after the spark of the new millennium. Not as heavy as Radiohead or snobbish as Oasis, Coldplay were revealed on Parachutes as a band of young musicians still honing their sweet harmonies. Combining bits of distorted guitar riffs and swishing percussion, Parachutes was a delightful introduction and also quickly indicated the reason why this album earned Coldplay a Mercury Music Prize nomination in fall 2000. Frontman Chris Martin's lyrical wordplay is feminist in the manner of Geneva's Andrew Montgomery, but far more withered. The imagery captured on Parachutes is exquisitely dark and artistically abrasive, and the entire composition is tractable thanks to gauzy acoustics and airy percussion. Coldplay's indie rock inclinations are also obvious, especially on songs such as "Don't Panic" and "Shiver," but it's the dream pop soundscapes captured on "High Speed" and "We Never Change" that illustrate the band's dynamic passion. This basic pop was surely a refreshing effort in the face of big productions like the Spice Girls and Westlife. Parachutes deserved the accolades it received because it followed the general rule when introducing decent pop songs: keep the emotion genuine and real. And Coldplay did that without hesitation

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Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt (1998 Reissue) ☠

By ,
*Reissued in 1998 under Roc-A-Fella Records. 
This reissue contains 1 bonus track. 
15 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Mafioso Rap, Pop Rap
Label Number: P2 50040
☠: Selected by Lass
© 1996-1998 Roc-A-Fella Records
Before Jay-Z fashioned himself into hip-hop's most notorious capitalist, he was a street hustler from the projects who rapped about what he knew -- and was very, very good at it. Skeptics who've never cared for Jigga's crossover efforts should turn to his debut, Reasonable Doubt, as the deserving source of his legend. Reasonable Doubt is often compared to another New York landmark, Nas' Illmatic: A hungry young MC with a substantial underground buzz drops an instant classic of a debut, detailing his experiences on the streets with disarming honesty, and writing some of the most acrobatic rhymes heard in quite some time. (Plus, neither artist has since approached the street cred of his debut, The Blueprint notwithstanding.) Parts of the persona that Jay-Z would ride to superstardom are already in place: He's cocky bordering on arrogant, but playful and witty, and exudes an effortless, unaffected cool throughout. And even if he's rapping about rising to the top instead of being there, his material obsessions are already apparent. Jay-Z the hustler isn't too different from Jay-Z the rapper: Hustling is about living the high life and getting everything you can, not violence or tortured glamour or cheap thrills. In that sense, the album's defining cut might not be one of the better-known singles -- "Can't Knock the Hustle," "Dead Presidents II," "Feelin' It," or the Foxy Brown duet, "Ain't No Nigga." It just might be the brief "22 Two's," which not only demonstrates Jay-Z's extraordinary talent as a pure freestyle rapper, but also preaches a subtle message through its club hostess: Bad behavior gets in the way of making money. Perhaps that's why Jay-Z waxes reflective, not enthusiastic, about the darker side of the streets; songs like "D'Evils" and "Regrets" are some of the most personal and philosophical he's ever recorded. It's that depth that helps Reasonable Doubt rank as one of the finest albums of New York's hip-hop renaissance of the '90s

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tags: jay z, jay-z, reasonable doubt, reissue, 1996, 1998, flac,
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Jay-Z - In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997)

By 
*This is the European pressing. 
Contains 16 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Pop Rap
Label Number: 7432155867 2

© 1997 Roc-A-Fella/Northwest/BMG
After the death of friend and compatriot the Notorious B.I.G. in early 1997, Jay-Z made his claim for the title of best rapper on the East Coast (or anywhere) with his sophomore shot, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. Though the productions are just a bit flashier and more commercial than on his debut, Jay-Z remained the tough street rapper, and even improved a bit on his flow, already one of the best in the world of hip-hop. Still showing his roots in the Marcy projects (he's surrounded by a group of kids in a picture on the back cover), Jay-Z struts the line between project poet and up-and-coming player, and manages to have it both ways. He slings some of the most cutting rhymes heard in hip-hop, brushing off a legion of rappers riding his coattails on "Imaginary Player." For "Streets Is Watching," high-tension background strings and vocal samples from the gangster film Sleeper emphasize the pitfalls of a rapper everyone's gunning for ("If I shoot you, I'm brainless/But if you shoot me, then you famous"). The song leads right into "Friend or Foe '98," the sequel to a track from Reasonable Doubt that only increases the sense of paranoia. But Jay-Z plays the ghetto celebrity equally well, and continues his slick, Cristal-sipping image with "I Know What Girls Like" (featuring Puff Daddy and Lil' Kim), "(Always Be My) Sunshine" (featuring Babyface and Foxy Brown), and "Lucky Me." Puff Daddy's Bad Boy stable is responsible for almost half the productions, and though they often verge far into pop territory, Jay-Z usually rescues them from a complete crossover. (Ironically, the most commercial production is actually from Teddy Riley on "The City Is Mine," with an unfortunate interpolation of Glenn Frey's "You Belong to the City.") Having one of the toughest producers around (Premier) as well as one of the slickest (Puff Daddy) sometimes creates a disconnect between who Jay-Z really is and who he wants to become, but he balances both personas with the best rapping heard in the rap game since the deaths of 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.

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Jay-Z - Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Pop Rap
Label Number: 314 558 902-2

© 1998 Roc-A-Fella Records
Coming on the heels of two strong records that revealed the extent of Jay-Z's talents, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (it may be titled Vol. 2, but it's his third album, arguably his fourth if you count the Streets Is Watching soundtrack) is a little bit of a relative disappointment. Jay-Z had established himself as a savvy, street-smart rapper on those two records, but with Hard Knock Life he decides to shoot for crossover territory, for better and for worse. At his best, he shows no fear -- witness how the title track shamelessly works a Broadway showstopper from Annie into a raging ghetto cry, yet keeps it smooth enough for radio. It's a stunning single, but unfortunately, it promises more than the rest of the album can deliver. Jay-Z remains a first-rate lyricist and MC, but too often his subjects are tired, especially since he winds up with no new revelations. Unfortunately, the same could be said for his music. For every "Hard Knock Life," there are a couple of standard post-gangsta jams that don't catch hold -- and that's really too bad, because the best moments (including several tracks produced by such stars as Timbaland, Kid Capri, and Jermaine Dupri) are state-of-the-art, R&B-inflected mainstream hip-hop. And that's the problem -- before, Jay-Z wasn't trying to play by the rules of the mainstream, but here he's trying to co-opt them. At times he does, but the times that fall flat have less strength or integrity than their predecessors, and that's what makes the entire record not quite as effective, despite its numerous high points. [Shortly after its initial release, Hard Knock Life was reissued with a pair of bonus tracks: "It's Alright," pulled from the Streets Is Watching soundtrack, and "Money Ain't a Thang," a catchy collabo single from Jermaine Dupri's Life in 1472 album.]

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tags: jay z, jay-z, vol 2, hard knock life, 1998, flac,
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Jay-Z - Vol. 3... Life & Times of S. Carter (1999)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Pop Rap
Label Number: 314 546 822-2

© 1999 Roc-A-Fella Records
After the crossover success of 1998's Hard Knock Life (complete with highly publicized samples from Annie), Jay-Z returned to the streets on his fourth proper album overall, 1999's Life and Times of S. Carter. A set of hard-hitting tracks with some of the best rhymes of Jay-Z's career, the album is much more invigorating than its predecessor, and almost as consistently entertaining as his best album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. As good as his rapping has become, the production here plays a large part as well. Befitting his superstar status, Jay-Z boasts the cream of hip-hop producers: Timbaland (four tracks total), DJ Premier, Swizz Beatz, and Rockwilder. DJ Premier's "So Ghetto," Timbaland's "Snoopy Track" (with Juvenile), and DJ Clue's "Pop 4 Roc" are innovative tracks that push the rhymes along but never intrude too much on Jay-Z's own flow. If this album doesn't quite make it up to Jay-Z's best, though, it's the fault of a few overblown productions, like "Dope Man" and "Things That U Do" (with Mariah Carey).

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tags: jay z, jay-z, vol 3, life and times of s carter, 1999, flac,
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April 08, 2021

Radiohead - The Bends (1994) ☠

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*U.S. first pressing. 
Contains 12 tracks total.
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: CDP 529626
☠: Selected by Lass
© 1994-1995 Capitol Records
Pablo Honey in no way was adequate preparation for its epic, sprawling follow-up, The Bends. Building from the sweeping, three-guitar attack that punctuated the best moments of Pablo Honey, Radiohead create a grand and forceful sound that nevertheless resonates with anguish and despair -- it's cerebral anthemic rock. Occasionally, the album displays its influences, whether it's U2, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., or the Pixies, but Radiohead turn clichés inside out, making each song sound bracingly fresh. Thom Yorke's tortured lyrics give the album a melancholy undercurrent, as does the surging, textured music. But what makes The Bends so remarkable is that it marries such ambitious, and often challenging, instrumental soundscapes to songs that are at their cores hauntingly melodic and accessible. It makes the record compelling upon first listen, but it reveals new details with each listen, and soon it becomes apparent that with The Bends, Radiohead have reinvented anthemic rock.

tags: radiohead, the bends, 1994, 1995, flac,
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April 06, 2021

Various Artists - A Low Down Dirty Shame (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1994)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: R&B, Hip-Hop
Label Number: J2 1536
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© 1994 Jive Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The soundtrack to the urban comedy A Low Down Dirty Shame is a by-the-books collection of urban soul, hip-hop, and new jack R&B. It's well-produced -- the entire album sounds good -- but there is a noticeable lack of memorable material, leaving the record as nothing but a pleasant genre exercise.

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Various Artists - Murder Was The Case: The Soundtrack (1994)

By 1 comment
*First pressing. 
Contains 15 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop, R&B
Style: G-Funk, Gangsta Rap
Label Number: 92484-2
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© 1994 Death Row/Interscope Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The soundtrack to an 18-minute film inspired by Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Murder Was the Case" provides more thrills than the average hip-hop release. Again, Dre relies on his standard production tricks and crew, introducing a couple of new members to the mix. But the result sounds anything but stale -- it ranks alongside The Chronic, Doggystyle and Above the Rim in terms of quality. In fact, various-artist compilations like Murder Was the Case are the ideal vehicle for Dr. Dre -- they show his versatility. Murder has the harrowing title track from Snoop Dogg, as well as the smooth funk of Warren G and the chilling hardcore of "Natural Born Killaz," the first track from Dre's collaboration with Ice Cube. At some point, Dre will need to find some new tricks, but Murder Was the Case finds him at the top of his game.

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April 05, 2021

Eagles - Eagles (1990 Reissue)

By 3 comments
*Reissued in 1990 by Asylum Records. 
This reissue contains the original 
CD mastering (non remastered audio).

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Country Rock
Label Number: 7559-60623-2

© 1972-1990 Asylum Records
AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann
Balance is the key element of the Eagles' self-titled debut album, a collection that contains elements of rock & roll, folk, and country, overlaid by vocal harmonies alternately suggestive of doo wop, the Beach Boys, and the Everly Brothers. If the group kicks up its heels on rockers like "Chug All Night," "Nightingale," and "Tryin'," it is equally convincing on ballads like "Most of Us Are Sad" and "Train Leaves Here This Morning." The album is also balanced among its members, who trade off on lead vocal chores and divide the songwriting such that Glenn Frey, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner all get three writing or co-writing credits. (Fourth member Don Henley, with only one co-writing credit and two lead vocals, falls a little behind, while Jackson Browne, Gene Clark, and Jack Tempchin also figure in the writing credits.) The album's overall balance is worth keeping in mind because it produced three Top 40 hit singles (all of which turned up on the massively popular Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975) that do not reflect that balance. "Take It Easy" and "Peaceful Easy Feeling" are similar-sounding mid-tempo folk-rock tunes sung by Frey that express the same sort of laid-back philosophy, as indicated by the word "easy" in both titles, while "Witchy Woman," a Henley vocal and co-composition, initiates the band's career-long examination of supernaturally evil females. These are the songs one remembers from Eagles, and they look forward to the eventual dominance of the band by Frey and Henley. But the complete album from which they come belongs as much to Leadon's country-steeped playing and singing and to Meisner's melodic rock & roll feel, which, on the release date, made it seem a more varied and consistent effort than it did later, when the singles had become overly familiar.

tags: eagles, the eagles, eagles album, 1972, 1990 reissue, flac,
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Eagles - Desperado (1973)

By No comments
*Reissued by Asylum Records on an unknown date. 
This is a repress of the original 1973 LP release.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Country Rock
Label Number: 5068-2

© 1973 Asylum Records
AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann
If Don Henley was the sole member of the Eagles underrepresented on their debut album, Eagles, with only two lead vocals and one co-songwriting credit, he made up for it on their follow-up, the "concept" album Desperado. The concept had to do with Old West outlaws, but it had no specific narrative. On Eagles, the group had already begun to marry itself to a Southwest sound and lyrical references, from the Indian-style introduction of "Witchy Woman" to the Winslow, AZ, address in "Take It Easy." All of this became more overt on Desperado, and it may be that Henley, who hailed from Northeast Texas, had the greatest affinity for the subject matter. In any case, he had co-writing credits on eight of the 11 selections and sang such key tracks as "Doolin-Dalton" and the title song. What would become recognizable as Henley's lyrical touch was apparent on those songs, which bore a serious, world-weary tone. Henley had begun co-writing with Glenn Frey, and they contributed the album's strongest material, which included the first single, "Tequila Sunrise," and "Desperado" (strangely never released as a single). But where Eagles seemed deliberately to balance the band's many musical styles and the talents of the band's members, Desperado, despite its overarching theme, often seemed a collection of disparate tracks -- "Out of Control" was a raucous rocker, while "Desperado" was a painfully slow ballad backed by strings -- with other bandmembers' contributions tacked on rather than integrated. Randy Meisner was down to two co-writing credits and one lead vocal ("Certain Kind of Fool"), while Bernie Leadon's two songs, "Twenty-One" and "Bitter Creek," seemed to come from a different record entirely. The result was an album that was simultaneously more ambitious and serious-minded than its predecessor and also slighter and less consistent.

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Eagles - On The Border (1974)

By No comments
*Reissued by Asylum Records with an unknown date. 
This is a repress of the original 1974 LP release. 
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Country Rock
Label Number: 7E-1004-2; 243 005

© 1974 Asylum Records
AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann
The Eagles began recording their third album in England with producer Glyn Johns, as they had their first two albums, but abandoned the sessions after completing two acceptable tracks. Johns, it is said, tended to emphasize the group's country elements and its harmonies, while the band, in particular Glenn Frey and Don Henley, wanted to take more of a hard rock direction. They reconvened with a new producer, Bill Szymczyk, who had produced artists like B.B. King and, more significantly, Joe Walsh. But the resulting album is not an outright rock effort by any means. Certainly, Frey and Henley got what they wanted with "Already Gone," the lead-off track, which introduces new bandmember Don Felder as one part of the twin guitar solo that recalls the Allman Brothers Band; "James Dean," a rock & roll song on the order of "Your Mama Don't Dance," and "Good Day in Hell," which is strongly reminiscent of Joe Walsh songs like "Rocky Mountain Way." But the album also features the usual mixture of styles typical of an Eagles album. For example, "Midnight Flyer," sung by Randy Meisner, is modern bluegrass; "My Man" is Bernie Leadon's country-rock tribute to the recently deceased Gram Parsons; and "Ol' 55" is one of the group's well-done covers of a tune by a singer/songwriter labelmate, in this case Tom Waits. The title track, meanwhile, points the band in a new R&B direction that was later pursued more fully. Like most successful groups, the Eagles combined many different elements, and their third album, which looked back to their earlier work and anticipated their later work, was a transitional effort that combined even more styles than most of their records did.

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Michel Polnareff - Bulles (1981)

By No comments
*Reissued on CD by Epic Records on an unknown date. 
This is a repress of the original 1981 LP release. 
Contains 8 tracks total. 

Country: France
Language: French (Le Français)
Genre: Pop, Chanson
Label Number: EPC 465833 2

© 1981 Epic
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Sheena Easton - You Could Have Been With Me (2000 Reissue)

By No comments
*Reissued in 2000 by EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets. 
This reissue contains 3 bonus tracks.
13 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop, Ballad
Label Number: 7243 5 23536 2 0

© 1981-2000 One Way/EMI-Capital Music Special Markets
Easton and producer Christopher Neil added a bit of an R&B flavor to this generally agreeable sophomore set. The production is at times repetitive, and Neil's backing vocals occasionally border on intrusive. At the core, however, most of the material is easily consumed. It's with ballads (of which there are a good number here) that Easton displays the most range and potential. The uptempo cuts are catchy, but are overproduced and fall victim to lyrical and arrangement clichés.

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Sheena Easton - Madness, Money & Music (2000 Reissue)

By No comments
*Reissued in 2000 by EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets. 
This reissue contains 3 bonus tracks. 
13 tracks total. 
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop, Ballad
Label Number: 72435-23537-2-9

© 1982-2000 One Way/EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets
This set wisely emphasizes ballads and midtempo's over fast-paced rockers. Easton can deliver the latter well if given the right song, but her naturally acute tone combined with Christopher Neil's heavy production style often makes for an overbearing sound. It's in a moodier, yet still passionate context such as the intriguing "Weekend in Paris" or the soulful "I Wouldn't Beg for Water" that she's most effective. This album also features her powerful take on "Wind Beneath My Wings" (recorded seven years before Bette Midler's number-one version), and ranks as one of Easton's best.

tags: sheena easton, madness money and music, 1982, 2000, reissue, flac,
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Sheena Easton - A Private Heaven (1984)

By 1 comment
*U.S. first pressing. 
Contains 10 tracks total.
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop, Ballad
Label Number: CDP 7 46054 2

© 1984 EMI America
Taking on a notably sexier stance and wetting her feet in slightly funkier repertoire, A Private Heaven expands a good deal on Easton's trademark light pop. The lively "Strut" and the provocative, Prince-penned "Sugar Walls" both made the Top Ten on the pop charts (the latter also made the R&B Top Ten) and serve as two of the set's strongest offerings. The snappy, jazzy "Back in the City" and memorable ballad "Hard to Say It's Over" are not instantly as catchy, but ultimately just as strong. Filler syndrome is not escaped entirely, but isn't in excess, making this a desirable addition to Easton collections.

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Greedy Struggles - Greedy Struggles (2004)

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*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
Country: U.S.A.
Language: English, Spanish (Español)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Chicano Rap
Label Number: None

© 2004 High Roller Entertainment
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Various Artists - The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards 2001 (2001)

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*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Gangsta Rap, Pop Rap, Conscious Rap
Label Number: 12 86239

© 2001 Def Jam Records
Like past volumes in the series, Source Hip Hop Music Awards 2001 features many of the year's biggest rap hits, emphasizing quality as well as popularity. While the majority of these songs are from the East Coast, there are a few West Coast songs -- Snoop Dogg's "Lay Low" and Xzibit's "X," both Dr. Dre productions -- and quite a few Dirty South songs: Ludacris' "Southern Hospitality," Trina's "Pull Over," Scarface's "Look Me in My Eyes," Nelly's "E.I.," and Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass." There are a few songs here that weren't big chart-toppers -- Talib Kweli's "Blast," MOP's "Ante Up (Robbing-Hoodz Theory)," Poe Boy Family's "Making It," and the Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Nate Dogg collaboration, "Oh No -- yet thankfully made the album due to their quality. It's this offering of different styles and mix of chart-toppers and critical favorites that make Source Hip Hop Music Awards 2001 a representative sample of the year in rap, with a slight bias toward the East Coast.

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Positve Black Soul - Salaam (Promo C.D.) (1995)

By 
*Promotional disc. 
Contains 11 tracks total.  
A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
Country: Senegal
Language: French (Le Français)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Style: Conscious Rap
Label Number: 162-531 029-2

© 1995 Mango/Island Records
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

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Various Artists - Kazaam (Original Soundtrack) (Promo C.D.) (1996)

By No comments
*Promotional disc. 
Contains 17 tracks total. 
A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop
Label Number: 31454 9027 2

© 1996 Perspective Records
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

tags: various artists, kazaam, original soundtrack, kazam, shaq, ost, the soundtrack, 1996, flac,
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