Album Description: Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork.
Amazon.com: It's understandable when artists want to grow their fan base in order to more easily make a living and also reach a larger group of listeners. The trick, of course, is how to do this without releasing artistically compromised records that, well, suck. L.A. underground vets J5 were almost a supergroup from the start, combining the formidable talents of the Unity and Rebels of Rhythm crews. If anyone deserves to move beyond the backpack clique, it's them (well, and Aceyalone). And while no one's going to condemn the band for pulling a Black Eyed Peas here, it's hard to imagine really listening to this album as much as its two predecessors, either. Take the lead single, "Work It Out": the jam has a smoove, down-tempo vibe that's nice enough, and the Dave Matthews vocal on the chorus is pretty excellent. But the lyrics--which deal with not only let's-get-back-together-baby material, but also vaguely PC hip-hop--never gel. It makes one yearn for the actual Daisy Age. There are a few outstanding tracks, but overall this is a hip-hop album that sounds as if it were written by a corporate committee--each song directed at a particular demographic--rather than a mini-manifesto crafted to get your fists pumping and/or your feet moving. --Mike McGonigal
Ahead of its time When this album first released, I wasn't as into as Power In Numbers. Now, however, 2 years later, this album has really grown on me and contains the same strength, positive message and beat. I think it was ahead of its time two years ago, but now I listen to it all the time. Certain tracks like, "Get it Together" "Turn It Out" and "End Up Like This" really qualify these guys (the whole album) as true artists. They have a real 'slice of life' or experience based lyrical base which is strong. Not only that, but they speak from a positive perspective which so many musicians seem to have difficulties with. No whining! It ought to be a qualifier for beat-music. That would get rid of a lot of the crap rap that exists out there. Candy for my ear, I hear you now and I hear you later!
I really miss these guys. I wish they would get back to work.
soso i like the earlier albums better. they seem to reference being cool & powerful too much for my taste. perhaps this is the direction the manager pushed them:(
still laid back hip-hop without the cut and paste 5 star supremacy of "Quality" this is a group that adjusted well to the loss of cut chemist. the cut chemist fans trying to find fault with J5 will cut up this album. but meanwhile it is a high qulity album from start to finish
Decent, but disappointing I have always thought that Jurassic 5 was one of the smartest, most innovative hip-hop groups around, but I fear they may be losing ground. Feedback, their latest, lacks the creative spark and revolutionary attitude that made Quality Control such an original masterpiece. It comes off more as a typical commercial rap album.
It's not just that they are missing Cut Chemist, although that sure hurts. It's also that DJ Nu-Mark's beats are quite a bit cheesier than usual, veering away from his usual jazzy complexity, and running dangerously close to the dance club pulse of MTV-land. The album does feature the inexplicably catchy DMB collaboration Work It Out, which I have been singing under my breath for days, but let us remember that catchy is not the same as lyrically great.
So if you're a J5 fan, instead of Feedback, I suggest you pick up Nu Mark's solo album Hands On, which serves both as a showcase of his spinning talent and a rich museum of jazz, funk and world music. In fact, with support from Chali 2na, J Live and a few other hip-hop artists, that release comes a lot closer to the original spirit of J5 than this stuff.
These ARE the same guys, right? I'm sorry; are these the same group of intelligent hip-hoppers that had us listening while everyone else had their Nelly and Bow Wow? Well, yes and no: DJ Cut Chemist left the fold, so the rest of Jurassic 5 had to soldier on. But they could have done a lot better that Feedback.
There are a few live performances that impress though, like "Turn It Out" and especially the album's opener, "Back 4 U". The latter gives you the idea that this will be another stellar J5 journey, but immediately following that song is the blatant "Radio". And the problem isn't that J5 is trying to become mainstream because as reviewer DJ Benny pointed out, they've always been on Interscope (kinda like people calling Dilated Peoples underground yet they're on Capitol Records); it's the fact that a lot of the songs are so different from their usual style that it's a little hard to stomach.
I don't think the lead single "Work It Out" (with Dave Matthews Band) is all that bad; the only problem I really have with it is that even though Dave is only singing the chorus, the music makes it feel more like Dave Matthews Band featuring Jurassic 5 instead of the other way around. But as other reviewers have mentioned, female-oriented songs like "Brown Girl" and especially "Baby Please" fall flat. The latter also isn't helped by the speed-rapping, OR the sample of Al Green's "Love & Happiness" for the umpteenth time. And there's absolutely no excuse for "In the House"; well, unless this was 1983.
One song that everyone seems to like is "Red Hot", but the chorus to that song ruined it for me. Songs that DO impress include tracks 8 and 9: "Where We At" and "Get It Together". Another highlight is "End Up Like This". The song has the chorus: "How did we end up like this?" which is exactly what I'D like to know. Maybe the guys in J5 don't realize that it's best for the MTV generation to jump onto their bandwagon because they realize the music is good, not because the artist pathetically changes their style to fit the mold. Hopefully they'll realize that the next time around because right now if most people were to download a lot of these songs, they'd probably want to send the feed back.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
