Jurassic 5 - Feedback

I'd say I’m a pretty open-minded rap fan. I won’t refuse to listen to Jay-Z just cuz I’m a big Nas fan, and I like the words of Big L after thirty weed-inspired minutes of A Tribe Called Quest. I heard that Jurassic 5 was coming out with a new album, Feedback, so I checked it out... - by Louie Michaud

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Now I haven’t followed J5 near as much as most other rap groups, but I’ve listened to all of Quality Control (liked it) and a few singles, and I also know that they have a strong reputation. But I just finished listening to this album for the kajillionth time, and oh man... it is frickin’ awful. You know on Dane Cook’s latest CD when he’s talking about certain sounds that for some reason make you wanna punch a baby, but he never really says what those sounds are? It wouldn't be surprising to find the cheesy piano on "Back 4 You," the beat from "Radio" (which sounds like Japanese Pop set in the 1980’s), and the constipated whispers from Dave Matthews’ inexplicable appearance gracing that infuriating soundtrack. I honestly cringed in horror, horror, when I first heard Matthews' voice on "Work It Out." I mean... why? If J5 is trying to crossover into another genre, why choose this fool? I really can't think of any other rock musician that I would want less on a hip-hop single... maybe that guy from Creed. The really tragic thing is that the rhymes are pretty good alone... so maybe if you’re a fan of Matthews you’ll like it. I don’t.

I really just don’t get it. It’s like J5 tried to expand their fan base, but coincidentally they made this really strange music that seems frozen in time: an album that's too unorthodox for the old school but too dull for anything new. There are a few tracks where the lines are pretty good, such as "Where We At," but there was nothing said that really got my attention, and I didn’t get the same feel of the mc’s feeding off of each other like I did with Quality Control. The best stuff I heard was mediocre in comparison to most of the other stuff I’ve listened to. On "End Up Like This," J5 tries to get the message across that we behave differently than we used to, cuz that’s never been said before. But the way they do it is so boring, so filtered—with lines like "We used to play with toy guns / Now we bust real ones." Biggie’s "Things Done Changed" pretty much has the same message, but is done in a far more exciting way. I hate to say it, but even The Massacre has a few songs like "Disco Inferno" that have purpose, where you can dance and justifiably get f%#!ed up to them.

Feedback did almost nothing for me; it was a huge disappointment all around. Here's a track from Feedback...think I'm lying? Judge for youself. If you enjoy the Feedback stuff as much as J5's old stuff, then congrats to you for finding more survivors in this train wreck than I could. I’m willing to give J5 another chance, especially because Feedback was without DJ Cut Chemist, but in the meantime I’ll be building a panic room so this album can't track me down.

[MP3] Jurassic 5 - Back 4 You