The Roots: "Things Fall Apart" Vs. "Phrenology"

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Things Fall Apart for me. Although I think that Phrenology wasn't that bad at all. "Rollin' With Heat" and "Thought @ Work" were quite cool.

― Grand (grand), Monday, 8 May 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

# of times I've listened to TFA: ~ 500

# of times I've listened to Phrenology: ~ 5

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 8 May 2006 18:08 (nineteen years ago)

What Jordan said.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Monday, 8 May 2006 18:15 (nineteen years ago)

Both overrated (and I don't play much of either these days), but Phrenology by 5, 000,000 miles, thanks to "The Seed," "Break You Off," "Pussy Galore," and the half of "Water" without the stupid sound effects.

"You Got Me" though is classic.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 8 May 2006 18:19 (nineteen years ago)

"Things Fall Apart." Which in retrospect seems such an obvious peak that they will never hit again.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Monday, 8 May 2006 18:51 (nineteen years ago)

phrenology for me. that album came out around the same time as common's electric circus, and ?uestlove (who executive produced circus) was going for some proper ambitious hip-hop conceptual albums. both slept on unfairly. i think peeps will look back on those albums and rediscover them as important / influential lps for future generation music heads.

― shehab dxb, Thursday, 11 May 2006 04:16 (nineteen years ago)

shehab what was the "concept" behind phrenology? some *great* songs on there ("water," "pussy galore," "thought@work," sure), but also some really lame interchangeable songs that just put me to sleep. that aside, it was hardly "slept on" - phrenology was the roots' most commercially successful album, wasn't it? "break you off" and "the seed" must have been bigger than "you got me."

also, josh, i know what you mean but i have high hopes for the def jam debut. the new members seem to be pretty good, and apptly malik b is back in the studio.

― swvl (vozick), Thursday, 11 May 2006 05:09 (nineteen years ago)

ps i agree with shehab about electric circus tho - now that was an underappreciated artistic peak.

― swvl (vozick), Thursday, 11 May 2006 05:09 (nineteen years ago)

# of times I've listened to TFA: ~ 5
# of times I've listened to Phrenology: ~ 500

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 11 May 2006 12:18 (nineteen years ago)

People like "Pussy Galore"? That's the one song on the record that I totally hate.

"Water" might be the best Roots song ever, but Things Fall Apart is a better album.

― joygoat (joygoat), Thursday, 11 May 2006 14:40 (nineteen years ago)

TFA had sick, inventive beats and it was def. their production peak. The sound alone is pretty unreal. Also, ACTUALLY GOOD RAPPING. Tons of Malik B. and Dice Raw.

'Water' and Electric Circus kinda suck.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 11 May 2006 15:02 (nineteen years ago)

Phrenology is pure genius and a record that, I think, will be "re-discovered" years from now by future hipsters. It's the only Roots record where the band stepped away from their "signature" sound and it's their best record because of that.

It's a great stoner record as well.

― kwhitehead (stephen schmidt), Thursday, 11 May 2006 15:10 (nineteen years ago)

I like 'em both a lot, but I'd have to go with TFA, too: Not just "You Got Me", but also "Double Trouble" "Love Of My Life" "Adrenaline" "100% Dundee" "Next Movement", and just the general trippiness of the production. For some reason, it holds together as an album better than Phrenology, so I listen to it more. And I like Malik B. and Rahzel. But I like Phrenology a lot. It seemed like an honest attempt to embrace their crossover potential (that didn't work completely). And I think Amiri Baraka's spoken word piece is much better than Ursula Rucker on TFA. And there is nothing on Phrenology as boring as "Step Into The Realm -> The Spark".

I don't agree at all that The Roots abandoned their standard sound on Phrenology. Phrenology had a lot more electric guitar, but The Roots had had a lot of that live for years before it. And each of their albums has had a substantially different sound (Illadelph and TFA aren't that far apart, but Illadelph feels a lot sparser). If they ever "abandoned their sound," it was on The Tipping Point, which has a lot of generic stuff from outside producers, and feels like more of a Thought solo album than a Roots album.

I think TFA was more commercially successful than Phrenology. I seem to remember it's their only record certified platinum. But I could be wrong.

― Vornado, Thursday, 11 May 2006 15:44 (nineteen years ago)

There are certain words or phrases that mean different things depending on the context in which it is being used. Take for instance, "tipping point" In terms of Malcolm Little (better known as Red at the time)as depicted on the cover of the Roots latest release, had one foot in prison where he would eventually discover The Nation of Islam and become Malcolm X. "Tipping point" in this context is summed up perfectly in Respiration where Talib Kweli says, "getting knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise." Now the Roots have signed with Jay-Z and (pardon me if I am mistaken)their next album will be titled, "Game Theory". Tipping point in this context is the moment right before you fall off. Now all the Roots need to do is add a white girl to the group to sing all the hooks and the transformation will be complete.

― Bryan Mathews, Thursday, 18 May 2006 02:39 (nineteen years ago)

Phrenology for me - never got into Things Fall Apart, for some reason.

Really like the new single too, they've got a link at http://www.spinemagazine.com/ (16 May 2006 15:27 news item)

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 18 May 2006 07:14 (nineteen years ago)

Mr. Mathews: What are you talking about? "Tipping Point" pretty obviously referred to the wildly popular Malcolm Gladwell book of the same name and the concept it promoted: that just as there can be a "vicious cycle" of decay and degeneration ("things fall apart"), there can also be a "virtuous cycle" of improvement and growth, with a few small things making a lot of difference in the outcomes. And, of course, the application of that both to ghetto life and to The Roots' career -- perpetually about to take off, without ever really taking off.

― Vornado, Thursday, 18 May 2006 12:46 (nineteen years ago)

Why bring Common's name into this? I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks he is a below average MC and a slightly above average spoken word artist.

― Gandalf Mantooth, Tuesday, 23 May 2006 05:04 (nineteen years ago)

Phrenology for me...only like 5 songs...but those 5 are in my top 30 hip hop tunes of last 5 years

and the Seed was the best tune of whatever year it came out ( 04 ?)

btw - Questlove has a great blog on myspace

― grapple (grapple), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 06:22 (nineteen years ago)

four years pass...

?uestlove, still refreshingly candid about their relationship to critics & audiences: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/20b4gl

― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Monday, 21 June 2010 17:46 (fifteen years ago)

NICE.

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Monday, 21 June 2010 19:53 (fifteen years ago)

well he can say whatever he wants about the critics - i dont think i can think of a more critically loved band than the roots. even when theyve been making the inoffensive pap they have been for a while now. phrenology was actually the start of their sound getting rockier (and worse imo). things fall apart is their best, and last great album, even though theyve usually got 1 or 2 good songs on each. the new one sounds quite bad from what i heard.

― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, 22 June 2010 09:07 (fifteen years ago)

*crit-loved HIP HOP band/group

― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Tuesday, 22 June 2010 09:07 (fifteen years ago)

HI DERE

http://www.ryanalewis.com/blog/MI/PICS_04092009/Outkast.jpg

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 22 June 2010 12:07 (fifteen years ago)

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