Rating System
WWWWW- You can't go wrong with this
WWWW- Excellent and worthy of attention
WWW- May not change the world, but it's still good
WW- I'm not so sure about this...
W- Well, at least it makes a good Frisbee
DMX- The Grand Champ (WWWW)
Limp Bizkit- Results May Vary (WWW)
Nickelback- The Long Road (WWWW)
DMX- The Grand Champ (WWWW)
Song Of The Album: "We 'Bout To Blow" f/Big Stan. Alternate Title: "The Album 50 Cent SHOULD Have Made". Genre: Rap/Party Rap
It's not easy to brag you're the best, but somehow DMX always manages to do just that. "The Grand Champ", DMX's fifth album in six years, continues in this tradition, being yet another album where DMX asserts his superiority, and he does it with such a force that it feels fresh, even if this kind of thing has been exhausted past useability. Songs like the infectious "Get It On The Floor" make the album instantly engaging, while songs like "The Rain" reveal DMX's more sensitive side, a la "Who We Be", showing he's not just all about killing people. Still, the best song here is one of his party tracks, "We 'Bout To Blow" with Big Stan, which uses the Sesame Street theme to create the album's most interesting and vibrant tracks. Overall, "The Grand Champ" is excellent through and through- it's 74 minutes long but unlike his "Cradle 2 The Grave" soundtrack earlier this year, you don't feel the length. At times, he does go over the top (the worst of which being "Shot Down" with 50 Cent and Styles P), but overall he makes the album 50 Cent should have made with "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'"- a danceable, party rap album where the rhymes are ment; and ment well.
Song Of The Album: "Phenomenon". Alternate Title: "Limp Bizkit Are Back". Genre: Rap-Metal/Nu-Metal
When Limp Bizkit released "Choclate Covered Starfish In The Hot Dog Flavoured Water", there were few who would have thought they would have bounced back from an album that crappy. To borrow from Jon Hein's phraseology, many were almost certain that not only did Limp Bizkit leap well over the shark, they plunged deeply into the waters below, almost certain to never come out. Well, suffice to say, Limp Bizkit have not only leapt right back over, they're firmly back in place again with the puzzlingly-titled "Results May Vary", the band's fourth album and the first without guitarist Wes Borland. Unlike "Starfish", which mired as a clumsy, contrived album, "Results" is a more focused and cohesive album, one where Fred Durst just lets loose and couldn't really care less about anything, the kind of thing that made "Significant Other" and "3 Dollar Bill Y'All" so fresh. Songs like "Gimme The Mic" and "Head For The Barricade" are endearingly silly, being the kind of silly party rap songs that made "Faith" the hit it was. Then there's the quasi-power ballads like "Drown" and "Down Another Day", which are actually honest and heartfelt, even if the lyrics are a little weak. Still, the best song here is "Phenomenon", which borrows enough from several rap songs (most recently by LL Cool J's song of the same name) to provide the most danceable and enjoyable song here. Still, no matter how endearingly silly the band might be, the lyrics are still too awful at times (like the hook to "Head For The Barricade" for instance) and "Eat You Alive", the first single, is too stupid even for this album. Overall, though, "Results" may not be the landmark album Fred Durst may have wanted, but it should at least win back all those fans lost from "Starfish", because Durst and his band are back to doing what they do best- just letting loose, having a good time, and not caring if anyone cares; and they're all the better for it.
Song Of The Album: "Figured You Out". Alternate Title: "Chad Kroeger's Diary, Vol. 4". Genre: Rock/Hard Rock
Following up a landmark album like "Silver Side Up" is hard to do, but when it comes to Chad Kroeger, these things are almost certain, which plays out just right on his band's fourth album, and second for Roadrunner Records, "The Long Road". This album continues with the tradition of the previous albums- emotional, heartfelt rock songs that have Kroeger contemplating on life, perhaps his life or perhaps just life in general, all the while staying the biting and pointed lyricist he once was. There's "Feeling Too D*** Good", where Kroeger really wonders if there's something in store for him to break his happiness, while "Throw Yourself Away" has Kroeger blasting a girl for being too reckless and having an unwanted pregnancy. "Figured You Out", however, is the best song here: it's the hardest rocking song here, perhaps the reason why they're on Roadrunner Records if you will, as it almost borders on nu-metal sonically and provides the most interesting song here. The album proper ends with "See You At The Show" (initial releases have three bonus tracks, which also have the positive "Saturday Night's (Good For Fighting)"), which counteracts all this anger by providing something Nickelback at least don't seem to have had in a while- a happy song. Here, Kroeger relaxes a lot and feels genuinely happy, a relief after all the songs about pain. Still, even though the band's great at the angry songs, I begin to wonder if Kroeger has ever felt happy- I mean, at this point, there must be at least quite a few things to celebrate. Still, "The Long Road" features a band who's come into their own, as Nickelback are now entering the prime of their careers. Now's their time, and they've properly seized it.
-DG