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EDIT INFOThe Roots - Undun
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Album Details
- Artist: The Roots
- Album: Undun
- Label:
- Year of Release: 2011
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: MusicCritic on 2011-12-06
RecommendThe tenth studio album from “The Greatest Band in Late Night” is billed as a concept album, the death to life story of a drug pusher, Redford Stephens. But honestly I didn't really follow the narrative through this album, and it isn’t pushing any conceptual boundaries for a hip-hop outfit to rhyme about the life and death of a dope dealer. That aside, this album is still a fairly solid collection of songs from one of the best bands in any genre.
The album starts out with the sound of a heartbeat monitor flatlining, the death of Redford Stephens, and a short intro 'Sleep'. Things then really spring to life in the album's true opening track, 'Make My'. I’ve long enjoyed The Roots sound in comparison to other hip-hop acts. Instead of using a lot of samples, loops and backing tracks, you can actually make out each individual instrument in the band. This lends each of their recordings a truly live feel that bleeds with integrity, while top forty hip-hop can sound canned and overproduced. Questlove on drums is the firm foundation as always. Blackthought remains criminally underrated as an MC despite a dynamic collection of work spanning the past fifteen years - on this album he’s again in top form with rhyming metaphors spanning everything from mummies to (Apple’s) AirPlay. Of course, there are also some strong guest appearances with the return of regular Roots contributors like Big K.R.I.T., P.O.R.N. and Dice Raw.
Perhaps my only beef with this album is its running time. While it clocks in at a fair 39 minutes, once you strip out the intro tracks and Sufjan Stevens inspired outro (in four movements) you’re really only left with eight true songs. And while the intro and the cinematic outro fit into the album as pieces of the whole, I don’t know that they’ll stand up to repeated listens. They more serve as conceptual padding than actual songs.
Once you get past that padding, the first true standout track is 'Kool On', with its alternating vocal/guitar loop that had my head bobbing. It’s the first track on the album with any real urgency, leaving the smooth flow of the first few tracks in favour of a faster more deliberate cadence. 'The Other Side' and 'Stomp' follow this and form the middle core of the album. That core trio is unfortunately followed up with probably the weakest song on the album, 'Lighthouse', which kills a lot of the momentum with its sunny, light FM chorus.
Somehow despite being around for more than a decade and a posh daily gig on network TV, The Roots’ fantastic previous albums somehow flew under the radar. Perhaps this concept album will garner a bit more attention and grab some more ears. I’d have liked to have seen a more innovative concept and a few more songs to cement the reputation as one of the finest and most inventive hip-hop bands going. This is simply a good album where I'd hoped for something great.
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on 2012-01-25 Bertman Said:
The Roots
Undun
, 2011
Concept albums are usually the overblown and pretentious work of 70s era progressive rock groups with too much time on their hands who feel this will finally be the moment they are taken seriously. This includes Mr. Peter Townshend. The Roots are smart enough to know this and went ahead and did what they wanted to.
Opening with a flatlining heart monitor, Undun, The Roots 13th studio album, tells the story of Redford in reverse, a 25 year old man, who has just passed.
Theres moody soul numbers, and some uneasy funk reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield, this CD is mostly down tempo and broods over the troubled and familiar tale of its late protagonist. There are even string arrangements to dress up the dirges here, to mixed results.
Most hip hop artist have the artistic life expectancy of mayflies and The Roots have managed to maintain their longevity in part because they take big chances. That they didnt knock it out of the park here doesnt mean it wasnt a solid double.
Rating: 6/10
