Clipse - Lord Willin'

Seriously, you want to hear about one of the best rap acts out there that you're not listening to? Try Clipse on for size. Lord Willin' was their first studio release and it's not my favorite, but still brings the house down. The group consists of Malice and Pusha T and all their stuff is produced the The Neptunes. If you aren't familiar with the Neptunes, then you're either not paying attention or simply not a big hip/hop fan. Basically, every song is produced by Neptunes/Pharrell, Timbaland or Dr. Dre. And if you don't use them, you're song isn't going to be huge. Kanye does some, and Swizz Beatz to some...but they don't have the huge following of the previous acts mentioned. One thing is for sure, the VA based Clipse knows how to flow and they know all about the drug game. People argue raps about drugs, money, girls are tired and boring...but if you can the story - tell it well. Clipse does exactly that. Not only are you hearing the story in Grindin', but you're also hearing one of the sickest beats that I had heard in a really long time. When this dropped in 2002, it was kind of a slow time for rap. The game was about to explode again with the poppish Get Rich or Die Tryin and Em's Eminem Show. Clipse really kept it real on this one and their subsequent release Hell Hath No Fury. (which by the way, is my favorite Clipse record and I'll certainly review it soon). Anyway, check these fellas out. If you're a rap mogul, this is certainly for you. 2 thumbs way up!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Intro
2. Young Boy
3. Virginia
4. Grindin'
5. Cot' Damn
6. Ma I Don't Love Her
7. Famlay Freestyle
8. When The Last Time
9. Ego
10. Comedy Central
11. Gangsta Lean
12. I'm Not You
13. Let's Talk About It
14. Grindin' (Remix)
15. Grindin' (Selector Remix)

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. When The Last Time
2. Grindin'
3. Intro

FINAL RATING:
3.75 out of 5 stars

Brad Paisley - Time Well Wasted

Time for another B Side infamous Country review. Today brings me over to one straight from the Suggestion Box in Brad Paisley. Speaking of that, please do drop suggestions in the box. It's fun for me to listen to new stuff, and it should be fun to see how your favorites stack up in my opinion. Then you can tell me how smart I am or how dumb I am. Either way, it's fun. This particular album is tied for best selling ever for Mr. Paisley, and was his 4th studio release. After doing a touch of research on him, he's basically the country god at this point in time. A prominent reviewer referred to him as the "standard bearer" for all of the genre. How many country fans agree with that? Because frankly, I don't see it. First and foremost, his highest selling album is 2x platinum? Really? That's it? Your gold star performer can't outsell basically any current punk band? Huge genre acts go 2x in a month, and this record came out in 2005. It just doesn't seem like that acclaim fits the actual results. He seems to bounce around from slow ballad from time to time and then punch out mostly sophomoric or 'fun' type tracks. He's certainly a throw back to the old school country I dislike and not that new pop country that I've actually started to semi-enjoy. Oh, Lady Antebellum has already gone 2x platinum and that came out in JANUARY of THIS YEAR!! I'm going to revert into my country hater status for this one...if you enjoy this, please tell me why. It offers nothing good to my primed up ears.

TRACK LISTING:
1. World, The
2. Alcohol
3. Waitin' on a Woman
4. I'll Take You Back
5. She's Everything
6. You Need a Man Around Here
7. Out in the Parkin' Lot
8. Rainin' You
9. Flowers
10. Love Is Never Ending
11. Uncloudy Day, The
12. When I Get Where I'm Going
13. Easy Money
14. Time Warp
15. Time Well Wasted
16. Cornography (Bonus Track)

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Time Warp (Praise BP for no lyrics)
2. Alcohol
3. She's Everything

FINAL RATING:
.75 out of 5 stars

The Cars - Self Titled

Hump Day on the B Side brings me to a classic review. I was revisiting my Powerman 5k review this morning as Janis graciously commented with her thoughts on it. I was explaining how I only put 'Good Times Roll' on my Top 3 since I love the Cars so much. Well...that's when it hit me, BAM! Punch to the face. Why not do a Cars review? I mean, duh - it's only logical. So here I am, finally getting to one of my favorite bands ever. I'm not even sure why I enjoy them so much. I picked up their Greatest Hits album back in like 2005 and just fell in love. It's not that their sound is so unique, their beats haunt me or their lyrics just blow my mind - I guess this is as close to pop music as I get that I love. I mean, every song is incredibly catchy and makes you want to hear another...and another...and another. So I decided to run with their debut album, and the one that has outsold their other works by 2x platinum. Their self titled debut has now gone platinum 6 times over...not bad for a band that doesn't seem to get much recognition in any sort of best of conversation. This record was only 9 tracks deep, but nearly every one of them is on their GH compilation. Think about that. If you started a band and your debut record was that good, that 30 years later your fans knew every track on it and wanted them on your best of after retirement. That's incredible to me. They didn't stop making good music there either. They made great tuneage all the way through 1988 when they decided to split for good. I think it's unanimous that this album rocks the house, and you should most definitely listen to this today...I know I will!!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Good Times Roll
2. My Best Friend's Girl
3. Just What I Needed
4. I'm in Touch With Your World
5. Don't Cha Stop
6. You're All I've Got Tonight
7. Bye Bye Love
8. Moving in Stereo
9. All Mixed Up

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Moving In Stereo
2. You're All I've Got Tonight
3. Just What I Needed

FINAL RATING:
4.75 out of 5 stars

Butthole Surfers - Electric Larryland

This is an odd band to figure out. Larryland didn't come out until 1996, but they'd been making music since 1984. Their older stuff was very underground and only released on independent labels. This was their second major studio release, and it sounds like many of the old die hards were upset that this became all about hard guitar and less about out there odd lyrics. I think they called it the 'Maturation of the Buttholes' which is kind of an odd statement to type out. There is really no doubt in my mind that if anyone has listened to this record, they'll admit it rocks out pretty hard. I guess it's lacking something though, as I've only tossed it in maybe once in the last decade. No denying Pepper is an outstanding track (and probably the only one casual fans have heard). After that, it's a bit of a free-for-all in terms of what else is solid. There are a couple I enjoy, a couple I skip everytime and a couple I'm indifferent on. This will certainly go down as my 'oddball' review of the week, and hopefully someone out there can identify with these guys. I won't lie to you and say I celebrate their entire catalog, but maybe someone does. Worth checking out, not worth buying...probably worth your time on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Birds
2. Cough Syrup
3. Pepper
4. Thermador
5. Ulcer Breakout
6. Jingle of a Dog's Collar
7. TV Star
8. My Brother's Wife
9. Ah Ha
10. Lord Is a Monkey, The
11. Let's Talk About Cars
12. L.A.
13. Space

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Pepper
2. Jingle Of A Dog's Collar
3. The Lord Is A Monkey

FINAL RATING
2 out of 5 stars

Jack Johnson - To The Sea

It's a triple review day on the B Side, with a second edition of New Music Tuesday. I figured since it was a long holiday weekend, I can repay the readers with an extra review! And it so happens that one of my favorite 'mood' genre acts has another drop today. If you can recall, I reviewed Mr. Johnson's 'Brushfire Fairytales' a couple months ago. While I love that album, a couple of this other studio releases were misses for me. This one reverts right back into Fairytale quality. Superior acoustics and vocals on a number of tracks makes this a must listen. In January Johnson reported that they entered the studio to begin work on a new album, and on February 1st they announced that their currently untitled fifth studio album was slated for a June 1st release, to be followed by a world tour. The album was recorded over three weeks in Johnson's two solar-powered studios, The Mango Tree in Hawaii and the Solar Powered Plastic Plant in Los Angeles. And how neat is that? When asked about the album title, his comment to press was, "I guess it's a reference to a father leading his son to the sea, with the water representing the subconscious. So it's about trying to go beneath the surface and understand yourself." As I stated earlier, check this one out. If you're a Jack fan, you'll love it.

TRACK LISTING:
1. You and Your Heart
2. To the Sea
3. No Good With Faces
4. At or With Me
5. When I Look Up
6. From the Clouds
7. My Little Girl
8. Turn Your Love
9. Upsetter, The
10. Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology
11. Pictures of People Taking Pictures
12. Anything But the Truth
13. Only the Ocean

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. You And Your Heart
2. Anything But The Truth
3. To The Sea

FINAL RATING:
3.5 out of 5 stars

Taio Cruz - Rokstarr

New Music Tuesday and the pop day of the week align today with Taio Cruz's sophomore record. This is another example of a guy that worked behind the scenes for YEARS writing and producing music for other well known acts. Similar to Keri Hilson, Taio got a little tired of the credit hogging stars and decided to step up to the microphone. His original drop back in 2008 'Departure' only saw modest success and only in the United Kingdom. (He's from the UK) This album coincides with the release of his new clothing brand called Rockstar. The only thing I've heard of on that line is the sunglasses, and I've seen those being worn by people like Hilson, Kid Cudi and Kanye West. I might have to run out and pick up a pair for myself. Since I've thrown the Hilson comparison in there already, I think this experiment will end up about the same. Hilson hasn't received any acclaim for her record and I don't expect this to do much either. It's a pretty heavy pop record start to finish with a couple decent breaks from pop in the middle. This came out way back in Sept 09 in UK along with the clothing line release the same day. This is FINALLY getting to be dropped in the US, with our country having heard half the album already in the radio singles. This album makes me a little mad, since it does have the couple tracks that could really be solid, then it has tracks like 'Dirty Picture' which revert back to Ke$ha like qualities and make me not take it seriously. I'm guessing this will end up being a nice little fun project for Cruz, and he'll end up going back behind the scenes. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think this one has the staying power.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Dynamite
2. Break Your Heart
3. Dirty Picture
4. Take Me Back
5. I'll Never Love Again
6. I Can Be
7. No Other One
8. Come On Girl
9. Falling In Love
10. Higher
11. Feel Again

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Break Your Heart
2. I'll Never Love Again
3. Feel Again

FINAL RATING:
2.25 out of 5 stars

MSTRKRFT - The Looks

Techno Tuesday brings to the spotlight another lesser known electronic band. MSTRKRFT has been putting out fat, funky beats for nearly half a decade now, and not many people would recognize them. While they've only released two studio albums (this being their first) they have created many, MANY remixes of popular music. A small sampling of those include: Love in this Club by Usher, Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and John Legend's Green Light. I absolutely love their beats and the mixing work they do over the top of them. It's crazy to think that so many of the better dance groups have come from Canada. These guys being from the Toronto area, there must be a happening night life up there for my northern neighbors. Anyway, I think if you're an electronic nut like me, you'll really dig these guys. They're not making more commercial type stuff like the more commonly heard groups, but it still knocks your socks off and makes you want to move. I know someone who went to a concert of theirs a while back, and said it was awesome. That makes perfect sense because the way the music is laid out, it would seem you could have some pretty amazing effects going on as a compliment. Check 'em out B Side!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Work on You
2. Easy Love
3. She's Good for Business
4. Paris
5. Looks, The
6. Street Justice
7. Bodywork
8. Neon Knights

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Easy Love
2. Neon Knights
3. She's Good For Business

FINAL RATING:
3.25 out of 5 stars