Lazarus review.

After reviewing two of the biggest and most hyped albums of this summer, I decided to step back a little bit and cover an album that most people are sleeping on. Yeah, the first single Billionaire is getting loads of radio play, but I guarantee if you ask someone random, chances are they wouldn't know what album it's from.

Travie McCoy, the lead singer from Gym Class Heroes, released his debut album Lazarus on June 8th. So after weeks of putting it off, I finally sat down and gave Lazarus a full listen, collecting my thoughts on the way.

1.) Dr. Feel Good ft. Cee-Lo - 3/5

A nice, fun track to start off the album. Cee-Lo delievers on the chorus, but besides that, it sounds like just a track off of a Gym Class Heroes album. Not saying that's bad, but I'll talk about that a little more later.

2.) Superbad (11:34) - 3.5/5

I'm feeling this song, despite the lack of rapping. (This is supposed to be a hip-hop album, right?) The lyrics are darker than any other song on the album and the beat fits it pretty well. I'm still awaiting something that pushes this away from Gym Class Heroes though.

3.) Billionaire ft. Bruno Mars - 4/5

Everyone and their mother has heard this song already; I can tell by the constant quoting of the chorus on people's Facebook statuses. Bruno Mars is starting to become a go-to-guy for choruses as he does an excellent job here as well as Nothin' On You by B.o.B. Despite it being very radio-friendly, Travie does a nice job distancing himself from the band and doing his own thing here. Lyrics are decent and we all know by now it's very catchy.

4.) Need You - 2.5/5

This sounds like a Kelly Clarkson/Katy Perry song to begin with. Travie leaves rapping behind (again) and goes with strictly singing here, but once again, I'm feeling it...until the chorus; what an absolute buzzkill. The lyrics are fine, but the completely changing of the beat and his singing just ruined it for me. Change the chorus and you have a very good song.

5.) Critical ft. Tim William - 2.5/5

More singing...is Travie going to differ himself from the band? This isn't a bad song by no means, but nothing is standing out.

6.) Akidagain - 4.5/5

This is what I'm talking about. Travie finally starts rapping and the chorus is absolutely perfect for the subject matter. The lyrics speak about him reminiscing on when he was a little kid and that he would love to go back to that time. This is an absolute turn-off for the "gangster" rapper fans, but someone who enjoys a lot of different genres, this is great.

7.) We'll Be Alright - 1/5

Talk about a fall off. This song just screams dumbed down mainstream and in fact, it is the second single on the album. Sounds like a Disney Channel track, minus some of the lyrics speaking about alcohol and such. Worst track on the album.

8.) The Manual ft. T-Pain & Young Cash - 2.5/5

T-Pain and Travie...an interesting combo. Sounds like a Gym Class Heroes track again and although none of the lyrics stand out, the beat keeps me interested a little bit and let's me get through the whole song.

9.) After Midnight (It'll Burn) - 3.5/5

More Gym Class Heroes-esque music, but I really like this song. Again, he starts with singing and just when you think he's going to sing the whole song, he switches it up with a whole verse of just rapping.

10.) Don't Pretend ft. Colin Munroe & Travis Barker - 4.5/5

I was watching BET's 106 & Park the other day and sure enough, Travie was on it talking about his album. When they discussed Don't Pretend, he mentioned that he was sick when they recorded the track, hence why it sounds like he's crying in a way. Absolute genius because it adds so much emotion into an already deep track. Lyrics are on point and fit the subject matter perfectly (girlfriend cheating on him, ends up getting with the guy she cheated on him with) and the only thing stopping this song from getting a perfect rating is that it's too short. One more verse, Travie!

Overall Grade: 3.2/5

The first thing I thought of after seeing the average rating was, "maybe I was a little too tough on Drake's album." I can't see this getting as much play as Thank Me Later did, but maybe that's because it only has 10 tracks. Anyways, I digress; let's get back to Travie.

Travie will never spit like the best in the game, but his flow just fits his personality perfectly. It doesn't feel awkward or forced at all, just sounds like he's having fun (Billionaire, Akidagain) or he's showing true emotion (Don't Pretend). He needs to rap more though if he wants to receive more recognition by the true hip-hop heads of the world.

I enjoy the Gym Class Heroes, but one of the things I wanted to see out of this album is if Travie would step out of the box and do his own thing. For the most part, he didn't, because a lot of the album sounds like throw-away tracks from GCH. It affected my rating a bit, but this is still a decent debut which is perfect for the summer season.