Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J

Advantages: Holds some of his best loved hits
Disadvantages: Miss's out on some gems present in albums like "Mr Smith"

...Overall, a really strong compilation of hits. The CD begins with "I Can't Live Without My Radio", which elevated him to mini superstar status as a young teen. When you first play the CD, you remember the raw energy LL had at the beginning of his career, however the CD could have included one or 2 live performances of his hits (no one rocks the bells like a young angry LL Cool J!!), though you don't mind so much hearing the soft melodies within his monster RnB/Hip Hop smash, "I Need Love". The CD sticks to the greatest hits formula, by containing most of his commercial releases, i.e. "Big Ole Butt" and "Mama Said Knock You Out", however, songs like "Make It Hot" off the "Mr Smith" album, and "Clap Your hands" off "Walking with A Panther", are sorely missed with an artist that has a catalogue of now 11 albums, you could expect his CD... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Highly varied
Disadvantages: Poor attempts at Gangsta Rap

..."14 Shots To The Dome" was the fifth album by LL Cool J and it came out in 1993, nine years into his career. It has the New York rapper performing material after the big 1990 album "Mama Said Knock You" out, which had hits from the LP which had him performing hardcore raps, as the title track from the record. As a result, this has transferred onto this release as he didn't change too much from then. 1. "How I'm Comin'" For me, as a intro, this was the perfect way to get this one started as you immediately get the idea of what direction he is going with for this album. Straight away I knew that LL was going for a style similar to his last album as it sounded like a re-work of "Mama Said Knock You Out". **Three Stars** 2. "Buckin' 'Em Down" With LL's newly found direction for music, you have him rapping in a way which seems... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: 14 original early LL Cool J hits which made him a star
Disadvantages: His tone of voice remains the same throughout the entire album

...heard it I just had to bounce, it made me happy, cheerful. Rap music had never done that to me before, and this was "cool" music to listen to. Some of the tracks on this album are quite hard, in that the lyrics are almost being shouted out by LL Cool J, but they also blend in with the tunes in the background, making them into proper songs rather than freestyle type jibber! Examples of this would be; Funkadelic Relic, Buckin' Em Down, and Soul Survivor. All great tunes. Tunes which had me listening to the album whenever possible (ofcourse, I had to tape the album onto cassette first). I knew from this album that LL Cool J was going to be huge in the growing rap music industry, and he certainly didn't dissapoint. My memries of this album represent, evolution from a school boy, into a college boy. It definately played a part... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful