Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Roots: Phrenology (5/5)



Year: 2002
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: MCA
TRT: 60:47

Growing up in an environment surrounded by a variety of musical genres such as: Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, Jazz, and Blues, it really is no wonder that I was immediately drawn to the stylings of The Roots. When I first discovered this band, it was one of their earlier cds Do You Want More?!!!??! that drew me in with it's heavy jazz influence, spoken word poetry, and live instruments, which was like nothing that was playing at the time.

With the release of Phrenology, starting from the concept of the title to the hidden tracks at the very end, I was once again intrigued. This disc shows The Roots experimenting with different sounds and again mixing different genres to create an interesting album from start to finish. Held by some critics as an instant classic and others as superfluous experimentalism, it stands to reason that despite the mixed reviews, after giving Phrenology a listen one can't help but commend this band for having the audacity to stretch the limits and go beyond what was expected.

1. Phrentrow
2. Rock You
3. Sacrifice (feat. Nelly Furtado)
4. Rolling With Heat (feat. Talib Kweli)
5. WAOK Roll Call
6. Thought At Work
7. The Seed 2.0 (feat. Cody Chestnutt)
8. Break You Off (feat. Musiq)
9. Water
10. Quills
11. Pussy Galore
12. Complexity (feat. Jill Scott)
13. Something In The Way Of Things [In Town] (feat. Amiri Baraka)

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