Customer Reviews

Learning Curve

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this album 3 years ago, because I heard "Good To Be Alive" in the movie "Go", and loved it. So why not pick up the album it came from and see if there were any other good tracks? Well, after a few listens, I only liked the first two tracks, so I shelved it. A year later, I popped it back in. I realized how closed-minded I had been a year before, because the breakbeats on this album are SICK. Throw in a little Drum & Bass, and there you have it. This album still gets heavy play in my car stereo. I would highly recommend it for people who are looking for an intro to D&B, but are currently into hip-hop and breakbeats. This will ease you into the genre. The lyrics are almost sometimes laughable:
"I'm trying to show you that as friends we'd get along
Respect my body 'cos that's where you came from" - Bad Girl
.....Anyway, you get the picture. A couple of tracks don't really fit on this album, and you'll know which ones I'm talking about when you listen to it. But for people who just love BEATS, this album is golden. If you're the type who likes to roll around town and annoy people with your "Bassmobile", this is for you. Tracks like "F**k With Your Head" & "You Get Around" are perfect head-nodders for you guys. Hell, if you're a stripper, I'd recommend half the songs on this album to use for your routine.
But when it comes down to it all, this album is all about the beats, so I can't knock the lyrics, although some of the melodies are nice as well.
Excellent album, if you know what it was meant for - I just wish Rap would dabble more in breakbeat albums like this, instead of just sticking with the Jungle/D&B tip like she does.

She definately had some major help with the production but this one's pretty bland. The first two cuts (beside sounding almost identical) sound like a mediocre Danielle Dax interpretation. Rap is an amazing turntable stylist; unfortunately, this doesn't always translate to the world of disc making.

(...)This CD is sub-par. Most of the beats are cool, but they're overlayed with too many cheesy lyrics.

First of all, I don't think it's valid criticism to say 'this isn't D&B, it's pop' and then slam the CD for that reason alone. Good music is good music! Only haters and wannabes follow the categories! This CD is NOT pop music; it's cutting edge techno. It's cutting edge because it tries to do something outside the box, rather than just fit into some category. It merges D&B styles with lyrical content. It also draws on a lot of metal-ish stuff to give it some bite. It's a real good mix of styles, with some stuff that leans more towards dance and some stuff that's more D&B. Yet it definitely sounds like the same sound throughout. As to her lyrics, I think all straight women should be required to listen to the first six songs of this CD - her message is really strong but not preachy. On the down side, sometimes the cound gets real murky and that can be dull. Also, the sequence of the songs totally sucks. It's hard to imagine being in a mood that would allow you to listen to this CD straight through. It'd be easier if things were more mixed-up. I'm definitely going to check out the remixes, and I'll love to see where she goes from here on her next full-length!

DJ Rap has some incredible talent, but only shows it in about 3 of her songs. The 3 songs was awesome enough for me to buy the whole CD. If all of her songs were as great as tracks 1, 2, and the beginning of 3 (before its starts into TERRIBLE amounts of redundancy from looping), she would hae gotten 5 stars definitely...but she didn't.

If you're looking for true drum and bass, check out Roni Size. But if you're searching for an album of more transcendental quality, this one is for you. DJ Rap uses some traditional D&B beats and merges them with beautiful melodies and sweeping synthesizers to create a truly unique techno experience. Her brilliant feminist and existential lyrics are inspiring. This girl is deep! Learning Curve will get under your skin and demand many repitions under the laser.

DJ Rap knows here beats. A friend of mine gave me this album as a b-day gift and I loved every track. I even purchased another copy so I have one in the house and one in the car. DJ Rap's Learning Curve is one of top ten best album to listen to, in my opinion. If you are a techno fan, it is definitely worth hearing.

Firstly this is NOT a drum'n'bass album. I've heard people discribing 'Learning Curve' as a drum'n'bass album, and although it contains some very poor jungle style bass samples it is best described as breakbeat/pop. Like DIDO singing on a faster track.

This album isn't bad, in fact its quite a good album for the post club drive home, or the summer cruise. Its up-lifting and yet the songs are very un-demanding and un-imaginative. Due to the similarity of songs their are few poor tracks. The only song that is different is 'Stories from around the World' which encompasses a indian music sample. It is very similar to works by Nitin Sawhney and Outcaste, and is quite a good attempt.

In conclusion this album is worth getting at a low price (second hand on Amazon its only $...). Buy if you like a racier Madonna / DIDO, without the commercial status. This album infact is quite 'underground' in the US, and so adds to its appeal. If you want some proper breakbeat with female vocals try the best breakbeat/ drum'n'bass band around, 'Breakbeat ERA'. Dillinja's 'Cybertron' is also a decent album.

in learning curve DJ rap (charissa saverino) mixes the hard beats of techno with the angelic sounds of her voice. such tracks are number 2,number 5, everday girl. as soon as you change the track you are brought into heavy beats, extreme bass, heavy lyrics such as number 1 bad girl, number 3 F**k with your brain, which are no angelic lyrics. then to close the album...you have ordinary day which is teaching people to change there ways and for the world to change. five stars definetly.(this is my opinion and does not effect anything, please respect my opinion.)

don't always believe what you read, this is a great CD. There's a hook in every song to make it interesting. I look forward to listening to it everyday.