- Record Label: Duck Down Music
- Release Date: Mar 22, 2011
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Mar 31, 2011Whether he's in onomatopoetic punch-line mode or scratching the Cee Lo end of his terrific range, Monch is hip-hop's superlative talent, and now he has a solo stripe to prove it.
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Mar 18, 2011The sheer ferocity of Monch's rhyming is more than enough to bridge any gaps and plow through any detours.
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Apr 14, 2011W.A.R. is Monch's blockbuster, a marathon sci-fi tale set in some grisly faraway cacotopia.
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Mar 22, 2011His bitterness about that fate may be the only black mark against this album--there's a tinge of resignation here and little effort to make himself more palatable to the masses.
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Dec 7, 2011This strong, satisfying, often stunning third release proves he can deliver the goods.
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Mar 31, 2011The strongest tracks here stand tall, ensuring Monch remains a powerful rap force.
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Mar 21, 2011Not necessarily a great narrative rapper, Monch's lyrical strength lies in his ability to flip phrases maniacally and tease out tangential theoretical connections through his staggered, pile-up rhyme schemes.
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Mar 18, 2011Full of political and social commentary, Pharoahe's W.A.R.-time performance will leave fans hoping he continues his trend of cutting the wait time between albums in half.
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Apr 11, 2011Pharoahe Monch crafts an LP that not only serves as a protest to the United States' handling of the conflicts in the Middle East, but stands alone as a more than competent hip-hop record.
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Apr 12, 2011Ultimately, that is the problem with most of W.A.R., though. Monch is so busy adopting the typical backpacker agenda of putting himself at odds with the mainstream that he takes steps towards a new conformity instead of just destroying sh*t.
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Aug 4, 2011W.A.R. is only his third project in over ten years. If you're going to pursue quality over quantity you better deliver quality, and thankfully W.A.R. is nothing but quality.
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Mar 29, 2011A sobering state of the world address spoken with street eloquence and education, W.A.R. resumes Pharoahe's talismanic dictation above a packed battalion of guests as a failsafe spectacle.
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Mar 28, 2011An indie-release album that shines under lower stakes without sacrificing Monch's complexities or intelligence.
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Mar 22, 2011It is sad to finally see the unpredictable hero of lyricism finally write an album that is only good. I'll still be listening to this album for weeks, I just hope it stays as consistent as the man's other work has throughout my life.
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Mar 21, 2011On W.A.R., the Queens MC is still in a linguistic fervor, rapping about being in the streets "like catalytic converters" on "Clap (one day)" and comparing himself to a preacher with a ".38 snub-nose" on "Let My People Go."
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Mar 23, 2011If you value the merits of a singular flow, then what Monch does on this album can redeem nearly anything. Or at least make something likable out of an album that could've been just mediocre.
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Q MagazineJun 9, 2011Undoubtedly ambitious, drawing on soul, jazz and squalling rock, the best moments keep the focus on Monche's own voice, with Shine's radical poetry reminiscent of veteran firebrands The Last Poets. [May 2011, p.112]
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Mar 31, 2011W.A.R. is not necessarily a death knell for Monch, he's simply too talented for that. But it's definitely not an album that feels like it took four years to make, either.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 16
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Mixed: 0 out of 16
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Negative: 2 out of 16
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Jan 21, 2016
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Apr 20, 2012
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Apr 12, 2011