American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

"American Gangster" is the tenth studio album from Jay-Z. Contrary to early belief, this isn't a soundtrack to the film of the same name, which was released a week before this album. This is a concept album, taking inspiration fom the movie it has been said that each track takes influence from an individual scene from the film. 1. Intro This starts with a few lines about what it means to be a "Gangster". You hear a male and a female voice talking ...
...were lines from the film, but once I heard Jay-Z's name mentioned, I knew this wasn't the case. Slowly we move into music which is slowly taking over, adding more and more instruments, gradually introducing them unitl it comes to an anti-climax and move to the next track. 2. "Pray" **Two Stars** All the momentum built up from the intro is lots whe we start again from the beginning with a low-tempo beat. Jay comes in telling us about delevopment ...

XICripZ 07.11.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

...the release of the movie American Gangster. This promised to be the fuel in Jay-Z's fire which would would see him recapturing the time where he was was on the wrong side of the law. The album is a concept album of sorts because it chronicles the rise and fall of this guy and therefore can not be said to be glorifying. However all is not what it once was, it's hard to capture the exact reason behind this but this is no return to Reasonable Doubt ...
...instantly skippable including Hello Brooklyn, American Dreamin, Party Life, Sweet, I Know, again what makes them unappealing in my opinion is a combination of this lazy flow and the production. My Conclusion If I wasn't expecting so much from this album, I would probably have embraced this album much more strongly but as it is I feel like I am left wanting. This is certainly by no means a bad album and some of the music is catchy, some of the lyricism ...

grandchamp 05.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

...I first heard that Jay-Z's American Gangster was a concept album based on the film, I contemplated the magnitude of impact that the Denzell Washington film really had on the man. Jay saw parallels between his pre-rap activities and those of the film's main protagonist Frank Lucas, a real life heroin smuggler and gangster from New York. It's quite ironic to me that the same rap marks who begged and pleaded for Jay-Z to go back to Reasonable Doubt-esque ...
...it is that to me, American Gangster is even less of a concept album than Reasonable Doubt, and certainly more disjointed and out of alignment than it's predecesor. There are moments where I think "yeah, I can feel this" in regards to the story of the struggle to the top of a crooked industry, but then there are moments that are terribly unfitting to the concept. The album constantly seeks balance and never finds it. Let's not forget - concept or ...

bigdiship-hop 12.10.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

This albums is by far one of the worst i have ever heard from such a talented rapper like jay-z. The whole albums was just a waste of time and i would not recommend this to anybody because it not worth it. ...

Kid333 12.11.2007
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

...should have a album titled American Gangster and use childish music to go with the lyrics that he has produced. My experience of the CD is average i would recommend to buy it if you are a jay-z fan but not what i was expecting after all the hype surrounding the release of the album when announced. ...

CRF88 12.11.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z

this album is amazing! i love how jay refers to loads of top gangster movies such as scarface, casino and american gangster! recomended for any one who loves a true story! ...

willadunno 08.02.2009
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of American Gangster (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Jay-Z