Ray J earns his first no. 1 album on Top R & B/Hip-Hop Albums and his first top 10 on the Billboard 200 as his fourth album, “All I Feel,” bows at No. 7 on 39,000 units. That tops his last set, “Raydiation,” which entered R & B Albums at No. 13 and was a distant No. 48 on the big chart with a start of 21,000 in 2005.
Ray J’s new album is carried by “Sexy Can I,” with Yung Berg, which presides over Rhythmic Airplay for a second week.
Elsewhere on R & B Albums, Raheem DeVaughn (13-9) earns the Greatest Gainer, up 9% from last week. Elephant Man’s first album for Bad Boy enters at No. 38, Houston rapper Big Geminii makes his maiden R & B Albums voyage at No. 60, and Algebra earns Pacesetter applause at No. 64 (up 61%).
- By Rahael GeorgeWu-Tang Clan mastermind RZA returns for a third time to his Bobby Digital alter-ego, his new rhymes ranging from pseudo-standard gangsta clichés (street violence, wealth and fat blunts) to dizzying mash-up of pop culture references (Jabba the Hutt, mogwai and Hunts Ketchup all get name-checked in a matter of 10 seconds) to bizarre boasts (“When I was young/I slept with a battery under my tongue/so when I spit/the impact with a sting of a stun gun”). But it’s the beats and production that really define an RZA release, and they’re as intoxicating as ever on “Digi-Snacks.” Basslines and obscure samples lunge in and out of slithering, off-kilter rhythms, illustrating the virtuosity of this one-of-a-kind rap artist.
- By TCLet me begin this review by mentioning that A Sense of Purpose by In Flames may have the most beautiful album art the metal world sees all year. No joke, it's very well done with wonderful use of color and imagery to fit the messages in the music. Since that's how the album presents itself to you, that how I will present my review. This new release from Koch records marks the 9th studio album for the Gothenburg, Sweden metal act. They've been around for nearly two decades and are still making fans by the year. A Sense of Purpose may not be the band's best release to come out of these years, but it's definitely worth a couple spins to say the least.
Purpose begins with the lead single, "The Mirror's Truth," a fast paced, riff crazy rocker that really kicks things off right. The production here is top quality and it really makes everything that much better. However, even if this were a poor quality recording, these guys would sound immensely better than most in the game today. Vocalist Anders Friden has a great voice for this style of metal, which is more melodic and his seamless move between screaming and singing is nearly flawless. In fact, on the very next track, entitled, "Disconnected," Friden really shines through as the lynchpin for In Flames. His voice rides like a pirate ship on the waves of sound coming from the band like few vocalist can.
An instantly memorable guitar riff leads, "I Am The Highway," a single ready track if I've ever heard one. The band experiments with accents a lot more on this song and musically it's a good progression for them, but have no fears, they don't step too far out of their box. The chorus is filled with double bass and chugging guitars while the verse finds Friden talking about taking life into his own hands with lines like, "forget the promise land, there was never an invitation, today I create my own." It's a standout track on the album to say the least and could really open doors for the band. Another song, that contains similar promise is the straight forward rocker, "Move Through Me." The song, as the lyrics claim, stands as a call to arms to rise up for you are not alone and together we can take on the world. Metal fans will surely be found chanting this throughout the band's upcoming tours as it's sure to become a road favorite.
As the album moves into it's later stages we find the last three songs, "Condemned," "Drenched in Fear," and, "March To The Shore," each packing punches you don't want to miss out on. "Condemned," presents some of the sickest guitar work found on the album thus far and Friden tears through his vocals like a madmen yet finds time to make a catchy chorus amongst the chaos. "Drenched," Is all about the music, though Friden doesn't disappoint one bit. The guitars never stop chugging and riffing while Daniel Svensson pounds the drums with such a fury you can't help, but be pulled into his pulsating tones. This one is made for driving fast with the windows down. After all of this we come to the final cornerstone of the album, the closing track. "March To The Shore," is no epic piece of music, but rather an average timed song with above average instrumentation. One may think In Flames would relax for the closing number, or go for epic proportions, but they opt instead to hit you harder than ever before on the album. It's a song meant to get the crowd moving and I'm sure it will. It's heavy, pounding, and the perfect bow on top of the album.
In Flames have built quite a career for themselves. This is especially true for being in a genre where most bands don't make it past their second album, if that far. Their 9th studio album, "A Sense of Purpose," is filled with amazing riffs, pounding bass and drum lines, and vocals that stay with you for days. Given the band's long legacy of being metal gods, I did expect something slightly more original or at least more variation, but nevertheless, they do what they do quite well. This album is not their best work, for that you'll have to do some exploring, but it's definitely one of the best metal albums 2008 has offered and it will surely be on your top 10 list come December.
- By James ShotwellFor their new video, OTEP created a spiritual, but nightmarish vision for their cover of NIRVANA's "Breed" from their new album, "The_Ascension", which came out October 30. The band shot the clip earlier this year with director Paul Brown, who helped OTEP craft a surreal commentary about materialism, the media and perceptions of happiness.
"It was my pleasure to work with Paul Brown again," says frontwoman Otep Shamaya. "We had such an amazing time creating this video. The 'girl fed by TV' is actually my niece and I am so proud of her. She did an amazing job. NIRVANA is one of my favorite bands and filming this video made me realize just how vacant the creative world is today without Kurt Cobain."
The video will make its on-air debut Saturday night (November 17) on MTV2's "Headbanger's Ball".
OTEP's new album, "The_Ascension", sold 10,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 81 on The Billboard 200 chart.
Produced by Dave Fortman (MUDVAYNE, EVANESCENCE), "The_Ascension" sees the band challenging itself to avoid clichés and classifications and finding a new landscape of sound and vision. "We said 'genre limits and music fads be damned, let's write music that is important to us and that motivates us," explained Shamaya. "I wanted to write songs we believe in and let nothing stop us from building the album we want to make."
- By Chris Herche