Customer Reviews

Light Poles & Pine Trees (Clean)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Talk about grinding just to be noticed. Boondox and Kalage of Field Mob have been working hard to make a name for themselves since 2000 when 613: Ashy To Classy dropped and their 2002 follow-up From The Roota To Tha Toota which produced the hit "Sick Of Being Lonely." After some self-evaluation and a little lady luck with the recent collaboration with Ludacris for the smash hit "Georgia," Field Mob is ready to put their best foot forward with their Disturbing The Peace debut Light Poles And Palm Trees.

The good thing about Field Mob is that fact that the South is on a huge upswing in popularity thanks to people like Outkast, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Bun B, Ludacris, Chamillionaire, Dem Franchise Boyz, and countless others. Luckily, they don't sound like anybody mentioned, which sets them apart from anybody out there. They have a underlying comedic tone to their lyrics and sound, but the finished product still comes off as skillfully done and nowhere near primitive. Listening to an album track like "Baby Bend Over" will have you bobbing your head and laughing, but then play the very next track titled "Smilin'" and you'll hear them discuss the hater-ation from people around the way who wish they could be in their shoes. The first single "So What" features Jazze Pha on the boards and Ciara providing the hook, a formula that's been working as far as getting attention and airplay. And after a hilarious skit about Boondox's dark complexion, he offers the reflective track "Blacker The Berry," an inspiring track on what it's like being who he is.

Then there are the tracks that just meant to bump at volume 10 in your car stereos like "My Wheels," "1, 2, 3" and "Pistol Grip." Other standouts include the certified summer cut "At The Park," the aforementioned "Georgia," the provocative "Eat Em Up, Beat Em Up," and the mellow track "Sorry Baby" with Bobby Valentino. The only tracks that disrupt the flow include "Area Code 229" with its amateurish outcome, the rock-infused "I Hate You" that they could have done without, and the singing on "It's Over" will have you proclaiming just that in the first 45 seconds of the song! Despite the few blemishes, Field Mob still manages to give us an album worth checking out with Light Poles and Palm Trees.

Light Poles & Pine Trees * 1/2 Stars

Field Mob has made some good albums in the past, but this one is a mess, the lyrical content is completely confused, the writing is awful, the beats are so silly and the everything else is just so ridiculous and predicable, it's useless.
and it's over the top.

If you like field mob, go pick up their first 2 albums instead.

Thumbs Way Down for Me.

Before you click "no", hear me out.

If you love the southern sound and can't get enough of it, then you probably think this is a 5 star album.

If you can't stand the southern sound and simply can't take anymore of it, then you probably think this is a 1 star album.

I stand in between the two sides and this is just a 3 star album to me. This is coming from someone that owns all three of their albums (I loved their first album). As far as content goes, this album is a step backward from their last album (From The Roota To The Toota). While they had a nice blend of uplifitng and typical southern songs, this album is more typical than anything else. Are there good songs on this album? Definitely. Are the beats tight? Yes they are. What I'm saying is, the little bit of substance they exhibited on their second album has all but disappeared. There are some good tracks to be found though. I can't get enough of "So What" and "At The Park" because of the feel good party vibes I get from them. "Area Code 229", though somewhat silly, is still catchy. "Blacker The Berry" shows what Field Mob is capable of when they actually put some effort into what they do.

The problem with this album is the amount of generic content. Tracks like "Baby Bend Over", "Eat 'Em Up, Beat 'Em Up", and "My Wheels" (despite decent production) are the most unoriginal and lazy songs I've heard in a while (I can only take so much babbling about ridin' rims and gettin' laid). I firmly believe that this kind of stuff is beneath them. Just check out the awful "Pistol Grip". It's a perfect example of what I'm getting at.

Light Poles & Pine Trees is a solid album to me. I still believe that Shawn Jay and Smoke have very unique and original flows, and when they get good topics and good production, that's when they REALLY shine. They trip up when they lower themselves to do generic tracks dedicated to rims and gettin' head. I think Field Mob can do SO MUCH BETTER and this stuff their putting out is below them. It's kind of like when you see a prospect that you know can become an elite player, but they don't realize their potential yet, so they settle for being good instead of great. I hear two exceptional rappers doing below average songs because they don't seem to realize that they're as good as they really are. Maybe I'm expecting too much from them. Like I said before, how you percieve this album depends on how you view southern rap. Some love it, some hate it. I don't belong to either extreme, I just like it. You probably will too, but if you don't think they can do better, you may be kidding yourself.

Standout Tracks: Sorry Baby, Blacker The Berry (My Favorite), So What feat. Ciara, 1 2 3, At The Park, and Georgia feat. Ludacris & Jamie Foxx

I thought this album was ok. The tracks on it that are good are REALLY good and the rest are either mediocre or completely wack. Overall, the album is above average and definatly worth checking out.

Top Tracks:
1,2,3
So What
Georgia
At The Park
Pistol Grip
Blacker The Berry

Field Mob finally returns with their 3rd studio album Light Poles & Pine Trees after a long layoff. Four years have passed since their critically acclaimed sophomore album From Tha Roota To Tha Toota that had their hit single Sick Of Being Lonely and their hood classic All I Know with Cee-Lo that really catapulted them to stardom.

But now the mob has returned and this time looking to make a real mark on the music industry and walking with a lot of confidence and swagger. After being signed to DTP by Ludacris who called this group "the heart of the label", they were ready to make a comeback. Their first chance to do this was on their first comeback single using the official song of Georgia by Ray Charles to create a classic song. They let Jamie Foxx on the hook to give it an authentic feel and Ludacris and Field Mob shined on this track. GEORGIA was undoubtedly one of the all time great hip hop anthems for GA, right up there with Pastor Troy's - Aint No Mo Play In GA, Youngbloodz - 85, and Outkast - Spottieottiedopalicious. And it came right around the time Jamie Foxx was the biggest thing in Entertainment and RAY had gotten it's many awards, adding to the songs popularity.

After this success however, Smoke did a little jail stint and the Field Mob album ended up getting pushed back from 2005 to 2006 (that's the reason songs like Friday Night and Deep Tonight aren't on this album). After he got out, they went back in the studio, hooked up with the queen of Crunk N B Ciara and Superproducer Jazze Pha for SO WHAT and the rest is history.

Field Mob's So What shot up the charts and radio requests, video on 106 & Park and MTV and finally gave the Mob a widely accepted hit single. As great as that song is, it is hardly the best song on the album. Smoke & Shawn Jay are both extremely lyrical and it's impossible to catch everything they say on the first couple listens. They weave intricate verses on every song and further solidify the fact that the south is on top right now in originality, production, lyrics, style, and creativity. Lyrically, Field Mob can hang with the best of them (Ludacris sounds so regular on SMILIN compared to the mob!).

Light Poles & Pine Trees is a great release from Field Mob and is their best effort in my opinion. I love every song on the album except for I Hate You which is a meaningless horrible rock track that steals Kelis' chorus from her debut single, and Area Code 229 which is just a filler track. Other than those two songs the album is a great listen from So What & Georgia to Smilin, Blacker Da Berry, 123, Pistol Grip, and At The Park. I have a hard time choosing my favorite song but it's most likely At The Park. Support Field Mob because they have a lot of charisma and personality to go along with their talent making music and it would be a shame to see them go unappreciated. It baffles me how people scream that they want something different and then when something different comes along they don't want that either. If you like Outkast, Goodie Mob, Nappy Roots, Eightball & MJG, Little Brother etc. or just plain out great music then you should check this album out ASAP. 5 Stars.

I think the album is worth the buy, these are some creative cats, and you'll get some laughs out of it. These cats are like the country Nice N' Smooth.

This is a great CD Field Mob kill it, every song is good except for area codes and i hate you.

Aight let's get this started. I've never reviewed anything on here before but I signed up specifically to come back at some of the things said. Now don't get me wrong, I love this whole cd, but all I've read so far is that the track "I Hate You" is garbage. That's def one of my favs on the whole cd. So what if the hook is a rip. Everybody's trying different ish these days. Nelly made a song with Tim McGraw. I heard a song the other day with Paul Wall and Hulk Hogan's daughter. "I Hate You" just gets you straight amped as hell. So yea... that's all I have to say. Field Mob coming back strong.

Field Mob is a great group. They can spit and have flows that are unmatched by most groups in the south but this album is average. There are songs that are good like 1,2,3, Area Code 229, Smilin, Its Over and Georgia which give this album replay value. But songs like My Wheels(corny), Pistol Grip, I Hate You(horrible), Sorry Baby(feat Bobby Valentino) are tracks that sound rushed and weak. Their songs for the ladies like Baby Bend Over(rapping like Nice & Smooth over a cheesy beat. Priceless) and Eat Em Up Beat Em Up are straight garbage. I do like Blacker The Berry. On the track Smoke talks about growing up as a dark-skinned child to realizing that being dark is beautiful. So What feat Ciara is a good club single that might make a little noise in the club and At The Park is an okay track.
Bottom Line: Light Poles And Pine Trees is an average release from an above average group. While it has some good songs on it, it split with bad songs and mediocre tracks. Standout Tracks:1 2 3, SO WHAT, AREA CODE 229, BLACKER THE BERRY, AT THE PARK, ITS OVER and GEORGIA.

Whenever a talented group of emcees come out of the South, they're automatically compared to OutKast, or their old Organized Noize counterparts, Goodie Mob. Everyone from Da Backwudz to Cunninlynguists have been labeled as the next OutKast, simply because they're experimental hip-hop acts coming from the South. Field Mob have also fallen victim to this old stereotype, as the Georgia duo not only reside in the same state as Dre and Antwan, but also share the same love in experimenting with new sounds, and dropping lyrical gems. Field Mob maybe the closest thing we're going to get to an actual OutKast in the new millenium; they're more similar to the Two Dope Boyz In a Cadillac than the 2006 incarnation of OutKast, but the fact remains that they're two very different entitities, and dope for their own signature reasons. While Field Mob's style maybe akin to their ATLien elders, they're still entirely Field Mob.

This album is likely going to be the introduction to Field Mob for a whole new generation of hip-hop heads; they've gotten far more promotion for this album than they did for their last two, and they also have Ludacris' endorsement. Is this a good starting point for those new to Field Mob? Indeed, it is. While it may not be Ashy to Classy, or From Tha Roota to Tha Toota, it's still one of the tightest Southern releases of 2006, trailing closely behind T.I.'s King. The production is, for the most part, magnificient. Anyone who hates on the epic score this album was set to, can't appreciate fresh music. They may not have Kanye West or Just Blaze dropping big-budget fire all over this release, but the lesser-known beatsmiths they recruited are equally engaging when it comes to sonic qualities.

Lyrics? Field Mob aren't neccessarily spitting knowledge, at least not the kind you've come to hear from the Wu or the aforementioned 'Kast, but they do have substantially better lyrics than most of their Southern contemporaries. Their delivery is where it's really at vocally; their accents, and husky Southern draws will attract even the most biased Northern listener, and change that critic's opinion on Field Mob; not the South, no, but Field Mob themselves. Field Mob have faced a large amount of prejudice from music critics, who unexpectedly, and uneducatedly claim Field Mob aren't providing any more than the D4L's of the world; those people couldn't be anymore wrong. Field Mob are one of the most endearing hip-hop acts you're going to find in any part of the game today, whether they're above or under the ground.

Every cut on this album is exceptionally good; whether you want introspective cuts like "Blacker The Berry" and "Smilin'," or trunk-rattling bangers like "1, 2, 3" and "My Wheels." Even the concept track, "I Hate You," is sonically engaging, and while others may not like the rock/hip-hop fusion found within this track, it's highly underestimated, and pulled off exceptionally. Of course, the singles "Georgia" and "So What" are reason enough to warrant purchases, but it's hard to claim they're even the best tracks on this thoroughly pleasing album.

Some people may've set their expectations a bit too high for Light Poles and Pine Trees, while others may not just 'get it'; it is quite abstract for a commercial hip-hop release. MTV airplay or not, Field Mob aren't targeted at a Yung Joc audience; this is music for the intellectually superior hip-hop heads, who can process Field Mob's music more easily, instead of being overwhelmed by the complex manner in which their messages are conveyed. Field Mob may look like a Ying Yang Twin alternative on the surface, but only to those who pay no attention to their music; dig a little bit deeper, and you're going to find an astonishingly dope album, from two dope country boys.