Customer Reviews

You Can't Stop the Bum Rush

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

It seems the teenie boppers who were expecting to hear more of the same from "steal my sunshine" (which is a super tune in its own right) were a bit disappointed with the rest of the cuts. I grew up listening to Kurtis Blow, Planet Patrol, Grandmaster Flash, Whodini, and Newcleus, to name a few.......and Len as a crew has captured the intensity of old school style and added a next generation edge. If you are a fan of old school, you will be jamming this cd in your car with the windows rolled down, smirking at all of the teenies giving you funny looks.

I'm not sure how serious Len takes themselves as dyed-in-the-wool hip-hopsters, but this is pretty lightweight stuff, even for the genre. It's bubblegum for the 90s, and this disc is certainly no milestone. The disc SOUNDS great, though. Obviously, "Steal My Sunshine" was novel enough to become a hit with that sleazy sample from "More More More", and there are radio-friendly hits in "Beautiful Day" and "Feelin' Alright", which I randomly cued up at the store & which convinced me that I wanted this. The other stuff has energy to spare but less originality--the tired rah-rah of "Cryptik Souls Crew" and the instrumentals are forgettable...I must say, I do like Sharon's voice, though--your friendly female robot at your service. There's even a gospel song at the end, God help us. I suppose we're intended to take all of this with a couple of grains of salt--God, I hope so. "Burger Pimp," indeed. I play this every now and then; it's disposable fluff, and I know there are those who can dig that.

The CD has some very catchy songs and a variety of beats. Sometimes I'm wondering if I'm listening to the same group all together. I like listening to 1 and 3 the most, but a couple of the others are pretty good. If you don't care for rap then you'll be skipping some songs. There is a mix of dance, hip-hop, and eighties sounds that should prove to keep you listening, but I could do without some repeated four letter words. This was a disappointment, because the music was great, but the lyrics belonged to wu-tang. Sorry, but minimal CD life without getting shelved for mixing later with other songs from other short lived bands.

With singles like "STEAL MY SUNSHINE" and "THE HARD DISK APPROACH" this is definatly an altoghether good cd! it has a good mix of dance, hip-hop, and pop. many people say that len is gonna be another one hit wonder, but i'm sure that's not the case! no one can listen to "STEAL MY SUNSHINE" and not smile! it's an uplifiting, body moving, cd.

I liked Steal My Sunshine, and was hoping to hear something similar... but was happily surprised by Len's different style. SMS is a radio friendly song to cause the masses to rush out and buy it. The other part of the album has depth and a certain style all its own which is not for the masses. If you are a unique person, and not like everyone else, you'll appreciate Len's ability and insite of musical talent and ingenuity.

This album is one of the best I've heard in a while. "Feelin Alright" has been stuck in my head for at least 2 days, now, and "Steal My Sunshine" is always on the tip of my tongue. I love "Man of the Year" too; This is the best album of 1999 !

I usually applaud bands that try to avoid being shoehorned into a genre and lament when their ONE poppy, sappy song invariably becomes their big hit. I'm making an exception for Len, because after listening to this alubm, I'm not sure *what* the heck they're supposed to be. Some of it is light, easy listenable fare (Man of the Year), some of it is standard hip-hop (Cryptic Souls Crew), some of it is just plain goofy (Cheekybugger), and unfortunately, there's also the one with the completely gratuitous obscenities that do nothing but destroy the flow of the song (Big Meanie).

Most of this album *is* pretty good, and I like it when a band isn't afraid to experiment and delve into the offbeat, but...I just don't think the debut album is the place to do this. Bands that start off directionless and uncohesive generally don't last long. Maybe YCSTBM works better as a cautionary tale than a music CD?

remember pre firearm, jewelry, "my life is a big porn movie with alotta weed in between girls" hip hop?

i doubt it
cant blame you tho most of you weren't even there

wanna go?
get this album
make no mistakes this is not a pure hip hop expedition but the attitude on this album is straight up old skool hip hop and ultimately everything that makes this album great fun for the sake of fun from the well rotated "steal my sunshine" to "man of the year" an ode to biz markie to the biz's appearance itself on "beautiful day" this album sounds goofy, dated, pointless, and most of all beautiful
wanna find purpose in these songs?
put one on
crack a smile
mission accomplished

if you have an open mind and can stand an hour or so of naive happiness in your life get this album
honestly i mean who wouldn't want to have fun?

A lot of good tunes but youhave to get into what they play

You Can't Stop The Bum Rush, so why even try? this CD hooks you in early with Len's big single, then provides a few tracks to let you relax and warm up to the rest of the album. i'm actually glad they get the hit out of the way early on to let you enjoy the rest of the stuff (besides that i already had the cut off the 'Go' soundtrack. one can only wonder if that was intentional.

tracks 6, 7, and 8 are where this album really excels. the Hot Rod Monster Jam is just a cool hodge podge of all kinds of stuff (check out the liner notes for all the people they had to credit on that one), then comes Cold Chillin' with it's memorable line "We're partying Friday night..." where Sharon's lyrical abilities once again shine. this song is kind of a cool tale letting you eavesdrop on a Friday night old school hip hop show at a small club. next comes the absolute Coup de Grace of the album, which hits you with such rabid force that you can't immediately fully recover. it goes by the title Feelin' Alright and takes on the persona of some old Who flavored rock with it's heavy guitar and lyrics plus more of Sharon. i'm just bummed there arent samples of these 3 cuts available on this page so more people can hear.

i dont really care for tracks 11 & 12 (ok, just 12) all that much, but i suppose they serve as some alright filler and a cool down after hitting so hard where it counts (right in the middle) with this album. a great debut and i can't wait for some more...hoping Len meets my craving pretty soon cuz they're one of the better things to come out of Canada in a while. (not some lame Alanis Morrisette wannabe quota band as maybe some others have suggested)

btw, i wanted to give this album 4.5 stars, but since they don't allow it i'll just make it an even 5. i was really stoked to get this CD on sale and it hasn't let me down yet.