Monday, 4/7/97
Soundbites
Aerosmith "Nine Lives" (Columbia) Aerosmith, the band from
Boston we have to thank for introducing us to Alicia Silverstone,
is back with "Nine Lives," the follow-up to the 1993 monster hit
"Get a Grip." Steven Tyler (the man from Boston we have to thank
for giving us Liv Tyler) and company return to their ever-familiar
’70s rock sound, with variations and changes here and there which
set it apart from their earlier releases.
"Nine Lives" opens with the title track, which, like a lot of
Aerosmith’s songs, rocks us senseless with catchy verses but
disrupts the tempo with an awkwardly constructed and lyrically
challenged chorus ("Nine lives/ Hello lucky/ Nine lives/ Live
again/ Nine lives/ It ain’t over/ Nine lives/ Live for 10"). It
does have its good points, though, as does the next song, their hit
single "Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)," where Tyler
beautifully mocks himself ("Don’t give me no lip/ I’ve got enough
of my own"). The tender "Hole in My Soul" starts off like the
Beatles’ "Across the Universe" and develops into what will probably
be a big hit on MTV and KLOS. That pseudo-Indian sound returns for
"Taste of India," a somewhat different but really cool track for
Aerosmith, despite the lame lyrics ("When you are born you’re
afraid of the darkness/ And then you’re afraid of the light"). The
distorted rocker "Something’s Gotta Give" and the Sponge-like
"Crash" are also nice surprises.
Some songs are either nothing special or just plain boring.
"Full Circle" has that slow-dance-in-the-trucker’s-bar feel, and
"Ain’t That a Bitch" is your typical ’90s Aerosmith mellow-rocker
song. The same goes for the lame "Kiss Your Past Goodbye,"
"Attitude Adjustment" and the titillating "Pink" ("Pink/ On the
lips of your lover/ ’cause pink/ Is the love you discover/ Pink/ As
the bing on your cherry").
Overall, Aerosmith hasn’t given us a bad record. True, most
tracks lack any sort of freshness, and a few are a bit lackluster
for even this classic band. But with the bad you have the good, and
the good is some of Aerosmith’s most adventurous and dynamic
sounds. Aerosmith isn’t out to win Grammys and the Village Voice
critics’ band award, nor are they purposely campaigning for a
larger fan base. They are out to please an already huge group of
fans that like their rock’n’ roll with attitude and volume, and
please them they will. The goods may not be consistent, but
Aerosmith could do a lot worse. Mike Prevatt B
Notorious B.I.G. "Life After Death" (Bad Boy) For the second
time in less than six months, a murdered rapper has posthumously
released an album. Notorious B.I.G.’s (Biggie Small) sophomore
album, the double-CD "Life After Death," was already a guaranteed
commercial success before his murder. His untimely death only
served to increase anticipation for it.
This double album is a brilliant piece of work. Biggie was one
of the most commercially successful rappers because he realized the
need for radio-friendly tracks. The first two singles from the
album, "Hypnotize" and "Going Back to Cali," are already in heavy
rotation on the radio. Although both of these songs rely heavily on
previously used samples, Biggie manages to refresh these old beats
with his incomparable lyrical flow.
After these songs run their course on the radio, songs like
"#!*@ You Tonight" (featuring R. Kelly), "I Love The Dough" (with
Jay-Z and Angela Winbush), "Mo Money Mo Problems" (with Mase and
Puff Daddy) and "Sky’s The Limit" (featuring 112) will most likely
dominate urban-radio playlists.
Hip-hop heads hungry for underground tracks can skip the
radio-friendly tracks for songs like DJ Premier-produced "Kick in
the Door." This cut will be considered the album’s finest track by
those who considered the DJ Premier-produced "Unbelievable" the
best track from Biggie’s first album, "Ready to Die." Premier also
contributed the beat to Biggie’s chilling "Ten Crack Commandments."
Darker songs like "Last Day," "What’s Beef" and "You’re Nobody (Til
Someone Kills You)" are equally as good as the commercial tracks,
but they appeal to a different audience of hip-hop listeners.
Biggie’s primary goal was to get paid, but he also wanted to be
known as one of the best lyricists on the microphone. On "Life
After Death," Biggie is at the top of the game. It may be difficult
to focus on Biggie’s lyrics since the infectious beats conjured up
by the likes of Sean "Puffy" Combs, Clark Kent, Easy Mo Bee and
Kay-Gee command attention. Whether describing his poor childhood or
how he can rap better than anyone else, Biggie had a witty way of
expressing himself. Listen to the beats, listen to the lyrics,
listen to both. Unless there’s a vault of unreleased tracks, it’s
the last time you’ll hear new material from one of hip-hop’s most
gifted voices. In addition to the larger tragedy of the loss of
human life, the murder silenced this voice. Nelson Saldua A
They Might Be Giants "Then: The Earlier Years" (Restless) If
you’re looking for an excuse to upgrade your early Giants media
from cassette to CD, this is the answer. "Then" spans two complete
albums from John and John: their debut release "Lincoln," with the
springboard hit "Don’t Let’s Start," and the lesser-known and even
lesser-understood eponymous release, featuring the obscure single
"They’ll Need a Crane." They even include the b-sides from all of
the singles from each album, as well as 15 previously unreleased
tracks. Expensive? Of course. But thorough.
Casual TMBG listeners will find "Then" absolute overkill, with
songs from the pre-"Flood" era that had virtually no exposure. Fans
that have been with them since the beginning, though, will
appreciate the 72-song fest that could officially be characterized
as too much TMBG. Few bands have the privilege of comparing their
b-sides to their album tracks, but TMBG is definitely one of them.
Songs like "Kiss Me, Son of God" and "I’ll Sink Manhattan" are some
of the classic Giants songs and, until now, could only be enjoyed
by the rare owners of the singles. Even the previously unreleased
tracks, normally a dangerous area, are well worth a listen. Perhaps
John Flansburg said it best in the unreleased "Critic Intro," a
reading of quotes from obscure newspapers on TMBG: "If you only
hear one song this year, there’s something very wrong with you."
Brian Remick A-
D.J. Muggs "Muggs Presents… The Soul Assassins" (Columbia)
Today’s hip-hop music is focused on the rappers, but the music
genre was originated by the DJ. When hip-hop started, DJs would
skillfully use two copies of the same record to loop the break-beat
of a song into a seamless, continuous beat. Eventually, MCs talked
and rhymed over these beats, and rap music was born. With the
invention of DAT machines, DJs became expendable.
In 1997 the focus is beginning to put DJs back into the
spotlight. With his compilation album, DJ Muggs steps out of the
shadow of Cypress Hill rapper B Real with some artfully crafted
instrumental tracks, each perfectly suited for a particular rapper.
The guest rappers include Dr. Dre, B Real, Goodie Mob, the Rza and
the Gza from the Wu-Tang Clan, MC Eiht, KRS-One, and Mobb Deep.
"The Soul Assassins" is an excellent compilation album. Other
compilations seem to be a disjointed mix of songs thrown together
with no rhyme or reason. Muggs does not provide continuity on the
album by talking over every track. In fact Muggs, unlike some other
big-name producers, does not try to be a rapper. The continuity on
the album is derived from Muggs’ distinctive style of beat making.
Nelson Saldua B
Soundbites runs Mondays and Wednesdays.AEROSMITH
"Nine Lives"