LL Cool J
Exit 13
Exit 13 is LL’s 13th album for Def Jam in 23 years, which is a biblically long time in hip-hop. He’s definitely aged. This isn’t “Mama Said Knock You Out” LL looking to make money and a name for himself, this is a complacent, even bored LL sitting on top of a long, successful career looking to tie up loose ends with his record label. The first track has energy, but it quickly fizzles out after it becomes obvious that LL’s posturing8212;that he’s not irrelevant, that he’s not lost anything8212;is so transparent that it’s difficult to even tell if he believes it himself. It doesn’t get any better. “Get Over Here” is probably the most languid club banger in history, “Feel My Heart Beat” is the least sexy song about sex ever recorded, and even the posse cut at the end, with the exception of guest verses from Method and KRS-One, is sloppy and even ridiculous (the singsong “Broooookliiiiin” in the background). Even classic breaks that normally turn mediocre tracks into great ones are mangled and subdued. If you’ve got LL’s classic albums from the hip-hop stone age, hold on to “em and don’t feel like you need to expand your collection with this one.
– KS
Rise Against
Appeal to Reason
Rise Against has always been considered the thinking man’s punk band. While bands like Good Charlotte were mugging for the cameras with their reality-show girlfriends and releasing TRL-ready singles, these Chicago natives were sweating it out in the underground on one solid release after another. With their fifth album, Appeal To Reason, they’ve finally graduated to the big time, and the album8212;while largely political in lyrical content8212;also has the band wondering whether or not it wants to be there. In “Entertainment,” singer Tim McIlrath sings, “All we are is entertainment/Guarantees then obligations/Spotlights follow every single move.” Other tracks, like the opener “Collapse (Post-Amerika),” showcase the band’s penchant for fast, fist-pumping singalongs that are also meant for something more. With lyrics like, “This is cardiac arrest/Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes/Crashing into the ground as we all fall from grace,” it’s apparent that Rise Against is a band with something to say, but not everyone listens. Hopefully this release will open a few more ears.
– TH