mint condition - livin' the luxury brown rb
A friend surprised me with this, and after seeing their live concert footage on BET Jazz, I was pleasantly surprised.
I still haven't listened to the actual album, so we can sample this one together.
Let me know what you think - I'll post my comments later. Oh, and you can click the album cover to buy.
OK, now that I've had a listen (actually, several) - me & my inner boho chick are seriously conflicted about this album. Click below to see why.
Actually, me & the inner boho chick have been fighting about music for a while - so forgive me while I read her a$$:
me: ok, this isn't actually a banger, but as background music to mellow out to - this is cool.
inner-boho-chick: you have lost your ear AND your mind.
me: your pretentious a$$ only ever wants to listen e.Badu, j.Scott, etc.
inner-boho-chick: whateva man. I'm not feeling this album at all.
me: ok, let me break down why this was cool. Mind Condition seems to be trying to do two things with this album: please their ole-skool diehard fans (tracks 1-7) and explore some new territory (tracks 8-16).
inner-boho-chick: on that one we can agree.
me: so, for ole-skool Mint Condition fans, I'm Ready, My Sista and Love Your Tears are beautifully arranged, and the vocals & lyrics are a nice switch to offset the typical "I'm gonna bang your back out because you got a phat a$$ and I'm rich" whiny R&B that plagues the airwaves. Stokely still has the chops, and these tracks prove it.
inner-boho-chick: all them jawns are average.
me: WhAt?!
inner-boho-chick: average, mediocre - just because R&B these days (for the most part) sucks, doesn't mean Mint can recycle their old ballads & tracks, with a slight tweak, and put them back out.
me: < sucking teeth, and rolling eyes > ok, so please don't hold back - what do you REALLY think....?
inner-boho-chick: I think if you want to mention really STELLAR tracks - try Luxury Brown, It's Hard, Runaway and Doormat.
me: ok see - here you go...
inner-boho-chick: no really - don't front. With the first few bars of Luxury Brown and it's Hard, you were nodding your head...
me: ok yeah - that's normally how I can tell a banger. It's Hard is some straight Minneapolis funk for real...
inner-boho-chick: and Doormat, well - you know how we still like that funk-rock blend? The guitar riffs...
me: you're such a headbanger...
inner-boho-chick: anyway, the overall album is aight. But after watching the performance Video...
me: which, IMHO is off the chain. They're SO banging when they're performing...as the album's interludes seem to indicate
inner-boho-chick: yeah, the album overall just doesn't live up to the potential of their live performace.
Ok, she read me instead. But the boho chick is right. This album is cool, but doesn't give me goosebumps.
This CD is banging esp. the track Sad Girl it remind me of Pretty Brown Eyes
And I thought Mrs. KB was the only one who had conversations in such detail with her inner self!
Still sleeping on MC. Shh, don't tell Lis!
i just picked it up...this should be interesting. if i could just get past 'Woah...'
I've been hearing so much about them lately I've got to get me a copy or at the very least, add it to my Amazon.com wishlist :)