Acid Rap - Chance The Rapper

This is the second mixtape by rapper Chance The Rapper. His debut mixtape, 10 Day, was released last year. This one is different. I'll explain more though later. I'm gonna review that too.

1. Good Ass Intro: This song reminds me a little of Cee-lo Green. But his voice also reminds me a little of Danny Brown, in the very beginning. But as the track progresses it does sound like something soul, something that reminds me a little of Fuck You. It's a pretty exciting way to start this mixtape off. This is a beat of a song I could see being in a gospel song. 
2. Pusha Man: This song has stops in it. I like that. I think this song is different enough from track one. I'm not sure who of the features is who, but they remind me of, in order of appearance, Yella Wolf and A$AP Rocky. Though this is a long song, it is kind of justified. Maybe it could be 5 minutes long instead of over 6, that doesn't really matter though. This is pretty much two song. In part two of the song his, I don't know if its Chance or Nate or Lili K.,  accent (s)he is trying in this song reminds me of, in the beginning, Bradley Nowell's vocals where he tries a Jamaican impression. I do like the the verses and think this is a good song. I enjoy it. 
3. Cocoa Butter Kisses: The key flares remind me of the atmosphere in Siberian Breaks. The beginning of this song has a rotor organ in it. That's what is often used in soul/gospel type music. Better described as "Black Church Music". This is a pretty smooth song, and good. When he says the title of the song, and the flares there, bring me back to channel ORANGE. That is also another album that I could see being clumped into that. His voice reminds me a little of Ocean. 
4. Juice: In this song he's doing a Jamaican accent thing. This song has a tad of reggae. Maybe it's just me, but I can vaguely hear it. This is a pretty good song. 
5. Lost: This song doesn't do much for me. It's fine, but you know, I'm not huge on it. It's nothing different than what I've heard this far on this tape. I've never heard of Noname Gypsy but I think she kind of good on this song. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but yeah. 
6. Everybody's Something: This song reminds me a little of C.R.E.A.M. and Em's 1996 Infinite. This is a pretty solid song. I think it's pretty great, that's Eminem's best, Pre-Eminem Show. 
7. Interlude (That's Love): This beat is great. I actually really like this song. It's upbeat, and exactly what I need right now, you know. Who doesn't need to hear that, I love you, every once in a while. 
8. Favorite Song: There is a delayed guitar on this track. It isn't my favorite but it's a solid song. I think that this is a cool song. Gambino also does a good job on this. I don't care much for what I've heard from Gambino but this is a sick guest spot. 
9. NaNa: Action Bronson's on this. I actually need to review Rare Chandlers. This song is ok, but it's not doing much more than just Action's spot, which isn't really anything that is awesome like some of the cooler songs I've heard by him.   
10. Smoke Again: The horns in the beginning remind me of, sonically, Set The World On Fire's trumpets in the beginning of that song. The deep rap reminds me of A$AP Rocky. I like this song.
11. Acid Rain: This is a slick song. I think it fits at the end of the mixtape. This has these guitar slides in the background. This is a great ending. 
12. Chain Smoker: This is the second to last track. The woman's "ah ah" reminds me of Pump Up The Jams. This is a pretty smooth song. This is a pretty, for the most part, a relaxing song. I enjoy the keys/piano is pretty cool. 
13. Everything's Great (Good Ass Outro): This is kind of neat at touching. It reminds me of Lil B. He had a song where he talked to someone over the phone. This is a good ass Outro, not as good as the intro, but it fits. 

Overall this mixtape will get a 7/10. This thing is more interesting than 10 Day. Which is a good thing, I hope he continues to improve on his mixtapes, and he'll do fine. I don't really have much more to say about this mixtape. But looking forward to his next one to come.

Hail to the King - Avenged Sevenfold

This little thing here COME ON!. I've been waiting since Not Ready to Die for you (especially since before that I really wasn't even thinking of their next album following Nightmare). I'm not dissing the album but I finally get to hear this. And it's in my hands. My precious. I wish the cover was a little cooler, but it's cool enough. I also heard about the no double track vocals. And heard the title track. If the whole album is like that, this is gonna be a long review. :( Here is song quick facts, first album with Arin as a member (though his first drum performance was on NRTD). This is also the first album without The Rev. By that, he didn't write anything off this. This is also Avenged Sevenfold's sixth album and is, in the US, released a day late (08-27-13) of being released on the 10th anniversary of the release of Waking The Fallen (08-26-03). If that's on purpose, I don't know, but I wanted to say that. [Note: I basically had to redo this entire review]

1. Shepard of Fire: This song, from the start, reminds me of something they would have put on City of Evil. More of that hard rock sound, vs the experimental elements of the Self Titled and the darkness of Nightmare. I can't quite put my finger on what the horns remind me of, I need to re-relisten to City and some other albums. The more I hear this song, the more the magic goes. It fades kind of. This song, after even gaining a new respect, I don't like it any more. I always kind of liked this song, but I didn't have as much of a revelation about this song as Requiem. This song is a pretty good intro. The chorus in the song is pretty cool. I like the horns in the beginning and think that this is a song that has a sludge to it. Not sludge metal, but kind of slightly slowed down version of some of their past songs. The bass heavy song reminds me a little of the intro to Save Me.
2. Hail to the King: The intro is pretty cool, when I only heard it as an instrumental. When I heard the vocals it sent this song to the shitter. The more you hear this the better it gets. But, on the other hand, it loses that little magic it had to appeal to it. The intro kind of gets boring, though the vocals aren't as bad. This is just an average song, with nothing special about it. I love this band, but I can't stick up for them with this song at all. Then after discussing this album, as a whole, I gained a new respect for this song. Though this isn't what I wanted, this is still a pretty decent track. Once you learn to overlook the whole weird vocals thing, it's a pretty fun song. Kind of like a Almost Easy or somethings along these lines that follows up the intro track on an A7X album. This is another groove track, just like the last. It isn't high speed, but its tempo is fast enough. I almost feel the tempo this songs at is too simple for Syn. I mean, yes that might be on purpose, but it just seems like it might be too simple. The "hey's" remind me of Critical Acclaim. The solo might be more exciting if it was a little faster, but it fits the way it is.
3. Doing Time: Though this title sucks the music in the beginning is pretty cool. But the "poem" in the beginning isn't really doing anything for me. His singing reminds me a lot of Axel Rose in a song like Bad Obsession or when he uses that type of thing with his voice. This could actually be a Guns N' Roses song, but not an Avenged Sevenfold song. After hearing this song I went to look for what GNR song it reminded me of. This song actually reminded me of Perfect Crime, at first. This song though is much better when you hear the whole context of the album. They wanted to make a raw sounding album like Sabbath or Zeppelin and use their influences. Daft Punk did that with RAM they celebrated their influences of music and did a great job at it, Avenged did the same thing, and I tip my hat to them for that.
4. This Means War: This is a pretty sick song. First time through, I'm not huge on this lyrics or singing. This song could almost be a cover of Sad But True. I'm serious, just listen to this than that (or vice versa) and tell me what you think. Well the only difference is that this song isn't an "gritty" and "rough" as that Sad But True. That song has a type of force behind it that makes it "tough" and a song that can be proudly called a Metallica song. But this song, well, is kind of like a not so "tough" song. Maybe like a side kick. "Batman's" the best and this song is more of a "3rd Robin". (Note: Just take this song with a grain of salt).
5. Requiem: The whole Latin Chant in the beginning isn't cool. The way it sound it just comes off as cheesy. It'd be different if it was cheesy sounding and from 1970 or 1980 at the latest 1990, but this is 2013. Come on! I enjoy the song, but not enough to like it or that it sticks out. After relistening [and meditating with a convo] after a day or two break, I learned the it's sick. I still am not found of the chant in the beginning, but that changes. This is one hell of a dark song, almost evil. I could see, in a movie, this being the part where they are calling upon satan to do as he does. And that prayer kind of makes it a little creepier. The singer's praying to Satan in the song. This song almost drags you to hell and it keeps you down there. This is probably, you could say, their evilist song. And he doesn't even scream on this song. The "In flames" part reminds me a little of one of the parts in The Wicked End. Just the riff in this song is just sick. I just love this, and this song has a riff that's just kind of hard to just have quiet. IT NEEDS TO BE LOUD!!!!! {9/10}
6. Crimson Day: This intro reminds me of like a mix of Fade to Black and Don't Cry. It also reminds me a little of Buried Alive. Now I can see what they were doing on this track. This is like a non-explosive Buried Alive. This song isn't evil, like the others, but it is still pretty great. This is a pretty song, and I love how it's about Matt's son. This is a pretty solid ballad in its own respect. I tip my hat to them for that. I like this more than So Far Away.
7. Heretic: This is probably the sickest song title off this, though there isn't much competition. You know, partially because of the album M produced called Requiem for The Confession back in 2007. This is another CoE (city) track. The part where it goes in to the acoustic guitar arpeggios reminds me a ton of the ending of Turn The Other Way. The verses of this song are just ok, and hard. But the shine of the song is that whole acoustic arpeggio. It even could be compared to something off Waking The Fallen. And that's at just over the halfway mark. The second half, that and the solo, are the best part of the song.
8. Coming Home: Though the riff sounds like a riff that Iron Maiden might use?, I still think this is a solid song. The way each instrument comes in after each other reminds me of Smoke On The Water. The guitars in this song kind of remind me a little of Carry On. There is something that is off about the chorus that pulls me in. Not off in a bad way, but it doesn't sound pretty. It is pretty, but for me, in more of an IFHY way. The solo in the song is pretty sick too. There are parts of the solo that remind me of Judas Priest. There are also parts that I think are just sick in their own respect. {8/10}
9. Planets: This song, when I saw the title, kind of made me think that this song would be like Acid Rain. I didn't know, but the kind of ballad before the ending. I saw "Melancholia" and this song reminds me of it. As my cousin suggested, and in an interview M. Shadows and Syn mentioned that movie for these song. I love that movie, and it's very touching. But this song is just a raw two part ending to the album. This is the albums Sgt. Pepper's Reprise and Acid Rain being A Day In The Life. The prefect book closer to the album. And also it's kind of like the two different perspectives of the inevitable end. "Mother of all, your time is coming". I love how the chorus is three lines, or four, and the first two have a vibe that you want to sing along to, and then the refrain of the tracks title "Planets Collide" is very powerful. The type This Means War was missing. It still has power and he doesn't even scream it. There is power in this album, and it's neat that there isn't any screams. {9/10}
10. Acid Rain: This is is by far the best track. Though St. James reminds me a tad of 4:00 AM this is still a good song. This isn't really an average A7X song. In fact this is a pretty unique song. The lyrics, and strings, and overall vibe bring me to where I went while listening to Perfect Day. This is a beautiful song and makes this album worth at least 2 listens (1 being the first time, two after hearing it again). This song is cool to hear after hearing the entire thing through. This song is much better too if you can imagine what going on, or if you can picture the movie "Melancholia". It's a beautiful movie both visually and message wise, but it makes these two songs even better. I assume the rain is in reference to the title track off 1970's Black Sabbath, but whether they copied it or whatever I didn't even think of that at first. {10/10}

Overall I have to give this a 8/10. After hearing the first track, not Hail to the King, my faith in this album was somewhat restored. I heard this and didn't like it that much. I did some research and had some talks, and I put those perspectives in mind. I needed that to get this. It's actually pretty good. In a way, how Nightmare is dark and a "nightmare" this is just raw and pure Evil.

The Modern Age - The Strokes

This is the first release by The Strokes. This precedes Is This It and features "demos" of song that would be rerecorded for their debut. Kinda like on As I Lay Dying's split album, going on to Re-Record all those song for different albums. (Note: This paragraph was written before school, and the review was done during school, and the summary was just now).

1. The Modern Age: Now, I do like this song. I think that I might like this ones a little more.This band has a garage band/Alternative vibe to it. Lot's of times those types of bands have a DIY vibe to everything. The solos are cool, I like the way it is double picked. I also like the start stop feel of the riff. I like Julian's vocals, on songs like Reptilia, but I also like this one too. I also like the kind of "jams over" stop thing they do at the end of the song. It just ends. 
2. Last Nite: I also like this version more. I don't know if this is a thing. Like liking the rawer sounding versions of songs. A good example is, though it's not really other versions of the same songs, but Nirvana. The sloppy, raw grunge vibe off 1989's Bleach. Another example is Soundgarden's two slops from the 80's. Maybe it had to do with the money reasons, but I still like those and the sound more. This version sounds more DIY. And I like it because of that.
3. Barley Legal:  Quite possibly my favorite Strokes song, either this or Reptilia or the MGMT vibe of Machu Picchu. The verses are pretty solid but on top of that I love the chorus. I don't know why, but that kind of hooked me on the band. Actually I have Is This It and Room On Fire coming in the mail, and they should be here with Bowie's Zeit on Monday.

Overall I have to give this album a 8/10. This is short, but it's also great. Since it's short it doesn't get very redundant, and it is able to keep my interest. If you have any interest in this band at all you might want to hear this before you even hear their 2001 Debut classic.