O.M.G its Rusko's debut album!

Alright guys. This album dropped yesterday, May 4th. It was quite hyped, as Rusko is known for a slew of massive productions and remixes. I had mixed thoughts about the album prior to its release. The first two tunes have been unveiled for quite a while, those being Woo Boost, and Hold On. I held Hold On in high regard, and it very well might turn into a summer anthem for me.

Now that I finally have it in my hands, I figured I'd do a little breakdown of the album. This is all opinion, and my personal thoughts on the production choices that Rusko made with this album.

O.M.G. starts off with

Woo Boost: Cmon... we've all heard this track for like 2 months now... I dont feel like their is much to be said about it. It does what it set out to do well. The little "woooos" put a smile on my face, but there are times when it definitely feels like the wobble is tripping over itself... (around 1 minute) which isn't a good thing. The remixes of this tune were pretty decent. I'm not really a fan of sirens... and the synth line is just... weird. I cant describe it any other way.

Hold On: The keys in this version are by far superior to those in the Sub Focus mix. It doesnt have a hint of happy hardcore. The drop is simple, and successful. I really like the vocals, which helps carry the otherwise bare song. Rusko did a good job of putting together a simple percussion line that is "good enough to listen to by itself", which is very important. The way he plays with energy by switching up his drum paterns is great. The drop at 1:50 is a little underwhelming/repetitive, but its good that there was a break from vocals, so I'm not complaining. I love the LFO on the synth during the breaks.

The best part of this song is OMG, he gives us something new at the end of the song!!!!! If you read the rest of the review, you will note that I was pretty angry with the lack of new material as the songs dragged on. The synth pattern after the drop at 3:12 may not seem like much, but damnit, I'm tired of listening to the same 3 patterns just arranged in different orders, give me more shit on top of those patterns man!

Rubadub Shakedown: In theory this song has great potential. Rusko lays down a smooth bassline, very reminiscent of the bass guitar used traditionally in many dub productions. The brass stabs on the upbeat fit in well with the rest of the production, however the brass lead synth its a beat on the cheese side.

Unfortunately, this track is covered with lyrics by Rod Azlan. If anything, Autotune has only served to make it more unintelligible. It takes a lot of effort to discern what he is saying.

At 2:10, we enter a nice breakdown, driven by the SLIGHTEST amount of wobble bass. The Brass lead works perfectly at this point, however, when it leaves, we are left with an extremely dry sounding piano line, accented by a few laser sounds, which leave me unsatisfied.

Dial My Number: First things first. I love the bubble percussion that is apparent from the very beginning of the intro. However @30 seconds we drop into a long chord pattern that can only be described as canned trance. When we finally drop out of this into the heavier sections of this song, Rusko introduces a horn line, which, like other horn lines on this album thus far, fails to sit well in the mix.

Thankfully the drop into the 4 on the floor section at 1:25 helps introduce both energy, and percussion variation to the track. We are back to what I can only describe as 80s synth fun, and its even apparent in his percussion.

2:52 introduces an instrument I can only describe as MIDI guitar? Whatever it is... I'm not a fan. Then we get to enjoy the sounds of a modem connecting, as we wait for the drop, which is exactly the same, as the first drop.

Final verdict = this track lacks variation. He has essentially 3 parts, which are repeated twice each, and an intro. I really wanted some variation at the second drop.

I Love You: Wow, trance much? We've got uplifting saw synths, which are accompanied by arpeggiated pads, and a weird vocoded/talk boxed vocal line (which doesn't fit the trancy feel of this intro). When we get to the drop, all semblance of the first track, other than the vocal line, is completely abandoned. Rusko feeds us a talking bass line, which is replaced by by a polysaw growl... neither of which are new sounds.

The saving grace of this tune is the breaks, even though I made fun of them earlier. The build ups to the drops are great, especially as they cascade down. They are pretty massive... and that could indeed carry this tune.

Kumon Kumon: As this tune starts, all I can think is "Oh God, its another Take Me to the Hospital" I can only mouth the little chiptune vocals over this. Then we get to the drop, and he lays down an amen break laden laser smooth thingy haha, which I was really digging. Of course it only takes him about 30 seconds to re introduce the annoying as balls "main synth line" which consists of 4 bars of material, repeated over and over.

Ever part of this song that was devoid of the main synth line was pretty damn good. I could groove to it. However, somehow Rusko is making a 3 minute song seem like an 8 minute song, because a majority of the tunes after hold On are only made up of 3 different parts, which have been cut and pasted to fill in the dead air. The repetition is really getting to me. I keep expecting a new element to be introduced at the second drop, but all he does is play around with things he has already established in the tune.

Scareware: Going into the intro of this song, all I can say is that I can definitely see this getting popular with the commercial hip hop crowd. The "crew" vocals are definitely commercial feeling. The drop is not impressive, BUT the bass sweet at 1:01 is SICK which makes up for it.

As the tune progresses, I cant say I find anything particularly wrong with it, its just not my cup of tea. I think this will be one of the more successful tunes on the album in terms of radio and club play.

Raver's Special: Intro instrumentation is made up of happy hardcore piano, and commercial hip hop claps. Two pet peaves of mine haha. Rusko borrows an idea out of his touring partners Major Lazer's book, and throws in lots of Lazer sounds for good measure and build up purposes.

The drop is very Joker like, especially with the vocoded lyrics. with the Happy Hardcore reprise comes some four to the floor drum patterns, one of the things I have really liked about the album thus far, cause it definitely makes dubstep more club friendly from an energy perspective. The bass on this track is pretty flawless, but like just about any commercial diamond you could buy, there are millions out there just like it.

Build up at 2:45 is prettttty huge, and it really gets you excited for the second drop, but... instead you drop into happy hardcore piano break. Again. the second build up isn't as special, as its just a recycled portion of the song. 2nd drop is identical to the first. All I can say.

Feels So Real: Starts off with sort of a daft punky feel. This is one of the few non halftime tunes on the album, and overall its pretty good. I definitely feel like this one was inspired by the success of Sub Focus's tune "Could This be real". Its got a bouncy beat, and similar vocal styles. The main differences between the two is Rusko's complete abandonment of halftime (he has kicks on every beat, vs Sub Focus did every other beat).

I think this works pretty well, and I can definitely see this song being pretty big this summer, even if its just a pre-game tune that gets all its play on the way to the club.

You're On My Mind Baby: At this point, the amount of little vocoded vocal lines on this album is reaching an alarming point haha. This is another one of the more "trancy" songs on this album, Arpeggiated pads, and some pretty great white noise filter sweeps. The synth line at 36 seconds seems a little thin, but the pad line introduced at around 1 minute is quite atmospheric.

Overall, this song puts you in a pretty good mood. Its easy to jam out at either 140 OR 70 to this tune, which is nice, especially for people who are not really into the whole half time thing. The way he variates from claps on the 3 to claps on the 2 between percussion lines is a good touch.

I've given up on any sort of variation for the second drop. This would have been one of those tunes where I would have LOVED him to drop into some massive and growling..... Guess we will have to wait for the singles to be released... cause none of these tunes are dj friendly.

Got Da Groove: Probably my least favorite track on the album. Gucci Mane doesn't contribute anything to the mix, and this is the most Joker like song from a production standpoint. No thank you sir, Next Song Please.

Oy: This is the first song on this album since Hold On that I liked since the first time I heard it. The heavy bassline accompanied by bouncing kicks work very nicely together. The samples used at the end of each phrase remind me of a song, but I can pinpoint it exactly, ESPECIALLY the one at 1:07.

For some reason this song just seems to put me in a good mood. I cant pinpoint the production technique that does it for me, but its definitely got that "side to side shuffle" thing that Rusko talks about in his masterclass vids, and I realllly like it.

My Mouth: This track starts off, and It initially bring thoughts of Message in a bottle by The Police. The 80s pads are actually pretty nice. It adds some midrange meat to what would otherwise be your everyday dubstep tune. As we get into the middle of the tune, it starts to point more towards progressive house producers like the duo Michael Cassette, amongst others on the Anjunadeep label.

Again... the vocoded lyrics are not really necessary... and the only thing they add to the tracks, is the fact that rusko tried to fit that vocal effect onto every single track he could hahaha. As we reach the end of this track, it starts to drag on with build up after build up into a drop we've already heard before.

District Line: This song is perhaps one of the most *complete* on the album. All aspects of it mesh well, which has been a major problem with the rest of the album. A return to the more Dubby side of Dubstep, its got a near wobbleless bassline (very Bass guitar sounding). The "distant Horn line" sound really works in this tune, as many of the aspects are washed into the background, which I mean in a good way.

The best part of this song, is the fact that Rusko made a decision to make a chill song, and didnt add anything that would basically make this unplayable in a chill set. It kind of reminds me of his live performances with bass and Microkorg/MPD at wmc a while back.


Random Thoughts: I was kinda ticked that nothing on this album was dj friendly. Most of the tunes just... end. District line has a terrible fade out.

Tracks I Thoroughly Enjoyed: Hold On, Oy, District Line.

Tracks that would make it on my Ipod: Woo Boost, Dial My Number, I Love You, Raver's Special, Feels So Real, My Mouth, You're on My mind

Songs that will see commercial play, but I didnt reallly enjoy: Scareware, Got Da Groove, Woo Boost,

Songs that I could have done without: Got Da Groove, Kumon Kumon (stupid main synth)Rubadub Shakedown, and he probably could have got rid of one of the following: Dial my Number, My Mouth, You're On My Mind Baby

You can pick this album up from Mad Decent HERE