Dillon Francis – Money Sucks Friends Rule [3.5/4]

Dillon francis - money sucks friends rule album cover

Marcin

Wow, what a difference a year can make; the last time I saw Dillon Francis was at the Aragon Ballroom when he played an after party with Excision. Unfortunately both let me down that night and I ended up leaving the show early. Fast forward to 2014 after months of touring the biggest festivals in the world and releasing a few hit singles Dillon Francis comes out with a much anticipated 1st album Money Sucks Friends Rule. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from Dillon, but I started to like his sound after he dropped his single “Messages” and after “Get Low” hit the airwaves I knew I wanted more. That song alone got Dj Snake on my radar. Money Sucks, Friends Rule will definitely give everyone something to listen to. The first song “All that” had to grow on me mainly because of the hip hop influence once it did it completed what is a very multi dimensional album that you can put on repeat for nonstop dancing action. From slower songs to some awesome melodies and drops this album has it all. If you needed any more reason to see Dillon at the Aragon ballroom on Friday December 5, this is it. I give this album 4 out of 4 stars.

Nina:

Dillon Francis’ first album, “Money Sucks, Friends Rule”, takes #65 on the iTunes top album chart. The DJ granted his fans an album with tons of variety. One song contains rap and dubstep while another has a melody and vocals. You’ll definitely start hearing Francis’ songs at the parties and clubs you go to. I’m rating “Money Sucks, Friends Rule” a 3 out of 4 stars for the vibes and originality.

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Cathy:

The album, Money Sucks, Friends Rule, is quite possibly close to perfect! It really comes to no surprise when we find out that Dillon Francis is topping charts left and right. This album offers hit after hit, everybody will find a song on here that they cannot stop replaying. It is honestly refreshing to hear such a great album after well a pretty silent period of NEW in the EDM community. I seriously can’t take it when I listen to “I Can’t Take It.” “We Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” is absolutely weird, but it’s Dillon Francis, so I love it. A refreshing song that is bliss is my ears is most definitely “When We Were Young.” And I think we all know “What’s that Spell.” This album 100% convinced me to see Dillon Francis Dec 5th in Chicago! I”ll go von deeper for this one and give DJ Hanzel/ Rave Dad/ Diplo’s BFF a 4 out of 4!

Iza:

Dillon Francis’ first album and the most anticipated album of the year brings the best of all worlds to one album by mixing in all types of genres and artists. In just 12 tracks, Dillon manages to squeeze in mumbathon, pop, funk, house, and trap. This album is very original and it is obvious that Dillon put a lot of effort into it. My personal favorite is “Drunk All The Time” since it is a bit calmer (I’m a trance fan). I also like “We Make it Bounce” since I am a Major Lazer fan. Since he has blown fans away during his sets in the last year, I will be sure to see him on his tour. I give this album a 3/4.

3.5_stars

Tiesto – A Town Called Paradise Review [ 2.5/4]

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Tiesto released his new album on Monday June 16th, 2014. With all the accolades that follow this person’s name, high expectations were held for new album “A Town Called Paradise”.

Tiesto brought a full lineup of incredible artists which include Icona PopDBXDzeko & TorresKrewella, and many more well-known artists. The guest vocals and productions of the well-know arsenal the dutch trance legend brought unto this album seem almost to be a waste. Tiesto is almost wanting to please the more “mainstream” crowd by playing that hands-in-the-air track on repeat. Most of his songs should be played in the club scene, and the others will hopefully get the remix they deserve. My rating for Tiesto’s “A Town Called Paradise” will be a 2/4.
-Amando

Tiesto’s new album “A Town Called Paradise” is a very heartwarming and fun album. Tiesto chose to go a different route with the tracks in this album by throwing out different types of vibes for each song. While one song can be fun and talks about being wasted (“Wasted”) or traveling/meeting people/making memories (“Footprints”), the next can be more emotional and about a possible significant other (“Echoes”, “Shimmer”). The album also features the internationally known “Red Lights” as well. As Tiesto said during an interview, he chose to show different sides or himself and opened himself up. Even so many years after his initial growth in popularity, Tiesto has shown me that no matter what the genre, he will still blow everyone else out of the water. Listening to this album is a MUST! 4/4 stars
-Iza

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Tiestos new album gave me mixed feelings. It had too much vocals but then again a few of the tracks needed it. Matthew Koma of course made another appearance on another producer’s album; it’s no mystery that this man has become the voice of EDM at the moment. Other than the vocals it’s somewhat well balanced granted most tracks have been heard already and played in many of this summer’s festivals. Nonetheless the album gets 2 out of 4 stars from me. Tiesto needs to go back to his old ways, but he isn’t too bad when he tries the new stuff.
-Mario U

After being the first person from WhySoChi to hear “Wasted” at Ultra Miami 2014, I couldn’t wait to find out what Tiesto had in store for us in the future. A few days ago, the legend released his new album “A Town Called Paradise” which includes collabs with Icona Pop, Hardwell, Krewella, and of course, Matthew Koma. However, the pop industry is changing veteran DJ Tiesto. Most of the tracks on the album are obvious crowd-pleasers and sound the same. Although, Tiesto does admit that his new album is very different from his other ones and he claims that the lyrics are quite personal. I have to admit that Tiesto brings you to a town called paradise when you experience one of his sets but the ride just isn’t that exclusive anymore. Tiesto’s new album in 5 years, “A Town Called Paradise”, deserves 2 out of 4 stars for original tracks like “Can’t Forget” and creative tracks like “Set Yourself Free”.
-Nina

In interviews leading up to the release of this album Tiesto mentioned the album will have a heavy Indy rock influence and it shows as the album is very vocal. It seems that 2014 is the year every heavy hitting DJ tries something new either to expand their horizons or draw in a more mainstream crowd. Where Skrillex and Afrojack failed in my opinion, Tiesto not surprisingly succeeded. Even with a heavy vocal influence the album is solid with the exception of a few tracks. My personal favorites are “Echoes” “Rocky” and “Can’t Forget” all of which have limited lyrics with a great beat. The vocal side of the cd is also solid as Tiesto puts great melodies behind those vocals which gives me hope for some good edits and remixes in the near future. If the album was less vocal I could give this album a perfect score, but unfortunately it is not so Tiesto loses a few points in my book. Don’t worry, whether you listen to EDM stations or not you’ll probably hear many of these tracks on the radio soon.[3/4]
-Marcin

Two_and_a_half_Stars

Afrojack – Forget The World Review [2/4]

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Dutch Dj, Afrojack broke out into the scene nearly 4 years ago with his smash Hit “Take over Control” and in that short time not only did he gain a cult following but also graced some of the largest EDM Festivals in the world. That being said I have yet to see him bring his “A” game to Chicago  as even his headlining of 2012’s Spring Awakening Music Festival was a snooze. To no surprise his first studio album “Forget the World” also misses the mark in a big way. I will not penalize an artist for changing styles, but Afrojack has not been around long enough or at the Top for long enough to change things up now (unlike Tiesto and Srkillex). “Forget The World” is a mediocre Pop album at best,. The “hit” single “Spark” very well set the mood for the rest of the album and warns us that we will not enjoy what we hear. A select number of songs show potential and get you unnecessarily hyped up as the overload of soft lyrics kills any drop or melody you could rage to.  I give this album a very well deserved ¼
-Marcin

Afrojack to me was one of the first artists I’ve ever listened which got me into electronic music, along with Chuckle and Laidback Luke. A true inspiration in my life, and one of the main reasons I started Djing. This album though.it was kind of disappointing. Way too many lyrics, the track ‘Mexico’ threw me off completely. I’m all for new style of music, and change but this just did not seem like the typical Afrojack style per say. This was probably worse than Avicii’s attempt to mix country and electronic dance music. All in all I give these album 2/4 stars. Simply because I truly like the track ‘Keep Our Love Alive’. Other than that, true disappointment by Mr. Van Der Wall.
-Mario U

Why_So_Chi_neon_review 2 Afrojack:” Forget the World”? Seems more to me like “Forget Afrojack.” As I never really was a fan of Afrojack I did not have any high expectations of this album, but I found myself almost half asleep listening to this album. Afojack’s efforts at making  good songs by featuring Snoop Dog and not to mention Sting singing about homeless people seems quite ridiculous to me. I’ll give this album a 1/4. snoozeeee!
-Cathy

I actually like Afrojack’s new album. My favorite track I would have to say is ‘Ten Feet Tall’. It just sounds like a track that would get the crowd going and jumping, and everyone loves an EDM song you can sing along with. Also the track called ‘Born To Run’ is great. It sounds like it will be a big hit of the summer. The lyrics gives me the chills. Also, ‘Catch Tomorrow’ is a great track. Over all, I really enjoy his new album and am not considering seeing him this summer! 3/4
-Rachel

Grammy Award-winning DJ, Afrojack, released his first debut album “Forget the World. The Album includes popular songs like Ten Feet Tall and collabs with Sting, Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa, and Snoop Dogg. Afrojack’s fresh new tracks were made for dancing and will highlight the sets at music festivals this summer. Overall, the album deserves 3 out of 4 for experimental values with artists new to the EDM scene and the vibes it emits.
– Nina

Two_Stars