Hand on the Torch

Us3 | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 1993)
• Original Release Date: November 16, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000005HB8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,320 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #2 in Music > Indie Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > East Coast
  • #35 in Music > Indie Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Reason for Mixed Reviews, March 1, 2004

By 

John Kearns (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand on the Torch (Audio CD)

It appears to me that much of the criticism of this album comes from people who were expecting different. Rap fans who were looking for a great rap album were disappointed. And Jazz fans who despise rap were disappointed. But if you take this album for what it is, a true blend of hip hop and jazz, then you won't be disappointed at all. As jazz fans, you'll enjoy hearing familiar sounds of the samples that groove, and as hip hop fans you will enjoy the soothing flow of the rhyming. This album grooves people.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clever mix of hip hop & Jazz- served with bits of cheese, January 11, 2000

By 

"radioactive_lemming" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand on the Torch (Audio CD)

I don't intend to downgrade this album. I really like parts. The instrumental parts. The musical heart of Us3, Mel Simpson and Geoff Wilkinson, snipped, looped and blended well crafted musical songs out of the golden vault of truly classic Jazz Blue Note Records still owns. The rap gets- well...annoying and too damn cheesey. The music has staying power mainly because of the source material used as musical structure. The rap sounds dated and paper thin lyrically in the year 2000. For a sound that sounds fresher check out Guru's Jazzamatazz. Its what this album wanted to be, but Us3 added too many trends to date the sound.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Support the beginning of jazz-rap, January 7, 2005

By 

Henry Cooper ""Still One Me"" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hand on the Torch (Audio CD)

No jazz or rap fan should live w/o this. I don't understand why ya'll be hatin' on this album even tho it's good or it's not. I call this a classic 'cuz it shows a new level of the jazz legendaries we grew up around us. That's why a lot of people are dissin' on hip-hop 2day b/c it shows no mercy but lackness. I have love for dem cats right here.

Fav. picks: Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), I Got it Goin' On, It's Like That, Just Another Brother, Tukka Yoot's Riddim, Knowledge of Self

This is recommended along with all of Guru's Jazzmatazz albums, all Tribe classic albums, Do You Want More??!!?!, Illadelph Halfline and Things Fall Apart by the Roots, Resurrection, 1 Day It'll All Make Sense, and Like Water for Chocolate by Common, The Antidote and The Quiet Revolution by Ronny Jordan, The Rebirth of Cool Series (all volumes, depends which one is better) and especially Heavens by the Martytroyd Trio. Definitely a Must-Have 2 date.