F
Snoop Doggy Dogg
“Tim Doggfather”
Death Row Records
Grade: A -
Snoop Doggy Dogg has been a
busy man in the past three years.
Since the 1993 release ofhis detail
album, “Doggystyle,” he. has made a
short film, fathered a son, recorded the
occasional single, seen his friend and
label-mate Tupac Shakur murdered,
garnered a few awards, witnessed the
departure ofhis friend and mentor Dr.
Dre from Death Row Records and gone
through a murder trial.
To say the least, it hasn’t been an
inactive time.period for Dogg, a.k.a.
Calvin Broadus. But Dogg has
emerged from this three-year series of
trials and tribulations with a new out
look on lifepand this phenomenally
successful rapper — who more often
than not saw his name preceded by “Dr.
Dre protege” — has taken on a new
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albums of 1996(“Do^^fe^ha^^d
over 5 million copies),>£ba
Doggfather? doesn’t break much new
ground musically; but the lyrics are
Dogg’s true love, and lyrically, this al
bttHWfrte^Wabead Dogg paste
Dogg spares no time in going on
the attack from the album’s start, in
stantly refuting critics who have la
mented (or- celebrated) the death of
gangsta rap and the potential downhill
of Dogg from rap’s upper echelons.
Noticeably absent from this album
are the brief comedy interludes and
blatantly misogynistic tracks that pol
luted “Doggystyle” to a point far past
distraction and detracted ffom Dogg’s
usually exemplary style. The lyrics
never slow down here, with Dogg
preaching an end to street violence and
an embracing of the powers of love,
knowledge and unity.
But Dogg has always been solid
lyrically. This time around, the beats
' that would run behind him came into
question, even before a producer had
been tapped to replace the near-legend
ary Dr. Dre.
As it turns out, those questions
never needed to be asked.
After a brief intro, the album’s title
track leads into the music with the
smooth and funky background mix that
was perfected by Dre on Dogg’s debut
album and Dre’s own release, “The
Chronic.”
But this time DJ Pooh is at the con
trols. While Dre’s production shoes
may have seemed ominous ones to fill,
Pooh and Dogg’s other cohorts (includ
ing Dat Nigga Daz, Kurupt and L.T.)
have tackled the job with a vengeance,
matching and even surpassing some of
Dre’s funkiest tracks.
Particularly worthy of mention are
“Gold Rush,” “Blueberry”and “2001
three tracks that could easily play ball
wiihany of the funkiest tracks ever re
corded.
whole, the album is a looser
ana less calculated approach to music
and lyrics that exceeds “Doggystyle”
in maturity, rhythm and eonscience.
And with an album like this under his
belt, Dogg no longer has t© declare that
he’s back he’s here to stay.
• —Jeff Randall
Cake ■'= ..-V
“Fashion Nugget”
Capricorn Records ;1
'Grade; A ' : .. 1
k <r “ 7 V" :i
After unleashing one of the most
promising andorigi^debut releases'
set themselves up for a pretty hefty fall
on their sophomore release.
” does more
1994T -tj.xl. -i wdnOW^,
cuts fijirther into the musical style Cakfc
has made fix itself and does so witha
broader palette of emotional content.
The first single from the album,
“The Distance,” has hit the MTV and
radio airwaves head-on, revealing the
band’s ability for catchy songs spiced
with sly humor. The lyrics tell the story
of a man who continues driving his car
in circles long after a race has ended.
It’s a song ripe for interpretation, but
it probably has very little content be
neath the surface.
That’s the Cake way. They write
generally superficial and simple songs
but perform them with an intimate and
personal style that makes than sound
suspiciously deep.
The result is a feel similar to that
of a seedy lounge singer belting out his
rendition of “My Way” with fall bra
vado and little pure emotion. You know
the guy *s not real ly hurting, but he sure
is on his knees.
And Cake frontman John McCrea
may not really mean it when he spews
mild venom on “Friend is a Four Let
ter Word” or gushes glorious pride on
the cover of “I Will Survive,” but he’ll
be damned if Cake doesn’t make it at
least sound good.
In an age of faked angst and
wannabe soulsters, Cake has recap
tured both the innocence and the slea
ziness of Vegas-style crooners by giv
ing up on pretentiousness and embrac
irtgstyle for what it is. And it’s beauti
ful, baby, it’s beautiful.
The Colt
“High Octane—me Ultimate col
lection 1984-1995”
Reprise Records
Grade: A
if Neil Young is the Godfather of
Grunge, members of the Cult are the
cool older brothers alternative rode
never had. . V
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v^uiv via opaua 11 jrvaia. uigjr |
were, above a^l else, a blues-rock band i
who just happened to incorporates bjk.
of metal. . ■
Formed by vocalist Ian Astbuiy and I
guitarist Bill Duffy, The Cult began re-1
doling in 1984. As explained by the
join's Una* notes, the two were com-1
IfgfcgpgKHites—Astbury was the type
of man who wanted to emulate Jim
firfilfy footed on the ground: .
The Cult took aspects of Hendrix
orrison and blended them with
Octane” spans The Cult’s en
tire Mstory, from their first single,
“Spiritwaiker,” to their last one, “Stanf
All the great songsthat weren’t singles
are here, too, like “The Witch.”
As time progressed, The Cult less
ened the psychedelia and focused more
on blending blues ami pop with metal,
trying to cante out a niche for them
selves.
Eventually something had to give,
however, and bassist Jamie Stewart, the
glue that held Astbury and Duffy to
gether, quit die band in 1989.
Duffy and Astbury still went on to
make two more records, but there was
no chance of The Cult lasting, and ev
ery fan knew it. .. J
“High Oetane”is a tour-de-force of
The Chit and its influence an the mu
sic scene oftoday. The members ofThe
Cult have gone their separate ways, but
their music lives cm.
—Cliff Hicks
BANDS from page 12
(he spared the Knickerbocker ’s crowd
the size-7 dresses he's also been known
to wear onstage).
These young men literally made the
crowd jump when they shattered the
bar-room calm with their intense en
ergy and loud, angry shredding.
Formed five years ago, the quartet
is promoting their latest release,
“Frosthidden.’’
Members of fragile porcelain mice
describe their sound as groove-oriented
and aggressive. That’s kind of an un
derstatement, cm both counts. The
amount of energy this band inspires,
in itself and in the crowd, is mind-bog
gling.
This band has serious potential, but
they lean too heavily on the guitar
shred-tempo change-guitar shred for
mat. An increase in Randall’s vocal
range wouldn’t hurt the band either.
r-, flu) 6 nr.HU dUZ
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Looking for something
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