Customer Reviews

Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do [Explicit]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Another album packed with jems from djs Diplo, out of Philly, and Switch from England. (FYI-These are the guys behind MIA-"Paper Planes"!!1) The album ads depict Major Lazer as a separate "Ninja Turtles-esque" animation, with Diplo and Switch as there real life selves.
Their wikipedia states that Major Lazer "is a Jamaican commando who lost his arm in a secret zombie war in 1984. He supposedly fights vampires and various monsters, parties hard, and has a rocket powered skateboard."

The title track, "Hold the Line" employs the use of unconventional samples (even a horse "nay") and a slow cowboy intro. Mr. Lex and Santigold mesh together lyrically in a marriage of urban east coast and deep Jamaican vibes. Oh, and the track also has a fantatic video that I hope ends up on every pop channel around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=558F1EaxH8c

The album reflects this with the welding of timelessly fly Diplo beats and deeply rooted Caribbean artists and themes. The tracks are crammed full of vocalists such as Vybz Cartel, Ward 21, Busy Signal, Nina Sky, Amanda Blank, Mr. Vegas, Turbulence, Mapei, T.O.K, and evn Prince Zimboo! Afro Jack and Crookers are noted on the production side as well.

Wouldn't call this a "Typical" Diplo/Switch production, definitely experiments with his favorite culture and the genres of dancehall and reggae while adding secret ingredients of great beats. This album will pull fans in from all of those genres and will give every listener a refreshed ear on some of their favorite styles while giving them something extra to dance to.

First off, I love everything Diplo does. I think 'I Like Turtles' is a bit of a better mix, in terms of variety, but I am totally excited for the emergence of "electro reggae". I'm sure this sound won't be for everybody on first listen, but I think it is brilliant. This is party music, hard dancehall. If you like South Rakkas, this is absolutely the album for you. This is a concept album, and a new form of reggae. A must listen!

Buy it, turn it up and stare at the cover art. This is a very good time.

This album is silly.....really silly.....almost painfully so. It's also the kind of album I would pick up just for the cover (do yourself a favor and google the image). As the side project of electronic mash-masters Diplo and Switch, it's not meant to do anything other than entertain. The most important statement it makes is that the fusion of lazers and reggae music was long overdue.

After spending most of the decade throwing parties, releasing mix tapes, and occassionally dabbling in production, Diplo and Switch manage to live out a record junkie's final dream: collaborating with their favorite artists in Jamaica. Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do is the natural progression from last year's excellent Top Ranking, subtracting the classics and adding fresh dancehall and riddim tracks. If anything, this record is a pastiche of world dance music and its universality today. I do mean today. More specifically right now.

The influence of dancehall and riddim worldwide is incalculable. Instead of plunging into the esoteric, we really get the hits. And the big cats who make them. Mr Vegas lends his voice to the rootsy vibe of "Can't stop now," looping breezy roots reggae till we sleep with smiles. Crossover hit "Keep It Going Louder" has the Nina Skye's reggaeton dripping all over the vocoder. Vybz Kartel lets the rhythm hit "Pod de floor'" for the riddim heads. Like I said, it's about now.

The problems with this record are miniscule in comparison to what it adds to the musical landscape of the first decade of this millenium. "Cash flow" could have been a hit if it was grittier and Prince Zimboo should have given us a full verse on "Baby" but that's ok. I'll take Santigold's cameo and "Can't stop now" riding that Nora Dean track to heaven and back again. Recommended.

"Guns don't kill people..." is my first Major Lazer album and I was pleasantly surprised by the range of genres; a trifecta of dancehall, soca and reggae. I was introduced to the dynamic duo Diplo and Switch via Beyonce's 'Girls (Run the World)' track (so sue me), but found that this (Major Lazer) source material easily eclipses Bey's latest effort, "4". Replete with experimental instrumentals, Major Lazer's latest effort is a refreshing addition to the contemporary dancehall/reggae genre.

The first track, 'Hold the Line', begins with a Western intro and switches gears to a heavy guitar reverb which nicely complements the refrain: "Vibrate like a Nokia". 'Can't Stop Me Now' is replete with nods to classic reggae (dub riddim, reggae bubble, etc) and is easily the smoothest track on the album. 'Mary Jane' is devoted to...well...you know, featuring a killer horn section and a great snare beat while rhythmically/lyrically delivered in nursery rhyme fashion. 'Baby' is a track centered around (you guessed it) an autotuned baby and feels like a short lived interlude skit that leaves you begging for more. Finally, the infamous 'Pon de Floor' which some have shamed Beyonce for sampling, but can you really blame her? The trademark snare beat is masterful, coupled with distorted vocals and futuristic sound effects (lazers, etc), equals just plain fun. I can not say enough good things about this album!

I honestly had a hard time finding a track I didn't immensely enjoy. My least favorite is probably 'Keep It Goin' Louder', but only because it sounds like a fusion of contemporary R&B (think Chris Brown) and soca, and remains relatively bland and uninteresting compared to the rest of the CD. The only weak track in my opinion. However, one blasé track out of thirteen is fantastic and at Amazon's price this album is a steal. If you like reggae and dancehall, laced with tongue and cheek humor, then you will love "Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do". A must have!

Crazy fun from Major Lazer on their debut GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE... LAZERS DO. Diplo and Switch have taken dancehall and twisted it into this mutant entity. So while "Hold the Line" has the dancehall thump-thump, it's the rhythm guitar, vocal contortions of Santigold and Mr. Lex, and telephone noises which give it form. Similarly, "When You Hear the Bassline" revels in its cut-and-paste aesthetic, the vocals by Ms. Thing sped and slowed into her own band. But within the dancehall style, Major Lazer stretch their legs: the pure reggae of "Can't Stop Now," the rock attitude of "Lazer Theme," the boastful sex come-ons of "What U Like," or the ridiculous humor of "Mary Jane" (the last one a good thing, actually). The snare-infused "Pon de Floor" has a bit of electro to keep it popping. But for me, the stand-out surprise on the album is "Keep It Goin' Louder," a club-ready track that's juicy in all the right places. This lazer will kill you several times over!

First off, I would recommend watching the music videos to get more of an "experience", and then purchasing the album. The videos perfectly set the mood for an appreciation of the music as Eric Warheim, known for creating "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job", does an excellent job of capturing Major Lazer's wacky and quirky music in LSD soaked videos that are on a par with Aphex Twin Chris Cunningham's "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker". I found the videos in high quality at vimeo dot com (also check out Eric Warheim's video for Health "We Are Water").
I came across Major Lazer at random and will admit I know little about the genre. So little I wouldn't know the difference between Reggae, Dancehall, Reggae-Fusion, etc. I do know that after hearing Pon de Floor, Hold The Line, and Keep It Going Louder, I needed to buy this album. Definitely left me wanting more of this style of music.
Regarding this review, you may say that I should focus on reviewing the music, not the music video, but again, this is just my path and experience to really enjoying (and purchasing) the album and becoming a new fan of Major Lazer's music and the genre.

I first heard about these guys when gizmodo posted their video for "Pon de Floor". The premise for the video's pretty funny and I couldn't stop watching it. At any rate, I decided to check out the rest of their album and it's really good. If you're feeling tired, it will definitely wake you up. A few of the songs I liked were:
Hold the Line
Lazer Theme
Cash Flow
Keep it Goin' Louder
Pon De Floor

Apparently they recorded this album in Jamaica, so it has a reggae-infused electronica sound. If you've listened to MIA at all, I think you'll recognize it a little bit because one of the members did some production for her. Oh yeah and one more thing, don't forget to check out the video for Pon De Floor on youtube.

There's only one track (keep it going louder) where autotune annoys the hell out of me and it's the weakest track. Everything else is just insane from roots reggae to a baltimore dancehall hybrid, it's definitley the soundtrack for a Jamaican zombiekiller and for my summer.