I did a very detailed one for Crytical b/c that was an album I was blessed to have come into my life. Twin's is not quite as good in my opinion, but still outstanding. One of the best out of Seattle this year, right up there with Frame and Tha Loco's projects. Here is a more detailed description:
01) Prelude 3/5
Cool Playstation sound effects to start it off. Your basic look into an artists answering machine intro, been done before many times, however I do really like at the end how D-Sane comes in with his deep ass voice "yo Twin, it's D-SANE IN THE MEMBRANE" then talks about the people waiting long enough, let's get this album wrapped up. Better than average voice mail intro.
02) Volume 2 Intro 5/5
Another nice sound effect usage with the Movie sound effects. This beat is very very smooth with an absolutely gorgeous vocal in the background. Sounds like some very talented female opera singer or something just lacing the background as Twin does the typical rapper intro dialogue thing. D told me that it isn't actually somebody singing, it's Skunt editing the voice pitch, something he's getting very very good at.
03) Gangsta Shit Pt. 2 2/5
Mediocre cut, too reminiscent of the old album in the production. His flow's pretty good though, I just wasn't loving the beat.
04) We Bang 4/5
AWW yeah this is a sick remix of the cut from 2005's Tha Loco Smile Now - Die Later album. It's the same song, same beat with the same Loco laced chorus, with different rappers. 151 really tore it up, great song, the Lac crew's rugged street style work real well with Tha Loco's smooth chorus singing rap style.
05) Pro's 4/5
This song has really grown on me, the chorus is obviously a guy who's not really a singer but he does a pretty good job. Twin's flow on here is great, the beat is great.
06) Phedyridaz (Remix) 5/5
Very very dark Seattle winter style song. The first thing I thought of when I heard this banger was driving up I-5 through downtown on a dark day in winter. The Cali guys are decent on here, but the strength of the song by far is the vintage D-Sane mob style beat.
07) Swisher Heat 4/5
This is the type of track that shows Twin has really stepped up his game from the last album. It's smooth, it's bouncy, and aside from the lyrical content, it's radio. It's got that easy to listen to pop sound. The singing on the chorus is great. Skunt does a great job as usual.
08) Shake That 3/5
Beat kind of reminds me of some of the non-D-Sane beats on the Lac of Respect album. This song doesn't bang as hard and isn't as smooth as a lot of the other cuts but it's a good song.
09) Don't Front 5/5
Similar to Swisher Heat, aside from the lyrical content of the song this cut is radio. Very smooth sweet beat, good singing in the chorus. Damn this cracks me up just how sexually explicit this song is, I saw on Public Access TV one night this summer (HipHop101?) Twin perform this song live and it was hilarious b/c there was some white bitch MC who had just performed previous, and some little girl there in the audience then Twin gets up here and he's saying stuff like "I know you want to fuck bitch" etc etc it was hilarious I was sitting in my house cracking up. Great song though great production.
10) Respect 2/5
I wasn't loving the beat, the drums and bass didn't hit hard enough for me. This is not one of the stronger tracks.
11) Cocc It & Shoot 6/5
THIS IS THE CUT RIGHT HERE. Absolutely fabolous remake of H-Town's "Knockin The Boots" with D-Sane programming a little more bass and stronger drums. I also loved how Todd Brown used some parallel symmetry with his lyrics, for example at the part where the original says "kicking back, listening to some MAARRVIIIN GAYE" Todd Brown says "kicking back, listening to some LAC OF RESPECT" it just has a nice effect. It's also interesting how the singing intro lasts until about 1:40 into the song, it's kind of a unique thing how the rapping doesn't come in for quite a while, but it creates a nice sound when it finally does come in. 151's verse is awesome as usual, he knows how to ride a beat and not rush it. This is my little brother's favorite cut on the album.
12) Can't Hold Me Bacc 2/5
Another beat reminiscent of the Lac of Respect album's non-D-Sane cuts. The bass and sounds are fairly weak but the drums really shine here. Twin's flow is ok. Not my favorite cut.
13) 44 Bars (From...) 5/5
Another outstanding cut. Perhaps my favorite line in the whole album is the "Let Me Tell You Where I'm (FROM) the SEA where gang banging and police raids is at its highest rate" thats a fucking hot line right there regardless of whether it's factually true. Another example of how Skunt has been getting really good at creating a hot vocal by pitch editing. This song is great, it's just too damn short, it ends abruptly.
14) I Could Be Wrong 2/5
Kind of a Carribbean flavor beat, I'm not really into that shit it's a little too happy and not soulful enough for me. The song's not great but if you like the happier kind of cuts this might be for you.
15) Killa Tay Call 1/5
Typical phone call interlude, nothing special.
16) Groove Status 3/5
"High Point to Holly Park" this the city anthem. this is a solid song but the beat isn't quite strong enough for me.
17) You Don't Know Twin Game 5/5
Great great cut, creative idea of putting Twin over the Alicia Keys cut. He really does a good job of pacing himself and not trying to flow so fast, letting Alicia stay with him. I like this song a lot and the theme of it too.
18) Young Nigga 3/5
Reminds me of a beat from 151's "Code of tha Street" album. It's kind of a Bay Area style beat, very good song. I like the chorus of this song a lot, as well as the beat.
19) I'm You Your Me 3/5
I really love the sound effects to the intro, but then the beat changes and I don't like it as much. I also am not really feeling the kids in the chorus but I know it's cute and all, but whatever.
20) Make It Home 3/5
This song has grown on me a lot. I think the vocals on the hook are mediocre, nothing special. I think the best part of this song is the message, I really like how at the end of the song Twin's encouraging people to spend some time with their kids saying "nobody's too hard for that." That's continuing a recent trend in SLR that I've noticed is a lot of family themed cuts, a lot of gangster softness when thinking about their families kind of thing. Crytical's album had those kind of themes all over it, as does this song.
21) Show Me Tha Money (Remix) 2/5
I think the skit leading into this song is hilarious. As for the song, I'm not really feeling it because it's too reminiscent of the old Twin production. The beat and the chorus are not easy on the ears.
22) I'm So Fresh 5/5
Smoother D-Sane beat, Twin's almost whispering on the chorus, this is one of my favorite cuts I was surprised to hear it almost didn't make the album. This is a great song, but like 44 Bars, it's too short and ends too abruptly. I was just left wanting more.
75/110 so approximately 4 stars out of 5.
OVERALL, this is a very very solid effort from Twin. What could have made it better was more D-Sane on the beats, his songs are some of the best on this album. Twin's improved tremendously since his first album, anybody who loves the NW rap scene needs this album.
01) Prelude 3/5
Cool Playstation sound effects to start it off. Your basic look into an artists answering machine intro, been done before many times, however I do really like at the end how D-Sane comes in with his deep ass voice "yo Twin, it's D-SANE IN THE MEMBRANE" then talks about the people waiting long enough, let's get this album wrapped up. Better than average voice mail intro.
02) Volume 2 Intro 5/5
Another nice sound effect usage with the Movie sound effects. This beat is very very smooth with an absolutely gorgeous vocal in the background. Sounds like some very talented female opera singer or something just lacing the background as Twin does the typical rapper intro dialogue thing. D told me that it isn't actually somebody singing, it's Skunt editing the voice pitch, something he's getting very very good at.
03) Gangsta Shit Pt. 2 2/5
Mediocre cut, too reminiscent of the old album in the production. His flow's pretty good though, I just wasn't loving the beat.
04) We Bang 4/5
AWW yeah this is a sick remix of the cut from 2005's Tha Loco Smile Now - Die Later album. It's the same song, same beat with the same Loco laced chorus, with different rappers. 151 really tore it up, great song, the Lac crew's rugged street style work real well with Tha Loco's smooth chorus singing rap style.
05) Pro's 4/5
This song has really grown on me, the chorus is obviously a guy who's not really a singer but he does a pretty good job. Twin's flow on here is great, the beat is great.
06) Phedyridaz (Remix) 5/5
Very very dark Seattle winter style song. The first thing I thought of when I heard this banger was driving up I-5 through downtown on a dark day in winter. The Cali guys are decent on here, but the strength of the song by far is the vintage D-Sane mob style beat.
07) Swisher Heat 4/5
This is the type of track that shows Twin has really stepped up his game from the last album. It's smooth, it's bouncy, and aside from the lyrical content, it's radio. It's got that easy to listen to pop sound. The singing on the chorus is great. Skunt does a great job as usual.
08) Shake That 3/5
Beat kind of reminds me of some of the non-D-Sane beats on the Lac of Respect album. This song doesn't bang as hard and isn't as smooth as a lot of the other cuts but it's a good song.
09) Don't Front 5/5
Similar to Swisher Heat, aside from the lyrical content of the song this cut is radio. Very smooth sweet beat, good singing in the chorus. Damn this cracks me up just how sexually explicit this song is, I saw on Public Access TV one night this summer (HipHop101?) Twin perform this song live and it was hilarious b/c there was some white bitch MC who had just performed previous, and some little girl there in the audience then Twin gets up here and he's saying stuff like "I know you want to fuck bitch" etc etc it was hilarious I was sitting in my house cracking up. Great song though great production.
10) Respect 2/5
I wasn't loving the beat, the drums and bass didn't hit hard enough for me. This is not one of the stronger tracks.
11) Cocc It & Shoot 6/5
THIS IS THE CUT RIGHT HERE. Absolutely fabolous remake of H-Town's "Knockin The Boots" with D-Sane programming a little more bass and stronger drums. I also loved how Todd Brown used some parallel symmetry with his lyrics, for example at the part where the original says "kicking back, listening to some MAARRVIIIN GAYE" Todd Brown says "kicking back, listening to some LAC OF RESPECT" it just has a nice effect. It's also interesting how the singing intro lasts until about 1:40 into the song, it's kind of a unique thing how the rapping doesn't come in for quite a while, but it creates a nice sound when it finally does come in. 151's verse is awesome as usual, he knows how to ride a beat and not rush it. This is my little brother's favorite cut on the album.
12) Can't Hold Me Bacc 2/5
Another beat reminiscent of the Lac of Respect album's non-D-Sane cuts. The bass and sounds are fairly weak but the drums really shine here. Twin's flow is ok. Not my favorite cut.
13) 44 Bars (From...) 5/5
Another outstanding cut. Perhaps my favorite line in the whole album is the "Let Me Tell You Where I'm (FROM) the SEA where gang banging and police raids is at its highest rate" thats a fucking hot line right there regardless of whether it's factually true. Another example of how Skunt has been getting really good at creating a hot vocal by pitch editing. This song is great, it's just too damn short, it ends abruptly.
14) I Could Be Wrong 2/5
Kind of a Carribbean flavor beat, I'm not really into that shit it's a little too happy and not soulful enough for me. The song's not great but if you like the happier kind of cuts this might be for you.
15) Killa Tay Call 1/5
Typical phone call interlude, nothing special.
16) Groove Status 3/5
"High Point to Holly Park" this the city anthem. this is a solid song but the beat isn't quite strong enough for me.
17) You Don't Know Twin Game 5/5
Great great cut, creative idea of putting Twin over the Alicia Keys cut. He really does a good job of pacing himself and not trying to flow so fast, letting Alicia stay with him. I like this song a lot and the theme of it too.
18) Young Nigga 3/5
Reminds me of a beat from 151's "Code of tha Street" album. It's kind of a Bay Area style beat, very good song. I like the chorus of this song a lot, as well as the beat.
19) I'm You Your Me 3/5
I really love the sound effects to the intro, but then the beat changes and I don't like it as much. I also am not really feeling the kids in the chorus but I know it's cute and all, but whatever.
20) Make It Home 3/5
This song has grown on me a lot. I think the vocals on the hook are mediocre, nothing special. I think the best part of this song is the message, I really like how at the end of the song Twin's encouraging people to spend some time with their kids saying "nobody's too hard for that." That's continuing a recent trend in SLR that I've noticed is a lot of family themed cuts, a lot of gangster softness when thinking about their families kind of thing. Crytical's album had those kind of themes all over it, as does this song.
21) Show Me Tha Money (Remix) 2/5
I think the skit leading into this song is hilarious. As for the song, I'm not really feeling it because it's too reminiscent of the old Twin production. The beat and the chorus are not easy on the ears.
22) I'm So Fresh 5/5
Smoother D-Sane beat, Twin's almost whispering on the chorus, this is one of my favorite cuts I was surprised to hear it almost didn't make the album. This is a great song, but like 44 Bars, it's too short and ends too abruptly. I was just left wanting more.
75/110 so approximately 4 stars out of 5.
OVERALL, this is a very very solid effort from Twin. What could have made it better was more D-Sane on the beats, his songs are some of the best on this album. Twin's improved tremendously since his first album, anybody who loves the NW rap scene needs this album.
