Customer Reviews

Mtv Unplugged No 2.0

5 star:		(191)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I LOVE this CD. Ms. Hill walks us through her spiritual journey. If you don't want to go, get off this train now. She won't mind 'cause as she reiterates time and time again she is doing her own thing. Ms. Hill feels no pressure from the industry and it shows. This cd is absolutely nothing like Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. This cd is, as she states on her cd,"a tub that stands on its own bottom."

She is a poet. Her track "Just Like Water" is awesome. The metaphorical references to water and relationships blew me away the first time I heard it. Not only does she work her magic with an acoustic guitar and her distinctive voice, she works your soul with her spiritual revelations. As a listner you are required to become reflective. Even if you do not like the music you WILL walk away with an understanding of self. And if not with an understanding, than surely with questions.

This CD is inspiring, revealing, honest, healing, thoughtful, insightful, gritty yet delightful. In case you don't know it yet, I am vibin' this in a Big way.

"I know the view is that I am emotionally unstable, which is reality, like you aren't," states Lauryn Hill. Her new live double CD "Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0" is an amalgamation of her inner thoughts and personal demons. Her debut album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was a surprise crossover hit that wowed critics and fans alike, selling 12 million copies, and garnering five Grammys, but it appears success was a pyrrhic victory for Hill. Hill talks about being held hostage by a public persona created by her success. "Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need," professes Hill and reality is what she attempts to deliver to her listeners with her new album. The raspy voice singer blends lyrics of the heart with acoustic sounds from the soul. On one of the lyrical gems titled "Adam Lives in Theory" (They can't even entertain the solution in a brain filled with vain information and pollution) Hill sings metaphorically of the antediluvian Adam and Eve of society. Far from perfection, Hill botches lyrics and strains her voice to unreachable heights, sometimes erroneously strumming away at chords, but yet this album is a gem for being refreshingly intimate and painstakingly honest. Hill pulls at our heartstrings with "Just Like Water" (Moving down the streams of my lifetime/pools of fascination in my sleep/cooling off the fire of my longing) and "I Just Want You Around" (You keep my feet on the ground/ I hope that you can hear me because I know it's not profound/ I just want you around) the two love songs on the album. She shines on "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind" (Please don't be mad with me I have no identity/All that I've known is gone) pouring out her heart and soul to the audience for over nine minutes before Hill becoming emotionally unglued and crying her heart out. Hill is a musical chameleon that does a complete 180 on "Unplugged" returning as a "hip-hop folk singer". It is a diamond in the rough of an arena, filled with pre-packaged commercially acceptable drivel. An album of socially astute thought, it requires a second listen before it can be truly effective and pleasing to the listener.

Not to be cynical, but the new Lauryn Hill album seemed doomed from the very start. It was kept in the vaults for well over a year before the release because her record label didn't feel it was commercial enough....boy were they right. Then she had the Unplugged show on MTV2, which hardly got any decent air time. And to top it off the album was recieved with mixed reviews at best and will undoubtedly fall off the charts quickly with little promotion.

There are alot of good reasons why the album deserves some of it's criticism. Lauryn's vocals are very weak and it cracks alot. And she tends to ramble on in her oh-so-long redundant interludes about "keeping it real". And yes, she's preaching again....but it doesn't come off as heavy handed as it did in her last album.

But all is forgiven once you listen to the material. The fact that Lauryn decided to abandon her band to give us an almost 2-hour emotional folk-fest on acoustic guitar is worth hearing.

The songs are mostly about love ("Mr. Intentional", "I Remember"), making social change ("I Find it Hard to Say", "Mystery of Iniquity"), and reflection (the interludes, "Oh Jerusalem", "The Conquering Lion"). Here is a young artist dealing with her newfound fame and is trying to relinquish it. She speaks to her audience as a teacher of life's lessons while literally in tears. At times she embodies the ghost of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan when she tells her audience to rebel against the system. It's not a new concept, many other artists have written albums reflecting on their fame while being socially conscious. And like those artists, she finds a way to make her story worth listening to without getting defensive, without the gimmicks, and without the pandering.

The sparcity of any other instruments and the rawness of her soulful voice (despite my initial criticisms of it) only enhances the songs. She also manages to make her most profound statements in her simpler songs. For example she repeatedly sings the line "I just want you around, I just need you around" for 3 minutes straight, and each saying is more powerful than the next.

"Unplugged" is very self-indulgent as the critics mentioned. I admit it can be off-putting at times, but there's alot of heart and soul in it. It will never see the commercial and critical success of "Miseducation..." but several years from now it will go down as an underrated classic.

This CD is the most politically/spiritually charged music I've heard in quite a while. The theme is freedom in ALL of its ramifications, from the personal to the political. Although stylistically different, the synthesis is not unlike that of Bob Dylan's best work.

I must confess that I was unfamiliar with Lauryn's music until my son shared with me a song from this CD: The Mystery of Iniquity. What can I say, it blew me away.

Her phrases are short and sharp and delivered with a force that can only be fueled by lived-conviction; the better to penetrate one's delusions and complacency, while energizing one's resolve to live free!

If time is what she needed to find herself, then she can take all the time she needs. Instead of promoting the evil that constantly surrounds the world today, former Fugee, Lauryn Hill strikes back against the system and delivers an amazing two disc set. Four years ago when Hill released The Miseducation, nobody could have imagined what an inspirational musical genius she would grow to be in the coming years. With a little hiatus between albums, Hill returned with a show stopping live performance that's composed of 13 brand new tracks and 9 spoken word interludes. On stage with nothing more then an acoustic guitar, Hill performs the songs for the first time to the delight of the crowd and the listener.

Hill, who is still developing her guitar skills (has clearly heard on the album), has written a collection of Bob Marley influenced rebellious songs, and sweet love songs. On "Mr. Intentional" the album's opening song, she address a love relationship gone wrong. With metaphors and spiritual inferences present, Hill breezes into "Adam Live in Theory", and the gospel number "Oh Jerusalem". But it's the rebellious songs that allow Hill to shine her brightest. On tracks like "I Find it Hard To Say", "Peace of Mind", "The Mystery of Iniquity", "I Get Out", and the album's best track "The Conquering Lion", Lauryn straight up attacks the "democracy" in which we live in today from the political evil, straight through to the injustices of the courts that are supposed to serve and protect us.

Through the spoken word interludes, Lauryn is able to break down the metaphors and explain them to those who wouldn't understand her material so they are not left in the dark. You can't help but to respect her for the effort that she has put into her new material that easily outshines anything she has done to date. Even though this won't change the world, it can change the views of numerous ignorant people, and those who just accept the bad times without doing anything about them. Hill who says that she was snatched away by god and shown the light, has benefited from it in more then one way. She has benefited from it spiritually, because it has brought her closer to god, and because it has helped shape her life and has helped her develop a new musical approach that will take her away from the rest of the people.

As far as comparisons go, nobody can touch Lauryn now. She has stepped above and behind her roles as an artist and has set the bar for what other artists should try and achieve. Just like Marvin Gaye and other artists before her, her music delivers a deeper message then just sex, drugs, money and luxury and though its not appreciated at its time, in the future it will be considered a masterpiece because they have realized the tragedy's before the others who were to shallow to do so. The only downfall to be found on the album, is Lauryn's guitar skills, which need a lot of work. She struggles as she learns new chords and how to change chords. Overall though the lyrics, which are so stunning, will take your attention away from the music and make you focus on what she is saying.

This woman has been fighting to become a yielded vessel for God since the beginning of her career. Every step that we take has purpose. I thank God for Lauryn Hill. She allowed herself to be stripped from the glamour and glitz to find her true heritage in Christ Jesus. The level of understanding that she has is beautiful. If you can't understand what she's saying in most of her lyrics you should seek your Creator. Warning comes before destruction.- God Bless our World.

Recorded while expecting her third child, Joshua, and shortly after learning to play the guitar, MTV Unplugged 2.0 is a largely acoustic set (some delicate percussion on the final song) featuring 11 tracks penned solely by Hill (except for Bob Marley's `So much things to say'). It debuted at #3 in the US and sold 470,000 copies despite being certified platinum.

Recorded at a time Hill was undergoing intense struggles, depression, criticism and pressure, she finally `let go' of a lot of things; materialism, the trappings of fame, the pressure to present oneself as someone you're not to the public, and decided to be real and spiritual, something she shares extensively in the 8 (sometimes lengthy) interludes, as well as in the music.

In fact, so real is she that despite hurting her throat during rehearsals the day before the recording, she insisted on going ahead and performing with a raspy/ragged voice (check out `I remember'), and she flubs some songs a few times, having to do retakes, things that earned her both commendation and condemnation in equal measure. `I used to get dressed for y'all/I used to be a performer' she states at the onset of the set, opening the way for largely unpolished gems.

So, what do we get? Think Tracy Chapman playing just a few chords with a hip hop attitude, or Bob Marley's `Redemption song'. Musically, most of the songs sound identical the first time you listen to them, but further listening reveals deeply personal, spiritual lyrics, inviting you to pay rapt attention.

I think my absolute favourite is the half sung, half rapped `Freedom time'. She starts by singing `Everybody knows that they're guilty/everybody knows that they lie' before launching into a rap about living a life of lies and deception, and the need for freedom - be who you're supposed to be, even incorporating verses from scripture. The delicate acoustic guitar strumming perfectly frames the lyrics. Brilliant!

`Just like water' is a delicate song that uses water as a metaphor for relationships. `Coursing through my senses he's prevailing/Flowing through the space of my design'.

`Mr Intentional' opens with the memorable line `see the road to hell is paved with good intentions'. Delicate strumming that picks up pace during the chorus. Stunning!

Other standouts include `I find it hard to say (rebel)', `Just want you around', the very moving `I got to find peace of mind' (during which she breaks down in tears while singing `What a merciful merciful God'), and the Grammy nominated judicial-system-battling rap `Mystery of iniquity'.

The lone non-Hill composition is the Bob Marley song, the fiery `So much things to say', apt that it flows into the Bob Marley channeling `The conquering lion' with all its biblical imagery, during which some delicate rolling percussion drifts in.' The conquering Lion/ shall break every chain/give him the victory'.

For those looking for THE follow up to `The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill', this isn't it. That may still come. What you get here is freedom. Lots of it.

Ok, I must admit, I was rather reluctant to purchase this CD after hearing all the negative reviews surrounding it. But I decided to find out for myself. I bought it and listened to it. My conclusion: I don't see what the problem is. Yes, it is overwhelming, it is personal, it is dark, but so what? This is who she feels she is. This was her way of releasing all these demons she had living inside of her. People seem to forget that though she's an entertainer, she is STILL human like everyone else. The songwriting on this album is amazing to me. She covers a LOT of social and personal issues and you really have to listen carefully to understand her and this could be one downside to the album. One thing that has to be understood however is that you CANNOT compare it to "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." So many people get themselves into trouble by comparing this to that album. The albums are in two different domains, two totally opposite ends of the spectrum. Because this is the case, I don't see why this unplugged album had to be considered "inferior" to her first one. All I say is listen to this CD with an open mind and don't judge it based upon the first one. If you listen to th lyrics, you'll see that the things she talks about are things we can all relate to a certain extent.

Anyone still waiting for Lauryn Hill's follow up missed it. This was it. This is reality TV right here. Only in retrospect do I now see what she was trying to do here. This album should be revisited by critics and the general public. It's a masterpiece and represents the future of music. This is not Lauryn Hill doing the "MTV Unplugged thing" - doing all her past hits acoustically and covering some other songs by friends (ie. Nirvana Unplugged.) This is Lauryn Hill performing her entire new album live, one time only, sometimes stopping and starting over in the middle of a track and making personal, reflective comments between songs. Artists need to look to this album seriously and consider that what was being done here was much deeper than it appears on the surface.

After watching the televised Unplugged four or five times and having this 2-disc set since the day of its release I think I am ready to review it.

Overall, I would say it is great, with moments of perfection, as well as one clunker. How do I think that the mainstream, pop-music, R&B contingent in Lauryn's fanbase will respond to it? I'm not sure. For quite alot of people I fear Lauryn Unplugged may be too pure, too lacking in flashy production, and not enough phat beats. For those core fans of The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill who were focused on her messages, lyrics, and soulfulness, Unplugged will be considered a gift. On a few occasions it would have been helpful if the lyrics were included in the booklet but her website says they will be posted there soon.

Lauryn still has the ability to see a situation and capture it perfectly in words, a gift that is displayed in full force at various times throughout this set. My hope is that people take this concert for what it was. An unpolished glimpse into Lauryn's creative process. Her voice isn't perfect like it used to be, she makes some clunky little mistakes on the guitar, she stops mid-song at one point to change pages of the lyric sheets from which she is singing. For some fans these things may be a turn-off but they didn't bother me. Lauryn is trying to take mainstream music back down to the people. She is trying to take it out of the hero-worship realm and tell you that you should be you and compare yourself to you, not to the glitz and glamour you're bombarded with on television.

Songs like Mr. Intentional, Oh Jerusalem, Freedom Time, I Find It Hard To Say (Rebel), I Get Out, etc... are as good as her best songs from The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, and the fact that they are such a complete stylistic departure from anything on that album make them even more interesting. Lauryn is definitely not a woman intent on recreating her past or resting upon what we know she can do. Instead she's coming to (and for) us with even higher messages and a brand new musical context for her. She even manages to improve upon Bob Marley's So Much Things To Say (from his Exodus album).

I hope this album and its words find their way into the homes and hearts of everyone who bought The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. In the larger musical world there are other people who speak the truth and don't rely on images and false pretenses, but in the world of mainstream music there aren't very many, and Lauryn is one of the best. There is enough "bling bling" music out there to last us a lifetime and Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0 only costs about the same as a 1-disc album so even if you're worried it isn't flashy enough, give it a try anyway.