(wrote this such a long time ago and never finished it..  who knows.  I might bring this site back up.  sorry no music clips.  no website to host them anymore)

Mos Def
"New Danger"

The Boogie Man
Freaky Black Greetings
Ghetto Rock
Zimzallabim
The Rape Over
Blue Black Jack
Bestuy
Sex, Love & Money
Sunshine
Close Edge
The Panties
War
Grown Man Business
Modern Marvel
Life Is Real
The Easy Spell
The Beggar
Champion Requiem

Experimental to the fullest. You can't tell if you bought a hip hop, rock, or blues album. It's a mixture of what Black Jack Johnson, the band laying it down, has to offer. You'll hear a couple jam sessions in the album so don't expect lyrics, just enjoy the music. He has nothing to offer what hip hop has to offer now. They ingeniously lace a constant luring sound with hints of an all out rock song. 'Ghetto Rock' is an explanation of what type of genre they could be classified as. To explain ghetto rock would do no justice. Mos Def briefly explains its music slaves use to listen to and it's the sun, moon, earth, stars and planet. And we go straight into 'Zimzallabim' with the definition of ghetto rock out of the way. It's the first song we get to hear Mos Def go off on a tantrum lyrically . And what Mos Def has to offer is another powerful album. There is no explosion, no bang, no sudden attack to make you want to listen to 'The Boogie Man.' It is kind and unwavering in its descent from the first verse to the next loop. Yet it might take you a second to realize there is absolutely nothing beautiful about what he has to say. "This whole world is cold and ugly. What we are is low and lovely."

Overall Rating:  Does my opinion actually want you to go buy some shit.

Cliff Notes:  I'm hungry

Green Day
"American Idiot"

American Idiot
Jesus Of Suburbia
Holiday
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Are We The Waiting
St.Jimmy
Give Me Novacaine
She's A Rebel
Extraordinary Girl
Letterbomb
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Homecoming
Whatsername

I saw this elsewhere and here's my own interp of it.  They could make this story a movie.  Let's call it "American Idiot"

1.American Idiot
       Strikes at our government.  A country with no identity.  Problems we need to fix.  This is what we live in.  This is the hole we've dug.  Don't be like this.

2.Jesus Of Suburbia
   I.Jesus Of Suburbia
       Hello, Jesus.  Lives on soda pop and ritalin.  "But there's nothing wrong with me.  This is how I'm supposed to be.  In the land of make believe that don't believe in me."  Has conflict with his environment.  It's mom and Brad, not mom and dad.  That speaks for itself.  This is the suburbian life.
   II.City Of The Damned
       Jesus sees death in everything.  He points out no one cares about the children.  They're full of the lies and deception we the country and society have yet to do anything about.
   III.I Don't Care
       Jesus, in anger, says he doesn't care if nobody cares and if nobody believes in him.  Nobody tries to help anyone out anymore.
   IV.Dearly Beloved
       Jesus questions everything.  "Nobody's perfect and I stand accused for lack of a better word and that's my best excuse."
   V.Tales of Another Broken Home
       Jesus runs from home.  Is going to make a life for himself and willing to leave behind all the shit he's endured.

3.Holiday
       Again, Jesus talks about the destruction of everything around him.  Shots at the President.  Says this is our lives on holiday.  So when do we come back?

4.Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
       His home is the road he has taken for redemption.  He walks alone.  Alone, seriously.

5.Are We The Waiting
       To complete the sentence - Are we, we are the waiting unknown.  That's how Jesus feels about where his life is going on this road.  Says Jesus of Suburbia is a lie.  Sets up for part 6, a new identity.

6.St.Jimmy
       New name, new attitude.  Calls himself teenage assassin, suicide commando, the "patron saint of the denial with an angel face and a taste for suicidal cigarettes and ramen and a little bag of dope."

7.Give Me Novacaine
       Jimmy on drugs.  Wants to feel good.

8.She's a Rebel
       Hello, girl.  Her name is 'Whatsername.'

9.Extraordinary Girl
       She feels weak behind her poker face. Jesus/Jimmy can't keep up with her.

10.Letterbomb
       'Whatsername' doesn't see what she use to see in Jimmy anymore.  Everything they thought they would do has become dull.  Reminds him he's not 'Jesus Of Surburbia'.  Tells Jimmy to stop talking and start acting.  She breaks up with Jimmy and leaves town.

11.Wake Me Up When September Ends
      Dealing with the pain of loss.

12.Homecoming
   I.The Death Of St.Jimmy
       Jimmy's gone.  Jimmy's dead.  Here's Jesus again.
   II.East 12th St.
       Everything he worked for has become nothing.  Now he's filling out paperwork on East 12th Street.  Misses hanging out with his group Underbelly.  Truth is, nobody cared about his crusade.  Wants to leave, but doesn't cause he's weak on his own.
   III.Nobody Likes You
       Everyone has left him.  Watches tv and thinks about the crap he's been through and that's all he does.
   IV.Rock And Roll Girlfriend
       Wishes he was Saint Jimmy again.  Becomes crazy in a sense.
   V.We're Coming Home Again
       This is his lame march back home.  He's given up and is back to square one.

13.Whatsername
       Still thinking about his time with 'Whatsername.'  Kind of tragic and hopeless and that's life for ya.  "Forgetting you, but not the time."  The end.

Overall Rating:  It's like peanut butter and banana on white bread.

Cliff Notes:  I thought I'd like it more, but I didn't.  Very creative.  Supposedly very controversial.  Different from the Green Day you have heard before.  Is this suppose to be punk rock?  The cd itself tells a great story.  Also, this cd contains the 2nd and 3rd 9 minute songs I have listened to.

Nelly
"Sweat"

Heart Of A Champion
Na-NaNa-Na
Flap Your Wings
American Dream
River Don't Runnn
Tilt Ya Head Back
Grand Hang Out
Getcha Getcha
Another One
Spida Man
Playa
Down In Da Water
Boy

With the drop of two albums, Nelly has promised two sounds and made twenty.  Every song has a different feel to it. In attempt to push he has slowed down a step in pursuit of best single. 'Flap Your Wings' is nowhere close to 'Country Grammar' or 'Hot in Herre.'  The creativity behind his rhymes is still flattering.  First track features similes and metaphors of sports stars as the NBA theme jumps out in the chorus sung by Lincoln University Vocal Ensemble.  Then out of nowhere he'll lay something out like "hover man with more heart than Hallmark on Valentine's Day."  'Na-NaNa-Na' is very cocky.  His bragging rights for a life of luxury and having women all the time is overdone.  He's not shy to hide it either.  Not particularly a bad thing. I expect a lot because Nelly is my favorite hip-hop artist.  With the idea of "Sweat" and "Suit" I believed "Sweat" was going to be in retrospect of his first album "Country Grammar" which featured nonstop hits.  A majority of his songs have slowed down.  You'll notice the quick tempo in most of his aired hits are lacking here.  Everything is smoothed out for you to nod your head to.  Then there's an occasional boost that really brings life to the cd.  There are songs that make you want to ask why haven't you heard this before.  I'm loving the beat for 'Grand Hang Out.'  Reminds me of an old school nintendo game.  Nelly has a lot of great beats, but doesn't take full advantage of them.  Kind of upset with where 'Down In Da Water' went.  I would skip songs like 'River Don't Runnn' and 'Spida Man.'  'River Don't Runnn' has a Jamaican feel to it, and doesn't fit with the album at all.  "I heard a knock, knock, who's there.  It's your friendly neighborhood... Spida Man" speaks for itself as this song drags on for 4:51.  It might put you to sleep. There's a lot of collaboration featured in "Sweat."  Jazze Pha, Christina Aguilera, Fat Joe, Mobb Deep, Missy Elliot, Ali, Lil' Flip, and his group St.Lunatics are a few.

Overall: 6.8/10

Cliff Notes: Very hot and very chill.  More chill than hot.  There are a few winners on this cd, and I'm sure I'll hear them on the radio.  He still has a lot of potential and I won't rule him out for having good sales.  Sad to say I enjoyed his previous albums more.

I've been so busy. Here is the really, really, really delayed review of Muse.

Muse
"Absolution"

Intro
Apocalypse Please
Time is Running Out
Sing for Absolution
Stockholm Syndrome
Falling Away With You
Interlude
Hysteria
Blackout
Butterflies and Hurricanes
Endlessly
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
TSP (The Small Print)
Ruled by Secrecy

Think Radiohead. Now erase everything you know about them and give Muse a chance. Complexity is the first word that comes to mind when I hear this group pumping away, slowly churning before the thickness curdles in your head. The constant marching line from the drums bellow as Bellamy prolongs his words like he was possesed by the devil (you willlllllllllll dieeeee). A classical orientation of grand piano pounding provided in fortissimo times ten is only back up to guitars that want to go to outerspace. 'Apocalypse Please' does a great job of lulling someone into believing "this is the end of the world." And no one would've expected something like 'Time is Running Out' would be the next monster to come out. I can imagine someone crawling on the ground, palms gripping soil, in pursuit and desperation of what the song is all about. A hand gripping hair, running down across his face, dipping into the neck, and following the body the down. As if someone doesn't recognize Bellamy's style of singing within the first three songs, the next one is dramatic in every sense.  I was surprised his vocals could fit heavier playing with fantastic riffs. Check out 'Stockholm Syndrome' for something to really punk out to. If anyone has ever seen Seventh Heaven, 'Falling Away With You' has a creepy feel of the music played during nonverbal scenes within the show. Then the song totally evolves into everything theatrical Muse is. The downfall to this is trying to pick out what the hell is going on within the music. At times the heavy mixture of the band looks like something they threw at a wall. And in the end, everything stuck to the wall. I love the name 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' because it really describes the song. Did you know that a butterfly on one side of the world could actually cause a hurricane on the other side? 'Butterfles and Hurricanes' starts out soft and slow. As you anticipate it, a formidable storm brews into an explosion with a piano solo that wants to strike your every nerve. I don't get sick of his voice. I like the up tempo variety they offer with crazy synthesizers and the hectic fullness that makes up the music. It's another good cd to listen to from beginning to end. Maybe a song or two ('Blackout') could use the boot, but listen to it anyway.

Overall Rating: 9.2/10

Cliff Notes: The two songs I got playing don't even offer everything this band is. Surplus with lots of guitars, drums, piano, but nothing you've heard before almost. I love the vocals. They're very cool bringing some old school and I mean old, old school type of music and generating it into alternative music. I notice a lot of the music I rate is in the 7 to 9 range. I'll change that eventually. They get a 9.2 because I said so biatches.

http://www.stratadirect.com

It so happens my June 22 entry from InSpiRaZnX got me on Xanga's featured content.  I believe you get your name on there by collecting so many comments within that day you publish it.  If that's the case I'd appreciate any help I can get =D

Thanks Andy for pointing it out. Too bad I didn't see it. =/

Strata
"Strata"

Piece By Piece
I Will Breathe Fire
The Panic
When It's All Burning
Just Like Silk
We've Changed
Never There
Today
Trustkilltrust
Waiting
You Are Eternal
In a Sweet Dream

You ever just want to rock out? Strata gets right into it with "Piece By Piece."  It's a 'fuck yea' hello like a grand entrance with entourage and paparazzi.  Before you even notice the lights, camera, action; it powers down a smidge as "let's split me open at the seams and rip out everything inside" takes center stage.  "Start the countdown, make me fall asleep" leads up to the second hook while Victorino pulses his words in perfection as if he was counting 10 to 1.  And this blast off is a power ride through the whole album.  Strata doesn't waste time and flexes its muscles.  Once you get sucked in, the motions of this river rapid doesn't stop.  It's not constant screaming.  It's not careless, and by that I mean they set you up for when they want you to feel what they're giving.  Victorino can hold a note better than most heavy metal bands I have heard.  He sings a lot about patience, change, and a heart ache that was nothing but praises.  The music really attacks and devours.  When you listen to "The Panic," the repetition sounds like a predator stalking its prey and finally leaping out to attack.  Then it sneaks away waiting for the next attack.  I saw these guys live.  Thanks again Chris.   Had dinner with the drummer, Adrian Robison.  By far the most interesting person I have met.  Thanks for taking your time out of the tour to eat with us.  "Trustkilltrust" is a nice (think "Session" from Linkin Park's Meteora) instrumental, which reminds me of a calm before the storm.  You can see the clouds forming in your head as people hurry to find shelter.  Get your umbrella ready.

Overall Rating: 8.7/10

Cliff Notes:  Great new sound for heavy metal.  I read somewhere they think Strata lacks great hooks, which I don't think is true.  Some songs don't need one to always stand out.  What I didn't like?  I don't listen to too much of this music as it is, but I picked up this cd because dem geetars and drumming told me to.  They don't have the greatest sound for popular radio.  That would mean changing who they are to please others.

For those who disagree about my entry below, understand Simpson got a 9 for everything she accomplished.  In her genre, she debuts at number one, puts out a cd that isn't I'm a girl watch me dance pop crap, and totally mislead what I even thought the cd was going to be.  I don't do overall ratings for the music industry as a whole.  She got the 9 for what deals with her.