Customer Reviews

Phrenology

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

There are a lot of people in the world who will spend their lives following. Will only listen to things popular, eat things that dont sound weird, and will continue that way. If you are one who lives that way, you need to snap out of it and listen to the roots.

It took some time for the group who did things differently to do things differently. The roots were always the live band with the hot rapper.. This time they are the stellar band who are making an album full of "songs." there aren't many people in music who can spell that word.

Black thought went from talking about his band mate's drug problems, to sacrifices the roots have made to get here, to relationship issues, to acting on temptations, to the downfalls of media, without Malik B and Dice Raw, and not a lot of guest rappers. Talib was definitely welcome to be part of the experience, and he did what he does best.

The Amiri Baraka poem was definitely a nice flavor of icing for the cake.

this album was not as cohesive as their best effort, "Illadelph Half Life", but it is damn good.

If you're new to or "wondering" about The Roots then definitely get this album. This album is The Roots at their peak. They have some truly great colaborations on this album, and with The Roots it's not just "oh let's put this famous person on our album to boost sales." For The Roots it's all about the music and the colaborations on this album are truly that: colabortations!

While some say Outkast is taking hip-hop to places it's never gone before, The Roots make hip-hop the way it's supposed to be made. There is a palpable feel of all the roots of music in The Roots' sound: jazz, blues, rock, and R&B are all meshed beautifully into this musical form called hip-hop. And PHRENOLOGY is the best effort they've put forth yet (including their new 2004 release, 'Tipping Point'). Own PHRENOLGY and you'll own hip-hop at its essence.

The Roots are an interesting hip hop group in that they play their own instruments and are apparantly really good live, however, on this album, most of the songs are really repetetive and most of the rhymes and singing are kind of flat. Nelly Furtado and Jill Scott pop in for some vocals and really juice up the tracks that they appear on. The highlight for me (and the reason I bought the album) is "The Seed", with Cody ChesnuTT helping to cover his own song from his "Headphone Masterpiece" album.It has a lot more bounce and groove than Cody's original version and this kind of Rock n' Soul is something I would love to hear more of from The Roots. Some of these tracks seem to go on forevor and The Roots are definately not afraid to be pretentious or longwinded. They have talent and are on the right track but I don't feel that they have really found their groove yet.

It seems as if the Roots got tired of being classified as the group that's "more fun to think about than actually listen to" (thanks for that, Rolling Stone). Phrenology marks the band's tightest and, in my opinion, most accessible release yet.

Drifting farther away from the relaxed, darker beats of Illadelph Halflife and the eclectic, minimalist flows of Things Fall Apart, this album shows the Roots taking a more melodic route while maintaining the self-awareness, socially conscious attitude that defines their music amidst the MTV hip-pop. An all-around excellent album.

87) Phrentrow - A different intro than past Roots' albums; shorter and more effective in leading into . . .

88) Rock You - A great way to start the album. Interesting found-sound beats, the song hints that maybe Black Thought et al. are tired of taking the indirect route. Comes out of the gate with a steady, aggressive flow from BT.

89) !!!!!! - Yeah, um, where did this come from? Interesting choice by the band, and well-placed at the beginning of the album. Not a perfect fit, but Roots fans should make some allowances.

90) Sacrifice - This track absolutely hums. The bass carries you through the entire song. Easy flow from Thought (he seems very comfortable), and nice snare work from ?uestlove.

91) Rolling with Heat - Dear Lord, you can actually taste ?uestlove's drums on this one. Organic and perfect. Talib Kweli starts the rhyming with his unorthodox, barely controlled flow that seems helter skelter but actually works. Love that guy. BT chips in a solid second verse. Solid song.

92) Waok (Ay) Rollcall - Ursula Rucker reading a list of the Roots' influences/favorite hip-hop colleagues. Nice to know, but a little long. Points for mentioning Justin Warfield, however.

93) Thought @ Work - My favorite Roots song of all time; I think it's their best work. Thought's flow is amazing, and the second verse--complete with construction site beats--is absolute perfection. No one in recent history has rhymed this well. If you didn't know that BT was one of the top 10 emcee's in modern hip-hop (maybe hip-hop period), you'll know after listening to this. The album is worth the price, simply for this track.

94) The Seed (2.0) - Nice change of pace. Neo-soul, rap, whatever. Good song. Cody Chesnutt puts in a nice cameo, complimenting Thought's rhymes pretty well. Decent, but not great.

95) Break You Off - As close as the Roots will get to mainstream rap (see: You Got Me). Good song, nice turn on the mic by Musiq, but not really indicative of what the band can really do. Made sense as a first single, however.

96) Water - If Thought @ Work is the amazing song on the album, then Water is the most powerful track. Thought makes you understand the struggle that came from dealing with Malik B's addiction. Could easily have been too sappy or condescending, but BT manages the lyrics perfectly--deadly serious but understanding. The final two-thirds are a downward spiral. Nice atmospheric music, but a bit much for everyday listening.

97) Quills - Nice vocal work by Tracey Moore of Jazzyfatnastees. Thought's flow is a little choppier than usual. A little too aggressive for his own good, but a nice head-bobber. Decent.

98) (...) Galore - You've got to love the Roots doing satire. Critique on the oversexing of America (come on, sometimes even the freakiest of us have to admit that media goes a little overboard). Again, not his best work, but the subject matter is clever. And clever impresses me.

99) Complexity - Charming vocals by Jill Scott, and smooth, soft-spoken rhymes from Black Thought combine to make this a better song than I first thought. The more you listen, the more you'll like it. Honest look at a relationship.

100) Something in the Way of Things in Town - Drum 'n' bass with poet Amiri Baraka. I'm not a big poet fan. I usually (OK, always) skip this track.

Hidden tracks: mediocre retread of Rhymes & Ammo followed by a hysterical-but-admirable techno jam with Rahzel and ?uestlove (I'm assuming). A surprising and rewarding way to end the album.

The Roots are a classic group, so they tend to put out classic or near classic music with every release. This album is no different.

87) Phrentrow - The Intro. Not really necessary, but I liked it.

88) Rock You - The Roots start off with a bang as Black Thought rocks the spot over a rock meets rap type of beat.

89) !!!!!!! - Without missing a beat, they go right into some hard rock tyraid. Is that Zach De La Rocha on there?

90) Sacrifice feat. Nelly Furtado - One of my favorites. Nelly Furtado is the perfect compliment to this song. The beat is real mellow, but it's still hot.

91) Rolling With Heat feat. Talib Kweli - Pure fire. Kweli rocks the spot with Thought on a tag team joint.

92) WAOK (AY) Rollcall - A well timed interlude that gives props to the pioneers of the rap game.

93) Though @ Work - The best song on the album. Period. Black Thought is a top 10 MC of all time in my book. He's still underrated. The beat is sick too.

94) The Seed 2.0 feat. Cody ChestnuTT - The second single. You've probably heard it. I'll move to the next.

95) Break You Off feat. Musiq - The first single. You've probably heard it. If not, it's fire....trust me. Moving right along.....

96) Water - Tariq makes a plea to Malik B. to straighten up and fly right after a battle with drug addiction. It's touching, but not sappy or corny. The beat is off the hook too. It's the next best song next to "Thought @ Work".

97) Quills - The Roots use an old Swing Out Sister interpolation on the hook for this song. It works very well too. And again, Thought shows why he's probably THE most underrated MC out right now.

98) P_ _ _y Galor - The song speaks to how America is controlled by sex and its power as a marketing tool. Great theme. Great beats. Great rhymes. Great song.

99) Complexity feat. Jill Scott - Another great song on a disc full of them. Jill lends her awesome vocals to this track as Tariq speaks on the complications of relationships.

100) Something In The Way Of Things (In Town) feat. Amiri Baraka - Amiri does the spoken word thing at the end that adds to the splendor of this album.

101) Stand Up feat. Talib Kweli (Bonus Track) - On their last album, the Bonus track was probably the best song on the album. Not the case here. It's still a hot song, but the beat isn't up to the standard of the rest of the album.

Why didn't I give this album a 5? Very simple, Malik B. He rips their first three major releases, his absense is noticable to me. He may not be the best MC in the group, but he's not a very distant 2nd either. I started my path as a DJ after hearing "Distortion To Static"(their very 1st single) in 1994. Malik was a large part of why that song was so dope. I hope he's on the next album.

Personal Favorites: Sacrifice feat. Nelly Furtado, Rolling With Heat feat. Talib Kweli, Water, Break You Off feat. Musiq, & Thought @ Work(My favorite).

The album is steller. The Roots have done it again. Pay close attention as we are witnessing the EWF (Earth, Wind & Fire) or Franky Beverly & Maze of our days (& I mean that as the greatest compliment). "Thought" tried a few new things this time around with his vocal stylings on joints like "The Seed Part 2.o" & "Break U Off". Peep how my man blessed "Water" with such heart felt passion and point blank message to partner/friend Malik B. Tuff Luv type bidness.

The ROOTS embody real Hip-Hop. For more of that type hip-hop go to www.PHASHARA.com Indie Artist Phashara got heat too.

I'm glad to see that many other reviewers agree with me that what makes The Roots so incredible is that unlike many other bands, their albums become increasingly better. This says alot because their first release, "Organix" in 1993, is a classic.
On "Phrenology" we are once again blessed with top notch lyrics and impeccable production and playing by the live band. The Roots took a risky turn from their predominately jazz fusion formula and presented us with an album that is perhaps their most adventurous. It's odd because some of the tunes are heavily rock influenced, yet it all works well. They even delve into the more obscure sounds with intrumental interludes that sound like they were constructed for a DJ Spooky or Amon Tobin album. The Roots have not just "done it again", they have proved themselves as catalyst in contemporary music, forever removing boundaries and pushing new horizons.

This is in my opinion the best Roots album I own, and I have all of them except the live cd (by the way, you got to see these guys live- seeing ?uestlove on the drums is amazing). Each of their other albums gets 4/5 stars from me. I love good hip hop (Roots, Blackalicious, Common, GangStarr, Mos Def, Jurassic 5 etc) but I am almost always disappointed with the albums. They are either repetitive, use intro/outro/midtros that ruin the flow of the album or are cool for one listen, or they are not solid throughout. This album has none of those traits, and that is why I give it 5 stars. They do use an intro and a midtro, but it flows with the album. They mix up the songs and the beats like on all their albums, and do not get repetitive (be warned: in order to not get repetitive they include some rock songs and even a head banging song). And every song is at least 4/5 in my book. I highly recommend this album to anyone who enjoys hip hop, and to anyone who enjoys good music. These guys are really impressive; get all their albums to see what I am talking about.
If you like this try Common "Like Water For Chocolate" Mr. Lif "Emergency Rations" Mos Def/Talib Kweli "Black Star"& Blackalicious "Blazing Arrow" (which is the other 5 star album I own).

being in Australia, there is not a basic non existance of hip hop specialty stores, and so to find out about the roots, I was very lucky , over the course of a few listens, I fell in love with this album and then got their first major label album "do you want more". i was initially dissapointed in it, but eventually grew to love this old styles, now I own all all of the roots albums, including organix besides Things Fall Apart (which i downloaded a while ago) and ive grown to like each of them individually for their own individual sounds and original concepts, and it's great to see a band/group change over time.

peace,

Alright Dan from Castro - U are obviously a fan of the commercial hip-hop (ie. Ludacris, Cash Money) and it is apparent that u took all ure opinions from the dips#*! who reviewed the album right before you.

Listen you don't need anyone to tell u this is a good album. The Roots are possibly one of the most classic and talented rap groups ever to come into the music industry. Yeah, they might be a little bit more "commercial" than they used to be but they are in no way anything like the commercial c-rap (Chingy, 50 Cent, need i say more) u hear out there today. They always come strong with original music and beats and this album is just a progression from their earlier classics. Take it from someone who has listened to a lot of rap and knows this is a great album and a great group...... or you can listen to Dan from Castro who is probably listening to Britney Spears greatest hits as I speak. Go out and buy the album, u won't be disapointed.