Padded Preview

Joe Budden – Padded Room
4.5/5

The only reason I gave this a 4.5 is because I can’t wrap my mind around the concept of a perfect album. But this one is pretty darn close. There are ZERO skipable tracks on Padded Room and no filler songs.

For those that listen to individual songs, everyone one is good on its own.  And for those like me, that enjoy an album as a whole, we can’t ask for anything more than what Joe Budden has given us.

Right from the jump, Joe Budden appeals to every type of listener with the opening track, Now I Lay. The upbeat track starts out with a familiar line and uses that to springboard the listener into the depths of the mind of a man gone crazy.
NOTE: This song sums up the whole album in three and a half minutes.

While he has the casual fan hooked he throws a club-sounding track, The Future, at them with The Game on it. But if real Budden fans listen you just might be able to see where he is going with it. The song is cool enough to play wherever you normally hear catchy music, but it does not sound out of place in the context of the album.

If I Gotta Go prepares the listener for the emotional ride they are about to be faced with. Many questions and concerned about the reality of life are brought up.  You get a good idea of the types of things that Joey struggles with when the lights go out and nothing can be heard but your own thoughts.

As the BPMs are increased on the Scarface-sounding Don’t Make Me (the movie, not the rapper), you realize that death and bad luck are just around the corner and that can work the nerves of any man, no matter how sane he is.

Those that have been following JB need no introduction to Blood on the Wall. For those that don’t know, think about an introspective diss record over a beat from DMX’s “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.”

In my first three listens, In My Sleep is my favorite song.  When I listened to the leak I didn’t even like it, but I accidentally left the zshare on loop and walked away.  When I came back I forgot what I was listening to and it made all of the nonsense make perfect sense. For example…
“Stuck in a room with an elephant/ Opened my closet and dapped up my skeleton/”

Something else that doesn’t make a lot of sense is continuing to think about how your Exxxes have impacted you. But is it really them, or does the problem come from within? Budden ponders this question in a style that only he  can.

No matter who or what the problem is, a lot of times, when you look back on the situation you often say the same thing: I Couldn’t Help It.  But sometimes good things come out of bad situations.

Adrenaline is the rock-influenced culmination of all of these thoughts combined with an insane call-to-action. And, yes, Regular Joe SINGS on the hook.

Much like track 2, Happy Holidays is a sonically average song with a message underneath. The meaning behind this song is something that many people can identify with. So make sure it doesn’t go over your head.

Remember how JB’s first album had about three sounds woven into one album? It would skip from on to the next, all the while retaining integrity. The transition from the previous track to Don’t Tell is just like that. This song is a lot like a song on MM3.  The title doesn’t immediately come to mind, but if you like the Mood Muzik series you will DEFINITELY enjoy this song.

As things get out of hand in this story, it’s easier to let your fate be in the hands of someone else.  That’s why Joseph said he needs an Angel in My Life.

But keep in mind, angels are just the carriers for the Big Guy. So when they drop Joe of in front of God himself, Joey says some real shit to the Man Upstairs in the final song Pray for Me.

MAKE SURE YOU BUY THIS ALBUM! If you don’t, it just may be another decade before we get another album from this man.

Have Fun.
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