Product Description

'Phrenology' is the sixth album from this Philadelphia based 'hip-hop band' and the album combines live instrumentationwith traditional rap vocals. 'Phrenology' features guest appearances from Nelly Furtado, Jill Scott, and Talib Kweli, to name but a few and also includes the single 'Break It Off'featuring Musiq.

Track Listing

1. Phrentrow - The Roots, Ursula Rucker
2. Rock You
3. !!!!!!!
4. Sacrifice - The Roots, Nelly Furtado
5. Rolling With Heat - The Roots, Talib Kweli
6. WAOK (Ay) Rollcall - The Roots, Ursula Rucker
7. Thought @ Work
8. The Seed (2.0) - The Roots, Cody Chestnutt
9. Break You Off - The Roots, Musiq
10. Water The First Movement/ Water The Abyss/ Water The Drowning
11. Quills - The Roots, Tracey Moore
12. Pussy Galore
13. Complexity - The Roots, Jill Scott
14. Something In The Way Of Things (In Town)
15. Act Too (The Love Of My Life)
16. Non-Musical Silence (The Roots/Phrenology)
17. Non-Musical Silence (The Roots/Phrenology)
18. Non-Musical Silence (The Roots/Phrenology)
19. Non-Musical Silence (The Roots/Phrenology)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28049 in Music
• Released on: 2002-12-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 66 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Phrenology is the fifth studio album from standard bearers for rap's underground, The Roots. For years they were music's nearly men, unable to translate respect and admiration into multi-platinum sales. But 1999's Things Fall Apart, won them a Grammy nomination and their profile since has been much higher. They provided live backing for Jay-Z on his MTV Unplugged set, while drummer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson has become an in-demand session player and producer, working with D'Angelo, Bilal and Erykah Badu among others.

Prenology is the result of years of gradual forward motion, a record which luxuriates in its own sense of confidence, belying the often troubled three years that went into it. Phrenology respects no boundaries: "Water" is a 10-minute, three movement piece, while "!!!!!!!" is 24 seconds of hardcore thrash punk; "The Seed (2.0)" shows that The Roots can do funky psychedelia, and "Quills" samples, of all things, Swing Out Sister's "Breakout". But at its heart this is rap of the highest order, the band's instrumental prowess adding both edge and centre to a sizzling, crisp production, while Black Thought's adds some bile to his trademark lyrical erudition and vocal precision. They're still a hip-hop group, but The Roots are a class apart. --Angus Batey

Customer Reviews

Miss Fielding
One of the most moving and albums i've heard in a long time that has a perfect blend of hip hop, rap and truly soulful tunes that really make you want shake that booty. My favourite track has to be the seed which i've played over and over again and just can't get enough of. To all you hip hop, body shaking lovers out there, this album is a must! xx

the legendary foundation wanna touch ya mind
The legendary hip-hip collective return with a cacophony of sounds and guest appearances in this, their most ambitious album to date. On first play the familiar moments of South Philly smoothness are there but sometimes there does seem to be a little too much noise going on, getting a little too busy; such are the high standards we’ve come to expect. That said, these guys are such supreme musicians gelling together, that the combination is often irresistible. The Seed (2.0) for example is a country guitar riff stomper with NKOTB Cody ChestnuTT guesting and coming over all Terence Trent D’Arby like! Elsewhere the bouncy bass of “Water” immediately connects. “Sacrifice” with guest harmonies from Nelly Furtardo, is smooth but no patch on their dreamy live rendition heard on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide show. (Check it out!) Black Thought is at his most spittingly masterful on the “Apache” break sampling “Thought @ work”, an instant head nodder that goes on and on. They even take a trip down the memory lane of UK 80's pop using an interpolation of Swing out Sister (Breakout) on "Quills". All in all the Roots ALWAYS deliver. They push the boundaries and represent true musicianship combined with social consciousness. Hip-hop for the masses that know. Feel it.

The Roots best album ever
For years one of the Roots' most appealing aspects, aside from the downplaying of samples in favor of actual instrumentation, has been the complimentary rapping styles of front men Black Thought, whose top-drawer freestyling was a group hallmark, and Malik B, equally skilled at well-built, flavorful rhymes. So the departure of Malik B before the completion of the Philadelphia-based group's latest release, Phrenology, leaves the Roots without a key weapon in their arsenal -- and at a critical juncture, given the undeniable pressure to follow-up 1999's multi-platinum breakthrough Things Fall Apart.

Phrenology -- which takes its title from a 19th-century scientific movement (long-since debunked) that believed the shape and protuberances of one's skull were corollary to determining one's character and mental acuities -- is far and away the Roots' hardest-edged release to date. Clearly reflective of the turbulence within the band over the past three years, the album lacks the easy flow found on such superior Things Fall Apart tracks as "100% Dundee" and "Dynamite!" What it does possess, however, is dissonance. While it may not be dissonance of the '40s-style Birdland Be-bop variety, the noise assaults found on Phrenology still manage to accomplish the same ends as that radical shift in jazz did some sixty years ago: arrest the senses, force the listener to take notice and pay attention, rather than get lost in an overly consonant harmonic wash.

To that end, "Rock You" explodes with an insistently repetitive beat and Black Thought's equally redundant title chant. "!!!!!!!" is a terse, full-on punk screech no doubt influenced by the presence of new member and rock guitarist Ben Kenney. And the most volatile track, ten-minute, three movement "Water," finds Black Thought addressing the fallout with Malik B to the accompaniment of a cacophonous hailstorm of squawks, bleats, clanging percussion and angry rants. It's a cathartic watershed moment for the Roots, a purging of all the ill feelings that came with making the record and, despite the jarringly violent timbre, carries with it a sense of satisfied release. The Roots have never been so emotionally naked on record before -- and it's clear the rift with Malik hit the band hard -- making for an incredibly stirring moment.

"Water" proves such a defining artistic and personal statement that it threatens to overwhelm and diminish the tracks that precede and follow. Fortunately, it's bracketed by several stellar efforts: "Thought @ Work" superbly showcases Black Thought's near otherworldly flow against a cracking drum break; "The Seed (2.0)," featuring Cody Chestnutt, is an engaging pop-rap hybrid, easily the album's catchiest cut; "Break You Off," with a guest turn from Musiq, sports solid drum and bass interplay; and "Complexity" nicely utilizes Jill Scott's comforting vocals to offset the hyper-aggressive tempo of prior tunes. Special mention goes to two imminently worthwhile bonus cuts: "Rhymes and Ammo," boasting an excellent call and response rap between Black Thought and guest MC Talib Kweli; and "Thirsty!," which serves up a blazing hot electronica beat that fairly demands dance floor play.

Of course, not everything works. "Sacrifice," featuring Nelly Furtado, is soulful but bland in comparison to the more muscular tracks surrounding it, while "Something In The Way Of Things (In Town)" suffers from poet Amiri Baraka's exceedingly long seven minute ramble about nothing in particular, though the casual backing beat proves intriguing.

Despite those minor missteps, Phrenology manages to just clear the high bar set by Things Fall Apart. Though the loss of Malik B affected the group deeply, the fact that the Roots were able to channel the pain and loss into something artistically worthy speaks volumes about the band's collective state of mind and strength of character, a prime example of what far too many people fail to do in the face of adversity: turn a negative into a positive.