House, R&B, Soul & Rap > P House, R&B, Soul & Rap > Mixed

Advantages: Uplifting; thoughful; style-spanning and funky; lyrics printed in full
Disadvantages: The price of the album varies so shop around!

...it comes. I stumbled across Sign O' The Times at a bootsale marked up for £8 and it was still shrinkwrapped. This was an absolute bargain as I've seen it priced up for as much as £19.99 in stores, though recently the price has fallen, like a lot of the Bealtes albums. Shop around, but I believe every penny you spend will be worth it for this. I am going to review what I regard as the key tracks. Disc 1 Sign O' The Times - a social commentary about ...
...are still relevant today. Mid-tempo with a simple and yet so catchy bassline with very minimalistic arrangements. The lyrics are deep and to be honest I believe that for the lyrics alone this is one of the most under-rated hits of all time. Full with a dark message, melancholy but nevertheless still a great title track and album opener and arguably one of the best songs Prince has written. The video was just as minimalistic as the arrangement, but ... Read review

Advantages: prince at his best
Disadvantages: only 9 songs!

Purple Rain is an amazing cd. Its so uniqe and original, i have never heard anything like it! Its a mixture of 80s pop and rock, with princes unique sound. Every song on 'Purple Rain' has something different about it, like the emotional title track, amazing guitar solo on 'Computer blue', 'I Would Die 4 u' is a great sing along kind of song and then theres the daring 'Darling Nikki'. I have had 'Purple Rain' for quite a while and every time i listen ...
...never gets boring. The fact that there is only 9 songs on this album could actually be a good point, as every one of the songs are excellent and have a different quality and emotion to them. I think anyone could enjoy 'Purple Rain', i cant think of any bad points about it it is definitly Prince at his best. ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of variety
Disadvantages: A few weaker tracks

"Certified" is the fourth album from the Mississippi rapper David Banner. I thought that I had to go back seeing that I enjoyed his latest 2008 release, "The Greatest Story Ever Told" so much, so I thought that I would see similar quality from this 2005 piece, which has him do both the rapping and a fair proportion of the production. 1. "Lost Souls" To get things going we drive straight into some straight Dirty South rap. I found that he was effective ...
...wislt managing ito integrate his influences of Rock into things with some guitar work too. **Three Stars** 2. "Treat Me Like A" (feat. Jadakiss) I still don't get how Jadakiss keeps thinking he can on some Crunk beats, but he does it once again as Lil' Jon does the production, and aside the parts which Jada takes up, it is a strong Hip Hop cut for the clubs. **Four Stars** 3. "Gangsta Walk" (feat. Three 6 Mafia, Marcus, 8Ball & MJG) On this one ... Read review

Advantages: Consistent quality
Disadvantages: One slip in quality

"Me Against The World" is the third album by the West Coast Rap legend 2Pac who was killed in 1996 as a result of a fatal shooting. The album came a year before this and has him rapping in what has been called a "nothing to lose" persona as he raps during a difficult time in his life as he was shot five times late in 1994, and was in prison for the release of the record. Despite all this, he was able to top the charts with his music, even with him ...
..."Intro" 2. "If I Die 2Nite" Heavy in bitter alliteration, this one has 'Pac's attitude for the whole release summed up as he really just doesn't care what happens to himslef, as he lives each day for what it is, and knows there's no point in pre-planning anything. **Four Stars** 3. "Me Against The World" Giving him a littel sample of G-Funk with a synth-based prodcution to hand, this one has the artist come with adesperate track, where he describes ... Read review

Advantages: Full to brim with excellent songs
Disadvantages: It's been re-released with extra tracks

What can I say? I love this album! When Rihanna first appeared on the scene I found her style a bit nasal but that's all changed with this album. I do find myself skipping through her slower love songs but that's just my own personal taste and they are no less exceptional lyric-wise than the more up-beat tracks. And believe me there are plenty of get-up and dance tracks on this CD, and not just those that have been released as singles. 'Shut up and ...
...whilst 'Lemme Get That' is a definite booty-shaker and 'Breaking Dishes' will speak volumes to most of the female populous. Even the mildly annoying 'Umbrella' (come on who hasn't found ella-ella-ella a tad annoying by the 25th time?) gets a regular play on my stereo. I would definitely recommend this album as a buy. The only shame is I now have to buy the re-released album as it's got new tracks included on it. ... Read review