by
Asher Roth
- Record Label: SRC/Universal Motown
- Release Date: Apr 21, 2009
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Asleep in the Bread Isle is an everyday suburban rap album, if there is such a thing.
-
Roth never floats sham tales of suburban hardship here. Instead, he just wants to have a good time--and for the most part, he provides one as well.
-
The effortlessly cool beats, hooky choruses, and above all, his witty, super-fast flow indicate this skinny blond to be a genuinely talented star.
-
Asleep in the Bread Aisle is promising, if unspectacular.
-
Roth's tight, witty debut lives up to the Internet hype that has swirled around him for months.
-
Unburdened by Kanye's melancholia or Eminem's vertiginousness, Roth is perfectly likable, and perfectly bland.
-
He's a decent rather than amazing lyricist, sporadically witty rather than hilarious: but the odd good line isn't enough to cover up the lack of material.
-
Get past Roth’s pinched-sinus tone and penchant for overpronounced internal rhyme and he is a different animal [than Eminem].
-
The quality of Roth's rhymes varies wildly, from sophomoric to inspired, but when the two collide, as on the funky rant 'Bad Day,' he hits the sweet spot and the funny bone.
-
Listen to the guest performances if you dare; just tune out the pedestrian rapping.
-
This isn’t a horrible album, just a really boring one. What a disappointment.
-
With beats provided largely by newcomer Oren Yoel that are more hit than miss, Asleep in the Bread Aisle is that new kind of 2009 hip-hop you either have to learn to live with or jump off the bandwagon altogether.
-
After that promising start [with 'I Love College' and 'Lark on My Go-Kart'], however, Asher loses focus. He floods the Bread Aisle with a series of interesting pop concepts ruined by bland choruses.
-
The album isn't completely charmless. 'Lark on My Go-Kart,' the Cee-Lo aided, 'Be by Myself' and 'I Love College' reveal a breezy affability. But far too often, Roth's quest for relatability reeks of redundancy.
-
Asleep feels less like an album of music meant to entertain than an assumption that you can actually bump a marketing plan in your cars and house parties.
-
Asleep in the Bread Aisle is a piece of Dubble Bubble that loses its flavor before you’re done reading the comic.
-
After being the first white guy to grace the cover of a Gangsta Grillz underground mixtape ("The Greenhouse Affect" with Don Cannon & DJ Drama), this buzzed-about MC proves that suburban rap has finally arrived.
-
The hook aspires to nothing, and so its nothingness is an anthem for do-nothing/think-nothing slacker types we like to imagine were listening to the Beastie Boys and Nirvana in 1994, but were probably listening to the aforementioned Dave Matthews.
-
That's the thing about Asleep In The Bread Aisle, it's all about promising potential, rather than the delivery of it.
-
UncutWhile Roth's delivery is smart, the subject matter can feel like the work of someone playing dumb. [Jul 2009, p.91]
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 19 out of 29
-
Mixed: 6 out of 29
-
Negative: 4 out of 29
-
BenApr 27, 2009
-
A.H.Apr 22, 2009
-
Feb 8, 2012