Monday, April 20, 1998
Soundbites
Daz Dillinger, "Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back" (Death Row)
With gangsta rap, one comes to expect "phat" beats, hard-core
lyrics and a street-life image. But once in a great while, an
artist decides to mix up the recipe a little bit. Breaking out in
Long Beach style, Daz Dillinger, who teamed with Kurupt Tha Kingpin
to form The Dogg Pound, struts his stuff on his debut album. Teamed
with renowned acts such as Tupac Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Nate
Dogg, WC and Too Short, Dillinger delivers in true Death Row
form.
Despite an occasional lack of lyrical creativity, "Retaliation,
Revenge and Get Back" varies its use of different music forms into
a successful integration. By meshing together elements reminiscent
of George Clinton and ’70s old-school funk, Dillinger adds his
voice to formulate a fairly impressive and polished product. Add
into the mixture traditional record scratches and timely beats,
with R&B choruses and even gospel undertones, and the album
goes beyond being another run-of-the-mill piece.
The album does have its problems, though. The rapper’s choice of
musical texts are unoriginal and often lacking in true feeling. But
as the album progresses, the fifteen tracks rapidly build momentum
until the end. If you feel like a song that will get your
adrenaline going, try the head-bobbin’ "Our Daily Bread" or the
sexually explicit "It Might Sound Crazy." For a softer change of a
pace, there is the soulful tribute to the love of a woman in "Only
For U." Perhaps, the most striking cut on the album is "Baby Mama
Drama," a piece that bitterly remarks on how mothers could turn
their children against their fathers.
If it’s possible to overlook the typical rap verses about
player-romping, gun-toting and gang-banging, Daz Dillinger’s first
solo attempt may surprise some with its diversity. For anyone
looking to cruise around the streets of LA or just trying to escape
the stranglehold of Puff Daddy and friends, this album is worth a
spin. Teron Hide B
Fuel, "Sunburn" (Epic) Sure, bro. Right … uh huh. You’re in a
band? What’s it called? Fuel? Whew, sounds like you guys really
rock! Got an album out? "Sunburn," huh? No, you don’t have to …
really, it’s not necessary… oh, thanks. Looks pretty good. Nice
doodles. Is that a chalice? How about that? Is that a pair of
wings? Oh, sorry. It’s a Kleenex. Let’s pop this thing in the
stereo, huh?
Wow, big time guitars. The drummer’s going insane. And how ’bout
that singer? He’s roaring and snarling and growling like he’s got
something wedged way up there. This song’s on the radio sometimes,
right? It’s called "Shimmer." Let’s skip past a few songs. Aha! The
drums rule on this cut – "It’s Come To This." Let’s skip a few
more. The guitar player knows what he’s doing, especially in this
song. What’s it called? "Sunburn?" Oh, that’s the title track.
Dope.
What other bands do you think you guys sound like? Matchbox 20?
Smashing Pumpkins? Yeah, you’re right. What? You sound better live?
Yeah, that might be true. Live and after a few beers is more like
it. Just kidding bro. Hey, back off! What the … What are you
going to do with that rubber band? Ouch! Help! Stay … stay back!
Get away from there! Jeremy Engel B-
Bernard Butler, "People Move On" (Sony) There don’t seem to be
enough solo, singer-and-songwriter types from England lately.
Big-beat outfits and pop and rock groups have been the norm for a
while now, save ex-Jam member Paul Weller, George Michael and a few
others.
Enter Bernard Butler. With the release of "People Move On," his
first serious solo album, Butler should give the
singer-and-songwriter genre some life. Some of you may know Butler
as half of the songwriting team for Suede, until his departure from
the seminal Brit band in 1995. With Suede vocalist Brett Anderson,
the two created two albums that met huge success, awards and
critical acclaim in their native U.K., as well as a big cult
following in the US and elsewhere. After leaving Suede, Butler
became half of McAlmont & Butler, who had a few hits in Britain
in the past couple of years.
Butler departs a bit from the sounds of those two groups with
"People Move On," which takes various styles and throws them in the
musical blender. You can hear artists like Paul Weller
("Autograph"), the Verve ("You Just Know") and even Suede ("Not
Alone" and "When You Grow") throughout the well-crafted record.
While some songs lack character and real feeling, others capture
your attention quite easily. Mostly a kick back, relax and enjoy
sort of record, "People Move On" may not have the flash of Suede
but certainly shares its earnestness and flair for pop songwriting.
Mike Prevatt B
Curve, "Come Clean" (Universal) The formula for this album seems
to be: Curve + electronica, which is fine. But as countless similar
experiments have shown, the formula (band) + (trend) is necessarily
only as good as the band itself, and in Curve’s case this means
three stars out of five. Predictably, the album features a fine
single, the lush and sexy "Something Familiar," but the band’s
chronic lack of harmonies leaves faster numbers such as "Chinese
Burn" sounding like bland Republica. Michael Gillette C
Journey, "Greatest Hits Live" (Columbia) Not to be confused, of
course, with the mega-selling greatest hits album they already came
out with, Journey’s latest release caters to diehards fans and
those the band felt haven’t been properly introduced to their
music. Or we could cynically infer that Journey’s looking to make
some cash off their popular, older catalog.
Remember Journey? Led by singer Steve Perry, Journey rose to
fame in the early ’80s as the ultimate arena rock band,
popularizing soaring, weepy rockers and ballads. They helped pave
the way for the hard rock and soft metal bands that ruled the mid
to late late ’80s, and sold millions of records worldwide in the
meantime. It was sap rock at its best, thanks to guitarist Neal
Schon’s over-the-top guitars and keyboardist Jonathan Cain’s dreamy
synth melodies. Even today their regular "best-of" collection still
sells well, evidenced on Billboard’s Pop Catalog charts.
Journey has dug up concert tapes from three shows, two from 1983
and one from 1981. The quality sounds like these shows were
recently performed, which is a plus for fans looking for the band’s
glory days. And all the big hits can be found, such as
"Faithfully," "Separate Way" and "Any Way You Want It." If you’re
looking for a nostalgia kick, if you’re a big Journey fan (and we
know you’re out there) or you’re just curious, this well-done live
album just might satisfy that need for that KLOS, unadulterated
rock sound. Remember, old ’80s rock is coming back, so you don’t
have to be embarrassed. Mike Prevatt B
Various Artists, "120 Minutes Live" (Atlantic) This 14-track
live compilation represents nothing more than a typical, alt.music
compilation, like hundreds of others that bombard the market and
don’t sell well. Even with big-name artists like Oasis
("Supersonic"), Radiohead (Fake Plastic Trees), Bjork ("Aeroplane")
and even the reformed Sex Pistols ("Pretty Vacant"), the album
still comes across like a cash-making machine, more for the
live-in-the-studio connoisseur than it is for real music fans.
We’re still talking about a low-rated MTV show, and the
performances don’t exactly make up the best efforts by any of these
artists. On the other hand, one must admit the songs (which lack
any real flow) picked for the album are really good. Listen and
decide for yourself. Mike Prevatt B-
DAZ DILLINGER
"Retaliation, Revenge and Get Back"