Customer Reviews

Universal Mind Control

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This album is wack. Common is a poet, a great lyrists. One of my favorite MCs of all time and last I'd expect to sell out. This album goes against everything he is good at. He tries to make club hits on this album. His single entitled "Universal Mind Control" feat Pharell is annoying..he says he "stays fresh like hes wrapped in plastic" and continues by saying how hes "fresh and gettin paid". only song I can enjoy is "Make My Day" feat Cee-Lo. This song is 1 of 3 not produced by the Neptunes. On the "Annoucement" feat Pharell he calls hip hop his bitch. What ever happened to "I Used to Love H.E.R"? Sorry Common, but after this album I kinda wish you just stuck to acting. For true hip-hop heads go cop "The Pre-face" by Elzhi or "Tronic" by Black Milk.

Those are definitely words I thought I would never say about Common Sense who is one of the greatest to ever do it. But man oh man, I guess when you've been around this long that you'll have one or two of these misses. This is not the first time he's done the short track list deal but "BE" was not like this. Universal Mind Control has some heavy songs on here and a couple of my favs being "Punch Drunk Love" and "Make My Day". Now here's where the problems come in and I'm sure plenty of others have said this. Half this album is as weak as the Detroit Lions season this year and the other half is on a much much higher level.

The production with the corny tracks start you off in a bad mood and you don't even want to listen to the song after that. "Changes" doesn't even really sound like a Common track, honestly a few of em don't. Then of course you got the hot "Universal Mind Control" which was a nice first release and "What A World" is pretty good also. Lyrically the album is not one of his strongest. Common almost seems to be loosing himself a bit over the past year or two.

Really I got this album for "Universal Mind Control" and "Punch Drunk Love", there were more mediocre and bad tracks on here than I've ever heard from the man that was thought to have more sense than any rapper in the game. So get it if you want the few songs but my advice is find a way to get it without paying full price.

WACK ISH on this album. Common comes with a fairly short album of ten tracks. Stand out tracks that i immediately go to are PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, ANNOUNCEMENT, and GLADIATOR. The songs I absolutely hate are MAKE MY DAY, EVERYWHERE, SEX 4 SUGAR, and CHANGES. Common got a little too experimental again on this one similar to how he got on Electric circus. So with me the album is 50/50. Half dope, half experimental/WACK. Half the beats/songs are dope, the other half are weird and WACK. Its really gonna come down to how experimental you are in your taste of music if you will accept the weird half of this album. if you are looking for the effort of the last two Common albums in this album, you will be disappointed.

It's true. Universal Mind Control doesn't represent the soulful, jazzy and lyrically deep Common that his fans enjoy. Initially, I was very disappointed.

Despite this, Common was very clear that UMC wasn't going to be that album. It was meant to be a 'just for kicks', screwy, summer-fun sort of album.

If you keep the intent of the album in mind, you'll realize that the sort of tracks on the album are very fitting. It's an interesting sound. Not the eclectic, neo-soul jazz sound of Like Water for Chocolate, but it was never supposed to be.

1 of his his worst albums since that Circus crap he put out, all the hype that was surrounding this release, wow what a disappointment, I'm still a real fan of his, but this is subpar.You want some great Common music skip this one and grab "Be, Like Water for Chocolate,and Resurrection."

I see this album has some bad reviews and I get it. It sounds like nothing on radio playlists, but I consider that a good thing.
The best song is "Gladiator," no question. Common slays weak rappers on that cut. That song made me want the disc as soon as I heard it and I play that cut almost every morning during my routine.
Much of the rest of the album is for hip-hop historians. I've caught tributes to the Sugarhill Gang, Jungle Brothers, Afrika Bambaataa, Nice and Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, and Notorious B.I.G., and there are probably more. If you don't know all those, get educated, then come back to "Universal Mind Control."

I never thought I'd say that an album from one of the best emcees in the history of Hip-Hop is only worth buying for the production. That's something you say about the latest rapper of the week, backed by big budget producers, pushed on image by label execs, not expected to matter after one or two albums. I listened to this album on repeat just to be sure, even though it basically smacked me in the face on the first listen. The only reason to buy this is for the inspired Neptunes production. Shades of Bambaataa, techno/electro overtures, some interesting synth sounding work, that's what is interesting here.

What is completely boring, trite, hackneyed, uninspired, and a thousand other similar descriptors, is Common's performance. It's not entirely surprising, Finding Forever struck me as uninspired as well, it was "safe" Common, paint by numbers style. Throw in some cliched black pride, boasting of emcee skills, some sex, pop references, big budget beats, mix and serve. Here it's much of the same, just throw in more sex, talked about without the vulgarity of much pop-rap out there, but with the same unoriginal and shallow attitude. There are shades of the old Common here, on songs like "Changes", but even then it's more of the paint by number throwback style of Finding Forever, than the inspired work of "G.O.D.", "The 6th Sense", etc.

Too be clear, as I can already foresee the claims about naysayers of this album trying to keep Common trapped in a box, it is not the change I have a problem with. I was a fan of Electric Circus, and if anyone finds this interesting, but hasn't heard that album, pick it up immediately. This is not Electric Circus, there's no creative force and inspiration behind what Common is doing, no interesting writing or styles of delivery. As evidence by the reaction to Electric Circus, some people are allergic to change, they will just not give it a chance. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people who will throw "change" around like it is an excuse for whatever crap an artist wants to put out. "Change" isn't a positive or negative term, the material which is the product of change must be judged on it's own right, and by my judgment, Common's direction on this album is an abysmal failure, with only the work of the Neptunes (and the other producers) even keeping it afloat.

Common hurt me on this one he was on a roll after BE and Finding Forever I thought he couldn't be stopped. Then this came out I don't even want it in my house.

Common began trying to marry his spiritual side with his material side after Electric Circus. That album was far left for him. He indulged in some parts of music that were supposedly forbidden to him as a "True Hip Hop Artist." Then there came "Be." He said of that album that he realized, from the fans' feedback, that he doesn't have to be off the wall, he just has to "be."

The problem there, is that Electric Circus is one of my favorite Common albums. I think deep down, it's one of Common's favorites too. But he can't lose all his fans by saying "Forget them, this is what I wanna do." Too many fans hated the album. Even though I like Electric Circus, the only song I bump when I'm in a raw Hiphop mood is The Hustle.

So, here on Universal Mind Control, he finds a middle ground. But it's not a middle ground you'd expect. Here, I find a "less conscious" Common. Which isn't a bad thing. That just means he isn't trying so hard to be a lyrical messiah. He's letting the rhymes flow more. He stopped trying to save the world, and just did exactly what he loves to do... some b-boy music and some 80's flavor. Common is finally "Be"ing.

My only criticism of the album is that he delivers some of the lines timidly as if he isn't truly comfortable "be"ing yet. It's not that he should come harder lyrically, but emotionally. Com's had that issue for years though. Overall, I really like the album and the peace that Common seems to have found.

Look, I have been listening to common since the first album. This one in my opinion is good, not great. I'm a b-boy and I cant tell you how long lots of other people have been waiting for a single like Universal Mind Control. If you listen to house music, you will like Everywhere feat. Martina Topley which is a sick song. Make My Day has a unique flare to it feat Cee-lo, makes you want to dace. Announcement, Gladiator & What a World are pretty good songs too if you listen to what he is saying in the song. Again, GOOD album.......just not GREAT! Will keep supporting .....