1. Tanktronic

   10

   I'm usually not the kind of person to take the time to write a 'user review', since they usually end up being clearly biased, poorly worded fan-speak. But in this case, with this album, I feel like it's some sort of civic duty as a fan of music to spread the gospel of this album's perfection. I won't start an inflammatory discussion that this is possibly the best album of all time, in the sense that the usual definition of album is an unaffiliated collection of songs - I'm sure that most would give that distinction to myriad Beatles, Dylan, Radiohead, etc albums, and it's largely a matter of age and personal taste, anyway. What I WILL start the discussion of, is that this IS possibly the best "album" of all time - I use the quotes to stress a different definition of what an album is; in this definition, a cohesive collection of songs that are linked by a common lyrical or aesthetic genesis. I cringe at the label of "concept album", as that seems to invoke a knee-jerk assumption that the album is either about some science-fiction fantasy or that it's a directionless piece of instrumental junk that uses the "concept" moniker as a free pass to, well, suck. What The Roots have created is an album that tells a story in amazingly communicative detail, without beating you over the head that you're being told a story. Left to their own devices, the listener would probably have an 'aha!' moment somewhere about 20 listens into this album that the songs were in fact all connected, and in a linear [albeit backwards] fashion. This not only respects the intelligence of the listener to figure it out, it keeps the emphasis on the music where it belongs. They have created an album that bridges the gap between meaningful connection between the songs, and the ability for each song to be a successful, enjoyable single in its own right. You can rock each of these tracks out of order at a party and nod your head with the grooves for an hour, or you could listen to it in proper order in a classroom and have a 2-hour debate about fate, responsibility, and socio-economic politics. You need to own this album. As a collection of great hip-hop tracks, as a provocative story, or simply for its importance in keeping alive the hope that music can still mean something.… Expand

   • Helpful? 8 of 8 users said Yes.
2. immortaltechfan

   10

   I do not have that much to say about this, but it's a classic and I find it unacceptable for it to be anything below a perfect 10, so i am just doing my part to give this the rating it deserves. Do you know that HipHopDX, which I consider to easily be the most reliable hip hop reference, gave this it's first perfect 5 since 2007? The Roots are genius musicians, and cannot be fit into any genre. Maybe the best concept album of all time. Epic. Buy it and you won't be disappointed.… Expand

   • Helpful? 8 of 9 users said Yes.
3. JoeLoops

   8

   This is a really good album! Musically it's magnificent. It's sure that when you work with people like Sean C & LV, James Poyser and Questlove, the prod can't suck. Lyrically, Black Thoughts is, like always, damn good! The fact that they had Big K.R.I.T. and Phonte can just help them (By the way, english is not my first language.. sorry!)… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 1 users said Yes.
4. 9zep_peppers

   6

   This album is alright for rap i dont get too much into rap but ost of the songs follow the same structure and the lyrics are all the same: tough times and cursing. That aside "Kool On" has some awesome music to it. Good bass line and funky guitar and the lyrics are good. The instrumentals def show a different side of the Roots. Violins and edgy and soft piano mixed with some crazy drum beats???? Awesome. Going from gangsta to classical music? Gotta give the Roots some prop, seems like they would be the only ones to get away with it.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 5 users said Yes.

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