Fire Squad's "Give me an album and I'll rate it'" Thread

Started by Fire Squad, Aug 10, 2020, in Music Add to Reading List

  1. BIGFOOT
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    BIGFOOT More than a myth!

    Aug 13, 2020
    Great review brother

    Personally Shut Em Down is my favourite project from Onyx, they captured lighting in a bottle whilst crossing between Mainstream tracks as well as their gritty street s---.... having said that tho, their fall-off was pretty big after this album unfortunately.
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  2. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    @the kid on mars
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    #14: Blu & Exile: Below The Heavens [8.7/10]

    Guys, pretend that score I gave it doesn't exist, this is like a 10/10 for me in a vacuum. It was the summer right before my sophomore year of high school (2008), one day I was just combing through the net where it occurred for me to search "best rap albums of last year". This was the peak of my Lupe Fiasco standom, The Cool was the soundtrack to my life the year before and Wayne/Kanye were the figurative bonus tracks. Somehow I stumbled onto this from I think an About.com review lol, it was like I discovered some deserted treasure stranded out in some desolate island as this album felt like an anomaly to anyone I knew. Luckily the almighty Limewire had a file for it, so later in that humid night with the AC turned up, I just kicked back and hit play...

    I'd have to attribute my desire to search for gems entirely to this album to be honest, from that point on I was addicted to scour every single piece of hip-hop I could humanly find. This album has this misty-eyed vision of someone trying to find his way in this belligerent world we inhabit, to a young, impressionable teen like me at the time it felt like it was me in Blu's shoes. Blu is entirely cynical of everything around him, even 13 years later some of these stories still ring so true. His performances on each track are spotless, the other half of the equation comes from Exile's barebones, soulful production that gives this such an antique sound, like it truly does belong in 2007.

    It'a an album that's very dear to my heart as you all can see, as great as his recent collaboration with Exile was, it's impossible to capture that same lightning in the bottle. This album is magic, a time machine to a simpler time in my life personally, if you haven't listened to it before please do.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2020
    Mar 28, 2024
  3. Ordinary Joel
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    Ordinary Joel Found a new way to flow

    Aug 14, 2020
    I swear I did the same during high school for the most arbitrary compilation lists of "Best Album of xx" or "Best Rappers of xx" and "Best Underrated Lyricists since xx"

    Discovered a lot of gems through this method and I'm glad to see your humble beginnings were similar.:wow2:

    BTH is f---ing timeless. The only song that sticks out like a sore thumb is Juicen' Dranks tho
     
    #63
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  4. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    @damoi
    [​IMG]
    #15: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys [10/10]

    Aside from PJ Harvey's masterpiece I looked back on, this is the easiest perfect score I've handed out. This was another one from my college era that I discovered, I believe it might have also been my 2nd year of my undergrad studies when I heard this band. Woodstock was a magnanimous moment for all the boomers who tell us our tastes in music are trash & misguided, but ignoring that for a second it had a remarkable (and not so remarkable at times) line-up of gifted, revolutionary musicians giving the world their manifestos. Among those acts were the legendary CCR, led by the inimitable Fogerty brothers.

    Compared to the psych-rock that The Beatles, Beach Boys & co were popularizing, this record is dipped entirely in a pool of roots/blues, giving Willy and the Poor Boys a rugged, bombastic tone. Whether they're singing about the distrust they have of the Nixon administration, or about aliens, very few pieces of music capture the frustrated essence of the tail-end of the 60s like this band. There is an explicit reason every motherfucking Vietnam War movie has played Fortunate Son in it, I even have to look outside my window just to make sure I wasn't hearing US helicopters coming to burn my house and s---. To put it bluntly, this is a seminal rock album, I still can't play either of the 2 instrumentals even if I tried, and I cried when Bubba died in Forrest Gump.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2020
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  5. BIGFOOT
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    BIGFOOT More than a myth!

    Aug 14, 2020
    @Fire Squad Wiley - The Godfather
     
    #65
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  6. Oldboy
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    Oldboy Administrator

    Aug 14, 2020
    Bizzare debut album
     
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  7. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    I get to listen to Porno b------s again :rejoice:
     
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  8. Sav Stanfield
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    Aug 14, 2020
    @Fire Squad you are a brave man taking on requests from the mob but you are absolutely killing it. I love your description of Below the Heavns, I've been revisiting a lot recently since the new B&E album. Plus you've convinced me I need to dig into Andre Nickatina's discography, I've been meaning to for a while. keep it up man.
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  9. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    @Winter
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    #16: The Diplomats - Diplomatic Immunity [11/10 8.6/10]

    It's been close to 17 years since I left my childhood home in the Bronx, even though that neighborhood was a hellscape, there's this odd fondness for the simplicity of the struggle. We can never forget the sun-soaked summers of our childhoods, to give you my picture, I vividly remember the neighbors on the block are outside cooking barbecues and the cars passing by are blasting rap at ignorant levels. My youngest uncle was an avid rap fan, he would swear by me and everyone else Cam'ron was the best thing since sliced bread, or well in our case tortillas lol. Sometimes he'd take me to cruise around Harlem just to listen to Come Home With Me, there's something so satisfying about geographically correct music, especially when you look around and see everyone grinning to the voice of Killa coming out of the car. But no one was prepared for the tidal wave this album was about to produce...

    It's crazy, my last summer living in NYC coincided with 50 Cent's ascension, Hov's Black Album singles & especially Diplomatic Immunity. I will blindly defend this album to my grave, regardless of how many times I roll my eyes when I hear Freekey Zekey & Jim Jones' voices on the skits. Yes you can also point out the conflated flaws that usually hit double-LPs with filler, but the strong points on here outweigh any of the bad. Especially looking at what Juelz Santana brought to the table, he had the charisma and hunger on this album that had us all convinced he was gonna be a future torchbearer for the region.

    The real reason why this album is still regarded as one of NY's last heyday hoorahs, well one of the two, is because of Cam'ron's insane performances on here. Rocafella era Cam was a different breed; the wordplay, the imagery, the internal rhyme schemes and yes those silly nursery rhyme bars were all at its peak here. I can't even do justice on describing what he did on I Really Mean It, nobody else could have pulled that off. I'd be remised to not mention the glorious soulful beats The Heatmakerz & Just Blaze contributed to this album, the Dipset sound is one of a kind.

    If it isn't clear by now, this album means a lot to me. I wish all of you could have seen what I saw with the cultural zeitgeist the Diplomats brought onto the city. Pink Rovers, pink shirts, my Uncle's smile whenever Cam started rapping, it's still all so lucid to me all these years after. Be thankful for your childhoods my friends, and the especially the music that defined it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2020
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  10. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    It's always an absolute pleasure to see you on here, hope all has been well!

    I'm plugging your classic thread on here for anyone else to see, it's what I hope to replicate (https://forum.sectioneighty.com/sav-stanfields-sxn80-80-songs-in-80-days.t257747). The homie @awhellno is killing it too with his thread, we holding it down for the music sxn :wow5:
     
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  11. Sav Stanfield
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    Aug 14, 2020
    Will forever be envious that I never got to experience this. Reminds me of being in Florida in 2007 at the time T-Pain, Rick Ross, Plies, etc were blowing up. Obviously not comparable, but still, its not the same when you're not there to experience it first hand. At least I've got drill in London now lol.
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  12. Winter
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    Winter Super Comfy

    Aug 14, 2020
    Exactly the review I wanted, knew your perspective on this classic would be historic
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  13. Thy
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    Thy 000000

    Aug 14, 2020
    Yoo you doing mixtapes too? What you think about this classic?
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    how u been btw it’s been a minute lol
     
    #73
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  14. Sav Stanfield
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    Aug 14, 2020
    Ah man just went down the rabbit hole revisiting that thread.... I forgot about half the s--- I posted in there. Might just need to pick it up again one of these days.

    You and @awhellno definitely been holding this place down though man. I'mma think of an album request for this thread. I'll be back!
     
    Mar 28, 2024
  15. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    Oh f--- yes, that tape is an all-time personal favorite!

    Been doing great brudda, happy to see you still around here from time to time. Should have shouted you out earlier when I talked about Plug.DJ, I remember you pulled up in there a couple times with the rest of the crew.
     
    #75
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  16. Thy
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    Thy 000000

    Aug 14, 2020
    Ayyy glad you been great. Yeah bruh plug.dj days were so dope. I was just starting college back then too lmao. Remember those sessions with the boys pato, soldier, ydb and you, good times :wow5:Wish they were still around :/
     
    #76
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  17. Ordinary Joel
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    Ordinary Joel Found a new way to flow

    Aug 14, 2020
    I miss Pato :wow2:

    Hope our Argentinian Logic stan is doing well, but he really fell off the grid :mjcry:
     
    #77
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  18. Fire Squad
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    Fire Squad Boss Don Biggavel

    Aug 14, 2020
    @icecube
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    #17: One Be Lo - S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M [8.3/10]

    Thanks for asking me to cover this, it's been so long since I gave this a spin. I got into Binary Star also during my high school years, I gotta chuckle just reminiscing on how hard I used to love backpack rap. Them, O.C, Little Brother, plus every rapper that was on Definitive Jux, were all part of that funny little phase for me. I think there's nothing wrong to admit that we all at some point fell for the fallacies that come with being part of a conscious collective, doesn't matter whether you're a dusthead or traphead. You can appreciate both sides of the same coin!

    I've been vocal about my fandom of Binary Star on here before, Detroit has always flown under the radar as far as their contributions to rap go besides Marshall. One Be Lo is a wizard both behind the mic and the boards, on this album he takes those lush beat breaks and pairs them with his descriptive story-telling to create a lengthy but worthwhile journey. I'm always shocked at the samples him and Senim consistently find, it gives their music this extra musicality that made them so intriguing when you look at the pool of similar acts. Man today has been a trip down memory lane listening to Below The Heavens, Diplomatic Immunity & then this.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2020
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  19. Ordinary Joel
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    Ordinary Joel Found a new way to flow

    Aug 14, 2020
    @SKUXY BANGS I know you love your Binary Star and would appreciate FS' review above :wow5:
     
    #79
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  20. SHUDEYE
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    SHUDEYE Kerser is the sickest.

    Aug 15, 2020
     
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