Album Review: Saint James – “Welcome to Saints Row”
Saint James – “Welcome to Saints Row”
Released: 2011
Reviewed by: Zach Rohman
Rating: 4 (Out of 10)
[xrr rating=4/10]
Welcome to Saints Row! No, not the video game! This is the mixtape of Saint James, and it started off with a bang. It seemed to start off with a bang at least. The opening track “Welcome to Saints Row” had me getting pumped. Once he started spitting though I realized it wasn’t quite as hype as I thought. This mixtape is full of the “freestyle type” of songs. When an artist is on that type of track, I expect one of two things. I either expect him to wow me with word play, or wow me with an amazing message. Sadly neither of these things really came through on the first track (or really the whole mixtape).
What I did like from Saint James was his voice. His voice just has something about it that makes me want to listen. He is also an artist that seems to be good at a lot of things, but at least on this mixtape, I didn’t see any great qualities from him. Songs like “A Thug’s Life”, “Kill the Messenger”, and a few others were tracks that pretty much bored me. As good as Saint James’s voice is, he didn’t bring too much excitement with it. His rhymes seemed a little boring, the beats were boring, and his voice seemed a little boring.
Some songs stood out a little more then others.”Victory 2009″ seemed to go a lot harder then most songs on the mixtape. Everything on this track had a lot more excitement then most of the mixtape. The beat was fresh and wasn’t as repetitive, and Saint James brought a lot of energy on the track. The message was also very strong in this song. “Armageddon” and “Minutes of Life” also stood out a little bit more then other tracks for similar reasons.
The production was decent. Everything sounded pretty good, but the beats got very repetitive. Also since it was a mixtape, the songs were mixed and not mastered, which also hurt the quality of the songs a little bit. Also because of the style of songs he chose, he didn’t get much of a chance to showcase his skills making a chorus. A catchy chorus can make or break a song, but we didn’t get to see any catchy choruses.
I probably sound like a huge critic. But I actually did see a lot of potential in Saint James. With better production, more energy, and better word play I could actually see Saint James being a great artist. I really do encourage you to listen to the mixtape and hear some potential. He also did have some edifying things to say and helped encourage me. I hope you stay on the look out for his debut album, “True Story; The Saint James LP.” I definitely see enough potential in Saint James. I’ll be sure to check out his stuff in the future, and I hope you do too. God bless.
Comprehensive Ratings:
• Music: 3.5 of 10
• Flow / Delivery: 4.5 of 10
• Lyricism: 3.5 of 10
• Content: 4 of 10
• Creativity / Originality / Relevancy: 4 of 10
• Credibility / Confidence: 3.5 of 10
• Personality / Character: 5 of 10
• Presentation Quality: 4 of 10
• Overall Production Quality: 4 of 10
• Potential Impact: 4 of 10
