R&B/Hip-Hop

Thriller [Remaster]

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Personnel includes: Michael Jackson (vocals, percussion); Paul McCartney (vocals); Vincent Price (spoken vocals); Steve Lukather (guitar, bass); Eddie Van Halen, Dean Parks, Paul Jackson (guitar); Larry Williams (flute, saxophone); Jerry Hey (trumpet, flugelhorn); Bill Reichenbach (trombone); David Paich (piano, synthesizer); Greg Phillinganes (Fender Rhodes piano, synthesizer, programming); Steve Porcaro (synthesizer, programming); David Foster, Rod Temperton (synthesizer); Tom Bahler (Synclavier); Louis Johnson (bass); Ndugu Chancler, Jeff Porcaro (drums); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); Brian Banks (programming); LaToya Jackson, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters, Becky Lopez, Janet Jackson (background vocals).
Producer: Quincy Jones.
Reissue producer: Bruce Swedien.
Principally recorded at Westlake Audio, Los Angeles, California. Originally released on Epic (38112).
Digitally remastered by Bernie Grundman (Bernie Grundman Mastering, Los Angeles, California).
The finest example of perfect disco pop, and a record that should be prescribed to musical snobs and manic depressives. The album is a true ambassador of what pop music can be. Jackson whoops and dances through a suite of unforgettable melodies that should be danced to with a smile on your face. Each track offers at least one musical hook, whether it is the beauty of 'Human Nature' (who can resist the 'dada dada da da da') or the 'whoo whoo' of 'Billie Jean'. It's all too good.

F.T.F.O. [PA]

Shaggy 2 Dope is best known as one half of Insane Clown Posse, whose garish in-your-face aggression has earned them a rabid following. None of I.C.P's twisted humor and psychotic bluster is missing from F.T.F.O. There is a definite sense of menace--albeit that which accompanies a 1970s slasher flick--lurking beneath the album's surface, from the thudding club beats to the eerie samples to the headbanging guitars. But the real spotlight is on Shaggy 2 Dope's rhymes, which come across with a surprising amount of fluidity and flair for all the Jason Voorhees-style swagger contained within. With that said, Shaggy 2 Dope is quite good at what he does, making this is a necessity for Juggalos the world over.

Terror Wheel [PA]

Clockwork Gray *

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On his 2007 outing, CLOCKWORK GRAY, Psychopathic Records mainstay Blaze Ya Dead Homie presents another round of gallows hip-hop. On tracks such as "Blaze Up" and "Dead Neck," the Michigan rapper (born Chris Rouleau) reinforces his "deceased gangsta" image, letting lewd and macabre rhymes flow like he's a demon on leave from the underworld.

Tunnel Of Love [EP] [PA]

See Related Lists:Extended Play

Mutant (Vol. 2) [PA] *

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Includes a bonus DVD.
Personnel: Jaime Madrox, Mufuckin' Rich (vocals); Fritz The Cat (guitar, drums); Deff Jeff Shankn (drums).
The companion album to MAN'S MYTH (VOL. 1), which was released a month earlier, MUTANT (VOL. 2) is conceptually connected to its twin: the idea is that the first album is about the cultural influences that shape a person, and the second is about the warped result. The fact is that MUTANT (VOL. 2) is by far the better album; in fact, it's the best album of Twiztid's career, and the one on which the duo finally steps out from the shadow of their mentors the Insane Clown Posse. In fact, the sound of this album is far closer to Eminem's side of the Detroit hip-hop axis, specifically the cartoonish but musically fierce live-instruments-plus-samples sound of the best D12 tracks. The album's masterstrokes are the infernally catchy "Stardust," by some measure the best song the duo have yet managed (it contains a sing-songy chant that would have sounded right at home on Eminem's own ENCORE), and the spooky ambiance of the opening "Transformation of a New Civilization."

Independent's Day [7/3] *

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Personnel: Fritz Vankosky, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, RAZOR RAY.
Additional personnel: DJ Clay, The R.O.C., Bizzar, Big Krizz Kalico, Hed Pe, DJ Quik, Dogg Pound, ICP, Potluck, Proof, Tech N9ne, The Dayton Family.
One of the most popular acts on the Insane Clown Posse's Psychopathic Records, Twiztid mine a similar vein by combining horrorcore with rap. They present a fierce image offset slightly by dark humor. The title of their hit 2007 release, INDEPENDENT'S DAY, refers to the plethora of guest rappers who take a turn on almost every one of the album's 14 tracks.

Punkinhed [PA] [5/1] *

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Personnel: Mike E. Clark (programming).
Audio Remixer: Mike E. Clark .
Recording information: The Lotus Pod, Detroit, MI; The Lotus, Detroit, MI.

Games, Dames & Guitar Thang [9/19]

The legendary, troubled Parliament/Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel made only a few albums with George Clinton's collective, which makes this solo set all the more precious. Hazel is joined by the P-Funk rhythm section as well as the singers of the Brides of Funkenstein on a mostly instrumental collection that contains some incendiary soloing, notably on covers of the Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreaming" and the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."