Customer Reviews

Audition

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Up until last thursday I hadn't heard of P.O.S, I went to a Atmosphere gig, and got chatting to Slug and he gave me a copy of this CD and said to check it out, I wasn't dissapointed.

I read a few bio's and found out about P.O.S's punk rock past, which is definately show's on this CD, it's an interesting fusion, which work's very well, interesting musically while P.O.S show great rhyme skill's.

I'm going to list each track(skits excluded)with a quick synopsis and a rating out of 5 stars.

Half Cocked Concepts - A great rock riff, and good beat, will definately make you nod your head, with some punkish screaming. *****

De La Soul's - A nice chilled beat, with a punk hook, which despite being far from my taste's I quite like. ****

Stand Up (Let's get Murdered) - One of the more distinctively hip hop tracks, real slammin beat and P.O.S show's he can kick a bad ass rhyme. *****


Bush League Psyche-Out Stuff - A mellow beat with some guest lyric's from Slug, not to my tastes but a good track. ***

Paul Kursey to Jack Kimball - I don't know if it's just me but this bear's a striking resembance to Eminem, Great track still, P.O.S spits with energy, great hook. *****

Safety In Speed - I don't know what to say about this track, it's strange, but good. ****

The Kill In Me - Nice beat, great lyrics, nice hook. *****

Yeah Right (Science Science) - half hip hop half rock, Ill rhyming the rigg works well, just too short.... *****

P.O.S Is Ruining My Life - Great track, nice guitar, nice beat, nice rhymes, great hook. *****

Living Slightly Larger - Another more distinctively hip hop track. Good track. ****

Bleeding Hearts Club - Another Slug verse, nice beat, very mellow. ****

A Teddy Bear and A Tazer - Another more distinctively hip hop track, nice beat and rhymes, show's some nice double time skills. ****

Audition Matra - Nice beat and rhymes, start's fairly soft but get's harder. ****

This is my first review, hope it was of help.

POS has garnered a reputation for being a cross-section of cultures, a hard knock youth from the wrong side of the tracks who was into heavy metal and skateboarding. Virtually plucked off the Warped Tour by none other than Rhymesayers founder Slug of Atmosphere, P.O.S.'s "Audition" has been hailed as the next coming in the form of emo-core-hip hop. Most artists would wilt under the pressure, but in a way, listening to "Audition" makes you believe that POS can handle it. And maybe do more with it than we ever expected.

From the moment you start the LP, it's clear that the album is heavily influenced by heavy metal, as "Half Cocked Concepts" proves with gusto. The kind of palm muted guitar riffs backed by Doomtree brethren hardcore screaming helps weave a song that definitively introduces POS to the world. But rather than stay with the hardcore/thug bravado, he opens up on the very next track "De La Souls", describing among other things, a father who left him and friends who've struggled with gaining acceptance for their sexuality and a firm affirmation on his belief that his identity is who he is, love him or hate him. Followed by the political anthemic rant, "Stand Up", and it's clear that POS is an emcee with more than enough to say, and the kind of delivery and presence to captivate your attention.

The album becomes choppy towards the end, as it's clear that some of the songs were never fully fleshed out to their fullest extent. But most, if not all of the songs are structured in a way that is complex and multi-facted, with beats switching and his flow breaking down into a sung/screamed chorus including guitars mixed with DJ scratches. Just listen to the levels of "Teddy Bear and a Tazer" or the bittersweet 80s influenced "Bleeding Hearts Club" with Slug. The album culminates in POS at full blast on the superb hit single, "P.O.S. is Ruining My Life."

It's difficult to say if everyone will enjoy POS, heavy metal fans may find him too emotional, hip hop fans may find him too prone to screaming, conservative fans may find him too anti-Bush, and emo fans may find him too arrogant, but somewhere in the cross section of all music fans rests a core who will appreciate the breath of fresh air and the swift kick in the pants that POS brings to the game.

I will have to agree with the previous reviewer, I was inclined to turn it off and curse at myself for wasting 11.99, especially after the intro. But, since Rhymesayers is my favorite label, I have to give this a little more credit and put a couple of more listens into it. The common Rhymesayers release has me caught in it after the first 5 seconds of the beginning of the CD but this one took a little more effort on my part. The first actual song, Half Cocked Concepts came in hard with a heavy metal vibe and P.O.S spitting angry rhymes best fitting for the song's overall choice of music. One verse that caught my attention on this track and made me realize that P.O.S. had mic potential was "Sticking feathers in your ass..doesnt make you a chicken"(a little comical I know, but my mind wanders like that sometimes). The next track "De La Souls" was more of the vintage Rhymesayers sound consisting of a deep riff over a nice drum loop. If you are a die hard hip hop fan, you may not be able to get into or appreciate this album, but I can honestly say that after 1 month of having bought this album, I no longer feel like my 11.99 was wasted. I've even noticed that I feel comfortable with nodding my head to this album. Thanks again RSE(Rhymesayers Entertainment).

Buy this album. If you don't, you're doing yourself a disservice. I have been listening to this album since it came out a year ago and I am not even remotely sick of any of the songs. P.O.S. is definitely not ruining my life, he has renewed in me a new faith for hip-hop and songwriting. Thank you P.O.S. for penning rhymes that are heart-felt and matter again.

DOOMTREE!

I was lucky enough to see P.O.S. in concert with the likes of K-OS (also very good) and Gym Class Heroes. Out of the four acts of the night, P.O.S. stood out as the most memorable and energetic. This album is very upbeat and is sure to get you moving. I also like that his songs have a message, reminiscent of the likes of Talib Kweli or The Roots (pick those two up if you haven't yet). This is true underground hip-hop at its best!

I first heard of P.O.S. through the Rhymesayers sample disc that came with Atmosphere's "Headshots: Se7en". I can't say I was immediately blown away, but "POS Is Ruining My Life", which was featured on the sampler, grew on me to the point where I actually bought his cd.

At that point I was blown away.

What P.O.S. has managed to craft here is one of the most thoughtful, emotional, and well-crafted albums I have heard to date. If there was ever an artist that put his heart and soul into his work, P.O.S. would undoubtebly be that artist.

Although there are a few weak points on this album ("Half Cocked Concepts", "Living Slightly Larger", and all the interludes), "Audition" has some of the most impressive hip hop songs ever written, and includes three of my favorite songs ever. "POS Is Ruining My Life", driven by crunching guitar riffs, rapid fire flow, and thought-provoking lyrics, in my opinion defines the current state of underground rap. "Bleeding Hearts Club" is one of the most well-produced beats ever, with Slug and P.O.S. eclipsing each other with each verse. The album closes with "Audition Mantra", a truly original song. It consists of P.O.S. chanting his own life mantra over an obscure but effective melody, soaring strings, and a crescendoing beat.

The rest of the album is strong. Very strong, in fact. But "Audition", in my opinion, is driven by the three tracks listed above.

If you consider yourself a hip hop fan, you absolutely NEED this album. If you've never listened to rap or hip hop, "Audition" is the perfect introduction. I don't say this too often, but buy this album.

I preordered this album from rhymesayers.com, after I saw P.O.S. open up for Atmosphere. This Cd has just as much energy as his live show and is just as good. It is sort of a rap/rock fusion but doesn't suck like most other artist(ie: Limp Bizkit.). He holds it down on this cd, plus slug makes to guest appearances. Worth buying for sure.

I'm not actually sure this deserves 4 stars, but I was feeling this enough to round up. P.O.S. is something of a mystery to me. He runs with a bunch of white cats, which is fine, but from what I heard he was originally into punk and they were the ones who got him into hip-hop. This album supports that story, as to me the rock element comes through stronger than the hip-hop. Not to support stereotypes, but this is kind of unusual. It's also interesting that he's signed to Rhymesayers. This is a step even for them. But at least he's definitely his own man.

It took me a few listens to learn to like this album. I mostly stick to a traditional hip-hop sound, and most of the beats on here are very dense and seem to focus more on noise and speed than rhythm. Several feature rock instrumentation. Some of these have grown on me, but I still prefer the more sparse and rhythmic tracks. "De La Souls" has a minimalist, happy cello that I like, although I have mixed feelings about the pop-punk chorus. "Bush League Psyche-Out Stuff," featuring Slug, has a mysterious rolling bassline. "Bleeding Hearts Club," also featuring Slug, has a mournful sound. My favorite track on the album, "Audition Mantra," features some plucked strings with a very nice harmony. These are the songs that will have you nodding your head rather than banging it. Of the others, "Half-Cocked Concepts," "Stand Up" with its spirited horns, "P.O.S. is Ruining My Life," and "Living Slightly Larger" are the musical standouts.

Although the beats on this album are more distinctive than the rhymes, that isn't to say P.O.S. gets outshined. Despite the fact that he sings sometimes, P.O.S. is a legitimate rapper, which saves this from being a pathetic attempt at a rap/rock fusion. Although even his rap style sometimes places more emphasis on speed and energy than rhythm and wordplay. Lyrically, I was pretty impressed. You can kind of see his punk mentality because his rhymes often rant against the government, society, and people in general for their conformist thinking. For the most part, he manages to come off as intelligent and even inspirational rather than corny. For better or for worse, you have to listen to his tracks multiple times to really get the message. The downside is, he has that indie rap tendency to get so abstract he doesn't seem to be saying anything. Been hanging around Slug too much, I guess. The most straightforward track lyrically is probably "De La Souls," which basically has P.O.S. talking about who he is and what some of his beliefs are.

I don't love every track on the album, but I like most of them. The exceptions are "Safety in Speed," largely because of the really annoying talking at the beginning, and "The Kill in Me." I don't know what his rhymes are about on that song, but they don't sound good. "Paul Kersey to Jack Kimball" is good lyrically, especially on the hook, but has a beat that just isn't pleasing to the ears (mine, anyway).

Although I didn't like some things about this album, I've got to say it's actually quite an artistic achievement. P.O.S. and his people from Rhymesayers and Doomtree have created something unique that succesfully breaks down musical boundaries and has lyrics with some depth and significance. Whether I can recommend it or not is harder to say. I would say listen before you buy, but if I'd done that I wouldn't have bought it. I guess I'd say if you like punk/metal, hip-hop, indie music in general, and have an open mind, you should give this a shot.

The thing about P.O.S. is that you can't categorize him. He even says this in his "Out of Category" song in the follow-up album to this, Never Better. However, this is my favorite P.O.S. album, for sure. P.O.S. does have a talent at being somewhat spooky in a cool way with his beats, but more so on this album than any of them. This can be seen in "The Kill in Me" and "Safety in Speed". A great album.

This album is a must if you like good, underground hip hop. P.O.S is lyrically killing it on this album, not to mention the awesome guest spots with Slug. The music is amazing, lots of live instrumentation, electric guitars, sweet drum parts, etc. Standout tracks are: "De La Souls," "Bush League Psych-Out Stuff," and "The Kill In Me." If you like Doomtree, Atmosphere, or Sage Francis, you'll love this album.