Album Reviews 3/18/2011

Album Reviews:

Soulja Boy - The DeAndre Way - Braindead ring-tone rap with inane lyrics and the absence of the quality hooks that made his earlier albums at least tolerable. One of the worst rap albums of 2010.

Charlie Wilson - Just Charlie - A solid R&B album, but no stand-out songs.

The Plain White T's - Wonders Of The Younger - An inoffensive pop-rock album in the Matchbox 20 tradition. "Rhythm Of Love" is the only memorable song, though.

Tank - Now Or Never - An average R&B album. I know that sounds like a BS review, but I don't have anything else to say about albums that sound exactly like one another. There's nothing wrong with them, but they're not outstanding either. The only song I'll remember from this album is a cover of "I Can't Make You Love Me".

Avant - The Letter - I know it sounds like a broken record, but this is an average R&B album. In fact, this album is almost the exact same album as Tank's. They are both in the same genre and they both have the same number of songs. Also, the only notable song on this album is the last song, which is a cover of Toto's "Africa", which works remarkably well.

Volbeat - Beyond Hell - Above Heaven - A surprisingly melodic heavy metal album (I almost labeled it as alternative rock on my WMP genre tag), "Beyond Hell - Above Heaven" features a lot of solid songs (and a couple notably bad duds) and is an overall solid album.

Taio Cruz - Rokstarr - A lame pop album. This produced #1 songs? I'm really glad I don't listen to Top 40 music anymore. It must be absolutely abysmal.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today - I'm going to have to disagree with the critics who love this album. It's an average indie album with a few great songs on it. I don't think it's likely to put any songs on my year-end countdown.

Nellie McKay - Home Sweet Mobile Home - Another excellent album from one of my favorite singer-songwriters. Not every song is a classic, but the sum is greater than it's parts.

Women - Public Strain - A decent, but not spectacular shoegaze album with a few notable songs.

Jewel - Sweet And Wild - A solid effort, but far from Jewel's best album. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be another country music album from her because I honestly can't tell the difference between "country music" and the type of music Jewel has always made if the singer isn't using or faking a Southern accent.


2010 Song Project Report - 3/18/2011 - I finished 11 albums today, bringing my 2010 total down to 10. At my current pace I'll complete this phase of the project on Monday. Unfortunately (for me), I've saved the worst albums for last, so Monday is going to suck. A lot.