957. The Roots - Phrenology (2002)

Track Listing

1. Phrentrow
2. Rock You
3. !!!!!!!
4. Sacrifice
5. Rolling With Heat
6. Waok (Ay) Rollcall
7. Thought @ Work
8. The Seed (2.0)
9. Break You Off
10. Water The First Movement/ Water The Abyss/ Water The Drowning
11. Quills
12. Pussy Galore
13. Complexity
14. Something In The Way Of Things (In Town)

Review

I am always glad to have some alternative hip-hop on the list, this album is no exception, if anything it is too alternative... not because it is weird or hard to listen to, but because they try their hands at too many things, not always completely successfully.

Where the album is particularly successful is when they try to bring in Rock elements to hip-hop. This works really well in a handful of songs like The Seed or Rock You, however some more ambitious experiments like the hip-hop/ambient Water end up not being great hip-hop or ambient songs.

The album ends up being hit and miss, but you do have to respect the ambition behind it, the attempt to try new and different things, not to play it safe. It takes balls. In that sense it is a great album, but unfortunately it is not always great music.

Track Highlights

1. The Seed (2.0)
2. Rock You
3. Rolling With Heat
4. Quills

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

It was named for the discredited pseudoscience of phrenology, the study of head shapes to determine intelligence and character. Phrenology was sometimes used to justify racism in the past. The album cover artwork was created by artist/printmaker Tom Huck, who is known for his large scale satirical woodcuts.

The Seed (2.0):