3 Mini Album Revies

when i initially got my hands on all three of these albums, i had grand intentions to make full posts about my thoughts regarding each. as time has passed and i've filled my time doing other things like learning spanish and traveling, i thought i'd give a quick recap in chronological order:

"graduation" by kanye west

i was really excited for this cd due to my love for his first two which were largely solid from top to bottom in regards to lyrics, subject matter, and musical content. there is, however, a drop off on this outing in all three criteria. in his first two albums he showed so much promise before falling into the plight of many successful rappers before him: no longer able to rap about the struggle, they now rap about how they've "made it" and the perils of fame. kanye may summarize it best in a line from the track "can't tell me nothing" when he says "i dreamed i could buy my way to heaven and then i went and spent it on a necklace." he spent his money on a necklace with this album. there still are some winners on this album, notably "everything i am," "champion," and "i wonder," but a couple recycled lines and uninspired beats leaves this a notch lower than his past albums. sad day for kanye and i anticipate his return to form with his next album.

"in rainbows" by radiohead

radiohead has, debatably, the best album recorded in the 90s to their name. how did they follow it up? with all sorts of good albums afterwards, that's how. granted, i wasn't as huge a fan of "hail to the thief" or "amnesiac" but that would not prevent me from downloading the new album for any price i saw fit. and i declare it a remarkable album. while several of the tracks like "nude," "videotape," and "bodysnatchers" are wonderful on their own, this really is an album to listen to in its entirety. then it becomes wonderful, claustrophobic, and layered. at its core is my favorite "all i need" which is just a force given what comes before and after. definitely check it out, although i think they stopped the download. very good stuff though and kind of shames a lot of other bands for being more singles driven in their albums.

"alive 2007" by daft punk

so i'll admit i have a soft spot for daft punk. maybe it's because they pretend to be robots. maybe it's because they have an ear for turning techo-ish stuff into something that is really appealing to my ears. IRregardless, i'll swear by their first two albums "homework" and "discovery" and even their third "human after all" gets better every time i give it a repeat listen. i know i routinely listen to their live album "alive 1997" because it is just stellar to see them play around with songs from their first album in a different context. now comes "alive 2007." i had begun to read about concerts on their most recent tour where they performed from the middle of a giant pyramid and the music was so infectious that even security guards would be dancing. needless to say, i was intrigued. then, lo and behold, comes a live recording from one of the concerts on an album just for me. this is amazing. the only reason i hesitate to speak more strongly about it is because i feel like one really needs to be steeped in their discography from all three studio albums to really see what amazing-ness is going on here. but it's worth it. from top to bottom, this album is an experience. and after attending creamfields down here, listening to it with my eyes closed almost allows me to think for a moment that i was actually at the daft punk concert, which i now know for a fact i would be willing to give most any body part to have attended. listening to this cd gave me the chills while walking down the middle of a busy street. i'm not even going to talk about the contents of this album. just go ahead and buy the entire daft punk discography, learn it by heart, and then listen to this and be content in life because you'll have no other choice anyway.