The quality of this never-ending series has slipped a long way since its heyday, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a show so well-written and rewatchable for the first 10 or so seasons. It's relatable for kids who watch it, but also, as I grew I noticed and related to other characters, dialogue and plot points. Some Favourite Episodes: The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson 22 Short Films About Springfield The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace Homer Loves Flanders King-Size Homer Homer Badman Bart on the Road Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious Behind the Laughter Homer Goes to College The Homer They Fall Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble" Homer's Enemy Brother from the Same Planet The Cartridge Family

Looks like I'll be a fish out of water here. I don't find the production to be good enough to give this a great rating, and vocally I don't like Jay-Z enough either. Some people say he makes rapping sound so easy, but for me, it's more that he seems like he ain't putting much effort into it. Although, this is more of an issue on future Jay albums than this one. I like the first half of the album a lot as it has some classic songs, but every time I listen to this, I find that in the second half it drops off considerably as the best tracks below suggest and as survivor games of this album demonstrate also. 'Ain't No Nigga' alone is one of the worst songs on a classically acclaimed hip hop album as well. It's horrendous. It's still a good album, but I'd never mention this when talking about the '90s classics as the consistency isn't here. Best Tracks: Dead Presidents II, Feelin' It, D'Evils, Can't Knock The Hustle

An album that I perhaps underrated early on. However, after many attempts to listen to it, due to the love it has received, I still think, like many Jay-Z albums, that it is overrated. It really has four weak tunes meaning that it's far from being a classic or anything too noteworthy. 1 Intro N/A 2 Pray ★★★★☆ Easily the best production on the album. The New Earth sample is great along with Beyonce as well. 3 American Dreamin' ★★★☆ Not bad but I always get a bit bored with this. 4 Hello Brooklyn 2.0 (feat. Lil Wayne) ★☆ Mediocre beat with an ill-fitting Lil Wayne featured. What was Jay thinking? Wayne is popular at the moment, so I better get him on the album no matter what... 5 No Hook ★★★☆ I don't dislike this, but it isn't something I'd ever play without playing the album from start to finish. 6 Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)... ★★★★ That trumpet is dope. Good production. 7 Sweet ★★ I've never liked this song. I'm over it pretty quickly. 8 I Know ★★☆ An average Neptune produced chick pop rap tune. 9 Party Life ★★ Pretty boring 10 Ignorant Shit (feat. Beanie Sigel) ★★★★ Gotta love the Between the Sheets sample. Good rapping from Jay. 11 Say Hello ★★★☆ 12 Success (feat. Nas) ★★★ I'm a big Nas fan but I've never dug the production on this one. 13 Fallin' ★★★★ Like 'Ignorant Shit', the sample really helps carry this. This time it's 'Fell for You' by the great Dramatics. 14 Blue Magic ★★☆ Quite a minimalist beat and the first single from this album. Ehh. 15 American Gangster ★★★ Best Tracks: Pray, Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..., Ignorant Shit, Fallin'

A pretty bangin' west coast mid '90s release. Checking out a hip hop album from '94 is rarely a let down. The best here for me is 'Kill the Disrespect' that features Marvaless spitting like fire with a quick flow. The production has a dark feel with 'Don't Cross Me' sounding a bit like something you'd find in a 16-bit science-fiction video game. 'Shout Outs' should be left as linear notes in an album's booklet. Whoever started that trend in the '90s of having 5 minutes of shout outs on albums needs to be shot. It's close to a 4 out of 5. I probably just need one or two more songs to be closer to the level of 'Kill the Disrespect'. Best Tracks: Kill the Disrespect, Don't Cross Me, Niggaz & Hoes, Ghetto Blues, Female Assassin

I'm sure Dennis would say this show "hasn't even begun to peak yet", but I think it did a long time ago. I find season 3 and 5 to be the best of them with the highest number of amazing episodes and the least forgettable ones. Season 4 isn't too far behind. It must be mentioned though, that that is when I got into the show. By chance I caught an episode on TV, got all of the episodes and binged season 1-5 and then I've watched 6 to the current seasons as they've aired. While on my rewatches, I don't find season 7 to be as bad as I used to. I do think that's when the ideas started to fall away. There are some episodes in season 7 that don't do much for me. Much of the humour in 'Frank's Pretty Woman' and 'The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore' is just shock humour - think the vomiting blood capsules scene - and 'Frank's Brother' is one of the worst episode from the series (competing with 'McPoyle vs. Ponderosa: The Trial of the Century' from season 11). 'How Mac Got Fat' is decent but is put together from an unaired episode. The final double episode of 'The High School Reunion' is a letdown as well. So, despite having some strong points like 'Thunder Gun Express' ("One of the things I like doing most is banging whores"), it has many more issues than what preceded it. I must note though, that from what I've seen online, the above isn't a common opinion. Many love 'The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore'. From there, I think season 8 was an improvement in consistency. They began to include many more call-backs, including the fun 'The Gang Recycles Their Trash' episode. Again though, the poor moments like 'Charlie Rules the World' are a lot worse than what we have from the earlier seasons. I won't review every season now, but the other issues on occasions have been the consistency of character. At times Mac in particular has been inconsistent with how he interacts with Dennis. From not listening to a word he says to acting like his puppy. Many of the show's greatest episodes, like 'Mac Bangs Dennis' Mum, 'Kitten Mittens' and so on, have the gang break off into pairs or a triad and then come together for the episodes' conclusion. That structure seems to have become less common, as did the bar as the episodes' setting. A little bit like The Simpsons, it isn't as consistent and amazing as it used to be, but for its peak, this show is a must watch. Some of the best episodes: Charlie Has Cancer Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom The Aluminum Monster vs. Fatty McGoo Mac Is a Serial Killer The Gang Hits the Road Mac and Dennis Break Up The Nightman Cometh The D.E.N.N.I.S. System The Gang Gives Frank an Intervention The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis Paddy's Pub: The Worst Bar in Philadelphia The Gang Gets Whacked Mac and Charlie Die Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens Thunder Gun Express The Gang Tries Desperately to Win an Award Season Rankings (need to add S12-14): S5 S3 S4 S2 S6 S1 S8 S10 S7 S9 S11