Jay Z - Black Album REVIEW

[Vigilante]

don't crucify the messenger
picked it up on another board props to SOHH's Snika for linking me dunno if its real

Review Page
1. December 04: Produced By Just Blaze
Starts off with just a piano drop going. I'm guessing this is where Jay-Z's mom is speaking on the intro. Afer a little while it breaks down into a bunch of strings, pianos, guitar sounds, and vocals. I couldn't really make out the vocals. The beat is very complicated though. It's almost 6 minutes long.

2. The Threat: Produced By 9th Wonder
I don't wanna blow 9th's spot on this one. Some of you know the sample, some don't. I will just say it's hot, very soulful and there's a vocal sample. You can tell it's 9th.

3. Change Clothes and Go: Produced By The Neptunes
Y'all should have heard this by now.

4. Lucifer: Produced By Kanye West
Crazy. Dark Dark Dark. Violin and string samples that are eerie.

5. Moment of Clarity: Produced By Eminem
The Em beat that everyone is either dreading or anticipating. It's uptempo, with synthesized pianos. It's less stiff than most Em beats and it might be his best to date.

6. Soundtrack: Produced By Timbaland
Timbo. Funky ass guitar, bass, and pianos. It switches up near the end to a slower beat, sort of the opposite of Come and Get Me off of Vo. 3 where the beat goes from slow to faster and hyper.

7. 99 problems: Produced By Rick Rubin
70's Rock joint. Reminescant of Guns & Roses off of BP2 but sounds better.

8. What more can I say: Produced By The Buchanans
Y'all heard it.

9. Justify My Thug: Produced By DJ Quik
Kinda weak. Isn't sampled except for thehook which has Madonna's "Justify My Love" sampled.

10. The Theater: Produced By Dr. Dre
Very Dr. Dre. Orchestral sounding beat. Not a cookie cutter Dre Beat like the ones you heard on 50 Cent's and Obie Trice's albums. More like some Chronic 2001 level ****. Kinda dark.

11. Encore: Produced By Kanye West
Horn sample all the way, kinda like the title track off of Blueprint 2. A vocal sample drops in at the end.

12. My first song: Produced By Aqua
Reasonable Doubt revistited.

**The new Jay joint over the Black Moon Sample is not gonna be on the album.


a little review:

01 December 4th(Produced by Just Blaze)
Jigga's mom talks for about a minute over a nice piano beat. The beat switches up into a really sick combination of guitars, strings, pianos and soulful vocals in the background that remind me of The Roots' Swept Away. Jay talks about his live so far, ups, downs and all that. I'm loving this. Very complex production, and I think it's live instrumentation as well. A long track as well, about 6 minutes long.
5/5

02 The Threat(Produced by 9th Wonder)
The hook is from R.Kelly's "Women's Threat". Ill concept. Jay talks about himself in third person over another soulful beat from 9th Wonder. Nice horns and the vocal sample is off the hook. Brilliant song.
5/5

03 Change Clothes And Go Ft. Pharrel Williams(Produced by The Neptunes)
Pretty weak track. The production is too soft and boring plus it's one of Pharrel's worst hooks ever. Should be named Excuse Me Miss Pt 3.
2/5

04 Lucifer(Produced by Kanye West)
Whoa! Jay makes up for that piece of **** with one of his greatest songs ever. One of the darkest Jigga songs ever. Haunting violins and harps form the beat while Jay talks **** at the critics and haters. Amazing. What more can I say(no pun intended)!
5/5

05 A Moment Of Clarity(Produced by Eminem)
I was cautious at first but Em came through with a dope beat. Uptempo pianos that don't have the ridget, stiff feel Em beats usually do. Jay talks about life in general, including hip hop where we bigs up artsts like Talib Kweli, Common, GZA and others. Really feeling this.
4.5/5

06 Soundtrack(Produced by Timbaland)
Damn one last Timbo/Jay collabo and it's a hot one. Fast paced pianos and guitars make a funky ass beat. Nice little beat switch at the end with a more traditional sounding Timbo beat. Jay's flow on here is nice as hell. The hook is the only thing that's not quite right.
4.5/5

07 99 Problems(Produced by Rick Rubian)
Stunning track. Jay talks **** over a 70s rock sounding joint. I think Jay sounds good over rock guitars and I'd say this is even better than Guns & Roses. Again Jay's flow is flawless hear, he sorta brings it back to Reasonable Doubt on this with the flow.
5/5

08 What More Can I Say(Produced by The Buchanans)
This track is solid. The beat is kinda catchy and Jay comes nice as usual. Nothing stunning, especially compared to other songs on the album but it's bumpable.
4/5

09 Justify My Thug(Produced by DJ Quik)
Samples Madonna's Justify My Love and to be honest it's kinda week. The main beat which isn't sampled if annoying keyboard 80s sounding **** while the Madonna sample on the hook is good but sounds out of place. Jay does come sick with it but the production just ain't good enough in my opinion.
3/5

10 The Theater(Produced by Dr. Dre)
Once again Jay follows up one the weaker songs on the album with one of the best. Jigga spits TWO incredible stories. The first is similar to Meet The Parents, dealing with a young hustler, the other one is very complex and I haven't got the full grasp of it but it involves a young rapper and other ****. Dre REALLY hooked Jigga up. This isn't your cookie cutter Dre beat. It sounds like something that could be on Detox with cinematic violins and pianos. Crazy ****.
5/5

11 Encore(Produced by Kanye West)
Kanye onces again hooks Jigga up. Similar vibe to The Blueprint with Jay on some reminsing **** over soulful horns. I love how the vocal sample kicks in at the end, kinda similar to Lil Kim's Came Back For You. Real beautiful ****.
5/5

12 My First Song(Produced by Aqua)
Jigga's lyrics are extremly poetic here. He raps about life and music, I think possibly the concept is that he is writing his first song but I'm not sure. Loving the beat. Layed back and soulful. Something you'd hear on Reasonable Doubt. All in all a perfect way to end an incredible album and an incredible career.
don't crucify the messenger
picked it up on another board props to SOHH's Snika for linking me dunno if its real

Review Page
1. December 04: Produced By Just Blaze
Starts off with just a piano drop going. I'm guessing this is where Jay-Z's mom is speaking on the intro. Afer a little while it breaks down into a bunch of strings, pianos, guitar sounds, and vocals. I couldn't really make out the vocals. The beat is very complicated though. It's almost 6 minutes long.

2. The Threat: Produced By 9th Wonder
I don't wanna blow 9th's spot on this one. Some of you know the sample, some don't. I will just say it's hot, very soulful and there's a vocal sample. You can tell it's 9th.

3. Change Clothes and Go: Produced By The Neptunes
Y'all should have heard this by now.

4. Lucifer: Produced By Kanye West
Crazy. Dark Dark Dark. Violin and string samples that are eerie.

5. Moment of Clarity: Produced By Eminem
The Em beat that everyone is either dreading or anticipating. It's uptempo, with synthesized pianos. It's less stiff than most Em beats and it might be his best to date.

6. Soundtrack: Produced By Timbaland
Timbo. Funky ass guitar, bass, and pianos. It switches up near the end to a slower beat, sort of the opposite of Come and Get Me off of Vo. 3 where the beat goes from slow to faster and hyper.

7. 99 problems: Produced By Rick Rubin
70's Rock joint. Reminescant of Guns & Roses off of BP2 but sounds better.

8. What more can I say: Produced By The Buchanans
Y'all heard it.

9. Justify My Thug: Produced By DJ Quik
Kinda weak. Isn't sampled except for thehook which has Madonna's "Justify My Love" sampled.

10. The Theater: Produced By Dr. Dre
Very Dr. Dre. Orchestral sounding beat. Not a cookie cutter Dre Beat like the ones you heard on 50 Cent's and Obie Trice's albums. More like some Chronic 2001 level ****. Kinda dark.

11. Encore: Produced By Kanye West
Horn sample all the way, kinda like the title track off of Blueprint 2. A vocal sample drops in at the end.

12. My first song: Produced By Aqua
Reasonable Doubt revistited.

**The new Jay joint over the Black Moon Sample is not gonna be on the album.


a little review:

01 December 4th(Produced by Just Blaze)
Jigga's mom talks for about a minute over a nice piano beat. The beat switches up into a really sick combination of guitars, strings, pianos and soulful vocals in the background that remind me of The Roots' Swept Away. Jay talks about his live so far, ups, downs and all that. I'm loving this. Very complex production, and I think it's live instrumentation as well. A long track as well, about 6 minutes long.
5/5

02 The Threat(Produced by 9th Wonder)
The hook is from R.Kelly's "Women's Threat". Ill concept. Jay talks about himself in third person over another soulful beat from 9th Wonder. Nice horns and the vocal sample is off the hook. Brilliant song.
5/5

03 Change Clothes And Go Ft. Pharrel Williams(Produced by The Neptunes)
Pretty weak track. The production is too soft and boring plus it's one of Pharrel's worst hooks ever. Should be named Excuse Me Miss Pt 3.
2/5

04 Lucifer(Produced by Kanye West)
Whoa! Jay makes up for that piece of **** with one of his greatest songs ever. One of the darkest Jigga songs ever. Haunting violins and harps form the beat while Jay talks **** at the critics and haters. Amazing. What more can I say(no pun intended)!
5/5

05 A Moment Of Clarity(Produced by Eminem)
I was cautious at first but Em came through with a dope beat. Uptempo pianos that don't have the ridget, stiff feel Em beats usually do. Jay talks about life in general, including hip hop where we bigs up artsts like Talib Kweli, Common, GZA and others. Really feeling this.
4.5/5

06 Soundtrack(Produced by Timbaland)
Damn one last Timbo/Jay collabo and it's a hot one. Fast paced pianos and guitars make a funky ass beat. Nice little beat switch at the end with a more traditional sounding Timbo beat. Jay's flow on here is nice as hell. The hook is the only thing that's not quite right.
4.5/5

07 99 Problems(Produced by Rick Rubian)
Stunning track. Jay talks **** over a 70s rock sounding joint. I think Jay sounds good over rock guitars and I'd say this is even better than Guns & Roses. Again Jay's flow is flawless hear, he sorta brings it back to Reasonable Doubt on this with the flow.
5/5

08 What More Can I Say(Produced by The Buchanans)
This track is solid. The beat is kinda catchy and Jay comes nice as usual. Nothing stunning, especially compared to other songs on the album but it's bumpable.
4/5

09 Justify My Thug(Produced by DJ Quik)
Samples Madonna's Justify My Love and to be honest it's kinda week. The main beat which isn't sampled if annoying keyboard 80s sounding **** while the Madonna sample on the hook is good but sounds out of place. Jay does come sick with it but the production just ain't good enough in my opinion.
3/5

10 The Theater(Produced by Dr. Dre)
Once again Jay follows up one the weaker songs on the album with one of the best. Jigga spits TWO incredible stories. The first is similar to Meet The Parents, dealing with a young hustler, the other one is very complex and I haven't got the full grasp of it but it involves a young rapper and other ****. Dre REALLY hooked Jigga up. This isn't your cookie cutter Dre beat. It sounds like something that could be on Detox with cinematic violins and pianos. Crazy ****.
5/5

11 Encore(Produced by Kanye West)
Kanye onces again hooks Jigga up. Similar vibe to The Blueprint with Jay on some reminsing **** over soulful horns. I love how the vocal sample kicks in at the end, kinda similar to Lil Kim's Came Back For You. Real beautiful ****.
5/5

12 My First Song(Produced by Aqua)
Jigga's lyrics are extremly poetic here. He raps about life and music, I think possibly the concept is that he is writing his first song but I'm not sure. Loving the beat. Layed back and soulful. Something you'd hear on Reasonable Doubt. All in all a perfect way to end an incredible album and an incredible career.

Overall: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

[Twentytwofifty]

I like how they give a song a 2/5, say it's weak and give the album a 10/10 flawless rating.  

[Vigilante]

I like how they give a song a 2/5, say it's weak and give the album a 10/10 flawless rating.  

right on.........

 

The first 3 songs I heard were 0-3 / 5, all huge dissapointments..........and even the new video "Change Clothes and Go" pics look very wack, similiair to "Exuse Me miss"

[eS El Duque]

what more can i say is a pretty good track

change clothes and go SUX...everyone gotta agree with that...otherwise you're deaf!

Can't wait for jigga's album  

[Doggystylin]

i cant wait for this shit.