50 Original Recordings - Dinah Washington

Advantages: Includes the most famous songs recorded by her
Disadvantages: Only for classic jazz/blues fans.

...and fifties was female artists. It is here, that we pick up with probably the greatest, and most loved of them all, Dinah Washington. This 2 CD album takes us through the very pinnacle of her outstanding career. Dubbed 'The Queen Of The Blues,' she touched on the hearts of many listeners in her day with her sweet, soulful vocals and catchy melodies. Singing for songwriters such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, she came from, like most of her contemporaries, from Gospel music inherited from by parents. Starting out as a jazz singer, she left her piano and choir days behind and reached out to 'the devil's' music' at the age of nineteen. This album takes us through her recording life right up to the year before she died from heart failure, induced by a drugs overdose in 1963 and the tender age of only 39. A singer, who... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Production is ill throughout; some GREAT songs
Disadvantages: Same repetitive cliches; weak lyrics

...Earlier this year, The Game's debut album The Documentary dropped and instantly became the first G-Unit album that was actually praised by the far-too-often critical underground community. The album was hot due to Game's impressive flow and a tremendous surplus of great beats. A lot of people were viewing this as a turn around for the G-Unit, who had already been established as a group with a consistent record of horrid music which brought nothing but pain to the ears. Many people thought "hey! 50 Cent has a hot verse!" or "wow... those beats are killer", and yeah, that was true, but I still refused to conform to the fact that G-Unit was going to continue their momentum. For you see, unlike Banks, Buck, and Yayo, 50 Cent, The Game actually has talent and hunger, and this alone made me question his good album; I saw it as nothing more... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Fabulously entertaining
Disadvantages: Pretty darn repetitive in terms of self-expression

...rings familiar with the anti-social attitude that a number of “gangsta” rappers bring. It’s basically a “don’t mess with me” outlook indicative of, in this particular instance, a hard weathered 26-year-old who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. I can already hear you asking, is this yet another cliché filled hip-hop record? To say it isn’t would be a lie. However, despite the foul reviews given by some newspapers or urban magazines, please trust me when I say that 50 Cent is still an original artist with a definitive purpose: to get rich or die trying. Tirades of hip-hop musicians have boasted of doing it, still not many of these have been shot nine times. Nor is it likely that they had a mother ply her trade as a drug dealer, even though a couple have probably sold drugs themselves. Curtis Jackson, as 50 Cent is otherwise known... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful