It's fitting that Logic's most rap-centric album in years comes fresh off the back of his full-blown "retirement." After making a virtuous curtain call on 2020's No Pressure, the Maryland native unceremoniously returned to the game just 11 months later, tapping into his worst mock-trap tendencies on Bobby Tarantino 3. Evidently, he got his second wind in 2022 and released a statement piece with 2022's Vinyl Days. Logic's seventh studio album is a weighty tribute to the golden age of '90s hip-hop, and his scholarly passion for the genre is present in every fiber of the project's composition. Verses are searing with the no-holds-barred lyricism of that era, colored by tributes to Dilla and Lupe, and shipped with a head-nodding cadence that would make B Rabbitt proud. The album's production -- a veritable vault of boom-bap gems -- ranks among the best the artist has touched, with artful sample chops, concrete drumlines, and nostalgic, warm overtones. The stream of consciousness writing, perhaps prompted by Logic's no-stakes return to the game, leads to some questionable moments -- like his weirdly murderous confessions about critic Anthony Fantano -- but offers more value in making the project feel like an extension of his state of mind. A touching plea for Madlib to revive his Quasimoto alter ego, an origin story for Mac DeMarco's Salad Days over RZA production -- these moments couldn't have come from anyone else. For all of its fervent adherence to the '90s blueprint, however, Vinyl Days inherits one major flaw from the streaming era -- its attention span. Most of the tracks here barely go over the two-minute mark, leaping urgently into interludes and beat switches before settling into any rhythm. It's unsurprising that the project's longer cuts make the boldest impressions: Blu & Exile are smooth partners on the soulful "Orville," "Sayonara" offers a "Last Call"-esque farewell to Def Jam, and "Vinyl Days" is a stank-face cruise through four minutes of Preemo production. The four-minute "Therapy Music" proves this year's most unexpected gem: while Russ meditates on his anxiety with the slick "I finally made it to the field of my dreams, and I let ghosts pay around in my head like I'm Ray Liotta," Logic closes the ceremony with a star-gazing second verse, "hanging with cats that stay with the iron like they Tony Stark" before thumping the beat back to life for a soulful finale. With an end to producing a smaller, more substantive set of ideas, the Vinyl Days sessions might have produced another five-star effort in Logic's catalog; though all too brief, these flashes of rap's golden era are colored in all the right hues. Vinyl Days isn't the second coming of Young Sinatra, but it may mark the start of a compelling new dawn for the MC. ~ David Crone