All day yesterday I listened to my friends iPod. It was really cool. It’s like reading someone’s journal/blog or looking through one of their photo albums, getting to know them in a different way. Enlightening to see what selections they make for their storage space, how they have it organized and what kind of play lists they have. It can be eye opening, like finding out that in your friend’s Top 25 play list is Dancing Queen. hehe Or seeing that he had stored several nerdy WoW podcasts just for me. =) It was a uniquely personal experience that I rather enjoyed. I also got exposed to some music I may not have otherwise. Plus, now I have some ideas of what my next iTunes downloads will be.
Who’s lending me their iPod next?
More music on my mind… Will Smith’s album Lost and Found. This is a CD I stold from the hubby’s car and may not have heard if I wasn’t trying to save gas by forcing myself to drive his car every now and then. I had several different impressions about this album. I like most of the tracks, they have a good beat, I like Will’s voice, plus – he’s just plain hot.
*Pause for a day dream about me and Will, don’t worry – this one is nothing like track 12*
It sounds like he has something to prove through his lyrics. I like how most of his songs tell a story of sorts, but he sounds almost angry and defensive. Like he has to try and convince people that it’s ok for him to make music and its ok for his music to be on the less violent, vulgar, sexual side. Seems like he is trying to tell everyone he is good, he can do this, he has an ego and watch out – don’t get in his way cause you will regret it. But don’t get to worried, because he’s “Mr. Niceguy”. Most of the tracks are very self centered, which isn’t bad, but it’s done in a more straight forward manner than is typical. I think he takes away from the potential positive influences of his lyrics by deliberately trying to justify them. Some of the enjoyment of his songs is lessoned by him telling you he is a good artist. With all that said though, I still like the album. Me and my subwoofer are especially found of track 3, “Switch”. Check it out and tell me your thoughts.
I will say that this album did feel a bit angry compared to past work. I actually really didn’t like it the first few times I listened to it, but then I came back some months later and found myself liking it more.
Some track thoughts:
1. Here He Comes – as a Spidey fan, it bugs me that he used that classic theme song as a base, but the song is alright. About two thirds through the track, I really like the little breakdown.
2. Party Starter – Solid beat. He’s got a bit of a big head in it, although I do like the discussion of his debate over keeping his songs more intelligent than the norm.
3. Switch – The big release on the album, had a lot of radio play some months ago, was tops on iTunes downloads for awhile. Initially I didn’t like it, but the more I’ve listened to it, I like it.
4. Mr. Nice Guy – Kinda cheesy, he’s trying to hard to seem tough.
5. Miss. Holy Roller – I really really really dislike this chorus, the “He was with me, tryin’ to keep me from killin’ you” really bothers me. That being said, the message in the song is really solid.
6. Lost and Found – also a big of an inflated ego, but it has a really nice sound. His beats in general are much better than most of the crap on the radio today, which also happens to be the topic of the song, and it works well.
7. Tell Me Why – talk about a sad but touching song. I can’t imagine what it’d have been like to have to explain something like 9/11 to a little boy. On top of that, Mary J. Blige is an awesome guest artist to have, and she’s really powerful on this song.
8. I Wish I Made That/Swagga – Not a big fan of this one. More bashing on modern rap, and while I’m not a big fan of modern rap, it’s still kind of annoying. I really don’t like the sound of the Swagga half either.
9. Pump Ya Brakes – I like Snoop. I like Will Smith. I don’t think they fit too well together, though. Sounds a little too much like Snoop’s style for me.
10. If You Can’t Dance (Slide) – This song has a very classic Fresh Prince feel to it. I like it, and not because I can’t dance.
11. Could U Love Me – This song sounds a lot like something off of Big Willie Style. It’s a decent song, decent story, but just okay. I really hate hearing him say “my wrists ain’t bling” and “I ain’t sing” because it’s much more worse English than he normally would use.
12. Loretta – Freaky to think about it as a true story. Poor lady. It’s okay, but I wouldn’t go thinking “Man, I need to listen to that track” anytime soon.
13. Wave ‘Em Off – Some more big-headed blowing of smoke. S’alright, but it’s getting tired.
14. Scary Story – I almost never notice this track go by when I’m listening to the album. Not a big fan of it. Not great, not horrid, just okay.
15. Switch R&B remix – This has a really neat sound for the song. Sounds like he re-recorded the vocal track for the remix, which is pretty cool.
16. Switch, another remix – Meh. If this wasn’t on the album, I wouldn’t feel like I was missing anything.
Overall, a pretty solid album after a few plays. Leads off really strong, loses some steam, but very listenable.
We should pick up some older Fresh Prince stuff. I have it all on tapes, but those aren’t so easy to get into MP3 format.
[...] Lisa wrote up some thoughts on a CD she “stold” from my car the other day, Will Smith’s Lost and Found. I didn’t like the album at first, but got an odd desire to listen to it a couple of weeks ago. It’s really not too bad in retrospect, I was just really burned on “Switch” at the time. [...]