Hi friends, welcome to Peanut Gallery. Every Wednesday here at MusicOlogy, we'll be presenting two classic albums from the same iconic band or artist and asking you... the smart, savvy, blindingly attractive Ology readers... to debate amongst yourselves over which record reigns supreme. Individual songs, concepts, music videos, lyrics, album artwork—everything's on the table here, folks. Give us your best argument in the comments section below. We'll announce the winner at the beginning of next week's Peanut Gallery face-off.
Last Week's Winner:
We pitted Bruce Springsteen's two commercial blockbusters, Born To Run and Born In The U.S.A., up against each other in a battle to the... well, not death, but something definitely painful. Your usually overwhelming responses were a little few and far between this week… presumably because of the absolutely impossible choice between these two albums… but with 4 votes to Born In The U.S.A.'s 2, The Boss' 1975 breakthrough brought home the bacon this week. Tramps like us, baby!
This Week's Match-Up:
Jay-Z's The Blueprint (2001) vs. The Black Album (2003).
Released on September 11, 2001, Jay-Z's sixth studio album silenced all doubt that he had become anything less than the most vital (and best) rapper in the post-Biggie hip-hop landscape. A creative step back from his guest-heavy crossover attempts, The Blueprint was (almost) all Jay-Z, from the opening bombast of "The Ruler's Back" through the simmering soul of its closing title track. Boasting the fresh beats and classic soul samples of rising stars Just Blaze and Kanye West, the album is rightly remembered as one of the all-time greatest hip-hop LPs of all time.
Classic Songs: "Takeover," "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," "Heart Of The City (Ain't No Love)," "Song Cry" and "Renegade" (feat. Eminem).
Famously promoted as Jay-Z's (ultimately short-lived) retirement from rap, The Black Album is an astounding tour de force—a lyrically focused, conceptually engaging master work from a true artist at the peak of his powers. Arranged by a who's-who of hip-hop producers (Kanye, The Neptunes, Just Blaze and Rick Rubin, just to name a few), the album featured some of Jay-Z's most direct, autobiographical rhymes since Reasonable Doubt and some of his best hooks, hits and (of course) beats to date. A massive smash hit, the album sold close to half a million copies in its first week alone, proving defiantly that Jay-Z had little reason (commercially or creatively) to step away from the game he rightfully ruled.
Classic Songs: "What More Can I Say," "Encore," "Change Clothes," "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and "99 Problems."
Okay, ladies and gentlemen... it's in your hands now. Hit up the comments section below and let us know why The Blueprint or The Black Album deserves to be declared the greatest Jay-Z album of all time.
Brett Warner:
I am become stress, destroyer of worlds...
June 21, 2012
Katie Persichilli:
I'm going with the Black Album for every reason that is posted on here already. This has been the toughest Peanut Gallery yet and has been taxing on my mental and emotional state of being. Thanks, Brett.
June 21, 2012
Desmond Johnson :
This hurts my brain. I think that the Blueprint offered much more to Jay's career and music history in general, considering it sky rocketed him to a level of success he had never quite been to before and it displayed some of Hip Hop's most beautiful moments such as the more widespread debut of Kanye West's production and the rise of Eminem both on the mic and behind the boards (on Renegade). But despite Blueprint's historical value, I have to choose The Black album as the best of Jay's career. Song for song it just does more for me personally than The Blueprint, both lyrically and production wise. I can listen to The Black album straight through years after it's release, and still not skip a single song. I can't do the same with The Blueprint. What more can I say? (Pun intended)
June 20, 2012
victoria sebring:
guh - really? i'm gonna have to vote for the black album. If "PSA" comes on my itunes while I'm on the train... forget it-i'm about to weird like no one is watching... ("allow me to re-introduce myself...") and like Gabriel, Lucifer is one of my hands down fav. song...(i also fell in love with it all over again as the Grey Album by Danger Mouse)
June 20, 2012
Katie Zaborsky:
I think I'll have to give it to the Black Album, actually. Even though "Izzo" makes me want to roll around in a pile of cash, almost every song on The Black Album is a hit for me , especially "Lucifer" and "Dirt Off Your Shoulders."
June 20, 2012
Gabriel Hayes:
very tough but I think The Blueprint. While the Black Album has two of my favorite HOVA songs in "Lucifer" and "Moment of Clarity" (as well as spawned Dangermouse's The Grey Album), I think unveiling KanYe West to the world, having the great dis-track with "Takeover" and including some of my favorites including "Song Cry," "Heart of the City," "Izzo" and "The Ruler's Back" gives the edge for me to The Blueprint
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