Later That Day

Lyrics Born | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Quannum Projects
• ASIN: B0000CC87J
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #137,790 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars What the fuh..., January 29, 2004

By 

Campbell Roark "tri-zeta" (from under the floorboards and through the woods...) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Later That Day (Audio CD)

We're all friends here, right? Hmmm... We'll begin with a course of apologetics- Lyrics Born is one of my top-five, all-time, favorite MC's. No one sounds like him and his work with Latyrx and Quannum (as well as his numerous guest slots- Blackalish, et al) has-been consistently top-notch. Excellent.

His rhymes on "Bombonyall," "Latyrx," "Say That," "Lady don't tek no," "Balcony Beach," and Blackalicous's "Release," among others, are mind-blowingly inventive. His flow is like no other and his wordplay never fails to kill me (par example, I don't recall anyone else ever working in rhymes about 'manticores,' like LB does on "Bombonyall").

I have been looking foward to this release since college, late '98...

So why the three stars (three and a half but leaning to three)? Well, I honestly just don't really like this much. It's just... not that tight. Too many skits and sleeper tracks. There are a couple stand-out tunes (see below), but overall I just don't like the whole thing. The production is consistently badass, and the 80's funk theme works well. But I didn't buy the album for the beats (not entirely) I got it because I wanted to be blown away by LB, his unswerving delivery and surreal-ass rhymes. And, pound for pound, track for track, I don't seem to be hearing it.

As other reviewers point out- this is way above most mainstream hip hop. But... so what? Give my little brother a tuning fork and a handful of dog feces and I have no doubt the results would be better than your average hip hop release (Ohhhh! Can you feel the case of hate that I brought?). Saying it's better than the everyday tripe we all run from is not much of a compliment.

Now then, "Do That There," is simply great! I play it constantly- it slams and bounces and Lyrics Born rides the beat like damn the song is a rodeo of funk! Love it. In fact, it's exactly what I was expecting (only I wanted a whole album of bangin' tunes and hotcake funkee beats) "Callin' Out" is damn slick too (great chorus, great horns). And I love the "U Ass Bank" sketch, as well as the way it segues into "Cold Call," perfectly. "the Last Trumpet," is nice and tight.

Soooo... tracks 1 through 3 I have learned to avoid. "Stop Complaining" Aside from the John Denver IRS guy towards the end- don't like it. And I could've sworn that bassline (or at least the drop-off at the end of the fourth bar) was used for "Release," off of Blackalish's last album. "Before and After," didn't do much for me. "Pack Up," is pretty good, I guess, but I still tend to skip it. Same for "Hott Bizness." And "Love Me So bad (that may be the problem- I don't care for LB the soulful singer man)." And, now that I think about it, "One Session," doesn't prime my musket either... And the end is... well, it ends.

Soooo... that's five tracks that I dig. For a whole album....

Maybe I built it up in my mind too much... No one's perfect, and this is all just the opinion of a guy who will most likely never have an album. So Maybe I should just "Stop Complaining," eh? I'm sure we haven't heard the last, or even the beginning, from Lyrics Born- he's got ingenuity, imagination, and time on his side as well as a bad ass crew to back him on future endeavors. I'm looking forward to his next one and everything he puts out in between.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Later That Day is early enough, November 12, 2003

By 

"needstobuyabike" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Later That Day (Audio CD)

Lyrics Born's full-length debut is an exercise in originality and certainly one of the best albums of the year. The album is impossible to pigeonhole into one genre. Equal parts soul, disco, hip-hop, r & b and even some new wave make for a rewarding listening experience. Lyrics Born has been impressive from the start but an album with 17 tracks normally has some marginal filler material. Alas, not here. His talent is tremendous and he even manages to bring one extreme rarity, a funny hip-hop skit ("U A** Bank).
On "Bad Dreams", Mr. Shimura starts off on the right track with excellent production and something like call and response on the lyrics end. "Callin' Out" is an excellent track to get your grind on. A funky disco beat flows behind the lyrical dexterity of Lyrics Born. "Cold Call" features Gift of Gab on the other end of a phone call from LB. A fluid rhyming conversation over the phone makes for one of the album's conceptual high spots. Cut Chemist makes an appearance on "Do That There" bringing some of old-school beats to back up what might be the years best retro joint. "The Last Trumpet" is the most political track on the album and comes off as a tad bit didactic but the collaboration with Lateef the Truth Speaker and the incredibly urgent production behind the track make up for any heavy-handedness. The recurring voices of Constance Lopez and especially Joyo Velarde fill out the album exquisitely.
Lyrics Born comes into his own on this album as a producer. Exceptional beats ranging from funky (pretty much everywhere) to something like taiko drumming (on "The Last Trumpet") provide a solid basis and would make up for inferior lyrics. Luckily, the spit here is as tight as the production and Lyrics Born joins the exclusive ranks of hip-hop highest echelon.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, not great, March 12, 2004

By 

Craig Higdon "Chigdon" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Later That Day (Audio CD)

Lyrics Born's first solo album is good, but not great. I wanted a veritable tour de force, but it seems like he is just tip-toeing around it. There are some excellent songs on this album, but as a whole it doesn't provide the experience I think a lot of fans were hoping for.
You won't regret picking this up, but it doesn't completely satisfy.