Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Game - Lax Deluxe , August 28, 2008
*Albums Review*
I would have to say im not a big fan of the mainstream hip hop that is coming out but The Game has been able to keep my attention by dropping good music and being consistent, which is the area most mainstream rappers lack in. Thank god for Game, one of the few rappers keeping the mainstream alive. Both The Documentary and The Doctors Advocate get praise from me for being enjoyable albums. Even though lyrically Game is average, his flow, voice, style and ability to make good sounding music keep me checking for his albums.
The Good:
Now on this his third album i was really surprised by a few joints and some of the guest features, like Common for example. I have been a long time fan of Common and i never would have thought that Game and Common would fit together on a track so perfectly. Raekwon also comes out and outshines Game lyrically but it still makes a dope song. I would honestly have to say Bulletproof Diaries and Angel are some of the best hip hop songs i have heard in recent years from both underground and mainstream hip hop. Other enjoyable songs would be LAX Files, Money, Never Can Say Goodbye, Letter To The King (both Nas and Game are ill here) and State Of Emergency. But i think a personal favorite would have to be Dope Boys, this track was what i wanted, a hard booming track. Lyrically i think Game lays down some nice rhymes here. But like i said before Game is average lyrically although i see some potential, seeing that he cares about the legends in hip hop and shows respect, which is where lots of new rappers lose points from me because they seem to think legends are irrelevant and worthless. But either way Game just makes "Good Music"
The Bad:
I was very upset to see people like Lil Wayne and Neyo on this album. I really enjoyed the beat and Games lyrics on My Life but i cant stand Lil Waynes voice and the hook makes this song hard to listen to for me personally. Also on Gentleman's Affair it seems like everything is watered down, although i expected this because Game always has a song from the ladies from Special to Around The World, but when i heard he had to with the second being Touchdown i was kinda mad, but im sure many people well love this track. Another problem i had was Ya Heard, Luda outshine Game which by itself is not a problem, but i thought the beat here to be terrible. Nottz really let me down. The only other problem i had was House Of Pain its to predictable although i thought the beat was ill. But when it comes to listening to this album i really only skip Touchdown, Ya Heard and Gentleman's Affair. So that's not bad considering im feelin the rest of the tracks.
A problem some may have is Name dropping and while im not a fan of that it doesn't take away from the music this time out because there are lots of great tracks. Also is it just me or did Game come out much better then 50 musically. Sure 50 made more money but Game made better music and this is all the should matter to a fan of music.
Top Tracks
Angel
Bulletproof Diaries
Dope Boys
Letter To The King
Let Us Live
Overall 3.75
*Bonus Disc*
The bonus disc is good. Its nice to have Big Dreams which is a song that made me want to purchase this album. But Camera Phone is hard to listen to, i dont know why bt it seems like a Neyo track featuring the Game when it should be the other way around. Nice is good, the beat is ill but this guy News that does the hook is not very good. So i would not spend extra money on a deluxe unless your a big game fan.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album Review: The Game-L.A.X (Deluxe Edition)... Is The Game Better Than 50?, September 5, 2008
The Game is back with his third album L.A.X and I gotta say that I am digging it. In fact, to be honest I have liked all The Game's albums. From the very start their has been a lot of controversy surrounding him, none bigger than his very nasty and public split with G-Unit and 50. After "The Documentary" sold 586,000 copies in its first week and went on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide there was a lot of contention from 50 cent that he had in fact been the genius behind most of the tracks. It got even nastier when when 50 said that the game couldn't really write and without him he wouldn't do anything. Not exactly the way it worked out huh 50?
So "L.A.X." is a very enjoyable trip from beginning to end. Save one or two songs that I wasn't really feeling I like the entire album and that is something to say for an 18 track album which I have to give mad props to him for putting out in these days of 12-15 track releases. The album begins and ends with a prayer from the tortured soul himself DMX followed by the really smooth "LAX Files" that takes listeners on a trip around the hood through Games' eyes. It is an eerily introspective track that shows you that lyrically when it comes to Jacyeon Taylor there is more than meets the eye. But then just as you are about to mellow out he hits you with "State of Emergency f/ Ice Cube", a hard hitting track that has a classic drum heavy west coast beat that Cube and Game just kill.
After a couple of other tracks we flow through to the hot single "My Life f/Lil Wayne", by now everyone has heard this track and what can I say he puts it down on this joint, I mean just listen to the lyrics. Next we hear another kinda up tempo track "Money", a hot track that he drops a few disses on his former crew and I can already see this one bumping in cars all over the block. Another standout track on the album is "Gentleman's Affair f/Neyo", classic Game all the way. He just kinda spits it, its will kind of remind you of "Change Clothes" by Jay-Z in the feel of it. My favorite track by far on the album is "Never Can Say Goodbye f/Latoya Williams", on this track he puts his self in the shoes of three hip-hop legends and explains what he thought their last moments were like, this track is a very poignant interpretation of their last moments. On this track The Game definitely shows a level of insight that people don't really give him credit for. The album is really very good and you can really see his growth as an artist over these past two years.
Now on the other part of this post and I know a lot of folks may disagree with me but just hear me out. As I listened to "L.A.X.", I couldn't help but think back about his two other previously released albums and think that I think that The Game is a better rapper than 50 cent. Now let me preface this by saying with the exclusion of "Get Rich or Die Tryin" which was a classic but that is what makes this so apparent because in my opinion 50 has never regained the honesty and hunger of that first album. While `The Massacre" and `Curtis" have both been commercial successes, I can't say that I have really liked either one of them that much. A lot of people get on The Game because he usually has so many features on his albums and name drops a lot but I am like that is his style and his way of showing props and even with all the features I have never really heard him get overshadowed on too many of them so I say let him do his thing.
When The Game split from 50 he said that Game couldn't rap and wouldn't sell since he was writing his lyrics anymore. Well it seems that 50 was mistaken as The Game has sold records and their has not been any discernible dropoff in his lyrical quality while we can't say the same for 50. It is also funny that 50 would say that about Game when a lot of people still think that Eminem actually wrote most of 50's lyrics from `Get Rich or Die Tryin". People do either love or hate The Game but the fact is that his growth as an artist and lyricist is obvious sense his debut while 50's is not, not to mention that to date he has sold over 7 million copies worldwide. 7 million records worldwide aint shabby and that is more than a lot of rappers out. If you haven't picked this up, I suggest you do he gets a bad rap but he does have some real skills. On a side note, The Game also killed 50 on the technology front creating [...] in response to 50's launch of [...], Game's site is much more professional and better designed. It does exactly what I think 50 had hoped his site would have done, but dont take my word for it check them out for yourself.
Well that's it folks, I am outta here but I definitely give The Game's "L.A.X." 4.5 out of 5 stars. So go get it!!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Game steps out of the shadow of Dr. Dre, steps free of the Aftermath of his feuds, August 27, 2008
Just adding the same review from the regular edition and adding that the bonus tracks are excellent, "Nice" produced by Irv Gotti is especially raw and this version of the previously released "Big Dreams" adds a new verse. Rest of my review below...
The genesis of Game's career was both a blessing and a curse. He himself raps that few legacies have started "hotter than the beginning of my career/ with 50, Dre and Em there." However the helping hand would also bring persistent doubts, claims that Game's success is replicable for any rhymer who has an album of Dr. Dre's beats, 50 Cent's hooks and a track blessed by Eminem. While Doctor's Advocate was a step in the right direction, L.A.X. proves once and for all that The Game's success is defined solely by his skill.
On L.A.X. Game successfully demonstrates that he is the most legitimately hardcore rapper in mainstream hip-hop today. On "L.A.X. Files" he questions even his audience's credibility, "(expletive) think cause they watched Menace a couple of times/ Seen Cube in Boyz N the Hood and pressed rewind/ That you could survive when a real Crip run up on your car and flex the nine." The trifecta of "State of Emergency" featuring Ice Cube, " Bulletproof Diaries" with Raekwon and "Cali Sunshine" featuring Bilal are perhaps the three most classically "West coast" tracks that will be recorded in 2008. Game then demonstrates his versatility on laid back cuts including "Gentleman's Affair," "Touchdown" and "Angel," the last of which represents G.O.O.D. music at its finest with production by Kanye West and a verse from Common.
L.A.X. also proves that The Game may be the best actor in rap today. We've seen this ability through his simulated inebriation on both the title track from "Doctor's Advocate" and The Documentary's "Start From Scratch," and there was another allusion to this ability when Game presented an uncanny emulation of his mentor on "Lookin' at You." Game takes it to another level on L.A.X. He acknowledges his perfect rendition of Nas' flow on "Let Us Live," rapping "Voice raspy, who I sound like? Don't ask me/ That's my (expletive) we classy." On "Never Can Say Goodbye," he presents a verse each through the eyes of Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E and most jarringly, The Notorious B.I.G., who Game ebodies in both flow and lyrics. Game even takes a page out of Jay-Z's book on "Dope Boys," an unabashed (and inferior) interpretation of Hov's "Roc Boys."
There are weak points, notably "Letter to the King" on which Game's lack of nuance and sincerity are obvious, as is Nas' inability to "kick knowledge." However to see the strength and depth of L.A.X., one need look no further than the tracks left on the cutting room floor, any of which ("Gangsta Party" and "Cop Killa" in particular) would be the pinnacle of many of Game's contemporaries' albums. Note that I didn't even mention hit singles "My Life," or "Game's Pain," no need on an album of this strength.
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