- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
The talent, both of Rock and his guests (which, besides El-P, also include Ron Sonic, John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats, Breezly Brewin', and Cage) is impressive, and makes None Shall Pass an album that deserves a lot of attention, both inside and outside the hip-hop world.
-
Alternative PressIt peaks on 'Coffee,' a wonderfully weird, ska-tinged duet with the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle that flat out rocks. [Oct 2007, p.170]
-
It's Christmas come early, and None Shall Pass won't disappoint his fervent admirers.
-
It doesn't take anything away from his historical weirdness to say that None Shall Pass has some of his most understandable hip-hop to date, as long as you don't worry much about what he's trying to impart.
-
BlenderBitter, cold and insular, None Shall Pass is also profoundly (if proudly) out of step. [Sep 2007, p.124]
-
Aesop's verbose mike heroics take center stage here, but there's ample creativity to be found in the tasteful and striking accompaniment as well.
-
Aesop Rock’s terrifically brooding new record.
-
Let the bloggers cry about the change all they want but None Shall Pass is the most focused and dare I say accessible album of Aesop’s career
-
None Shall Pass envelops the sounds of hip-hop’s spiritual home more than any album in his notable career.
-
When None Shall Pass drags late in the first act, it's largely due to tracks that seem intended to reprise the contemplative vibe of the Float era. A few Jukie guest spots, brazen as the production, round out the way the album works best.
-
Entertainment WeeklyIt's heady but funn stuff, eased along by bluesy, turgid grooves from frequent collaborators Blockhead and El-P, as well as Aesop himself. [31 Aug. 2007, p.65]
-
Aesop's fables still require a decoder ring, but the plainer settings make them more effective as post-Beat poetry.
-
It's good to hear our man Aes no longer forgoing pleasure in the pursuit of ambition.
-
Almost certainly his best effort since 2001's "Labour Days," None Shall Pass finds Aesop Rock at the top of his game with a consistent piece of work rather than simply a passable album.
-
The album isn’t without its faults--its probably too long, and though the production may differ from other albums, it blurs together somewhat over the course of the album. However, there’s one song on this album that renders all such complaints irrelevant--the title track. None Shall Pass is undoubtedly one of the best things Aesop has ever done
-
The album is as solid as its maker's last name but so predictable you could set your Flavor Flav clock to it.
-
That said, Aesop Rock’s album is all the better for his apparent hard-headedness, consisting as it does of occasional bouts of self-mythologizing meant to arouse curiosity while simultaneously knocking the cluetrain off its tracks and, of course, paeans to the ubiquitous Sucka MCs among us.
-
Beats-first, lyrics-second people have enough here to return to, and lyric freaks know there's plenty here to unpack.
-
Aesop Rock's None Shall Pass is filled with precise lyrical detail and head-nodding production, and the result is his most accessible record of his career to date.
-
Q MagazineIan Bavitz delivers some typically extravagant wordplay. [Oct 2007, p.101]
-
None Shall Pass is a record you can listen to over and over, simply in trying to decipher exactly what's being said, adding almost infinite replay value.
-
Indie rap's wordiest wordsmith unleashes another dose of dense, hyper-enunciated rhymes filled with poetic imagery.
-
There's actual substance to unpack in the album, but Aesop's indomitable presence on record and his knotty co-production with Blockhead and El-P make what he says incidental to how he says it.
-
Spin[Aesop Rock's voice] Paired with the Long Island rapper's abstract, self-aware lyrics, it makes None Shall Pass a challenging, rewarding head trip. [Sep 2007, p.122]
-
None Shall Pass may or may not be the best album in Aesop Rock’s discography, but it might be the most fun to listen to. Call it his San Francisco Renaissance.
-
This hour of hip-hop defines itself as a mess of parts: Rock's speed-shifting delivery, lyrics that deliberately tangle, the jumble of rich instrumentals and detached voices he and his partner Blockhead bring to production.
-
Aesop's preference for boring "live" beats tends to hit somewhere between the Roots ('Getaway Car') and Linkin Park ('None Shall Pass'), but that hardly matters: it's his delivery that commands the attention here.
-
Essentially, it’s the effects of Aesop’s modesty that keeps him afloat above some of his equally skilled contemporaries. (This, in addition to the dope factor, more than makes up for the moment when the album overwhelms and shapes into a part-primal/part-industrial drone.)
-
Under The RadarWhile not as thrilling as his last few releases--it is another stellar chapter in a brilliantly penned book. [Summer 2007, p.87]
-
UrbHis vocal patterns on None Shall Pass are enthralling, but they mean absolutely nothing. [Sep/Oct 2007, p.127]
-
VibeThis once-fiery, if rambling, thinker now sounds like a man cooled off. [Sep 2007, p.130]
-
You can't decipher most of what he's saying, and sometimes you're better off. And the beats, provided variously by Blockhead, El-P, and Aesop himself, are rarely more than serviceable. Still, when things come together, as on the title track, we're reminded why many consider this guy the reigning champ of indie rap.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 44 out of 50
-
Mixed: 3 out of 50
-
Negative: 3 out of 50
-
Sep 10, 2011
-
tomuncleNov 19, 2007good stuff.
-
Jan 8, 2016