Disco de Swollen Members: “Monsters in the Closet”

Mad Child and Prevail deliver a solid performance on the Swollen Members latest release from Battle Axe Records, Monsters in the Closet.

As far as remix albums are concerned, this one is pretty damn tight. There's some really cool new takes on some of the tunes from Bad Dreams which make for a great listen, and should probably hold me over until their next LP.

Appearances by Moka Only and fellow Vancouverite Nelly Furtado also add to the mix which makes for a pretty tasty musical gumbo.

Overall, it's another solid outing from the Swollen Members.

Overall, this album was totally awesome. It has hard-hitting tracks like Red Dragon, Crunch and Freak Fantasic, and softer tracks like Long Way Down. This album has something for everyone! Whether you're into Swollen's underground vibe, or their newer, more 'mainstream' vibe. For all those people that say Monsters In The Closet is tottaly different than Balance, they are absolutely right. I believe the reason for this is that S+M have found that 'formula' that they have mentioned several times. But without taking on some of this 'formula' Swollen might not be as sucessful as they are today. They are not 'sell outs' like some of you think. They are grounded, they know where they came from, and they know where they want to go. They are UnDeRgRoUnD fOrEvEr, and will never loose that underground vibe or influence. This album is great, and if you like hip hop of any sort, buy it!

swollen members has skills. they're not about that bootleg fake gangsta rap, they're actually lyrical...

it's actually hard to classify this album in any one particular group, the music is so different on most of the songs it's what I call a moody CD, a song for every mood:)

The songs with Nelly Furtado "breathe" and Sarah Mclaughlin "long way down", are amazing, almost trip hop feel to them, just amazing, and the song " act on it" has a smooth classy feel to it, like old school Roots stuff...it's just a great album..

=S=

Swollen Members is better than most out there currently. Monsters in the Closet is a great album. I have three of their cd's and am planning on buying Balance soon. This isn't the best I heard but it is much better than the US mainstream.