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JennYDavid Banner - The Greatest Story Ever Told Album Review
August 13th 2008 04:47
Genre: Rap/Hip hop, R&B, Crunk, Dirty South, Pop Rap, Snap Music
Length: 77:53
Label: Universal
David Banner is back behind the mic once again with his fifth album The Greatest Story Ever Told.
The album starts with the song So Long. The beat was not bad. It's a track that you can bump to in your car. I didn't really like the voice of the chorus, I don't know if it's David Banner's but I didn't like it.
The second track is called G.S.E.T Intro which is a bit weird because this is supposed to be the intro yet the song So Long precedes it. Anyways, on this interlude, he just talks about the album and himself. There's a voice on the background saying “Banner.” Nothing really crazy since it isn't a song. Let's move on.
Suicide Doors features UGK, Young Dro, Kandi Burruss. The song starts with the background voice repeating “David Banner” once again. Then in the chorus, a deep voice says “suicide doors.” The beat has a big kick and claps. It's another song to bump in your car. I don't know who was rapping the second verse but the voice didn't match the beat. On the third verse, a girl sings one-third of it, then it's Bun B's turn to rap. He's always good lyrically and goes well with this beat. Nothing to complain.
9mm/Speaker features Snoop Dogg, Lil' Wayne, and Akon. I like the trumpet at the start of the beat which is another “bump in the car” kinda beat with a more gangsta touch. For the rapping order, Akon starts with the chorus, then Lil' Wayne appears on the first verse with his punchlines. David Banner did great on the second verse, using good metaphors and punchlines including using the word “nine” on almost every line; that was nice. I usually like Snoop but he wasn't on his best for this one. At first listen, I preferred Banner's verse over Snoop's.
T.I. Speaks is exactly what the title says, T.I. speaking on a beat about stuff. It's an interlude.
Get Like Me features Yung Joc, Chris Brown. The beat is “bump in the car” style again but I found the chorus pretty meaningless. The words “get like me” cuts his sentences midway through with no apparent purpose. Here's how it goes:
“Have you ever seen a Chevy with the butterfly doors,
Stuntin' (stuntin') is a habit, get like me,
Have you ever seen a Chevy with the - get like me
Have you ever seen a Chevy with the - get like me"
In this song, David Banner raps about money, bling and cars. Chris Brown didn't really fit with this song. This was to be a gangsta song, not R&B stuff. Mixing both wasn't a very bright idea because Chris Brown is a singer not a rapper, so he wasn't going with the beat.
Get Like Me music video
The seventh song called Shawty Say features Lil' Wayne with the auto-tune voice. They mixed Lollipop's verses to make the chorus. The way they were rapping reminded me of "Lollipop." Seriously, this song was boring. The beat was once again a “bump in the car” groove.
Shawty Say music video
Banner keeps talking about girls on the next song called Girl featuring Dre. The song starts with a deep-voiced chorus saying dirty words, the same goes for the first verse. This wasn't the same type of song as Shawty Say because this one was all about sex, not a love song.
Another interlude comes in ninth place. Titled Syrup Sipping (Banner Beat Break), the track is simply a beat by David Banner.
Hold On featuring Marcus comes up next, and it's an average song; nothing to go crazy about.
Cadillac On 22's (Part 2) marks the album's halfway point. I didn't hear Part One, so I can't compare. The chorus sounded like Southern African-Americans singing. The beat was slow. I thought this would be another “bump in the car” but it was more a case of listening to the lyrics. It sounded a little country in my opinion, but hey, maybe that's just me.
Uncle Swac (Interlude) is another interlude. Seriously, I'm tired of all the interludes. I don't know why he put so many in the album. Anyways, this one has Banner speaking on the phone about his past.
I Get By featuring Carl Thomas is a darker song, but it's still gangsta because of Lil' Jon's trademark “yeah.” I really liked this song. It makes you want to jump in a lowrider and drive slowly with one arm hanging out the window. However, the chorus wasn't good. It had people singing but it just didn't cut it for me because the singing didn't go with the beat. The rest of the song is pretty good.
Freedom is... guess what? Another interlude. In this one, he talks about n**** and all African-Americans' problems. His lyrics stepped up on this one.
The fifteenth song is called B.A.N. (The Love Song). I liked the n**** screaming “B**** N****.” I think it was stolen from the Boondocks but I'm not sure. I don't know why this was called The Love Song. The beat is good but the the thing I really loved was the chorus: “B**** A** N****.”
F*** You H*** features Jim Jones. The beat was good but it sounded like it was recycled, like copied on something. The chorus was a rap, then “f*** you h***.” The first verse was normal, it went with the beat, nothing to complain. Jim Jones was rapping fast but he was normal, nothing special.
Marz (Banner Beat Break) is another interlude with a David Banner beat. I guess you guys could write a freestyle on it, but I still don't know why he put so many interludes on his album.
Ball With Me features Chamillionaire. The beat was a little fast but Banner was going slow on the mic. Chamillionaire was faster and better than Banner on this beat but it felt like the song's pace was arranged later on a computer to match Chamillionaire's pace.
K.O. has a hard-bumping beat because of its big kick. This track is more like a fight song, but the beat slows down for the chorus, then comes back hard for the verses.
Fly featuring Jazze Jef also sounds like a recycled club beat. It's nothing special just a rapper talking about girls.
Faith's beat was good. It didn't have too many instruments, just a simple beat. Nonetheless, I didn't like Banner's voice on this one. He was too hard for this beat, he sounded angry but this was just supposed to be a serious-like beat.
Finally, the last track called Wealth (Banner Beat Break) is another interlude which lasts seven minutes. It sounds a bit like the last Beat Break, nothing special once again.
Okay, let's summarize. Normally, this album was supposed to be good because it has twenty-two songs, but let's count back to see how many songs there really is - fifteen real songs with verses and chorus. Most of them sounded the same - bump in the car, girl song, fight song, club song, the usual. Banner's fans stated that he was better on this album, like he stepped his game up. Well, I wonder how he was before (never listened to him before this review) because this album was nothing special, just rap on a beat. I git it a 2 out of 5. I'm sorry but it just doesn't cut it for me. There wasn't much lyricism, and the beats were almost all the same. Nothing really stuck in my head which means that there weren't even good hooks. The songs that did stick mostly did because they were annoying, not really good. So, there you have it. 2/5.
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