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Things Fall Apart [Original recording reissued, Explicit Lyrics]

The RootsAudio CD
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)

Price: $7.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
MP3 Music, 18 Songs, 2004 $9.49  
Audio CD, Original recording reissued, Explicit Lyrics, 1999 $7.99  
Vinyl, 1999 --  
Audio Cassette, 1999 --  

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song TitleArtist Time Price
listen  1. Act Won (Things Fall Apart) [Explicit]The Roots0:53$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  2. Table Of Contents (Parts 1 & 2) [Explicit]The Roots 3:37$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  3. The Next Movement [Explicit]DJ Jazzy Jeff 4:10$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen  4. Step Into The Relm [Explicit]The Roots 2:49$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  5. The Spark [Explicit]The Roots 3:52$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  6. Dynamite! [Explicit]The Roots 4:46$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  7. Without A Doubt [Explicit]The Roots 4:15$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  8. Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New [Explicit]The Roots 4:34$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen  9. Double Trouble [Explicit]The Roots 5:50$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen10. Act Too (The Love Of My Life) [Explicit]The Roots 4:55$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen11. 100% Dundee [Explicit]The Roots 3:53$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen12. Diedre Vs. Dice [Explicit]The Roots0:47$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen13. Adrenaline! [Explicit]The Roots 4:27$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen14. 3rd Acts: ? Vs. Scratch 2 ... Electric Boogaloo [Explicit]The Roots0:51$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen15. You Got Me [Explicit]The Roots 4:19$1.29  Buy MP3 
listen16. Don't See Us [Explicit]The Roots 4:30$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen17. The Return To Innocence Lost [Explicit]The Roots 5:40$0.99  Buy MP3 
listen18. Act Fore...The End? [Explicit]The Roots 4:44$0.99  Buy MP3 


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Frequently Bought Together

Things Fall Apart + Do You Want More + Phrenology
Price for all three: $19.42

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  • Do You Want More $6.99
  • Phrenology $4.44

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Product Details

  • Audio CD (February 23, 1999)
  • Original Release Date: February 23, 1999
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording reissued, Explicit Lyrics
  • Label: Mca
  • ASIN: B00000I5JL
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (246 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,769 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Very few hip-hop groups make it to their fourth full-length recording, and perhaps only the Roots have made it to that level while still ascending. Although lyrical and musical vision is sorely lacking from most hip-hop (as Puff and Master P have proved, vision isn't necessary to bum-rush the mainstream goldmine), such qualities are cornerstones of the Roots' music. Their second recording, 1995's Do You Want More?!!!??!, and its follow-up, 1996's Illadelph Halflife, intelligently linked hip-hop to its musical forebears funk and jazz, and their lyrics provided unique, postnationalist hip-hop critiques. On Things Fall Apart (named for the Chinua Achebe novel) the sextet takes on a more somber tone, but at no cost to their musical innovations. "If we had to depend on black people to eat, we'd starve to death," says Denzel Washington, sampled from Mo' Better Blues, at the outset of the recording. It's not self-pity--rather, the group frequently returns to the theme of how many African Americans confuse uniformity with unity. Musically, the group is at its best with guests like Mos Def and Talib Kweli from Black Star contributing some old-school fun and technique to "Double Trouble." Erykah Badu's supple vocals on "You Got Me" are offset by innovative percussion, including an organically developed jungle beat. At a point when most rappers are running on fumes, the Roots are synthesizing new ideas. --Martin Johnson

Product Description

Features cameos by Erykah Badu ; D'Angelo and Eve Of Destruction.

Customer Reviews

One of the best MCs I've ever heard. "matrixrising"  |  25 reviewers made a similar statement
If you love hip hop, then this album should be like your soulmate. David Ghadimian  |  24 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Musical artistry at its very best June 26, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
The Roots are phenomenal, the most musically gifted hip-hop group ever. I mean, they have got it all: live bass and drums, a human rhythm section, dope MCs, and so on. If you've ever seen them live, you know what I'm talking about. These cats are truly artists, not simply musicians. The creativity and skill that each member possesses is mind blowing, especially drummer ?uestlove. This album jives and grooves like very few ever have, especially hip-hop ones. "Things Fall Apart" could be a avant-garde jazz album, if the vocals were removed. But MCs Black Thought and Malik B are like instruments themselves, deftly flowing along with the rest of the group while displaying incredible lyric dexterity. This is a mainstream album, but as conscious and--for lack of a better word--"real" as anything coming out of the underground. There are no weak spots, and plenty of strong ones. Check out "Dynamite", "Double Trouble", and "The Next Movement" especially.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The best! and still getting better May 24, 2000
Format:Audio CD
The Roots have improved by leaps and bounds with every successive release. Organix and Do You Want More contained that original "organic hip hop jazz" sound for which they were first noticed. However, the jam session feel to them, while being great on it's own, eventually grew tiresome. Illadelph Halflife brought in a more aggressive feel to the mix, while still maintaining a bit of the improv qualities of the first two releases. However, it made them sound more like any other rap group and less like the progressive hip hoppers that they are. Yet Illadelph also began the experiment quality that cares us into this release. On Things Fall Apart, The Roots add a new level to their music, a whole new type of refinement and sophistication. Yet while the over-all feel of the album is more polished, there are still moments that shoot back to their previous work. The jam session/bassment feel is still present, the hard edged agressiveness is still there, but both have been somewhat developed and reflect that greatly. The newest element, and the one that makes this album stand out the most among Roots releases, is the increase in knowledge of the studio and composition. These developments are reflected in the two of the earliest songs on the album, "Table of Contents" (where the instruments play in different meters much like some jazz musicians) and "Step Into the Realm" (with the drum beat fading in and out in perfect time with breaks in the lyrics, perfectly fitted and layered together). The Roots have not lost anything in their music, they have just added more (including the presence of a DJ on "The Next Movement"). Even the guests on the album are well suited for the sound. Common ("Love of my Life") and Mos Def ("Double Trouble") fit so well to The Roots mentality and style. Even Eve, who never seems to acknowledge what The Roots did for her and who's recent work wouldn't suggest it, fits beautifully into the part of Black Thought's girlfriend in "You Got Me". While it may be one of their most commercial songs ever, "You Got Me" also embodies everything The Roots do so well and hopefully with its airplay and win at the Grammys will work as a summation of their sound and get more people interested in their music. No Roots album would be complete without the Ursula Rucker track, and here she offers what I think is her most powerful and chilling piece to date, with brilliant background music. And of course Black Thought and Malik B. are still two of the best there are, while Dice Raw continues to improve with every verse. The Roots are to hip hop what Bird, Dizzy and Monk are to jazz, the intellectualization of the artform, focusing more on theory and execution than on making people want to dance. Safe to say that ?uestlove alone has more talent in the first four inches of his 'fro than Fluff Daddy and Master Pee have in their entire record labels. The best thing about this album however is that it's their fourth and they still continue to grow, experiment, improve, and expand.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing January 11, 2002
Format:Audio CD
I'm seen The Roots do lots of innovative things over the years but this has to be the sum of those hard years toiling. This album is wide range. "The Next Movement" can bang in clubs. "Act Too: Love of My Life" can hold you down when you relax at home being introspect. "Without a Doubt" is the ideal track when you want to remember old-school hip-hop without having to dig through your crates. This album does soooo many different things and encompasses soooo many different moods, but at no time does it seem thrown together like a compilation album. It remains coherent partly because each track was sequenced to almost queue up the next song. The interludes flowed smoothly in and out without breaking up the feeling of the overall composition. The band was at their best. Even the human beatboxes (Scratch & Rahzel) were employed thoughtfully. While Black Thought was at the top of his game as the group MC, guest appearances by Common, Mos Def, Dice Raw and Eve were strong enough to be memorable but sparse enough to not take away from the groups efforts. Even secondary group MC, Malik B, lends expert verses where necessary. And to close out the album, Ursula Rucker tells her most chilling and personal poem ever. Point blank, THIS ALBUM IS DOPE!!!! If you don't get your hands on Things Fall Apart, you are doing yourself a great disservice. (P.S. keep listening after Ursula Rucker's poem)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A true classic.
This was the first album I bought by the Roots, but it was far from the last. It's been more than ten years since it was released and I still believe that it's not only the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Ron Brewer
1.0 out of 5 stars Broken Casing
The description was "Like New", which means it should be like new. The cd casing was broken so that the whole front plastic piece falls off. Ridiculous. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Miles
5.0 out of 5 stars THE SQUARE ROOTS!
One of thier best works. Get this album and then get EVERY roots album. I don't care how you found the roots, but keep them. They are a true jewel in a world of banality.
Published 5 months ago by Daniel McDorman
5.0 out of 5 stars All Time GREATEST!!
I can still listen to every song on this cd and still rock to it to this day! The best of them all.
Published 5 months ago by T.
5.0 out of 5 stars Have they ever made a bad album? I'll answer for you...NO!
The Roots, what can you say about The Roots to adequately capture their awesomeness? In the early 90s, there were a lot of hip-hop artists that tried the whole jazz/rap fusion... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Knockemoutdabox
5.0 out of 5 stars And Now It's Time For The Roots Doing Something A Bit Different
When this album dropped at the end of the 90's,I honestly didn't really have or desire anything to do with hip-hop. A lot of it had to do with all of the posturing involved. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Andre S. Grindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you Roots
...for doing the Fishbone song when Michele Bachmann appeared on Jimmy Fallon. I bought this album on mp3 tonight because a) it is a great album, and b) to show my support for... Read more
Published 18 months ago by pickle
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest LP of all time!
Seriously why are you still reading the reviews when you could be listening to one of the greatest albums of all time.
Published on April 28, 2011 by Palaba
5.0 out of 5 stars Record Company Required Metadata
The record company that supplies this song or album requires all companies that sell its downloadable music to include identifiers with the downloads. Read more
Published on October 31, 2010 by Ron Bannon
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece. Period.
I'm really surprised that nobody has written a review on this yet. Maybe there isn't a need for one - just because everyone know that this record is simply flawless. I mean... WOW. Read more
Published on May 7, 2010 by Steven Davis
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