Quick Hits, Vol. 10 (Soundgarden, Pumpkins, Ghostface, Wu Tang, Rock Ross)

Soundgarden - Echo of Miles.  New Soundgarden?  Hell yes.  New Soundgarden.  Well, only sort of.  This is a three-disc compilation of old music from Soundgarden that was either unreleased, found on random soundtracks/compilations, or has been remixed by someone else.  The first disc is originals, and had three songs that poked out at me as pretty awesome, old-school, grunge-y Soundgarden.  No big surprise, but all three, Cold Bitch, Blind Dogs, and Black Rain, were recorded in 1994/1995 for the Badmotorfinger or Superunknown albums.  Here is Black Rain:

The second disc goes for covers, including a sweet cover of Sly & the Family Stone's Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), some Beatles and Stones, Sabbath, and even Devo.  Oh, and the real deal Spinal Tap's Big Bottom.  "Talk about mud flaps, my girls got 'em!"  The last disc, called Oddities, is just that.  But the first two discs hold enough fun stuff to play with for a while.

Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy.  That's right, folks.  It's mid-90's nostalgia day here at dulljack!  The Pumpkins are up there as one of my favorite handful of bands of all time, so I'm a sucker for their new music, despite what I have thought of their last two or three albums.  "Tiberius" is kick ass, righteous Billy Corgan with power chords and lyrics about nonsensical love.  Not as good as Gish or Siamese Dream, but this would be right at home on Mellon Collie.  Meanwhile, "Run to Me" sounds like a Tiffany B-Side from a fictional world when she tried to go rock and roll.  So the disc is a little uneven, but has some good moments.

Wu Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow.  Honestly, the more I listen to Wu Tang the more I know I like some of the individuals in the Clan more than the whole.  Bits of this album sound really cool, but it just isn't cohesive.  The verses aren't tied together by a theme for the track, they are just each guy taking turns to do their own thing.  "Preacher's Daughter" is cool because it samples Dusty Springfield.  "Ruckus in B Minor" is probably the best track, but it literally goes like this: 
Inspectah Deck (I'm super awesome and cool like the Dos Equis guy), 
U-God (we are the best), 
Method Man (you are too young and can't be as cool as us), 
Another dude who I couldn't ID (I shoot jealous people and you are not a man), 
Ghostface (I have lots of chains and you wish you were me), 
GZA (mystical weird stuff about the earth), 
RZA (I'm going to name some guys who just rapped and mention how cool they are), 
Method Man (apparently that part about young people not being as cool as us was a chorus),
Raekwon (I am cooler than cocaine),
Another dude who I couldn't ID (I am super hard core and awesome). 

Meanwhile, recent discs from Ghostface and Raekwon are solid, grimy story-telling rap over old school samples.  It is odd that Ghost would change his style when alone versus with the crew, but maybe it is all about who has creative control.  Anyway, this one is not going to make my top albums ever list.

Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire.  Ugh (and no, not the rUUUHH sound Rick Ross makes 30 times in every song.  This guy has a super cool sound - I want to crank it up and drive down the street with the windows down to prove to everyone just how dope I am.  And say rUUUhhHH! Real loud over and over.  However, his lyrics are flat as hell.  I'd love to say the Snoop or Jay-Z cameos help carry the load, but they just spit the same old tired crap about how cool they are and how much dope they sling and ladies they bag.  Blah blah my paint wet and my feet chrome.  Check out my designer label stuff.  Yawn.

Ghostface Killah - 36 Seasons.  Word.  This is why I still love rap.  Well-crafted samples based on old soul songs.  A cohesive storyline about a guy who gets sent off to jail(?) for 9 years and then comes back to the old hood to find everything has changed.  "It's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate" isn't even a rap, but a classic soul song cover about what your lady can do if you cross her.  And it fits perfectly in the midst of these tracks, going from Ghost (as Tony Starks, as usual) realizing his hood is changed and his woman has a new man (guess what happens when you don't call for 9 years?), to trying to reclaim his place in the neighborhood but getting shot, and then recovering and winning his lady friend back.  SO MUCH BETTER than stupid Rick Ross and his vapid brag-fest.  Here is the video for "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."

Even without the video, you can see what is going on by the lyrics (although I think Omar's character doesn't actually get stabbed in the song.  Details.  Whatevs).  Just great storytelling.