Guns Don't Kill People: Lazers Do

Artist(s):

Major Lazer

Label: Downtown
Publisher(s):

Downtown

Studio: Downtown
Manufacturer: Downtown
Binding: Audio CD
MPN: 878037008821
List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $12.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Track Listing

I'll Make Ya

When You Hear the Bassline

Can't Stop Now

Lazer Theme

Anything Goes

Cash Flow

Mary Jane

Bruk Out

What U Like

10.

Keep It Goin' Louder

11.

Pon de Floor

12.

Baby

13.

Jump Up

Editorial Reviews

Album Description

Major Lazer is the Grammy-nominated super producer duo of Switch and Diplo, best known for their work with M.I.A and the hit 'Paper Planes', as well as production work for the likes of Santogold, Amanda Blank, Bondo do Role and Tricky. Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do is a Reggae and Dancehall explosion just in time for summer, with guest vocals from friends Mapei, Santogold and Amanda Blank; as well as Dancehall mainstays like Nina Sky, Vybz Cartel, Ward 21 and Busy Signal, among many others.

Customer Reviews

A Breath of fresh air.

First off, I would recommend watching the music videos to get more of an "experience", and then purchasing the album. The videos perfectly set the mood for an appreciation of the music as Eric Warheim, known for creating "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job", does an excellent job of capturing Major Lazer's wacky and quirky music in LSD soaked videos that are on a par with Aphex Twin Chris Cunningham's "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker". I found the videos in high quality at vimeo dot com (also check out Eric Warheim's video for Health "We Are Water").
I came across Major Lazer at random and will admit I know little about the genre. So little I wouldn't know the difference between Reggae, Dancehall, Reggae-Fusion, etc. I do know that after hearing Pon de Floor, Hold The Line, and Keep It Going Louder, I needed to buy this album. Definitely left me wanting more of this style of music.
Regarding this review, you may say that I should focus on reviewing the music, not the music video, but again, this is just my path and experience to really enjoying (and purchasing) the album and becoming a new fan of Major Lazer's music and the genre.

enjoyable, but not incredible

This album is silly.....really silly.....almost painfully so. It's also the kind of album I would pick up just for the cover (do yourself a favor and google the image). As the side project of electronic mash-masters Diplo and Switch, it's not meant to do anything other than entertain. The most important statement it makes is that the fusion of lazers and reggae music was long overdue.

Yo son this stuff is mad decent...

After spending most of the decade throwing parties, releasing mix tapes, and occassionally dabbling in production, Diplo and Switch manage to live out a record junkie's final dream: collaborating with their favorite artists in Jamaica. Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do is the natural progression from last year's excellent Top Ranking, subtracting the classics and adding fresh dancehall and riddim tracks. If anything, this record is a pastiche of world dance music and its universality today. I do mean today. More specifically right now.

The influence of dancehall and riddim worldwide is incalculable. Instead of plunging into the esoteric, we really get the hits. And the big cats who make them. Mr Vegas lends his voice to the rootsy vibe of "Can't stop now," looping breezy roots reggae till we sleep with smiles. Crossover hit "Keep It Going Louder" has the Nina Skye's reggaeton dripping all over the vocoder. Vybz Kartel lets the rhythm hit "Pod de floor'" for the riddim heads. Like I said, it's about now.

The problems with this record are miniscule in comparison to what it adds to the musical landscape of the first decade of this millenium. "Cash flow" could have been a hit if it was grittier and Prince Zimboo should have given us a full verse on "Baby" but that's ok. I'll take Santigold's cameo and "Can't stop now" riding that Nora Dean track to heaven and back again. Recommended.

Solid first album for the duo

I first heard about these guys when gizmodo posted their video for "Pon de Floor". The premise for the video's pretty funny and I couldn't stop watching it. At any rate, I decided to check out the rest of their album and it's really good. If you're feeling tired, it will definitely wake you up. A few of the songs I liked were:
Hold the Line
Lazer Theme
Cash Flow
Keep it Goin' Louder
Pon De Floor

Apparently they recorded this album in Jamaica, so it has a reggae-infused electronica sound. If you've listened to MIA at all, I think you'll recognize it a little bit because one of the members did some production for her. Oh yeah and one more thing, don't forget to check out the video for Pon De Floor on youtube.

Crazy creative

There's only one track (keep it going louder) where autotune annoys the hell out of me and it's the weakest track. Everything else is just insane from roots reggae to a baltimore dancehall hybrid, it's definitley the soundtrack for a Jamaican zombiekiller and for my summer.

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