1001 Albums Summary

I was unaware of this album and unfamiliar with Ray Charles. The album had a big social impact during the civil rights era. Much of the album are dragging, big band ballads. The arrangements are perfect as is the band and vocals. The strings give it a very dated sound. Standouts to me feature more keys and I could use much more piano on the entire album. Standouts: "Bye, Bye, Love," "Hey Good Lookin'," "Oh Lonesome Me" I understand the social impact at the time. However, the big deal over black artists rearranging and recording country music songs now seems disrespectful to the history black artists have in country, folk, and blues. Also, without any connection to the original songs, the rearrangements aren't impactful.

This album came out when I was 16 and it's influence on me and my friends and my high school experience was huge. The Chronic brought the g-funk first, and then this follow-up put the LA sound on top. While the Chronic spent it's times talking about Easy E, this album is all about girls, parties, and fighting. Snoop's flows were unlike anything we'd heard. Listening now, Snoop's lyrics and rhymes are definitely simple but also easy to listen to and easy to sing along with. Lady of Rage is much more of a standout now then she was then, especially kicking off the record. This record is thankfully short on skits which for me are the worst parts of 90's hip hop.