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From SeeingBlack.com Music The Roots—Rising Down
The Roots’ sound, along with the artists themselves, has evolved greatly over the years. They have progressively moved from primarily jazz oriented instrumentation, to experimental rock, to the dark, synth-heavy sound they possess today. Rising Down is an exceptional piece of work in that the musical and lyrical tones wed each other perfectly; the dark political criticism matches the distorted bass and synthesizers. "Get Busy" is a prime example of this pairing. Also, tracks such as "Rising Up" and "Lost Desire" feature prominent artists such as Talib Kweli and Chrisette Michelle, so the album has no shortage of star power. Rising Down is the strongest Roots album in recent years, although it doesn’t hold a candle to their classic material. While a good listen, it does chug along slowly to the average ear. Black Thought’s potent lyricism requires focus to interpret; this isn’t music for fun but for contemplation. If you can get your hands on a special copy of the album, there’s an unreleased track called "Birthday Girl" that features Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy that has a very bubbly feel to it (which is why it didn’t make the final cut). But, all in all, thumbs up. The Roots did a good job this time around. Let’s hope they keep it up. Janet Jackson – Discipline Janet Jackson is a freak. Correction, Janet Jackson is a freaky space robot fueled by orgasms and technological ejaculations. At least, that’s how she sounds on Discipline, her latest album. Janet’s sultry voice rides cybernetic rhythms and mechanical thumps, resulting in a futuristic vibe that is interesting, to say the least. The track "Feedback" is a prime example of this vibe and raunchy lines like “heavy like a first-day period” are typical on this in-your-face album. Discipline, however, also has a softer, more sensual side. This is mostly thanks to Ne-Yo, who penned "Rock With You" and three other songs on the album. Overall, Discipline is lacking in reality; the album marinates in its own superficiality and there is no sense of Janet herself. She did not write or co-write any of the songs; maybe that’s why she feels so absent from the material. Discipline is not her best effort. We have all seen better from Janet. My advice: download the singles “Feedback” and “Rock With You” and leave this one on the shelf. Sorry, Janet. Lenny Kravitz—It Is Time For A Love Revolution Lenny Kravitz definitely has a retro feel to his music, yet he constructs his sounds in a way that sounds both new and old. Love Revolution has the skin of a sexy rock and roll diva while possessing the soul of a blues songstress. Lenny’s arrangements are enticing and fresh, the guitar riffs (“Love,Love,Love”) forming a hard edge to balance the softer notes of the piano on other songs ("I’ll Be Waiting"). The artistic vision of this project very much reflects Lenny Kravitz; it was arranged and produced by him, as well as largely written and performed by him. He was primarily assisted by Craig Ross on guitar and other instrumentation. You can definitely hear how much Lenny is enjoying himself on this album. The whole thing explodes with a passion and energy expressed in a very funky way. However, while the album is unique in vision, the execution of the music fails to keep the ear entertained when listened to from beginning to end. All in all, It Is Time For A Love Revolution is a decent album and deserves a listen from anyone who appreciates rock and roll. Read and search hundreds of music reviews on SeeingBlack.com's Music channel and archive. Click here to post a comment on this review or your own review. © Copyright by SeeingBlack.com |
