Jul 29, 2024

On some real s---, when I first signed up I was sure one of you was the other's alt, then I realised we got 2 femboys for the price of one

 

Jul 28, 2024

Destiny arrives all the same, and now it’s here…or should I say…I am.

SX80’S FAVORITE POSTER DIGGLEDOGG HAS HIS ALBUM PICK AND IT IS…

4EVA IS A MIGHTY LONG TIME - BIG K.R.I.T.

This is an album I have been wanting to listen to for awhile and saved it specifically for my week in @AOTWClub ! Hoping it is as good as I’ve heard it is and that everyone enjoys it!

 

Jul 28, 2024

Hermit and the Recluse - Orpheus vs. the Sirens

8.5/10

What an album!! And this is why I love this thread. I would never have given this a second glance if I'd seen it before, which I haven't. And even if it did miraculously fall in front of me I would've given up half way through.

It did not start well for me. I don't know if that's because I'm away at the moment so I'm concentrating differently or what but I was bored. But for the purpose of this thread I pushed through a whole spin. And then gave it another go a few days later. Then it clicked. 3 or 4 full spins back to back whilst sailing down a canal in Poland has solidified this in my memory banks and given it a reference point. I'm close to 10 full spins now.

Love the theming of the album, love the production and as someone else has already mentioned, the writing is great.

Wish it was a bit longer.

Favourite song is Atlas. No bad songs.

I'll be revisiting this in the future.

Thanks @Ordinary Joel

@AOTWClub

 

Jul 27, 2024

Calm down everyone is just reading up on Greek mythology first

 

Jul 27, 2024

Come on everybody, get your reviews out by Tuesday or your payments will be withheld.

 

Jul 25, 2024

Hermit and the Recluse - Orpheus vs. The Sirens

Favorite track: Golden Fleece

OVERALL RATING: 6/10

The writing on this thing is phenomenal. Even though Greek mythology never interested me, it’s dope that he equates it to his life like other people have. It’s a very creative and unique project. The problem is I just can’t fully get into it even after multiple listens. While the instrumentals are nice, each song feels very similar to the next to me.

I know this album should be at least a 7/10, but when it comes to my personal enjoyment I gotta go for 6/10. I just don’t get much enjoyment out of listening to this, and I don’t see myself coming back to it very often. I have no emotional connection to this music which is usually a big thing for me. But I also recognize that when it comes to the skill displayed here, the album is good. Maybe it will grow on me in the future. @AOTWClub

 

Jul 24, 2024

That Lorde album was 2 months ago

 

Jul 21, 2024

@AOTWClub @Ordinary Joel has picked
HERMIT & THE RECLUSE - ORPHEUS VS. THE SIRENS



Justin Trudeau: 7/10
Jankland: 8/10
Ripperroo: 6/10
Stepdad enjoyer: 9/10
Omar Little: 6/10
Yeez: 8/10
Ice cube: 8.5/10
Hargydon: 10/10
Wreckless: 7.5/10
DiggleDogg69: 8.5/10

78.5/10= 7.85/10

You have until Tuesday night to get your reviews in for "The Death of Slim Shady"

 

Jul 19, 2024

Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady

review

Favorite tracks: Renaissance, Habits, Brand new dance, Evil, Lucifer, Antichrist, Fuel, Houdini, Guilty Conscience 2
Least favorite tracks: Somebody save me, Temporary, Bad One

Well, s---. He did it. We got a good Eminem album in 2024. If you told me a few months ago When the rollout was begining that I’d enjoy the final product as much as I do, I would’ve probably asked you to hook me up with your crack dealer. Em completely surpassed my expectations with this one, to the point where I feel like there’s not much he can do to top it in 5 years or whenever he decides to come out his cave again ( fingers crossed that I’m wrong about this though).

Album starts out incredibly strong. Renaissance is a track of many great qualities; from the TES reminiscent sound to the sheer hype he achieves with this song as the opener. For the sake of being critical I’ll nitpick and say that I’m not huge on this whole ‘shi--ing on critics and the haters’ motif he once again uses on the back end of the track. I will say though, despite feeling like Premonition off of MTBMB was executed well and could’ve very well been the last track in its vein, Renaissance is still it’s own thing and I will not discredit this great track because of a couple lines aimed at critics. Em shouldn’t ever again compare Joyner Lucas to Picasso though.
8/10

I love the transition into Habits. This song is as Eminem as could be in 2024. I appreciate how it is structured. The beat is fun and so are the verses. White Gold did his thing on this one too. I see why someone wouldn’t like the PC police stuff and the south park references but I thought it was very fun and very Eminem. This is one of those songs that only stans will truly appreciate IMO. Also the end of the last verse is absolutely bonkers.
9.5/10

Won’t give a rating to Trouble but I liked it for what it is. Very fun and helps construct the concept.

Brand New Dance is a song that I vibed to the most during my first listen. Still love it but that could be due to me genuinely enjoying the autism of encore. That beat is fun, menacing and addicting. Trully something I wouldn’t wanna hear anyone but Em on. Love seeing this toxic pos Eminem have fun and bully a dead cripple.
10/10

Evil is a track I feel like doesn’t need much dissecting. Loved everything about it; from the chorus to the flows and the rhyme schemes - everything feels like authentic and unapologetic Eminem.
10/10

Lucifer is a great f---ing song too, I love the s--- out of this Chorus. Can’t really put it into words but this song, alongside Antichrist, just scratches an itch that no Eminem song on the last 3 projects did. It has a lot of replayability and I’ve been discovering and hearing new details and bars on each listen. This may sound autistic but him saying LUCIFER as the hook starts makes me violently erect.
9/10

Badass transition into Antichrist. Love everything about this song. Crazy good Eminem hook. Makes me wish for an album where he does all the choruses. Insanely catchy and fun to listen to.
10/10

Fuel is exactly what I’ve been fiending for. Thank f---ing god this man got a JID feature instead of calling up someone like Mac Lethal or some s--- lmao. Jiddy killed it but Em somehow outshined him still IMO. A lot of quotables and great flows. People used to label Em with the ‘ your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper ‘ title and this song, to me atleast, justifies such a statement completely. Goes to show that this man can still make a highly technical verse that goes hard as f---.
9/10

I am not as harsh on Road Rage as many others on the forum are. I like how it’s sonically realized. The hook meshes well with the beat which is lowkey and does what it’s supposed to. Em reached into his aspergers bag for the verses but they still have their clever and funny moments. I ain’t mad at it.
7/10

Houdini : talked about this enough, great single choice, fun to rap along to. 8.5/10

Guilty conscience 2 is, as it stands RN, my favorite track off the project. I love the production but what I appreciate even more is when Em goes meta and executes it well. Song gives me goosebumps and even makes me kind of sad to be honest. Although it’s probably not happening yet, it felt like a step towards Em’s inevitable retirement. This track has all the qualities that make songs like My Darling and Bad Guy so appealing to me. They underline Em’s storytelling and his great sense for worldbuilding. The way he ends the song is my favorite moment on the album too.
10/10 but if I could I’d give it an 11

All of the songs after GC2 ranged from mid to not bad for me. I will say I probably enjoy Head Honcho the most out of these. Ez Mil chorus goes hard, unlike his enchanting table verse 1 though lol. Also Em’s verses are cool, especially the latter one.

Temporary and Somebody Save Me felt like Revival leftovers lol. I don’t hate the songs but I feel like he already tackled these themes better on his previous material. Still though, I applaud every moment of him opening up cause it feels like he’s been a lot more private with his personal life. He could make 20 more songs about this stuff and it’ll still feel genuine cause his passion and love for his family is undeniable, and if he wants to showcase it once every couple records who are we to s--- on it.

To conclude, I loved this album. Listening to TDOSS for the first time made me a tad emotional cause it legitimately feels like the first true Eminem album in forever. This isn’t a project he is putting out to feed the fans, fight criticism or test the waters, it is a product of his creative labour and has true purpose to it. It is authentic and true to Eminem. This album makes me optimistic about the upcoming (possibly final) years of his career. He’s finally found himself again, he sounds confident and hungry. Eminem isn’t trying to prove himself to anybody anymore, he’s set on doing his thing, no matter how it is received.

8.5/10

@Justin Trudeau @AOTWClub

 

Jul 18, 2024

@AOTWClub (look, I remembered to tag this time!)

Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady

Score 8/10

I'm maybe 30 full spins in. Weirldy, I've just checked Last FM and only my playthought this morning has registered but it still remembers things like the Offspring last week.

Anyway, I love this album. Like, really really enjoy it. Up until Guilty Conscience 2 anyway. After that it just feels random and without purpose. I'm sure there's a deeper meqaning that I havent found yet but if it isn't clicking after c.30 spins then I'm sure it won't in the future.

The flow of tracks all the way up to GC2 is phenominal! And I don't think I could pick a favourite song apart from GC2.

What I liked:
- The flow of tracks
- The shock value (Trouble is f---ing epic!) which leads into having to pause and literally say "what the f---??"
- Most of the features (Bizarre!!)
- The beats for the first 2/3rds
- The concept in general

What I didn't like:
- Skylar f---ing Grey. f--- you. She ruined that song. Either no hook or for real value - get Hailie to do the hook.
- No 50 or Dre feature. 50 seemed a given in the run up to it and calling that song Guilty Conscience 2 without a Dre feat seems off
- The bonus tracks
- The continual reliance on "pop" hooks. Two White Gold features? Really? They were alright and the song didn't suffer because of it (except for Skylar Grey) but I miss the Em hooks.

What could've been done better:
- Swapped Tobey and Doomsday Pt2. Tobey doesn't seem to fit on the album, it shuld've been on the Lyrical Lemonade album and Doomsday 2 should've been turned into a full song with that beat. It would've fir the narative wayyy more

Overall, if the album felt more meshed together post GC2 then I'd probably give it a 9. It genuinely is everything I would hope for from an Em album nowadays.

Individual ranking:
Renaissance - 8/10
Habits - 9.5/10
Trouble - 10/10
Brand New Dance - 8/10
Evil - 10/10
Lucifer - 10/10
Antichrist 10/10
Fuel - 10/10
Road Rage - 7/10
Houdini - 10/10
Guilty Conscience 2 - 10/10
Head Honcho - 6/10 (could've been a 9 if it was a solo song)
Temporary - 5/10
Bad One - 9/10
Tobey 6/10
Somebody Save Me - 6/10

 

Jul 15, 2024

 

Jul 15, 2024

 

Jul 14, 2024

The Death of Slim Shady Review

Favorite songs – Renaissance, Brand New Dance, Antichrist, Fuel, GC2
Least favorite songs – Bad One, Temporary, Tobey, Somebody Save Me

The album had its moments, especially with ''Renaissance'' kicking things off well with the cadence, surprising everyone with Brand New Dance and some excellent execution of the voice switches on songs like Antichrist and GC2.

However, it didn't take long for Em to shift focus on Renaissance to addressing criticism by deflecting blame onto ''haters'' rather than acknowledging that most of his material is far from resembling a Picasso.

On ''Habits'' he reverts back to his modern flow, which I personally can’t stand and unfortunately dominates most of the album.

Overall, I don't see myself revisiting this album in the future. Other than a few standout tracks. Em’s delivery on a lot of the songs take away replayability. ‘’Evil" is a good example of his flow going off the rails.

The album introduces an interesting new concept, but unfortunately many of the references and jokes feel outdated. Towards the end, the emotional songs felt forced and recycled. Regardless of any overarching concept, they simply don’t enhance the listening experience. Also worth noting that having an overarching story doesn't justify revisiting tired themes and topics.

I've just grown tired of Em's reliance on making fun of celebrities and trying to be edgy or finding alternative ways to revisit old topics in less compelling ways. Coupled with a robotic and annoying delivery.

What I wish for is an album that explores new life experiences or reflects the maturity of someone his age but i'm afraid i'm gonna be blue in the face before it happens.

6/10

Spoiler: Album Ranking

Album ranking

1. TES
2. MMLP
3. SSLP
4. Recovery
5. Encore
6. Relapse
7. MTBMB
8. MMLP2
9. TDOSS
10. Kamikaze
11. Revival

@AOTWClub

 

Jul 11, 2024

@AOTWClub

Favorite Tracks: Pretty Fly, The Kids Aren't Alright, Why Don't You Get A Job, Americana, Pay The Man

Americana is not my first interaction with The Offspring in the slightest but it's only the 2nd full album I've heard from them iirc.

Sometimes the lead singers voice can be a bit grating when he sings sometimes and the quality of engineering varies between songs but the Cali Skate punk vibes are so immaculate that it doesn't really matter too much. The guitars and drums are off the charts for most of the runtime as well. it also doesn't overstay it's welcome although Pay The Man is kinda stretching it even though I like the song.

The lyrics are pretty goofy run of the mill punk stuff of the time but there's definitely highlights like The Kids Aren't Alright. I love s--- like this so I don't really have much too say other than I'm happy we're getting more into this genre cause I feel like a lot of users here would really like it if they were given albums in this lane.

Good s--- @Justin Trudeau

RATING
7/10

 

Jul 11, 2024

Americana - The Offspring REVIEW

Score: 7.5

Tracklist Ranking:

1. Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
2. The Kids Aren’t Alright
3. She’s Got Issues
4. Have You Ever
5. Staring At The Sun
6. Why Don’t You Get A Job
7. Americana
8. The End Of The Line
9. Walla Walla
10. Feelings
11. No Brakes
12. Pay The Man
13. Pretty Fly (Reprise)

First Listen Review:
I had a pretty good time with this album! There were a couple classic songs on there (Pretty Fly, The Kids) that I didn’t know came from this album or even this band, so that was a nice surprise to see on the tracklist! Especially back to back songs! Unfortunately, I feel like the quality of the album took a bit of a dip around the mid point of the album and never got back to where it was at the start. I will say, I did still like every song except for the last two. I get Reprise was just that, a reprise, but it felt kind of pointless tbh. Also, Pay The Man just didn’t hit like I thought it would, and I like long a--- rock tracks. Other than that, I don’t have many complaints about the album! Good s---! Gets you amped up, and I was already amped today (we all know why). Thanks for the pick @Justin Trudeau !

@AOTWClub

My Rankings:

1. Sling - 9.0
2. Cilvia Demo - 8.5
3. Melodrama - 8.5
4. When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1 - 8.0
5. All My Heroes Are Cornballs - 7.5
6. Americana - 7.5
7. Big Conspiracy - 7.0
8. MID AIR - 6.5

DiggleDogg’s Rating Average: 7.81

 

Jul 9, 2024

The Offspring - Americana

Favorite tracks: The Kids Aren’t Alright, Staring at the Sun, Americana

Skips: Welcome, Pretty Fly (Reprise)

OVERALL SCORE: 7/10

Going into this I thought I never heard songs from this band, but apparently I’ve heard “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)”, “The Kids Aren’t Alright”, and “Why Don’t You Get a Job” in the past. I like the band’s energy, it’ll be good for working out. I also like some of the chiller vibes near the end of the album. It just sucks that the album ends with “Pretty Fly (Reprise)”, it feels like they’re trying to be funny but it falls flat. I don’t know how often I’ll go back to this outside of working out but it’s a decent pick for sure! I just don’t listen to this type of music often. I thought some of the songwriting was pretty nice. @AOTWClub

 

Jul 8, 2024

@AOTWClub
@Ripper Roo

Clairo- Sling has been tallied a bit early and it's in 3rd place with a 7.1

Loved the pick and the album was really solid in my opinion. Something I definitely wouldn't have checked out so appreciate the pick @Ripper Roo !

Try and get your Offspring- Americana reviews done before Friday if possible because we all know that once eminem drops Friday we will be distracted!

As I said I'll be reworking the schedule a bit during TDOSS week. I'll let you guys know when I've made the changes on the main page!

 

Jul 7, 2024

Keeping it moving with impressive variety. Nice pick