Customer Reviews

Theatre of Pain

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are aware of Holocaust's lyrical style, this album will not shock with his peculiarities. I am a loyal fan of his and this album did not disappoint. His lyrics were quirky, the production was sometimes eery, but very cool. His crew that backed him on this album complement it very well. At times they dive into the quirkyness displayed by Holocaust without copying him. The guest appearences are also cool (a supprising appearence from Buddha Monk (Brooklyn Zu/Da Manchuz etc) and Timbo King (Royal Fam/Black Market Militia). If your a fan of underground hip-hop, and like something a bit outside the square, i would highly recommend this. If your looking at this album, your probably already knowledgable of this type of music.

You know Holocaust as the back-smack-you-so-hard-all-your-seeds-are-born-deformed emcee from the first RZA album. Yes, he ripped it so hard that the song was named after him. Yes, he disappeared for a while after that, re-emerging with a new name, Warcloud, and a new rhyme style that was dismissed by a large portion of his original fans. He's back to his old name, here, but the Warcloud experiment is still underway. And I couldn't be happier about that. Don't let narrow-minded criticism of what Hip-Hop should be dissuade you from hearing what Hip-Hop could be.

As the cover of the album indicates, Holocaust is the headliner of this Theatre and he makes it his mission to challenge his audience from the opening curtain. The poetry he brings to the stage is more like childhood riddles or Buddhist Koan than it is like rap lyrics. It could mean nothing, or it could mean everything. It just depends on how much thought you want to devote to parsing the puzzle. His subject matter ranges from Native-American mythology to Hard-Boiled pulp fiction to Civil War poets. To add to that challenge, his delivery is hard to decipher right away. This is due to a distinctive, one-of-a-kind flow, which sometimes includes mumbling, and trailing off, as though he is trying to escape his own thoughts as soon as they leave his mouth.

His supporting cast, American Poets 2099, do a great job of complementing Holocaust without aping him. He is a hard act to follow and although they can't always keep up lyrically, they always manage to keep the energy of the project going with raw charisma. If more rappers loved Hip-Hop as much as AP2099, the world would be a much better place.

I highly recommend this album. It's not always easy, but it is rewarding.

GREAT ALBUM..GOOD PRODUCTION...GREAT RHYMES...GREAT GUEST APPERANCES!! THIS ALBUM HAS IT ALL AMERICAN POETS ARE THE FUTURE OF HIP-HOP THIS CD MAKES THEIR CLAIM AS A CREW TO BE RECKONED WITH!! PRO N HOLOCAUST DON'T DISSAPOINT AS THIS IS NOTHING NEW FOR THE 2 OF THEM!!

I'M SORRY, THIS GUYS RHYME STYLE JUST PLAIN SUCKS....HE IS A GOOD LYRICIST, BUT HE NEEDS MAJOR WORK ON HIS DELIVERY AND FLOW....HE RAPS OFF BEAT, HIS WORDS JUST DON'T FLOW TOGETHER, THE BEATS LEFT A LOT TO BE DESIRED AS WELL...I STILL THINK HOLOCAUSTS BEST WORK WAS ON THE WU TANG SWARM ALBUM....BOTH SONGS HE WAS ON WERE UNBELIEVABLE AND HIS VERSES OUTSHINED EVERY OTHER MC ON THE ENTIRE ALBUM...THEN HE FELL WAAAAY OFF...HIS NIGHTMARE FROM A SHALLOW SLEEP ALBUM WAS GARBAGE...VERY POOR PRODUCTION AND HORRIBLE BEAT CHOICE COUPLED WITH HIS OFTEN WEIRD SOUNDING LYRICS. PASS ON THIS ONE