I wanted to do an album by the Roots and this one in particular had caught my eye. I recognized the title and cover as referring to a branch of science once popular in the early 19th century. Though it is considered pseudoscience today, scientists once believed the brain to be divided into separate parts, with each one responsible for a specific function. I caught this somewhat literate reference having taken psychology 101 in college. Since it looked promising, I decided to give this album a try.
Track one is a short, but decent intro. The title, Phrentrow, is a creative portmanteau of the words phrenology and intro. Track two is shorter as well. Unlike track one however, I find it to be less creative possessing a more straightforward, repetitive nature. Three is a half minute of loud, punk rock jamming which I could have done with out. I really don’t see its purpose as it adds nothing to the album. Track number four, Sacrifice, could be considered the first full song. It’s a nice, slightly laid back number featuring Nelly Furtado. I enjoyed Black Thought’s rap particularly the Eric Clapton reference. As I listen to this piece, I am thinking of how to best classify this group which sounds like a fusion between hip-hop, R&B, and a smoother, more orchestrated sound. Song number five is Rolling With Heat. I liked this one as well. The music had a decent, funky groove to it and the rap was, again, solid. I should mention this album also has extensive (almost excessive) liner notes including dates songs were conceived, dates songs were completed, and random factoids, some of which are interesting, others pointless/bizarre. Track six, however, is perhaps my favorite thus far! Lasting exactly 60 seconds, it consists of a list of influential names in the hip-hop genre rattled off over an instrumental groove. Rather than having just one vocal line, this piece utilizes multiple overdubs resulting in a type of vocal collage as 230 names are rolled off in the span of a minute. I thought this song was done in a creative way that makes it one of their more artistic pieces.
Track seven is more straightforward, sounding a little more old school. This group is definitely hip-hop, but more artistic and with more studio trickery. It is certainly better than most of the hip-hop/rap that I’ve heard (especially lately). Eight, The Seed 2.0, is the catchiest thing I’ve heard so far. Just as I suspected, it is one of two singles taken from this album. Again the groove they use seems to be more of a retro shuffle. For this song Black Thought is assisted by Cody ChesnuTT. As for the lyrics, lets just say they’re not exactly family appropriate. Track nine is a little more relaxed, but catchy as well. This song has a laid back, slow jam feel brought on by, among other things, a muted, retro synth that sounds almost like it could be played by Donald Fagen. There’s an enjoyable ending as well with a slow two-minute instrumental before fading out. This album is even more impressive when considering the hard-to-believe fact that it’s been almost ten years since it was released in 2002. Water is the tenth track, a ten-minute track divided into three parts. The first part goes back to the rots of hip-hop once again. The lyrics describe what The Roots had to overcome in order to achieve success. Rather than merely rapping about himself/his group however, ?uestlove goes deeper, exploring some of the external factors, including the social issues which sometimes interfere with a rise to fame. The second part is one of the most experimental sections of the album. This is one of my favorite tracks, and sonically, one of the deepest (and they say in the liner notes that they rejected one of the more cryptic versions of this track)! Add guest guitarist James “Blood Ulmer” and you have a track that’s not just great hip-hop, but songwriting at it’s finest.
Eleven provides a bit of a sonic break as more of a vocal-driven piece. Again the lyrics talk about how skilled The Roots are and how other acts can’t help but imitate them (typical in this genre of music). Track twelve is another example of The Roots doing what they do best. Their sound is once again laid back featuring, what else, an old school sample. The vocals have a good flow, discussing the subject of fornication with women, another popular subject matter for this (and really most for that matter) genre. Thirteen is decent as well. The song is a slower ballad featuring Jill Scott. Scott’s vocals are fantastic! ?uestlove’s rap sounds like, dare I say, LL Cool J. I enjoyed this smoother song as it displays The Roots’ ability for sonic diversity. Track fourteen is the closing track and what a finale it is! This is one of the heaviest tracks and certainly gives the listener the most to think about. The lyrics are written and spoken by controversial poet Amiri Baraka. I love the form and style of this song. It’s construction as a spoken word piece with musical accompaniment is very artistic in nature. It could almost be considered an art song. Most importantly, it leaves the listener with something to think about which is exactly what a concluding track should do.
There are four hidden tracks on this album. Tracks fifteen and sixteen contain twenty seconds of silence each. I honestly haven’t the faintest idea why. Seventeen is a track so hidden; even my CD player couldn’t find it. Indeed, it wasn’t until I ripped the CD onto my computer that I heard it. The track wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary by Roots’ standards. It did break off into a second, divergent section toward the end before returning to the first, which was interesting. The last track is seven seconds long, containing a single blip before the album ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment