Young Jeezy
TM103: Hustlerz Ambition
(Def Jam)
1/5
The third and final installment in the Thug Motivation series, TM103: Hustlerz Ambition is a comparatively aimless and vapid attempt to close out the TM trilogy.
Although the concept of a rap-saga gives the idea of a painstaking endeavour, it seems the only motivation the Young Hustler had in this threesome strategy was to sell three very similar albums to the public.
Lead single “F.A.M.E.” charitably features Jeezy’s fellow Atlanta native T.I. and is, unsurprisingly, one of the few reasons anyone should buy this album. The rest of the collection can be easily discarded into the grease-smeared, dangerously overloaded bin behind the cafeteria labelled “really bad rap.”
Young Jeezy may be a talented collaborator and artist, but the clear lack of ambition and content on his long-awaited third installment of this series is way too anti-climactic.
-Thom McMahon
The Maccabees
Given to the Wild
(Fiction)
2.5/5
Remember the cutsey love songs Brit indie rockers the Maccabees had on their first album, Color It In? Yeah? Well, that’s all gone. But it has been five years and two albums since that first album of catchy and adorable pop-rock, so one can only expect to see a change in the band’s style.
With Given to the Wild, the Maccabees tone down the cute stuff and deliver the kind of album that would be ideal for listening to on cold, rainy days. It’s quite dreary. In fact, it’s not just dreary: it’s a little dark.
This stylistic change on their part deserves some praise. After all, not all bands develop or alter their sound once they find something that works. Props!
However, I personally found this album to be a little drab. As said before, it would be an excellent soundtrack to a rainy day, but just as background music. Nothing more.
-Clorisa Simpson
Snow Patrol
Fallen Empires
(Polydor)
4/5
Before the release of their 2003 album Final Straw, Snow Patrol struggled for close to 10 years to break into the mainstream music scene.
Since then, the little alternative rock band that originated in Northern Ireland has had several successes. Now, it seems they have taken their sixth album, Fallen Empires, as a chance to trust their fans and themselves and focus on creating music, instead of songs that will make it on to the charts. Doing so has allowed Snow Patrol to create an album that is full of raw emotion, and also exudes the great amount of well-deserved confidence the band has.
Some highlights include “New York,” “Those Distant Bells,” and the album’s prelude, “Broken Bottles From a Star,” but Fallen Empires is full of tracks that have an equal chance at becoming the listener’s favourite.
-Chesley Ryder
The Big Pink
Future This
(4AD)
3.5/5
On their sophomore album, UK’s the Big Pink crash unabashedly forth with a fresh energy. The Big Pink claim to be electro-rock, but they surprise on Future This with obvious noise-pop influences and hooks that would sound good on any rap album.
Future This is an intensely thick, full, and hopefully optimistic album. Its crunchy sounding guitars and gregarious nature paint an image of male responsibility. Future This is a young man who realizes he must take care of a sibling after the initial shock of a lost loved one. Its echoed lyrics playfully display the past, while the music pushes the future into view.
Future This has a cool duality to it that ignites later on the album, during the title track. The album gives little time for rest in its songs and, depending on the listener, that relentlessness may be positive or negative. It is, however, truly stylistic, and not a critical error.
-Adam Price
Gotye
Making Mirrors
(Fairfax)
4.5/5
Most people know Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye for his song “Somebody That I Used to Know,” and, maybe, for the corresponding music video. What most people don’t know is that Gotye is pronounced “gore-ti-yeah.”
Something else the masses don’t know is that Making Mirrors is an album riddled with treasures that rival Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders, such as “In Your Light” and “Smoke and Mirrors.”
The music on this album stays true to Gotye’s electric-pop sound while maintaining a distinct indie style that sets it apart from the vanilla mediocrity found on the airwaves today. Making Mirrors creates a happy place for the listener to escape to.
By using his unique voice, innovative composition techniques, and multi-instrumental talent, Gotye develops fun, one-of-a-kind pieces that soothe and excite simultaneously.
-Lucas Milroy