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Phrenology (album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Blender[2]
Robert Christgau(A-)[3]
Entertainment Weekly(B+)[4]
The Guardian[5]
Pitchfork Media(8.1/10)[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Slant Magazine[8]
Spin(8/10)[9]
The Village Voice(favorable)[10]

Phrenology is the fifth studio album by American hip hop band The Roots, released November 26, 2002, on Geffen Records and MCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 2000 to September 2002.[1] It was primarily produced by members of the band and features contributions from hip hop and neo soul artists such as Cody ChesnuTT, Musiq Soulchild, Talib Kweli, and Jill Scott.

Although it did not parallel the commercial success of the band's previous album, Things Fall Apart, the album reached number 28 on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold steadily, remaining on the chart for 38 weeks.[11] On June 3, 2003, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States.[12] Upon its release, Phrenology received general acclaim from music critics, earning praise for its musical direction and lyrical themes, and it was included in numerous publications' year-end lists of the year's best albums.[13]

Background

Following the breakthrough success of Things Fall Apart (1999), its release was highly anticipated and delayed, as recording took two years.[1][7] The album is named after the discredited pseudoscience of phrenology, the study of head shapes to determine intelligence and character, which was used to rationalize racism during the 19th century in the United States.[14] Its cover art was created by artist/printmaker Tom Huck.[15]

Primarily a hip hop album, Phrenology features themes of hip hop culture and its commodification, with musical elements of rock, jazz, and soul music.[6][5][16][7][8] A production of the Soulquarians collective,[17] the album features contributions by Cody ChesnuTT, Musiq Soulchild, Talib Kweli, and Jill Scott.[1]

Reception

The album received general acclaim from music critics.[18] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 87, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[18] Phrenology earned praise from critics for its sound and balance of lyrical content.[3][19][20][5] Dave Heaton of PopMatters called it "an impressive, ambitious work" and commended The Roots for "filling their sound out and pushing it in a variety of directions [...] the form of tight soul/funk that it seemed like they had perfected on Things Fall Apart, but here it sounds even more exact, funkier and edgier".[21] Blender's RJ Smith described it as "a celebration of self-determination, a nonstop joyride through some very complicated brains" and commented that The Roots "can fulfill nearly all of their sweeping ambition to resuscitate soul’s past".[2] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian gave the album four out of five stars and commented that the band "seem[s] exclusively capable of absorbing other genres. [...] When the Roots return to more straightforward hip-hop, the results are idiosyncratic and hugely enjoyable".[5] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani called the album "subtly progressive" and found the lyrical content to "challenge the commodification and subsequent destruction of hip-hop culture".[8] Rolling Stone writer Pat Blashill noted "a startling array of hip-hop reinventions" and called The Roots "a hip-hop band that strikes a very funky balance between righteousness and humor, between headbanging grooves and truth-telling".[19] Allmusic editor Steve Huey gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and found it musically significant to the band's catalogue, stating:

Phrenology is not Things Fall Apart redux; it's a challenging, hugely ambitious opus that's by turns brilliant and bewildering, as it strains to push the very sound of hip-hop into the future. Despite a few gentler tracks (like the Nelly Furtado and Jill Scott guest spots), Phrenology is the hardest-hitting Roots album to date, partly because it's their most successful attempt to re-create their concert punch in the studio. [...] Phrenology is one of those albums where the indulgences and far-out experiments make it that much more fascinating, whether they work or not [...] If this really is the future of hip-hop, then the sky is the limit.[1]

— Steve Huey

Despite writing that Black Thought's "rhymes come and go without making much of an impression", Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times called the album "tantalizing" and wrote that The Roots "have been studying hip-hop history [...] they see hip-hop as a sensibility, not a sound".[22] Chicago Sun-Times writer Jim DeRogatis gave it four out of four stars and called it "a near-classic right out of the gate, an urgent, raucous and thought-provoking 70 minutes that mine the musical territory between hard hip-hop and smoother Philly soul, while spitting takes on topics from America's sex-as-product culture ("Pussy Galore") to the hazards of the street (the 10-minute centerpiece "Water," a three-part suite that evolves from an absolutely hammering ?uestlove beat to a freaky, mind-blowing jazz jam)".[23] Steve Jones of USA Today also gave the album four out of four stars and commented that "The Roots are shaping a heady brew of music that showcases hip-hop's most creative route".[24] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave Phrenology an A- rating,[3] indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction".[25] Christgau complimented Kamal Gray's "keyb hooks" and stated "[B]elieve that after years of racial mythology, they've found it in their talent to put black music's long tradition of tune and structure into practice".[3] In retrospect, The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and cited "Water" as a highlight, "that begins with the age-old Bo Diddley beat and ends as an extended musique concrète-style instrumental fantasia".[7]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Phrentrow" (featuring Ursula Rucker)Ahmir Thompson, Ursula Rucker, Omar EdwardsQuestlove, Omar the Scholar0:18
2."Rock You"Tariq Trotter, George SpiveyDJ Scratch, The Grand Wizzards (co.)3:12
3."!!!!!!!"Thompson, Benjamin Kenney, Leonard HubbardThe Grand Wizzards0:24
4."Sacrifice" (featuring Nelly Furtado)Trotter, Thompson, James Gray, HubbardKamiah Gray, Kamal Gray (co.)4:44
5."Rolling with Heat" (featuring Talib Kweli)Trotter, Thompson, Gray, Kyle Jones, Talib Greene, Karl JenkinsThe Grand Wizzards3:42
6."WAOK (Ay) Rollcall" (featuring Ursula Rucker)Thompson, Gray, HubbardThe Grand Wizzards1:00
7."Thought @ Work"Trotter, Thompson, Hubbard, Gray, KenneyQuestlove4:58
8."The Seed (2.0)" (featuring Cody ChesnuTT)Trotter, Antonious Bernard ThomasQuestlove, Cody ChesnuTT (co.)4:27
9."Break You Off" (featuring Musiq)Trotter, Thompson, Hubbard, Gray, Jones, Kenney, Jenkins, Taalib Johnson, Jill ScottKamal Gray7:27
10."Water"Trotter, Thompson, Hubbard, Gray, Kenney, Tahir WilliamsTahir Jamal, Kelo Saunders (co.), The Grand Wizzards (co.)10:24
11."Quills"Trotter, Karriem RigginsKarreem Riggins, The Grand Wizzards (co.)4:22
12."Pussy Galore"Trotter, Scott StorchScott Storch, Zoukhan Bey4:29
13."Complexity" (featuring Jill Scott)Trotter, Thompson, Hubbard, Gray, Scott, EdwardsThe Grand Wizzards, Questlove (co.), Omar the Scholar (co.)4:47
14."Something in the Way of Things (In Town)" (featuring Amiri Baraka)Thompson, Kenney, Amiri BarakaThe Grand Wizzards7:16
Unlisted tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15.Untitled  0:20
16.Untitled  0:20
17."Rhymes and Ammo / Thirsty!" (featuring Talib Kweli)Trotter, Thompson, GreeneThe Grand Wizzards8:00
18.Untitled  0:07

 • (co) Co-producer

Sample credits/notes
  • "Thought @ Work" contains elements from the composition "Apache" by The Sugarhill Gang, "Jam on the Groove" by Ralph McDonald, and "Human Beat Box" by The Fat Boys. According to Questlove, recording artist Alicia Keys "drop[s] in" on the track.[15]
  • "Water" comprises three parts, noted in Questlove's liner notes as "a. the first movement / b. the abyss / c. the drowning", and contains elements of "Her Story" by The Flying Lizards.[15]
  • "Quills" contains elements of "Breakout" by The Swingout Sisters and features guest vocals from Tracey Moore of the Jazzyfatnastees.[15]
  • "Pussy Galore" contains elements of "Because I Got It Like That" by the Jungle Brothers.[15]
  • Tracks 15, 16 and 18 are silent blank tracks.[1] Track 17 is divided into two untitled songs, identified as "Rhymes and Ammo", originally from Soundbombing III (2002),[26] and "Thirsty!".[27]

Personnel

Credits for Phrenology adapted from Allmusic.[28]

Musician

Production

Charts

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Huey, Steve. Review: Phrenology. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  2. ^ a b Smith, RJ (November 26, 2002). Review: Phrenology. Blender. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  3. ^ a b c d Christgau, Robert. "Review: Phrenology". The Village Voice: January 14, 2003. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11.
  4. ^ Hiatt, Brian. Review: Phrenology. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  5. ^ a b c d Petridis, Alexis. Review: Phrenology. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.
  6. ^ a b Chennault, Sam. Review: Phrenology. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.
  7. ^ a b c d Hoard, Christian. "Review: Phrenology". Rolling Stone: 702–703. November 2, 2004.
  8. ^ a b c Cinquemani, Sal (November 26, 2002). Review: Phrenology. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  9. ^ Pappademas, Alex. "Review: Phrenology". Spin: 95. January 2003.
  10. ^ Tompkins, Dave. Review: Phrenology. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  11. ^ a b The Roots Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  12. ^ "Gold & Platinum: The Roots". RIAA. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  13. ^ Acclaimed Music - Phrenology. AcclaimedMusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  14. ^ Venable, Malcolm (October 2002). "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems". Vibe: 124–128.
  15. ^ a b c d e Phrenology (Media notes). MCA Records. 2002. {{cite AV media notes}}: Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Sterling, Scott T. Review: Phrenology. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  17. ^ Kot, Greg. "A Fresh Collective Soul?". Chicago Tribune: 1. March 19, 2000.
  18. ^ a b Phrenology (2002): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.
  19. ^ a b Blashill, Pat (December 12, 2002). Review: Phrenology. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2011-02-22.
  20. ^ Berliner, Brett. Review: Phrenology. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  21. ^ Heaton, Dave. Review: Phrenology. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-12-05.
  22. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (December 22, 2002). Hip-Hop Divides - Those Who Rap, Those Who Don't. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  23. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. "Review: Phrenology". Chicago Sun-Times: 4. December 1, 2002.
  24. ^ Jones, Steve. Review: Phrenology. USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-08-11.
  25. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "CG 90s: Key to Icons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  26. ^ Juon, Steve (February 23, 2011). RapReviews.com Feature for December 3, 2002 - The Roots' "Phrenology". RapReviews. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  27. ^ Phrenology (Explicit) by The Roots. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  28. ^ Credits: Phrenology. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  29. ^ a b "Discography The Roots". Danishcharts.nl (in Danish). Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  30. ^ a b "Discografie The Roots". Dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  31. ^ a b "Discography The Roots". Finnishcharts.com (in Finnish). Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  32. ^ "Discographie The Roots". Lescharts.com (in French). Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  33. ^ a b "Discographie The Roots". Hitparade.ch (in German). Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  34. ^ a b c "The Roots". Chart Stats. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  35. ^ The Roots Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  36. ^ The Roots Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  37. ^ The Roots Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-02-23.
  38. ^ "Chartverfolgung/Roots,The/Single". Musicline.de (in German). Retrieved June 16, 2010.

References

  • Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
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