|
New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
|
L.A.X.
by The Game
The third album for the rapper from California features guest artists such as Common, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Nas, Ne-Yo, and Travis Barker.
| LABEL: |
Geffen |
| RELEASE DATE: |
26 August 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rap |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
90
Urb
The Game pairs that unabashed love with swirling ideas and concepts that elevate the record to an easy contender for album of the year.
80
musicOMH.com
Perhaps one of the telling strengths of LAX is that despite all star guest appearances from the likes of Ludacris, Travis Barker, Nas and the aforementioned Ice Cube it is very much The Game's album.
75
Entertainment Weekly
While the 19-track disc could use a good trimming, The Game's routine is just as entertaining the third time around.
75
RapReviews.com
He has definitely still come back with an admirable album - I'm just not sure that it is as MEMORABLE as it could have been.
75
Los Angeles Times
L.A.X. might not hit the heights of its two predecessors, but it is one of the more complete and satisfying major label rap releases of the year.
70
All Music Guide
Add the "Jam on It" sample producer Nottz lays on "Ya Heard," the sultry backing track Scott Storch designed for "Let Us Live," and a superstar guest list that's a mile long, and this scattershot album is easy to recommend despite its flaws.
70
Billboard
The Game goes surprisingly mellow in comparison to his first two efforts.
70
Slant Magazine
With the Game's third and best album, LAX, which drops without the baggage of a high-profile beef, we learn more about who the rapper really is: a guy who loves hip-hop, from top to bottom, and is as comfortable giving shout-outs to Will Smith and Uncle Luke as he is to Wu Tang and NWA.
70
PopMatters
Though LAX has its debilitating faults, it certainly stands up with any rap full-length released this year, which for this point in Game’s career, might even make it a miracle.
65
Prefix Magazine
The album, weighed down by a few awkward romance tracks and a well-meaning but ill-fitting MLK tribute, drags in the second half, and there’s no one moment to parallel the odd ache of 'Doctor’s Avocate.' But it’s once again more than the sum of its parts.
64
Pitchfork
That inferiority complex and desperate need for approval keeps L.A.X. surprisingly entertaining even though there are far more weak tracks on it than good ones.
60
Sputnikmusic
When it's good, it's really good. Otherwise, it's never really bad, just excessive and somewhat unfocused.
60
NOW Magazine
At 19 tracks, LAX is bloated and uneven, more often than not marked by weak beats and uninspired appearances. The Game’s skill and wit alone save this from being a complete disaster.
60
The Guardian
LAX is an intense and remarkably focused record - almost every syllable concerns Compton, gangsta rap and (as one song title has it) Game's Pain - but the minor-key, would-be emotive beats of tracks such as Money or the Kanye West-produced Angel (featuring rapper Common) don't bring the best out of his expressive flow.
50
Village Voice
Somehow, the Game is still coasting on wispy, West Coast–nostalgia fumes--chronic, red rags, lolos, etc.--but the goodwill, at this point, has pretty much exhausted itself.
50
Hot Press
Bad-boy rapper fails to raise his, er, game. There is something peculiarly insecure about The Game (AKA Jayceon Terrell Taylor).
50
Dot Music
Problem is, much of this record is just Game keeping up with the Joneses: everything you'd expect from a 2008 rap album is here (Lil' Wayne guest spot; boring, '80s-styled Kanye track), and the stuff that makes him unique seems harder than ever to get at.
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Game has always borrowed from the greats. Here, he cannibalizes his own tired shtick so extensively, he lapses even further into self-parody.
40
The New York Times
Almost everything here, from the boasting ('Money') to the baiting ('LAX Files,' 'Cali Sunshine'), is pro forma. Worse, the Game, never a fluid rapper, sounds positively lumpy, as if he were delivering verses while running up a steep flight of stairs, or as if the last few years of pugnacity have finally left him winded.
40
Boston Globe
LAX spins beautifully at first, but, like a '64 Chevy with chrome rims that hasn't paid a visit to the mechanic in 20 years, it doesn't take long before the wheels come off entirely.
The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 34 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Read more user comments...
Discuss this album in our forums |
|
