Artist(s):Watchmen
Album Name: Power
Year of Release: 2010

 

Overall Rating:

 

Every team has their strength and the Watchmen show their lyrical abilities in this latest release, POWER. While this release is not as strong of a release as the previous, it would be best to keep in mind that this album comprises of the group's previous non-released tracks from 2006. With a sound a bit more basement than the more current quality of tracks we are used to hearing them on, it provides fans with a bit of a background on how exactly this team developed through the years.

 

The main thing anyone will realize when hearing this album is that the mixes and production are not very strong in respects to quality, but the lyrics are clearly ingenious. The intro of the album provides eerie pipe organ sounds with cuts of various phrases of lyrics that make it clear this crew is about their emcee game. Tracks like "Bloody Palm" with its classic WU feel, and "Final Hour" with its consistent array of metaphors and similes make it easy to see why WU MANAGEMENT would have picked them up. Again, the mixes are what really hurt this project on tracks like "Dishonor," where the hook completely out-leveled the verses.

 

One track that is worth mention is "Everyone of Us" that hailed some of the best lyrics with verses like, "You takin' it all in vain / I'm breakin' this ball & chain / You fakin' to stay the same / I'm rakin' against the grain." This track was a definite replay and if they revisited this track with a better mix and some updated vocals to bring that WOW factor into play, it would be a hot classic.

 

The title track "POWER" was a good feel, though could have used more variety in rhythms, and "Torcher Chamber" ended in the album with considerable force.

 

Overall, despite the mix and production needs, this was a good album to bring fans back into the previous years of Watchmen. If nothing else, it shows how far they have come since then, and makes a person wonder what they are about ready to bring with the newer releases in the near future.