Day 0716 - Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury

The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy "Hypocrisy is the Greatest Luxury" (1992)

This one was a pretty full-on aural onslaught from right out of the gate.  Picking up where Public Enemy left off to put forward a wall of noise.  The album mixes samples, band performance and various foley-esque sounds, including the use of sheet metal as percussion.  The lyrics tackle  non-stop issues, including everything from racism and homophobia to the media.

Vocalist Michael Franti would depart the group a year or so later to start his group Spearhead who are still active at the time of writing.

I enjoyed this one well enough.  Franti's lyrics are clever and the production complements him nicely.

Day 0697 - Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest "The Low End Theory" (1991)

This album would be interesting solely for the facts that it launched the solo career of Busta Rhymes, and that it featured bass from the legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter (the list of who he DIDN'T play with is probably shorter than the list of those he did), but beyond all of that, the album is also good.

Carter's presence reflects the album's heavy jazz influence.  In the first track they drop the couplet:
"You could find the Abstract listening to hip hop
My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop".

The  band were plagued by health issues, legal issues, one member leaving and some minor infighting between the remaining members, but still managed to produce a strong hip hop album.

The album's title was phrased to refer to both bass frequencies, and the way that many African Americans were treated in the US. 

Day 0586 - Among the Living

Anthrax "Among the Living" (1987)

Of the 'Big 4' of Thrash (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax), Anthrax were the ones I knew the least about, so was quite interested to see how this panned out.  Not bad, as it turns out.

To my mind, the star here is Scott Ian with his cutting, thrashy rhythm guitar.  Drummer Charlie Benante's pounding, speedy-yet-tight beats are also noteworthy.  I found the vocals to be a bit close to the glam style, which sort of clashed a bit with the more punky, angry music.  A few of the lyrics were a touch cringe-worthy too with the benefit of hindsight, such as "Indians", or "I am the Law", which, though it's actually about Judge Dredd, comes off sounding a bit pro-police-brutality.

Solid enough metal album.  Another one of those "if someone puts it on at a party, I'd listen; but I most likely won't buy a copy" albums.

0266 - All Directions

The Temptations "All Directions" (1972)

 
The Temps continue to prove themselves to be "more just that band who sung 'My Girl'".  The group continue to explore sounds outside of the standard Motown sound, as already heard in slinky funky wah-wah infused albums like 'Cloud Nine' and 'Psychedelic Shack'.

This album is full of funky grooves, including the nearly 12 minute jam of 'Papa was a Rollin' Stone' and gets in your face with the N-bomb laden "Run Charlie, Run" that definitely draw a line in the sand between this album and the clean, short-n-sweet pop of their earlier material.

It comes with a deceptively run of the mill album cover, featuring a clean-cut band photo that doesn't immediately hint at the interesting directions explored within.