Juxtapose

Tricky | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 2011)
• Original Release Date: August 17, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island Records
• ASIN: B00000JWNY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,414 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bristol shaman Tricky (Adrian Thawes) is one of today's odder and more inspired artists. His 1995 debut, Maxinquaye, revealed an eccentric sensibility at play, creating nightmarishly gorgeous tracks such as "Overcome," contrasted by a raucous Smashing Pumpkins sample on the chorus to the brooding "Pumpkin." A little guy with a wicked grin, Tricky is the trip-hop equivalent of Stanley Kubrick, at once original and clever, yet as dark and gloomy as his spliff-produced smoke rings. With rappers DJ Muggs (from Cypress Hill) and Grease, Juxtapose is streetwise, yet largely missing Tricky's hallucinogenic imagery. On "For Real" Tricky mutters "Some families have to live for real / I don't have to, I've got my record deal" over an itchy blues thump. A classical guitar melody begins "Contradictive," as Tricky grouses about "Mickey Mouse" and spouts "You a hardcore loving machine." "She Said" sounds conspicuously like an Underworld track, especially its lyrics. "I Like the Girls" features Muggs in a hilarious rap about lesbians, whip cream, and group sex. The raps grow more wicked on "Hot Like a Sauna" with the mumbled lines "Wanna be like Jeffrey Dahmer" and "Every day like Hanukkah." "Call Me" and "Wash Away" recall Tricky of old, with groggy vocals and Caribbean-tinged grooves creating wonderfully queasy tableaus. Tricky continues to evolve at his own irascible pace, a riddle always about to reveal itself. His journey remains equally fascinating and frustrating. --Ken Micallef

Product Description

Juxtapose by Tricky

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short but to the point, August 21, 2000

By 

Sean McDonald (amsterdam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Juxtapose (Audio CD)

Tricky, who has always admitted to hating the term trip-hop, has tried to etch out his own musical niche ever since leaving the groundbreaking band Massive Attack. On Juxtapose, Tricky does not completely distance himself from that musical philosophy (lo-fi trip-hop?), but he does offer his own take on it. Tricky eschews some conventions and embraces others; the result is a record that feels as though it has a focus -- yet refuses to be in a hurry to find it. In typical fashion, Tricky weaves an assortment of lyrical styles ranging from jungle to rap to R&B. He doesn't forge much new ground lyrically, though, especially when touching upon well-worn ideas such as "keepin' it real" on " For Real" or women's sexual availability on " I Like Girls." Fortunately, he does avoid many rap/jungle axioms such as call-and-response, violence and (for the most part) boastfulness, as well as rap's straightforward, beat-oriented musical approach. Tricky effectively arranges vocals to supply the album's ebb and flow, whether rhyming/speaking with his own undiluted sexual growl of a voice or highlighting English junglist Mad Dog and female singers DNA and Kioka. The backbone of the record, however, is supplied through highly crafted yet uncomplicated pieces of music. Though Juxtapose lacks the experimental heart of DJ Spooky or Dr. Octagon, it is still compelling if not risky. By fusing atypical sounds from inconspicuous electric and acoustic guitars, strings, pianos and real drums with programmed, minimalist trip-hop beats, Tricky punctuates the overall organic texture of the record.

On three of the final four tracks, Tricky slows things down and imparts a prevailing feeling of vulnerability and sincerity as he distances himself even further from archetypical rap posturing and the candid sexuality experienced earlier on the record. By utilizing DNA and Kioka's exquisite vocals on " Call on Me" and "Wash Away," respectively, as well as unobtrusive strings united with lingering beats, Tricky offers a surprising subtlety that many artists tend to either miss altogether or, worse, turn into muddled musical sentiment. This mood is punctuated by the finale, "Luv," with a melodious piano and a discussion of love as something more than a false substitute for sex.

One of the biggest drawbacks of this record, strangely enough, is its brevity; it comes in at a scant 37 minutes (too many of those minutes are devoted to an unnecessary remix of "Hot Like a Sauna [Metal Mix]"). Juxtapose has a decidedly muted quality throughout its short life, a somewhat unexpected quality considering that DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill (a band known for big beats) is among the five producers of the record and is a co-writer for most of its more subdued second half. Overall, Tricky works hard to deftly create a low-key mood throughout the record and, by doing so, enters the next millennium with the quietest big bang possible.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More Hip Than Trip, November 25, 1999

By 

Elliott Cobb (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Juxtapose (Audio CD)

With assistance from his new friends, DJ Muggs and Dame Grease, Tricky's sound is mutated into a funkier,digestable mix of sounds. The album is totally intense with the crystal clear cut sound of "For Real" to the album climax, "Hot Like a Sauna" with an angry rapper Mad Dog and a sly singer Kioka. Other guest artists that are on the album include Bob Khaleel and D'na. The final track to the music is "Scrappy Love", a scary cut with a confused drum beat and wandering vocals. A jump away from previous Tricky albums but still a pleaser.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I act like Jeffery Dahmer..., January 10, 2001

By 

Joe Kenney "buttergun" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Juxtapose (Audio CD)

Tricky was apparently trying to make a more straightforward hip-hop album with Juxtapose than his usual "trip hop" output. The only problem is, he'd already made a straightforward hip-hop album three years before, and that one was much better. It was called Grassroots, and Amazon apparently doesn't offer it. I believe it might be out of print. But anyway, Grassroots was an EP that showed Tricky at his hip-hop best. It even had a different version of Pre-Milennium Tension's "Tricky Kid" and also Tricky's BEST ever straight-up hip hop song, "Heaven & Hell." The reviewer below who says "Bom Bom Diggy" is a great hip hop song needs to check out "Heaven & Hell." But anyway, I thought Juxtapose was great when it came out, but now that I've digested it for a while I think it sounds slightly rushed and inconsistent. It doesn't offer all that it could. I read somewhere that Tricky himself doesn't like Juxtapose that much. It isn't a bad album, it's just that it doesn't jolt you like Pre-Milennium and Maxinquaye did. And I also have a problem with Mad Dogg. The guy has skills, for sure, but I get sick of hearing his hundred-words-a-second flow on almost each and every song. He sounds to me like one of those early-'90s party-rap guys from down South, just with a British accent. I think what most annoys me is that he's apparently the replacement for Martina. In the old days Tricky himself would use his unique voice to rap some verses and then Martina would lay down the chorus; you can hear the perfect example of this in my still-favorite Tricky song "Christiansands." Now we get Tricky doing the verses and then Mad Dogg jumps out of nowhere and raps his head off. It just doesn't fit with the languid sound Tricky has perfected on record. Live, I'm sure it works, because Tricky is another type of performer entirely live. He's manic and energized, and Mad Dogg works fine in that environment - in fact, I saw Mad Dogg in concert with Tricky a year ago and it all went together perfectly. But anyway, Juxtapose has a few gems, such as "Bom Bom Diggy," "Hot Like a Sauna," "Call Me," and "Wash My Soul." But I know Tricky is capable of better. Hopefully that will be reflected in his upcoming album.