With us well into the second half of 2008, I'm taking a minute to reflect on a FEW stand out albums that have dropped within the last 6 months, and let me tell you..in the words of Miss Mary J. Blige...it hasn’t been all roses, y’all. We've had amazing debuts, underwhelming follow ups and over all WTF moments....Lets skip down memory lane and discuss, the Good, the Bad...and the UGLY.
The Good
Al Green -
Lay It DownGENIUS, GENIUS, GENIUS...if this album doesn’t win album of the year at the grammys, it can only mean that the Grammys have it out for Al...or that u2 or the dixie chicks have new albums out...but in any capacity, this is a genius album, showcasing QuestLove’s GENIUS production, capturing a sound that’s so vintage and genuine..you’d think its an album of nothing but rare recordings from the 70s.
Janet Jackson -
DisciplineThis album hits HARD, from track 1 on through it’s solid, but much like other Janet albums, towards the middle and end it loses a bit of its steam for having certain tracks that could have been left on the cutting room floor. With tracks like “Feedback” and the horribly mismanaged “Luv,” this is a hot album .
Adele -
19
The debut album of 19 year old import Adele is nothing short of amazing. Now im not saying shes the white aretha franklin by any means, so fall back Estelle! But this is an album that touches on different genres from soul (thanks to adele’s BEAUTIFUL voice) to even folk, effortlessly. The production is fitting, the writing is genius and dammit...I dig it! The girl is truly talented.
Duffy -
RockferryWhile being clumped into the same raft as Adele, as this seasons new Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, Duffy and Adele have something that the 2 others seem to lack at times...common sense... Atleast thats what I think until I see a tabloid of Adele with hot pink hair and duffy somewhere free basin’ to prove me otherwise.... but I digress... This album is a sultry throw back to the sounds of the 60s and 70s, which compliments Duffy’s airy, seductive voice to a T.
Gnarls Barkley -
The Odd CoupleMany have made the argument that this album doesn’t have as many stand out cuts like their last one, St Elsewhere, did. Now, I completely agree with that, because even in the gnarls barkley style of music, this album doesn’t have many tracks that people would coin “single worthy” ... BUT, this album in its own right is pretty damn phenomenal, the song “A Little Better” should put The Odd Couple in everyones top 10 list all on its own. The beauty of it all, this album is nothing more than expression...you just KNOW Danger mouse is not behind the boards wrecking his brain trying to figure out what sound will get them to number 1 on TRL., and I LOVE that about them.
Estelle -
Shine This album, so far this year, has been the biggest surprise for me, I honestly didn't expect to love it as much as I do. Shine is across the board a GREAT effort by Estelle, with sounds, talents and influences coming in from every angle.
The Bad
Mariah Carey -
E=Mc2 
This album has grown on me IMMENSELY....but still! The only reason why it did is because its MARIAH and I want to genuinely like this album and anything she does, lord knows if it was some run of the mill broad I probably would have used the cd as a coaster...but then again my argument for not liking it is because it ISN’T someone else singing this tart mess. I said it once and I’ll say it again...Mariah is ABOVE this crap she’s singing about today...Give me “Stay the night,” give me “Mine again,” hell, give me ANYTHING other than Rae rae and Mae mae.
Madonna -
HardCandy 
Now, I’ve never posted my opinion on this album until now, for the main reason is because at times I would feel so torn, its far from a horrible album..and not too far from a good album. I see where she tried to go and I think the intentions behind it was pure...LMAO @ me acting as if this madonna album Is a superman remake or some shit...but seriously, I think on paper this album was gonna be genius, but with uninspired beats from
pharrell The Neptunes and MUCHHHHH less than Stellar, sometimes downright booboo beats from power couple Timbaland and Justin Timberlake...this album didn’t hit as hard as it could have...don’t get me wrong, I still jam to it...but I think it could have and SHOULD have been MUCH more than what it was.
The Ugly
Usher -
Here I StandHere I stand, huh? Well I can tell you where his ass hasn’t been standing...in the top 10. This album is about as hot as a glacier. Now anyone that knows me knows im no Usher fan...BUT to say that I haven’t enjoyed a handful of songs from each of his albums would be a lie...I personally LOVED “throwback” from Confessions, along with others from that album....but this time around, the sequencing was HORRIBLE, track selections were baffling (why his song “that girl right there” feat Ludacris didn’t make the album, I still don’t know) and album length only made it that much more of a task to listen to the album as a whole.
Majority of the 106 n’ park line up
Im just clumping all this shit together, I don’t have the time nor the patience to go through those buffoons individually.
With the first half of 08' behind us, all I can say Is that theres been good, and theres been bad...sadly enough when its been bad..its been BAAAAAAAAD..so I can only hope that upcoming releases from Brandy, LL Cool J (LMAO, right), Raphael Saadiq (YES LAWD!), Eryakah Badu, T.I., Missy Eliott and Robin Thicke can make up for the mistakes of Jan-Jun...Time shall only tell...but if I left out any albums and artist (which I kno for a fact I have).....just sit tight till the year end list! Ahem...maybe they will make my top 10...who knows.
