Vincent Ding - Incredible Views From Above - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Electric Circus cost and won Common some fans. It was very exploratory, especially so for a rap album released in 2002, containing developments - some of which soared, some of which sank - that few longtime followers could have foreseen. Listeners either felt Common was picking up fresh, new inspirations, or that he was just being distracted by a whole lot of ill-fitting nonsense. With Be, it seems the MC has realized that not every album that's sprawling and eclectic is as good as Electric Ladyland or Songs in the Key of Life. More notably, he might've been struck with the fact that a high percentage of excellent albums are around 40 minutes in length and are built on a unified sound. Be is highly concentrated, containing 11 songs and involving two producers and a small number of guests. It's a 180 degree turn from Electric Circus, and in a bizarre way it's both a progression and a back-to-basics move. Kanye West and Dilla are key to the album's steadiness, rooting the sound in '70s soul and soul-jazz. That's no shakeup, but the two producers deserve some form of award for stringing together a consistent sequence of productions that is never monotonous, dull, or all that flashy. Even lead single InchThe Corner,Inch heard well before Be's , falls into the fabric of the album on first listen, as if that were where it belonged all along. Lyrically, Common comes back down to Earth - the narratives are sharp as ever, the gripes are more like observations than screeds, and the eccentricities need to be teased out rather than swatted away. Be isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory Reissue of Common's 2005 LP Album Tracks 1. Be (Intro) 2. Corner - Common, the Last Poets 3. Go! 4. Faithful 5. Testify 6. Love Is 7. Chi

Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album on clear pink with purple splatter vinyl. The 2LP, gatefold jacket includes a Best Buy exclusive 12x24 poster. Atlantic Records and Rockstar Games announce Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album, the upcoming official soundtrack album from the biggest, most immersive evolution of the groundbreaking Grand Theft Auto series yet; Grand Theft Auto VI. Launching November 19 alongside the hotly anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto VI: The Album features 34 original tracks that capture the electric energy of Grand Theft Auto VI’s world of Vice City and Leonida, with a genre-defying roster of the most exciting and preeminent artists in the world.