Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne (Album Review)
Artist: The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West)
Album: Watch The Throne
Well, I was 50/50 on this from jump. I liked "H.A.M" but not "Otis". And now here we are on release day. So without further ado, let's get straight into it.
The album kicks off with the pretty decent "No Church In The Wild" featuring Odd Future's resident R&B singer Frank Ocean. Whilst I like this song, and I think it sets the tone well as the first song on the album, it's not massively memorable either. Frank's chorus is the best part of the song and that not just the OFWGKTA fanboy in me saying that! I might have to give it a few more listens but it wasn't immediately obvious what the song was about.
We then go into "Lift Off" featuring none other than Beyonce. I'm not a Beyonce fan and this just reminded me why. This song is heavily overproduced. As Kanye's verse come in, I like that synth riff, but it quickly gets overpowered with everything else going on in the beat. There's no less than SIX producers credited as producing this song - Kanye, Jeff Bhasker, Pharrell, Q-Tip, Mike Dean and Don Jazzy. Also, LMFAO, Anthony Killhoffer and Hit-Boy have programming credits. Add additional credits to Seal (!) and Mr. Hudson on backing vocals and a certain B.Mars (Bruno?) with a songwriting credit alongside most of the above... and..... yeah, there's just way too many people involved in this completely forgettable song. I guess the phrase "Too many chefs spoil the broth" was forgotten. This whole track just sounds like a mess. Beyonce's chorus came in about 5 times and yet the artists themselves, Kanye and Jay-Z were barely even present. Skip.
I was hoping for a little redemption with the third track, "Niggas In Paris", and I did...sort of. Only after 2min50 or so when the beat broke down to some industrial-esque noise with some big reverbed drums. This is only the last 40-50 seconds of the track, but it was the only bit I liked. Apparently there wasn't any sort of chorus on this one and again it doesn't really appear to be ABOUT anything. So... I like the end of the track, but overall... pass. I'm really hoping that the album picks up at this point, because these guys are capable of so much and have both proven it on multiple occasions in the past.
Oh wait, the fourth track is the aforementioned "Otis". Well, at least this one seems to be polarizing. The people who like it, seem to really like it. I don't. Lazy sample. Again, not about anything and no chorus. Jay-Z is talking about how he has a new Rolex. Yippee. If you were wondering, it's called "Otis" because the beat contains a sample from legendary soul singer Otis Redding. Well, I think that sums up the laziness of this track. Now, excuse me while I go sample Sam and Dave for one of my own songs. I have a great idea for the song. I'm going to call it "Sam and Dave". [/sarcasm]
Next we go into "Gotta Have It". This one isn't bad. Jay-Z said "I'm planking on a million". That's pretty funny. Dig the back-and-forth between the two of them. Wait.... the track in only 2min20? Finally you lock on a good groove... but the track is short as hell? Well... that kinda sucks. Also I feel the need to point out that yet again... the song didn't seem to be about anything. What happened to the Kanye and Jay-Z's that were able to write songs that had concepts and great hooks? Where did those guys go?
Next up is "New Day", and before Kanye even said "Me and The RZA connect", I knew this must be something RZA had his hands on. It has that grimy Wu-Tang touch to it. I think it's the drums. RZA has a recognisable style and sound on his drums. Too bad Kanye and Jay-Z once again couldn't come up with a chorus. At least there's a concept, Kanye and Jay-Z appear to be talking to their future children. So, a little depth to this one and good production. But it's still nothing amazing. So far this album is leaving me empty, and that makes me sad.
Now we go into "That's My Bitch". I like this! A sample from Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache", a classic break. And there's another ones, a James Brown break from "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved". And there's a chorus on this one! Courtesy of Elly Jackson of La Roux. This track is hot! A head-nodder with some sick lyrics and flows. Wait! Is that Charlie Wilson on here too! NICE!!!! OK, this track is winning. Wait, I looked at the credits and his name isn't on here. But I'd recognise that voice anywhere! Justin Vernon from Bon Iver has a backing vocal credit, but that top layer is unquestionably Charlie Wilson. So far this is the best track on the album, by a mile.
"Welcome To The Jungle" - this one's a Swizz Beatz production. Jay-Z calls himself "Black Axl Rose". Yeah, not really Jay. This song kinda drags. It doesn't live up to it's namesake. It just makes me want to go and listen to "Appetite For Destruction". I don't understand this whole thing with naming rap songs after classic songs of other genres. Like when 50 Cent called his song "Disco Inferno". What the hell is the point?
I'm halfway through the album now. I thought I was going to enjoy listening to this. But I'm bored now. My mind is wandering. I'm thinking about Jersey Shore and how I want to watch the new episode after I'm done reviewing this album. Back to it.
"Who Gon' Stop Me" is up now. OK, now this is better. Dirty bass, stomping drums and a vocal sample that is kinda hype! I like this. It's decent but it loses steam halfway through. Then there's some cool spacey synths after 3 minutes that pick it back up. It feels kinda experimental which I like. Not your standard fare. Almost industrial chaos over Jay's verse and the final chorus. Yes. This is good. Except then it ends really abruptly, which is kinda abrasive. I wanted a better ending than that dammit. Oh well, still a good track.
"Murder To Excellence" comes in with some nice guitars and vocal chants. This isn't bad. Kanye's tone suits the beat on this one more than Jay's. Digging the additional piano that comes in just before the 2 minute mark. Feels like they should have got someone in to sing that little chorus part instead of Jay doing it. Minor annoyance on a pretty good, but not great, song. A bit too long at 5min01, feels like they could have chopped off 30-45 seconds on this one. I like it though.
Yay, Frank Ocean is back for "Made In America". Nice production on this. OK, why is Frank going on about "sweet baby jesus"? That's a bit weird. Still, the production is great on this. Hey, this is three good songs in a row. But they're all after the halfway point. I already know what part of my conclusion is gonna be - that there's just too many songs on this album and the order is wrong. Back to the song. I like it after the 4minute mark when it drops to just the synths for a few bars. That's good. But seriously, enough with the jesus shit.
Sick drop! "Why I Love You" featuring Mr. Hudson, who incidentally is from my hometown of Birmingham, UK. Actually he might even be from my hood too. This is good. Good production, good flows, this one gets a thumbs up from me.
"Illest Motherfucker Alive" has a bit where Kanye shouts out Russell Brand. That is dope. It counters the fact that the song itself is nothing spectacular. I don't dislike it either. It has a good chorus part with some choral operatic vocals in the background that give the song some extra character. Jay-Z just said "Michael Jordan" about 5 times. He must like him a lot.
"H.A.M" - still one of the best tracks on the album, enough said. Word to Lex Luger. The album should have finished here. But we've got two more songs.
"Primetime" - I can't really find much to say about this track. It's just kind of mediocre.
Finally, we finish off with "The Joy" which claims to feature the legendary Curtis Mayfield. Too bad that's not possible since he died over 20 years ago. In the same way as "Otis" has been labelled as featuring Otis Redding, they've simply sampled his vocals. Personally I think this shit is lame. Who's to say if Curtis and Otis were alive, they'd even like Kanye and Jay-Z? On the same basis, I could make songs sampling Prince and Michael Jackson's voice and then label them as being featured on my song. You see how ridiculous this is? Don't be surprised if you see some dude come out with an album and it has a big sticker on the front that says "with special guest appearances from Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, James Brown and more!" LOL. I mean really, stop. JUST STOP DAMN IT. Back to the music, it's pretty good. They have used loads of Curtis' vocals all over the song so that's always nice to hear. and Jay shouted out Pete Rock so that's cool. Oh wait! Pete produced this joint with Kanye. No wonder the beat is so good. Yay. Good ending to the album.
The rent is too damn high! Sorry, I mean the album is too damn long. And the songs are in the wrong order. And there's not enough really good ones. I like about 7 of the 16 songs, and even then, I'd say I only REALLY like maybe 4 or 5 enough to listen to them more than once. "That's My Bitch" is the best song on here. Also, "H.A.M" and "No Church In The Wild". This should have been an EP, really. Also, the Beyonce track deserves a mention for the fact that it's terrible and about 20 million people seem to have worked on it. That's pretty funny when you think about it.
Apparently Jay and Kanye haven't learned that , sometimes, less is more. That phrase applies brilliantly to this album. LESS.IS.MORE. Seriously, if you cut the 6 worst songs on the album completely, and maybe trimmed the fat on a few others, and most importantly, not have so many different producers on each song, this could have been a solid 7/10. But as it is....
