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Free Music Notes for 311
Free Music Review: 311 are talented musicians who need to quit the rap front
Hit: 1 Stars
"Down" and "All Mixed Up" are both excellent tracks. The rapping doesn't bother me much on these cuts because the music behind the vocal mix is so good. Aside from those two songs, the only other cut I enjoyed was "Don't Stay Home". The rest of the songs consist of absolutely horrendous "white boy" rap of the worst kind. Don't get me wrong, I like quite a few 311 songs like the aforementioned three cuts off this album, and nearly everything off Transistor, but the material on here is just so juvenile and played-out that it's downright hokey. "Don't Let Me Down", which is supposedly about "some girl" getting beaten, is laughable. It sounds like Hexum made the whole thing up because he's way too vague. I'd like to know who the girl is, and why we should care about her plight, because vague crap like that ain't going to tug on my heartstrings. What makes it even funnier is that 311 go against everything they preach in every other song they wrote and say that "If you touch her again/I'll f*ck you up. For guys so preachy about "love and unity", they of all people should know that violence isn't solved by more violence. Stupid hypocrite stoners. Oh, by the way, did I mention these guys love weed? I think I should, because that's virtually all they sing about on this album. Do yourself a favor and get Transistor instead of this album. The instrumentation is actually creative, and there isn't dominated by Hard Rock/Rap like this one is. I also have their Live album from 1998 (on cassette no less!) which contains many songs from both Grassroots and Music, and based on those songs, 311's first two albums sound just as hokey as this one does. I personally think that 311 need to stay away from turntables and fight the urge to rap, because they actually are very talented musicians, and songs like "Beautiful Disaster", "Color", "Use of Time", "Stealing Happy Hours", "Light Years", "Rub A Dub", Creature Feature, and the cover of Cure's "Love Song" illustrate that.Free Music Review: A Good Album for New Fans
Hit: 5 Stars
311 is a great band that has put out 7 albums. The self-titled(Blue) album is not their best, nor is it their worst album. This was the first 311 cd I ever heard and it became responsible for my liking of the band. 3 years later, I have all of the albums but this one is still my favorite, even though it is not their most solid album. The cd gives first-time listeners a taste of 311, broadcasting their unique sounds. It also shows older fans who do not have the cd, a piece of 311's journey from music to evolver.The reason this album should not be overlooked is because it allows people, such as myself, to get into 311. Grassroots is their best album, but its bad production and lack of catchiness make it harder for first-time listeners to get a feel for their music. I believe this because I recommended grassroots to two people and one liked it after repeated listens and the other listened to it once and tossed it.
Now I bet you are thinking to yourselves, if they did not like grassroots, then they should not listen to 311. Well, I don't know about you, but I can see how grasasroots can be inaccessible for many people to get into. This album gives them a taste of what 311 is about and shows varying types of styles while doing it. It also has excellent production and arguably their "tightest" album. Even though it has flaws( some of the lyrics seem too quickly implemented, Hive is the all-ime worst 311 song) it continues to be at the top of my list because it what introduced me to this great band.
When I think of 311, I think of this album because it is a definitive 311 album. Many people also feel that there is too much rap on this cd, but there is not a whole lot more than "grassroots." Most of the songs are rap/rock/regge/ska-influenced, but they all are unique and stand out. I suggest people start out with this cd and give it a shot because it showcases 311 without turning them off of this marvelous group
Recommended Traks for getting into this cd:
Down....All Mixed up.....Purpose........Don't Stay Home...Sweet
Free Music Review: Not really what I expected, but it's all good
Hit: 3 Stars
First of all, I would like to point out that one of my least favorite styles of music is rap. I don't disrespect any artists in the genre, yeah, they've made something out of it. I just don't enjoy it as much as some people do. When I listened to 311, I was surprised to hear the pronounced rap influence in a lot of the songs. With that fact in mind, I enjoyed most of the slower, reggae/ska songs, such as All Mixed Up, Purpose, Don't Stay Home, and Sweet. But don't get me wrong, I liked more than that!The hard rock songs on this album, thanks to SA, have rapping in them. Nick raps, too, but he grew out of that by From Chaos. Despite my dislike for rap, Down, one of 311's biggest hits, is a great song. The song, at first listen, doesn't seem like anything special, but then it's in your head all of a sudden. At least a minute of this song is guitar playing, but it's all good. The song injected with the most rap is definitely Hive. The rhymes made me laugh ("You're all up in the mix like f***in' Betty Crocker") and the song was surprisingly catchy. However, my favorite hard rock/rap songs were Misdirected Hostility and DLMD.
At the end of the short album, I was a little disappointed. I know that this album had the strongest rap influence of them all, but I still wanted more of the reggae/ska sound. I'm listening to a bunch more of their stuff on Napster, and I like what I'm hearing, hard rock sounds from Soundsystem, trippy beach sounds from Transistor, and pure amazingness from Grassroots. A.K.A. I'm buying them all. Rock on!
Free Music Review: 311'S BEST CD TO DATE
Hit: 4 Stars
I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, IF YOU'RE A REAL 311 FAN, YOU MUST AT LEAST HAVE THIS CD! SURE, THE SONGS AREN'T AS LONG AS ONE WOULD PROBABLY LIKE IT TO BE, BUT THEY'RE STILL SOME OF THE FUNKIEST SONGS I'VE EVER HEARD. BETWEEN THE FUNKY GUITAR RIFFS AND HEXUM'S INTENSE RAPPING, THIS CD IS NOT TO BE MISSED. ''ALL MIXED UP'', ''GUNS ARE FOR P***IES'', ''PURPOSE'', ''HIVE'', AND ''JACKOLANTERN'S WEATHER'' ARE SOME OF THE BEST ROCK SONGS FROM THE 90S. I GAURANTEE EVERY FAN OF RAP OR ROCK WILL ENJOY THIS ALBUM. THIS BEATS LIMP BIZKIT.Free Music Review: Fakest album they've done
Hit: 3 Stars
This cd really deserves more than I gave it but I get sick of people saying this is their best work. Being the album that blew them straight into mainstream automatically makes it suspicious, but the fact is that its only ok. All mixed up was a great single that made up for down which was good to listen to once at the most. Then songs like DLMD totally ruin it. While SA is good at his rap riffs this band is ultimatley a reggae,alternative group and anything that strays from that is bound to suck. You want to hear their good stuff get Evolver, Transistor, and Grassroots. Peace