A comprehensive Weazel News Review Where Can I Hear It?Before we get into the review, it's important that you know where you can hear it should you decide it's worth your time. The album is, however, completely FREE to listen to and download. You can click anywhere in this sentence to be directed to the full album. First ImpressionsWhen you first listen to the album, the first song you're thrown right into a song without any introductions or skits. This song is soft and eases you into the album well, though. The first song is actually a very old song from Queen Bee. According to Residual Records, this song was recorded six years ago when she was only 14. The song is rather emotion striking. This is possible because of the softness and innocence of her voice and the beat on this track. It isn't about her reminiscing on events, too. It's actually right after certain events happened which really make it even more emotive and from the heart. The song makes a lot more sense if you've read her biography. Even if you haven't you can still make out what the song is about. It really sets the tone for the rest of the album. After the track finishes, there is around 5 seconds of silence before the first of six "announcements" starts. Ts pause is amazing on the first viewing. It gives you time to really think about what you just heard. However, on repeat views it become slightly annoying. There are a total of 6 announcements on the track. Each one features fellow Residual Records star "The Beast" talking. Apart from the last one, they're not very long and add something very unique and different to them. Each announcement comes before and after a "commercial break." According to the Queen Bee biography, these are intended to lighten up the album a little when it gets a bit too deep so it doesn't isolate a lot of its audience. All of the commerical breaks contain Residual Records star "Tri$ha" beforeher crash and are all covers of other songs, rather than original songs. These are the only cover songs on the album. All of the others are original songs by Residual Records. It's not really part of the album, but the cover art is amazing in our opinion. It's very simple but has great use of photography and says a lot about what the album is about. PositivesThe album does a great job in striking emotions. We here at Weazel News have an incredibly diverse set of staff and everyone who heard the album - from the manly-man to the pregnant, hormonal women all reported being extremely touched. Some tears were even shed! The album also sounds amazing! The production value is incredible and very, very surprising! After hearing Exploit Records' (Residual's old brand) work (where the production wasn't the best and it didn't sound that good) we were extremely surprised on how well it sounded, even before the lyrics. Rapper FranTiK's songs sounded especially well produced, with Queen Bee's songs sounding like popular pop songs. We can't really explain how they remind us of them but they do without actually being similar to any pop songs we know. Tri$ha's commercials do seem a little out of place (other than the first one - she has three in total), but they do a good job in bringing your mood and retention back up. They're all covers but it's obvious that Residual Records have recorded the beats themselves because they have changed the tunes slightly from the originals. The first one, a cover of Dr. Dre's "F*ck You" is a perfect example. She actually sounds better than any of the original versions which is surprising. The beats do, too. They sound better than the original versions. NegativesAs with anything, there is some down sides to the album. Firstly, on Announcement 6 an MSMC member, Kiera, throws a sly insult towards The Beast. But what's wrong with this? Well upon hearing it it's obvious that they were not in the studio at the same time when they recorded these, unlike with The Beast, FranTiK and Russ who it was clear they were. This is explained in Queen Bee's biography, however, as they would not have had time to fly Kiera to their studio as she lives in New York and their studio in in Los Angeles. Whilst it makes sense and is understandable, it stands out quiet a lot and we think they should've just left her few words out of it. This second one won't matter to you if you've never spoke to The Beast before, but for those who have you know what's wrong with his announcements.. HIS VOICE!! Firstly, he is talking in a much high pitch than his natural voice for some reason. The Beast naturally has a very deep and raspy voice. We actually spoke to him about it in a 2015 interview, where he had this to say about his voice: To be honest, I dont know. If I talk louder it gets a bit higher, but for the most part I've had this voice since I was 11. I don't really know where it came from. I like it, though. I do try and talk in a higher voice [and less raspy?] around people, though, or they [tend to] take the p*ss out of it a bit. Guess it's a bit unusual. WEAZEL NEWS REPORTER: It is though, isn't it? For a 15 year old. Do you smoke? I dunno. Not really, it's just a voice innit? And I don't smoke, no. Not really. Used to until I was like 10... So we don't really know why The Beast chose to talk in such a higher voice on this track. He does talk in a voice more resemblant of his own on Announcement 6, though, but it's still not his real voice. It's not only the way his voice sounds, though, he's actually putting on a different accent. We'll ask him why in an interview coming very soon!! The only other complaint we could possibly have about this album is Announcement 6. Now.. This was an amazing skit. It's the best announcement by far. However, even ignoring Kiera on the track, The Beast, seemingly out of nowhere and for no reason, just bursts out into a long laughing fit. This had our team divided. On one hand, half our office loved it and started laughing along with it; but on the other hand half our office was left wondering why they didn't just re-record it. Again, we'll mention it in a recent interview with Residual Records coming soon!! Album InformationTotal Run Time: 28:52 Number Of Tracks: 16 (10 Without Skits) Release Date: 06/30/2017 Artists: Queen Bee , The Beast , Tri$ha , FranTiK , Apollo 13 , James Budden ConclusionInterest/Retention --> 5/5 Sound Quality --> 4.5/5 Production --> 5/5 Sound --> 5/5 Lyrics --> 5/5 We give "Life Hurts" by Queen Bee a 9.8/10!! You can't deny that Residual Records have done an amazing job here. Especially since they're not only working off the budget of a Grand Theft Auto based music company (so.. not a lot), but that they only had less than 12 days max to completely re-create the album. This is the best score we have ever given for a review here at Weazel News. No other review has come close to 9.8/10 and we don't think anything else will any time soon. Other Reviews"Great album. Loved it. 10/10." - Los Santos City Council But what did you think?
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2 Comments
Cassie Rose
7/1/2017 12:31:37
Omg I loved it.
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7/1/2017 13:43:33
Thank you.
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