Do You Want More??!?? (1994)

Do You Want More??!?? (1994)

Now, this is where the Roots really started to get going. Signed to a major label and ready to make a splash, the group was letting its creative juices flow. The opening track ‘Proceed’ and it’s first line state their intentions. They were going to make you think, and they were going to make you question everything.

‘Just think…what if you could just…just blink away?’

The rest of the track is a tour de force of mid 90’s rap. Beat boxing mixed with Questlove’s live drums, a classic hook and a dreamy piano loop courtesy of Scott Storch. The jazzy jamming session was still very prevalent at this time. The jazz influences were addressed in ‘Dat Skat’ and the revamped ‘Essaywhuman???!?’.

The relaxed vibe is reinforced by ‘Mellow My Man’ and ‘Lazy Afternoon’, a track which features the same verse 3 times with minor differences which give a different picture as to what is happening. Perhaps, however, the most impressive feat of this album is the title track, which, believe it or not, utilises bag pipes excellently.

Unfortunately, the album begins to lose steam with the last 3 songs before finishing on the storming ‘The Lesson Pt. 1’, a freestyle between Black Thought and a 15 year old Dice Raw, laced over the beat boxing of Razhel. This relaxed, playful end closes off the Roots (and I suspect anyone’s) loosest album to date. An absolute masterpiece of summertime driving music if I’ve ever heard one.

Best tracks:

‘Proceed’
‘Do You Want More??!?!’
‘Essaywhuman??!?!?’

9/10

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joanna sheen

3 Doors Down - Seventeen Days
(2005)



“SEVENTEEN DAYS” is 3 Doors Down third studio album, and there follow up to 2002's “AWAY FROM THE SUN”.

THE BAND: The majority of mid-teens in 2005, were listening to 3 Doors Down. And thats what I was in 2005. I was 15 and into the modernized soft-and-easy listening rock. 3 Doors Down offered plenty of love songs with some heavier/power chord type tracks. It was the safe way to make it in the business and there were plenty of bands doing it and there’s plenty still doing it. 5 years ago, I fell into the trap of bands like these guys and I loved them.

Today, I don’t mind 3 Doors Down, especially if having to pick between the many bands similar to these guys. Bands like Nickelback, Three Days Grace, Seether, etc. But with all the music to pick from, why in the hell would I listen to them.

THE ALBUM: This is the only 3 Doors Down album I have and am not sure where it ranks as being a “good” 3DD album or a “bad” one. To me, it is just another mediocre modern rock album with a few listenable songs.

1. Right Where I Belong - This starts the album out fast with a definite flow. One of the better tracks on the album with a cool sounding guitar riff. I love to hear these bands adding in more guitar solos. This solo has a nice rythym and flow to it.
2. It’s Not Me - Track #2 takes it down a notch. The song seems bland and its hard to pick out anything to comment about. The guitar solo and outro shows the song has a little life though.
3. Let Me Go - The first single. The chorus really has a nice flow and kind of catches you knodding your head along with it. The fact that this was single #1 shows that there isn’t gonna be too much else of anything to come.
4. Be Somebody - My third favorite track on the album, Be Somebody’s lyrics are pretty good. They have that country like story telling theme and I like it. A little bit on the cheesy side though. The song seems to always be on the verge of exploding into heavy but it just never does. It stays in a rather boring speed.
5. Landing In London - No doubt, my favorite 3 Doors Down song, Landing In London Feat. Rock legend Bob Seger. The track has some beautiful symphony’s and a soothing guitar. It tells a story of lovers split apart and the lonliness both feel. Another guitar solo, the best on the album, rips into the outro which is pretty powerful. A 3-star song on my iTunes, and I have been known to listen to this song on occasion, which isn’t the case with any other 3DD songs.
6. The Real Life - Another slow peice; one of the worst tracks on the album.
7. Behind Those Eyes - Behind Those Eyes is one of 3DD’s songs that makes you think that maybe 3DD could surprise us all and release something not bad; Landing In London does the same. It was used as WWE’s Wrestlemania 21's theme and is a pretty rocking tune in my opinion. The vocals and guitars seem to combine to make a killer chorus and the drummer seems to finally show up for the album. This isn’t to far behind Landing In London in being my favorite 3DD song.
8. Never Will I Break - A song, that I would classify as a filler.
9. Father’s Son - At this point in the album you start to think you’ve heard this song before. The guitars seem to be used over and over and the arrangement repeats itself over and over again.
10. Live For Today - They must of thought there were too many softer songs on the album so they threw together this piece of ****.
11. My World - * See Tracks #8 & 9*
12. Here By Me - As an acoustic fan, I didn’t mind this song. The simplicity of the instruments and lyrics mix to make a “cute little song”. I’m sure this has been somebodys wedding song at some point.

FINAL COMMENTS: One thing that tends to get real old for me is how safe the bands are; it’s the same old ****. The album begins fast, gets slow, gets fast, etc. There’s nothing new and no experimenting. Every song is the same routine of verse, chorus, verse, etc. and its hard to tell the difference between the tracks many times. This album is listenable, but for someone like me, I find myself getting bored and I start craving some better love songs off GNR’s Use Your Illusions albums.

RATING: 3.5/10

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