The six hundred and eightieth album: #680 Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Putting aside lyrical content, which is a mix of things I can't comment on and things that I don't agree with, it's the musical accomplishment to focus on here. A lot of the music is heavily condensed samples, in a way that works as a backing track but gets a bit much for more prominent samples. The raps are fairly impressive, the aggression at the right level, but the contrast between the styles of Chuck D and Flavor Flav is quite notable and can clash unnecessarily in some places.
The six hundred and seventy-ninth album: #679 LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
I'm getting a better feeling for the development of hip hop and rap through this era. While far from the gangsta rap that is coming up, this feels closer to the modern sound, the fun times of a lot of albums replaced by something deeper without going fully dark. LL Cool J's lyrics are articulate, with a lot of variety and more content when the song asks for it, but also with the more 'fun' rap battle rhymes. It's fun and listenable, accessible while still having personality to it.
The six hundred and seventy-eighth album: #678 Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
Ritual De Lo Habitual is an album of energetic rock tracks, that post punk sound with an upbeat rhythm and shouty lyrics that feel quite positive, with the metal influences more restrained and more of a lighter rock feel throughout the tracks. It's more accessible than it could be, with a lot of variations on the basic sound of the tracks, but overall it hits home pretty well regardless of whether it's more accessible alt rock or goes for more of a metal feel.
The two hundred and fourty-second TV show: #663 The Mighty Boosh
How real can a sophomore slump season get? The Mighty Boosh's first season was a fun surreal comedy, with some good recurring bits that pushed it too far every once in a while, but it generally worked. The third season builds on that - slightly more through lines, more different roles for the actors, but the surreal core that still works well. The middle season, howeve,r, doesn't work as well. The setting has less to go on - the zoo of the first season and shop of the third grounds it, but the second season misses a lot of that. The acting is as much of a problem, though. The performances were never the best, but the second season relies a lot more on Michael Fielding's Naboo. While he probably has a bigger role behind the scenes, his quite flat performance works better as a minor side character than carrying large parts of the storylines like in that season. It requires a lot of confidence to pull off the comedy in the show, and while Julian Barrett and Noel Fielding can pull it off, as well as the support of Rich Fulcher and Richard Ayode, there are points in the show where it lacks this confidence, and it is to its detriment.