Customer Reviews

Tragic Epilogue

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How can I put this, basically one of the greatest music albums I've ever heard, the production ranges from pure hiphop to abstract hiphop to electronic to pure originality. Lyrically I think Priest is the strongest one, but the other two songwriters are just as capable of writing an amazing verse, basically this album needs to be heard several times to fully understand where these artist are going. Honestly this is another example of why hiphop can be considered real music and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys alot of creativity and challengeing material, peace.

This is the album that resparked my interest in hip hop again, big time. The triple tag team rap attack of the sickeningly skilled M. Sayyid, Beans, and High Priest, along with the deep, dark, and at times almost sub-aquatic production is like nothing put to disc before or after. I would go as far as to call this album a landmark release, legendary even. It's not too abstract to listen to and it's not predictable mainstream garbage. Hearing these three power-packed and very different rapping styles from quite possibly the greatest MCs alive, weaving gritty tales of urban paranoia and painting vivid verbal dreamscapes that would make Dali blush simply blows my mind to pieces. How anyone can find this boring or flat is beyond me. You're either jealous or braindead if this stuff don't do it for ya. For my money, this, "The Tragic Epilogue" is the best rap recording of all time. APC is dead, long live APC.

Sometimes the choruses get a bit annoying (like on "Your World Is Flat"), but when everything else is good, you get over it real quick. Some of the best and most original rhymes you'll hear anywhere are on this album - probably since not many other rappers have the vocabulary to drop "art deco" or "umbilical" on any of their records. Earl Blaize's production skills are evident throughout the album, but especially when the beats of "PSA2" blend perfectly into "9.99"'s piano loop. "What Am I?" "Laundry," and "Nude Paper" are even better. A future classic.

Anybody who's a follower of the East Coast underground knows that Ozone can't miss, and once again they brought it.

If you're looking for something WAY different, but still VERY good, pick up this album. A fellow hip hop fan recommended them to me about five or six years ago. I couldn't get into them intially but, after a few listens, you'll finally "get" APC. Their genius is the fusion of hip hop and electronic beats, ambient soundtracks, unique flows, echo, reverb, and lyrics from another world.

One of my favorite hip hop songs ever, "Your World is Flat," is on this album. My other top two, on this album, are: "Rinseflow" and "Smores."

Their style's a lot different than any other other group out there right now and, mind you, this album came out in 2000. Unfortunately, APC have since broken up. Beans is now a solo act and High Priest and M. Sayyid are Airborne Audio. Who??? Exactly. Too bad because we had one of the most original hip hop acts since Ultramagnetic.

These guys opened up for Radiohead on their "Kid A/Amniesiac" Tour. Radiohead!!! All of their albums are great and I wish they'd get over whatever problems they had and get back together. APC live is one of the best live hip hop shows you'll ever see. "I guarantee (you have to say it like Justin Wilson)!"...

Word-sound, like the mere vibration of the human voice could could usurp all yr musical sensibilities and make the backing trax to this vocal (not lyrical) onslaught seem agressive and benign at once. It's always been on the agenda of the finer hip-hop albums to mine the vein where the personal rubs up against the political, giving rise to equal measures of amazement and estrangement. But you probably haven't heard it presented in such isolationist extremes as this before and and the supreme irony of the album is that, despite the fact that it's so firmly rooted in the concept of language, it still defies description.

The VASTLY underhyped antipop consortium album Tragic Epilogue is one of the best hip hop releases this year. It indeed stands for EVERYTHING antipop: quality, originality, intelligence and excellence just scratch the surface. The album is characterized by rapid-fire, sophisticated rhymes, stripped down beats and loops that are catchy without being predictable. 9.99 and Driving in Circles are probably the most mainstream-sounding tracks on the album, yet compared to the homogenized sounds that are passing for hip hop on the radio these days, the antipop have left what's hep for what's GOOD. RIP Puffy.

This is one of the most innovative hip hop culture albums out in quite awhile. Keep pushing the envelope.

Quite possibly the best music anyone will ever here.

After spending the past two years in the lab, High Priest and M Sayyid of Anti Pop Consortium will reemerge as Airborn Audio. Their debut album is scheduled to drop on Ninja Tune Records, Feb. 2005.