"Radio" is the debut release from LL Cool J, a rapper who has stuck with his record label, Def Jam since its creation a year before this album came out. LL's 1985 record came 23 years before his latest release "Exit 13" which recently came out, and so clearly this one shows how long he's been ... Read review
Radio - LL Cool J
There are a few unmistakable footprints any fan of hip-hop can instantly recognise: the ... more
woodwind twist of Run DMC's "Peter Piper", Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's "La Di Da Di", and the ferocious, burning, wax-and-metal battle cry of "LL Cool J is hard ...
Radio - LL Cool J
There are a few unmistakable footprints any fan of hip-hop can instantly recognise: the ... more
woodwind twist of Run DMC's "Peter Piper", Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's "La Di Da Di", and the ferocious, burning, wax-and-metal battle cry of "LL Cool J is hard ...
A review by XICripZ on Radio - LL Cool J November 17th, 2008
Author's product rating:
Originality
Groundbreaking
Lyrics
Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks
Mixed
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Classic Hip Hop
Disadvantages:
A couple of the tunes are a little weak
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
"Radio" is the debut release from LL Cool J, a rapper who has stuck with his record label, Def Jam since its creation a year before this album came out. LL's 1985 record came 23 years before his latest release "Exit 13" which recently came out, and so clearly this one shows how long he's been in the game, and the progression he has made. Upon release, Ladies Love Cool James (LL Cool J), the MC was only 17 years old, and had shown strong potential, which he clearly lived up to.
1. "I Can't Live Without My Radio"
The track which the album is named after is the one to get things started for this album as you have LL Cool J come on some hard Rick Rubin beats about how his life revolves around his radio, and the music which it plays for him. Thsi is a powerful way to kick it all off, and you are bound to enjoy it.
**Four Stars**
2. "You Can't Dance"
This is a high-tmepo track by LL as he basically rpis poepl who go out on the dance floor as if they are someithng, and simply flop. The beats for this are strong as Rubin adds elements of "Apache", one of the ultimate Hip Hop cuts. However I noticed a few occassions where the mixes were badly timed.
**Three Stars**
3. "Dear Yvette"
Ths is the first of many trakcs by LL Cool J where he dedicates his rhymes towards a specific female. I found that for this one, I felt that he did it amazingly well as he doesn't attempt to get tino any R&B stuff, (as he when to do late ron in his career). Rick Rubin just does his typical hard beats and, LL raps about towards a girl who should have made better decisions in her life.
**Five Stars**
4. "I Can Give You More"
This one is probably the foundations for things like "Luv U Better", "Hey Lover" and "I Need Love", where things are slowed down as he does a rap about his love for a particular girl (which was called a "Rap ballad" later on, but the heavy drums prevent it from really soundin as deep as the lyrics are.
**Four Star**
5. "Dangerous"
This one is basically a track for Cut Creator to show off his scratching skills, and he does this in a nice way to work on the beat which Rick Rubin had already presented with even more of waht had been heard in the first tracks on the album.
**Four Stars**
6. (Untitled) (Lude)
7. "Rock The Bells"
This is one of the most well-known cuts from this album and this track went on to be honered by having it used as the name for one of the biggest Hip hop events in the US. I'd say that the repetition of Rick Rubin's beats is broken ere as you get a few samples being used, and this prevents him from using heavy drum work for the whole thing.
**Five Stars**
8. "I Need A Beat" (Remix)
You can't help but love this track. This was the debut single for both LL Cool J, and Def Jam as it was the first single to be released off the label. Here you get some pounding beats from Rick Rubin as LL comes with some smooth raps, which were partly written by Adrock of the Beastie Boys. This is the remix to the original, and has the track chopped-up to a nice effect.
**Five Stars**
9. "That's A Lie"
On this one LL raps alongside Russell Simmons (going by the name Russell Rush at the time). Thsi is a very different one, and it has a complelty different feel to the rest of the album as it has these addtional vocals parts from Rush, and the production is a lot lighter too.
**Three Stars**
10. "You'll Rock"
I have to say that this is one of the biggest tracks on the album as it has LL coming with some of the hottest raps in the entire thing, and he just kills it by matching them to even more of Rubin's knocking production, which doesn't get old, no matter how often it is used,
**Five Stars**
11. "I Want You"
Altough I don't want to be overly-critcal of this album, I have to say that this soudns like a reade version of "I Can Give You More" as the themes are idnetical, and some of the lines seem to overlap, however I think that it still has a lot to offer, and it rounds the album off nicely.
**Three Stars**
This is seen as you of the most influential Hip Hop album, and coming out in 1984, and getting Def Jam up in the game, this has to be a factual statement. There is so much quality in this one as it is all straight, hard raps from the artist, and despite being as old as it is, it still sounds just as fresh today. This a classic, and marks a tme where a clear disticntion could be made as to the new direction of Hip Hop, where lyrics would be a heavier aspect of the genre.
Advantages: Classic Hip Hop Disadvantages: Punk Rock elements are weak
..."Licensed To Ill" is the debut album from the Beastie Boys. It was re-named from "Don't Be A F****t" for obvious reasons, and has the first mainstream, all-white Hip Hop crew come with a classic cut. Here, the crew were a trio of MCs, Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock. It came out in 1986 on Def Jam, and had a groundbreaking impact as they became the first Hip Hop act to top the Billboard Charts. Originally, they started up in the Punk Rock scene, but crossed over to this under the influence of Rick Rubin, the producer responsible for all the killer cuts off LLCoolJ's "Radio". Elements of this are still apparent in their work as it has a spectrum of tunes which go from pure Hip Hop, to Rap Rock, and then one full Punk Rock track.
1. "Rhymin' & Stealin'"
Although I have to say that this is quite impactful with its heavy bass, I wouldn' say...
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Advantages: Consistent quality Disadvantages: Nothing specific
...against these as with hard percussion and a heavy guitar riff.
**Four Stars**
14. "Aerials"
Ending it all off "Aerials" maintains all the high-energy Metal that has been heard from start to end in this album. The Hip Hop legnd responsible for the production in LLCoolJ's historic "Radio", plays a key role in it for this one, and he helps to give this one some of that alternative feel into it by encorporating his bst-suited genre into the work.
**Four Stars**
This group is pure Metal, and I have to say that I enjoyed that they kept to this (as many Nu-Metal acts experiment in the wrong directions, and this band seem to have found something which works well, and have stuck to it, without it getting too repetitive or annoying with time. You can't really fault much in this release, as it is all quality stuff. I fI was a proper...
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Advantages: Consistent quality Disadvantages: Similar to his debut
..."Bigger and Deffer", released in 1987, was the second album from LLCoolJ. It came a couple of years after his classic record, "Radio" came out, starting off Def Jam Recordings, and changing the face of Hip Hop forever.
1. "I'm BAD"
What is known to be his UK breakthrough single, and the top track from this album, "I'm Bigger and Deffer" has LL show that he has come to do just what he he did in "Radio", but on a bigger scale. LL promotes himself as a top perfromer in this field, and asserts it with strong rhymes, which where ahead of the time (although delivered in a fashion more popular a couple of years earlier).
2. "Kanday"
Using some killer beats, LL focuses his attention on the girls for a short while as he uses the production to his adavantage in speaking in a laid-back way as to how he works it with the girl who...
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Album Notes: Personnel includes: LL Cool J (rap vocals). Recorded at Chung King House Of Metal, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Nelson George.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone - Ranked #69 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey. Q (9/95, p.134) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...This is elemental rap... [with] a now obvious debt to rock dynamics..." Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - "...As a classic of Def Jam's Rubinned-up metallic phase...`Rock The Bells' is up there with `Walk This Way', `She Watch Channel Zero' and `Rhymin & Stealin'..."
Titles on disc 1
1.: I Can't Live Without My Radio
2.: You Can't Dance
3.: Dear Yvette
4.: I Can Give You More
5.: Dangerous
6.: Rock The Bells
7.: I Need A Beat
8.: You'll Rock
9.: I Want You
10.: I Want You
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