Comments on: Album Review: Rising Down

By: Tommylux

Tommylux — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:49:33 +0000

oh that’s definitely true. I mean regardless of whether people individually feel it or not, one thing that’s for sure is that these cats are really about making music. and bands that try to think outside of the frame should be encouraged, that’s why I still buy all them Roots albums, even if I always wish they’d be a little bit more like their stuff of old, but hey

By: Deez

Deez — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:22:08 +0000

man… Water,Rock You, Rolling With Heat, Thought @ Work, The Seed, Sacrifice… wow. I can see a lotta peopel not liking the album though, I think musically it was a huge step up for them. And I felt like this album is just part of the continuous process for the Roots. This is still great music

By: Tommylux

Tommylux — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:58:48 +0000

right, i changed my mind: not the WHOLE album sucks… but MOST of it does. Honestly, I tried hard, but it just doesn’t get me. Black thought is on point as usual but the music just makes me cringe. i like maybe two songs and that’s it

By: Tommylux

Tommylux — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:50:39 +0000

yo Deez, maybe it will make you feel better if I tell you that I bought the album regardless. I always buy the Roots albums cos I always give em the benefit of the doubt, only with “Phrenology”, I had more doubts on my mind after checkin it than anything else

maybe I wasn’t ready. tell you what, I’ll bump it gain right now, after all this time, to see if I ain’t changed my mind

By: Tommylux

Tommylux — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:33:57 +0000

alright, maybe that’s a bit harsh, you can’t use a word like “suck” when you talk about the Roots, but all I can say is that myself and damn ear all the die-hard Roots fans I know were massively disappointed by that album. And here even the argument that “a so-so Roots album is still better than most of the shit out there” didn’t work, I just didn’t find listening to it a pleasant experience

but yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have said it sucks.. it was still a good effort in terms of musicianship, just didn’t hit the right chords in my opinion

By: Deez

Deez — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:57:45 +0000

“If you take “Phrenology”, the whole album sucked.”

WHAT…THE…FUCK

By: Tommylux

Tommylux — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:01:35 +0000

yeah yeah, the Roots.. as much as it pains me to admit it to myself, they’ve fallen way down low on my meter of favorite acts, whereas they used to be on top. I don’t know how the rest of y’all feel, but my problem is that I keep having “Things Fall Apart” as a benchmark in my mind, but it’s not the same problem why cats give Raekwon a hard time for not reaching the level of “Cuban Linx”, for example; the problem here is that they have radically changed their style ever since and I could never agree with anyone suggesting it’s been for the better. Rap music I like most is the one that’s close to its soul-funk-jazz forefather, so it has a deep groove and usually quite lush melodies. “Things fall Apart” was the epitome of that; it was like a “Sun goddess” or “Places and Spaces” in the realm of rap, whereas their new style is too left-fieldish for my taste. Don’t get me wrong, I love myself a bit of rock n roll every now and then, but it’s gotta be dope. If you take “Phrenology”, the whole album sucked. “Game Theory” was better, but they somehow tried too cross over too desperately again and it sounded monotonous all over. Same goes for this one, in my opinion all songs sound the same and not one, except maybe for that with mos and Styles, stand out. It’s a nice album, I don’t regret I bought it, but I can tell you right now that, as it was the case with “Game Theory”, I’ll listen to it maybe three times and then I’ll forget about it, whereas their early soulful and jazzy albums still rock me today

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:33:08 +0000

Yeah, I put the 75 Bars video up instead of the audio.

By: Deez

Deez — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:54:12 +0000

Kev, get 75 Bars up there for a stand out track!!! actually, they can go listen to the album and listen to that track cuz it needs to be heard

By: thomas

thomas — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:47:40 +0000

Good review. I agree replay value is low, but when I listen to it, its gets played without any skips. Mos Def, Saigon, and Wale make me want more music from them. Black Thought is always on point…and Styles P is the best member of The Lox (I know off topic a bit)

By: Carsten

Carsten — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:21:35 +0000

I really feel your reviews Sean! It’s great to have you on the team!
I think the sound of the album is a lil bit too dark and I can’t say It’s another Roots Classic but you right, they are who they are and there are some hot songs on the LP.

By: Deez

Deez — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:01:14 +0000

Fo reeeel eh Kev? Did you read the linear notes? Made me enjoy the album that much more. Check out the video for 75 Bars if you haven’t yet either

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:41:38 +0000

Excellent review Deez! This one’s my fav from you so far… even though I’m not feeling this album. I love The Roots, but this album was too “outside of the box” for me. I listened to it again last night and I guess I still don’t get it.