Paradise (Official thread for album discussion)

[beano22]

can anybody tell me if paradise is goin 2 be coming out in england or is it just out in the us.

[shero]

Just read the other bullsh!t thread in the "messages from TQ" section! Apparently this once European album is now Going to be America only, but that's not to say America can get it either, because as it was mentioned, it's not going to be in all the stores or hard copies of it made in the millions! Which means that at this rate it'll be like the DVD with a certain number of "limited edition" hard copies and everyone, european and American will have to digital download it, from american sites, which doesn't work for europeans, ya starting to understand me? no one is going to buy the digital download because it's not the same as having a hard copy of a cd to hold and it's just as easy to download for free anyway! And as it stands, Europeans can NOT get their hands on this long awaited European album!

[Akkadian]

Truth is a European only album is not marketable. European labels don't want to release a europe only album of a US artist and the few that do want to take control of the rights of the songs... and in case you missed the articles on that, TQ will never sign to a label again that takes his music from him. When the situation presents itself where TQ can get the same type of deal that doesn't screw him over in the long run, I guarantee he will not hesitate to jump on it.

I think you need to shift your focus on European distributors and labels. Cuz if you think T is holdin the sh!t just to hold it and you don't think he tried over and over to get a decent deal... youre sadly mistaken.

I guess he could just hand over his music and money rights and give it all out for free.... But considering he pays thousands of dollars for production, studio time and publishing for each song... I dont think thats very smart.

[Bennett]

Back to the questions bout the album! what i wanna know is why there aint an intro track like there was on TNSMC, TSC, & Listen? All 3 of them were brilliant, bit of talkin bout what the albums bringing, little bit of singin, smooth guitar riffs. He needs one on Paradise!

[Stunna]

True , I think u r right !

[303gss]

"sexy" is my favorite joint on the album, perfect summer song, that you could bump all year around

[Lanky]

Albums sounds amazing. No matter what, will get a copy. Always a will and a way

[rampage]

Album sounds great indeed. Woulda loved dopeman (the demo we got a few months back) on it though.
Got so upset when proud mary started... Such a good voice and then the T-Pain stuff lol. As soon as the normal vocals kicked in I liked it though.
Wanted to post my favorite track too but I cant decide yet after 1 listening they're all good Right now Im leaning towards Pumpin.

[nelsonthedon]

whatchagondo who his he dissing?? great songs

[Bishop]

Is anyone else disappointed with the album? I have admired TQ's work and talents since the first time I saw Westside, and TNSMC remains, in my opinion, the best R&B album ever made.

Paradise, on the other hand, seems to lack any distinctive melodies or concepts that made TNSMC so good. It's almost as if TQ "ran out of songs". When he sings in Paradise, he sings to a beat; when TQ sang on TNSMC, he sang WITH the beat. In 1998, his flows seemed to glide along effortlessly with the music. Compared to 2008 music in general, Sexy isn't a bad song, but if it's the best song on the album, then you're basically confirming everything I said, to be honest. How can you compare it to, taking a random track from TNSMC, "When I Get Out" for example, or more along the lines of the Sexy theme, "I Get Around", a beautiful song. When I first heard that track it was just one of the sweetest sounds coming out of the speakers period. Proud Mary doesn't even compare to Darlin Mary. Whatchagondo has a concept similar to that of "Used To", but again, it doesn't compare, and "Used To" wasn't even on any album. I am at a loss for words as to how TQ can say this is his best work yet, when the only album he has made which is worse than this is Gemini, and you can't really cla$s that as an authentic TQ album anyway. In My Lap is trash. Paradise is by 2008 standards a decent song, but nowhere near good enough for TQ; the lyrics are decent but the production is average and it seems as if he's lost for a new idea. Soulja is average. Ain't The Same, average, doesn't really sound like a TQ track, he also moans a couple lines "oh oh oh" where he clearly was at a loss as to what to write! Ebony Eyes again is an average one, again "for the ladies". Half of it sounds like Gemini Part 2 if you haven't already noticed. I Don't Know, well, I was really looking forward to another TQ/JE track after the excellent "I Remember", but this one doesn't even come close. Another average track, how original, 'I don't know if she'll leave me, I'd do anything just to keep her' ...sounds like the moaning of a poor AFC, something TQ and JE definitely should NOT be given their status. A Little Bit Of Love is average, it doesn't appear as if he knows where the track is going. No songs have REALLY distinct melodies which make the little hairs on the back of your neck tingle, something which TNSMC, TSC and Listen ALL had in abundance. The Second Coming, if you add in the tracks which got taken out, was a brilliant album, one of the best R&B albums ever made. I didn't expect another TNSMC when I listened to that back in 2000, it was clear after the "Daily" video TQ was taking a little change in direction at that point, but I still rocked it, because it was just great music. Even the intro, again, was sweet. Can you say GHETTO? Hard Life? Internationally Yours? (Back in the days when TQ had worldwide success because of TNSMC) Dirty? One Day? It's been so long since any of that, that people are getting used to the terrible standards these days. When I was young TQ Better Days was all over mainstream music TV, now it's Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Timberland with all these technicolour videos and futuristic beats. I was damn PROUD of TQ when he came out with "Right On", it was completely out of the blue. I thought we had lost him to the mainstream then he dropped Listen, and I thought if there was one guy I could depend on it was TQ. Gone But Not Forgotten? Fly? Even songs like Sista, the one for the ladies, were very good indeed. I honestly think people have run out of songs, yes they keep producing them but there are a limited number of things in the world that can be talked about - look at rap, to where Busta Rhymes has gone, he has become mainstream, that is true, but he has also RUN OUT OF RHYMES, because there is only a certain number of words in the English language. There are only a certain amount of DISTINCT topics, melodies and lyrics that can possibly exist, and most of them have been exhausted; certainly it will be something very special indeed for a song to come out these days that you can REALLY pull out of the crowd and call a CLa$sIC. Paradise is average at best, very very poor by TQ's standards. What can I say, I'm not biased, hell I wish I were, but based on the silence on these boards there I'd guess that the rest of you feel there isn't much to talk about either. Of course those faithful to TQ, Mauzip and Qu, would never call a TQ album a disappointment, but I don't believe in lying. I'm not saying I could make a better album, I don't want to sound like I know everything, no way, I am saying this from the perspective of a decade of admiration for this man's work.

[Jayspee]

Hey man,

I hope you dont get slated for that post because I think your honesty should be appreciated and everyone is entitled to their opinion especially on an internet forum. I dont agree with everything you've said but I do agree with some of it. You made a point which I often think about which is where there are only so many things that a person can sing about before u start repeating yourself and that is part of the reason why the debut album of so many artists ends up being there best, they've had a life time to think about those topics and write those verses whereas they only have a couple years worth of new experiences to draw on for the follow up unless they repeat some of what they talked about on the first. I agree that out of the 4 main TQ albums, this to me doesnt compare with the others but I still think its a strong album based on the current industry. I also think for the first time there are tracks on here that are 'filler', in other words u just wanna skip them, which i dont think has ever been the case on a previous TQ album, tracks such as Soulja, In My Lap, and the Paradise Rmx arent some of his best work IMO. But I appreciate he is an artist and he wants to try new things. If he wanted to he could use the exact same 16 beats from TNSMC and spit over them like he did back then but he's been there done that. Of course that style is what attracted us to his music in the first place so we're always gonna prefer that style but as he evolves as a musician i guess we have to evolve in our listening tastes too. The thing that struck me as well, and I may be wrong about this, but T seemed to have a lot more control on the production side on Listen than he does on Paradise and considering he did such a good job on that, I wonder why he didnt just pick up where he left off? Anyway, i just thought I'd chirp up with my two cents, I think its a good set by T's standard, a very good set by industry standards but Im hoping he comes back with a more raw style on his next one in another 5 years time lol.

[nelsonthedon]

The worse songs I hate in this album are

1.pumpin feat Cadillac and low
2. in your lap
the rest are good

my favorite albums of TQ
1.they never saw me coming
2.the second coming
3.Paradise
4.listen
5. Gemini is trash this is the wrose album of TQ

[meeksmoney]

I have to agree with Bishop for the most part, I've been a huge TQ fan since "TNSMC" and I've loved every album he released since then (with the exception of Gemini, which was still a pretty good R&B album, just not really my style). I didn't know what to expect when "Listen..." came out but TQ did a hell of a job on that album every track had an original/distinct melody and I loved the album, so I had some high expectations for "Paradise", mainly because TQ himself had set the bar so high by releasing such original and innovative albums in the past. I just listened to Paradise two times and I never thought I'd say this about a TQ album but I was thoroughly dissapointed. Paradise is a pretty nice track, probably my favorite on the album which sucks cause I heard it months and months ago. The rest of the album in my opinion (and I don't mean to be overly critical because TQ is and will always be one of my favorite artists) sounds pretty unoriginal. Put it in My Lap by TQ's standards is a terrible song, I've heard this song about 10 other times by 10 other artists, these are the type of generic club anthems that clog our radio airwaves in this day and age. Whatchagondo had good lyrics but the melody is pretty much the exact same as "Dirty" from TSC. "Proud Mary", as much as I hate to say this sounded like a T-Pain rip-off, I love TQs songs about ganja but this one like Bishop said can't even be compared to "Darlin' Mary". I could go on and talk about some other songs but my feelings towards them are pretty much the same as Bishop's were. "They Never Saw Me Coming", "The Second Coming" and "Listen..." are cla$sics in my book and the Headbeaterz compilation along with "Gemini" and even his Coming of Age work are better than most music out there, and although I was dissapointed with this album I will still continue to support TQ because I know what he is capable of putting out there, I just don't view "Paradise" as anywhere near TQ's best, it just lacked the innovative melodies and lyrics of his past works. I own every album TQ has ever put out including his Coming of Age albums and the TQ in Amsterdam DVD + Street Muzik and like I said even though I was dissapointed I will still continue to support TQ.

[sulty]

My Opinion:

Great Tracks: Paradise

Good Tracks: A Little Bit of Love, Proud Mary, Pumpin', Whatchagoindo,

Average: I Dont Know, In My Lap, Soulja

Terrible: Ebony eyes, Paradise Pt II,

Overall, I would rank this album slightly ahead of "Listen" but far behind TNSMC and TSC. I have never heard Gemini.

[KaZa]

I agree.. definitely not his best work. But fark.. even a sh!t TQ song is better than the best song of other artists who are more mainstream. They just release rubbish and it goes number 1.

Noones feeling Soulja? One of my favorites.. love the beat. A little Bit of Love... is great... Sexy is my favorite song.. along with Paradise..In My Lap is pretty terrible.. a very non TQ song.. but i agree with Bishop.. in a sense that every artist runs out of things to write about... thats why artists never produce better than their original albums.

Eminem said it the best in one of his songs... 'ill never top my name is..' break out albums/songs are original.. its what makes the artist.. got to be something special to top it.