Gym Class Heroes - As Cruel As School Children Album Review

Gym Class Heroes
As Cruel As School Children
Album Review

Back in the day when Hip Hop was a bit of fun, where the bands/artists didn't take themselves too serious and just got on with it. Bands such as De La Soul and to an extent PM Dawn, and not to forget Public Enemy. These were bands that blasted out tunes because they liked them and they liked what they were doing. Then we come back to reality, we come back to the present day. Now you get shot for dicing yes dicing the way someone dresses!

Travis, Disashi, Matt and Eric are the Austin Powers of Hip Hop, they have been unfrozen to bring back what De La Soul and co offered and try to calm things back down again. These guys are known as Gym Class Heroes and yes I can see the strokes cringing at bands like this, but who gives a ?**??? about that?

As Cruel As School Children is the new album to come from Gym Class Heroes and they have set the album out into a typical school day, by periods. Although I am glad I didn't go school with them cause THIRTEEN periods seems a bloody lot. The album starts off really well with The Queen And I; this shows the old skool style of Hip Hop when it was at it's best. One of the best tracks on this album has to be New Friend Request, just for the clever lyrics. It also shows how myspace has grown and how some people treat it. For some it is networking and dating. For others it is the music! Then the climb up stops and the album seems to just die out, how this has happened is beyond me, but it has. During the course of this album there are what are called "Sloppy Love Jingle" what a waste of time, what's the point? They are not funny and seem to be there to fill the spaces. The major downside to this album is the consistency, there is about as much consistency as Graham Polls refereeing. Biters Block, Scandalous Scholastics and On My Own Time (Write On!) just past me by. To try and finish on a positive note the final Sloppy Love Jingle was quite funny!!!!

Although at times you do get the Goldie Lookin Chain Feel to these, you do just get the feeling that Vanilla Ice has come out of retirement and is now part of a Hip Hop group. At the end of the day if you want something different and something that is a bit of fun, then give these a chance. All in all however it is a bit of a hit and miss album, but for the people that are really into this kind of stuff then that could be a whole different ball game.

Mark Moore