Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good album, 1 Aug 2004
It may have taken the Notorious B.I.G. a few years to follow up his milestone debut, Ready to Die (1994), with another album, but when he did return with Life After Death in 1997, he did so in a huge way. The ambitious album, intended as somewhat of a sequel to Ready to Die, picking up where its predecessor left off, sprawled across the span of two discs, each filled with music, 24 songs in all. You'd expect any album this sprawling to include some lackluster filler. That's not really the case with Life After Death, however. Like 2Pac's All Eyez on Me from a year before, an obvious influence, Biggie's album made extensive use of various producers - DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Clark Kent, RZA, and more of New York's finest - resulting in a diverse, eclectic array of songs. Plus, Biggie similarly brought in various guest rappers - Jay-Z, Lil' Kim, Bone Thugs, Too $hort, L.O.X., Mase - a few vocalists - R. Kelly, Angela Winbush, 112 - and, of course, Puff Daddy, who is much more omnipresent here than on Ready to Die, where he mostly remained on the sidelines. It's perhaps Puffy himself to thank for this album's biggest hits: "Mo Money Mo Problems," "Hypnotize," "Sky's the Limit," three songs that definitely owe much to his pop touch. There's still plenty of the gangsta tales on Life After Death that won Biggie so much admiration on the streets, but it's the pop-laced songs that stand out as highlights. In hindsight, Biggie couldn't have ended his career with a more fitting album than Life After Death. Over the course of only two albums, he achieved every success imaginable, perhaps none greater than this unabashedly over-reaching success. Ready to Die is a milestone album, for sure, but it's nowhere near as extravagant or epic as Life After Death.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing...but only compared to Ready To Die!!, 3 Mar 2006
There have been reviews that call this album great, but there have been reviews that call this album a waste of time. This album needs a fiar judgement, from someone who loves hip hop and knows it, not from little kids who grew up o the commercial side of Hip Hop. Yes, Badboy Records are probably responsible for making hip hop commercial, and i admit even Life After Death is commercial, but it is still quality...
Life After Death... Greatest album of all time? No, unfortunately not, due to production by the ignorant Puff Daddy(Now just Diddy). But, a Hip Hop Classic? Yes, thanks to the flawless lyrics and rhymes of the late and great Notorious BIG, this album is incredible.
Admittedly, quite pop orientaded, but only on a few tracks such as "Mo Money, Mo Problems", "Sky's The Limit", "Love The Dough", "Nasty Boy" and "Hypnotize". But, who doesn't love "Mo money mo problems"? Who can honestly say they never jammed to "Hypnotize"? Who can say they never smiled when listening to "skys the limit" or bobbed their heads when taking in the bouncing flow on "Nasty Boy"? This album has everything, inducing all types of emotions; antithetical moods Anger and Happiness. Biggies lyrics are, as always, legendary. When he was alive, except for a few, most artists craved Biggies touch on their singles. Ready To Die, he was hungry, thirsty for riches and power, craving fame, desperate to escape the streets of Brooklyn. This made his deliveries on Ready to Die memorable, causing impact and shock. He wanted to get his point across, he wanted to let everyone know what he was thinking. On Life After Death its clear that Biggie simply wanted make people happy through his music, or let them empathise with his feelings on more darker tracks.
. I love hip hop and have been following it for years, but i do not favour rappers over others. If an album is good, its good. If an album is bad, its bad. Life After Death is good. It's not even necessary to buy the album, borrow the album from a friend first if your sceptical, but no matter what, give it a chance, sit back and listen to this Hip Hop classic, and then decide to buy it. I may be dwelling into hypocracy here, but don't be moved by reviews that tell you not to listen to this album because its: over-produced, or not as good as 2Pacs album, or is not the same as Ready To Die.
Give the album a chance.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not close to Ready to die, 1 Jun 2005
Its a great album but certainly not the best ever. Clearly influenced by all eyez on me and the commercial production isn't suited to biggie. Don't get me wrong he's a lyrical genius, perhaps not as hungry as he was on debut. Even though too many tunes are pop-orientated you still have to love the classics: 'mo money, mo problems' and 'sky's the limit'.
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