Very Mercenary

Herbaliser | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 27, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 20, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ninja Tune
• ASIN: B00000IKGU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,762 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Trip-Hop
  • #14 in Music > Indie Music > Rap & Hip-Hop > Experimental

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic and forward-thinking hip-hop epic, November 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Very Mercenary (Audio CD)

The Herbaliser is the malicious lovechild of a stoned copulation session between DJ Shadow, Miles Davis and Portishead. With "Very Mercenary," the band (under the direction of DJ Ollie Teeba and producer Jake Wherry) goes one better than their stellar disc "Blow Your Headphones." This time, the English boys have learned the beauty of subtlety. The end result: some mad blunted jazz that would confuse the average Puff Daddy fan to pieces while endlessly delighting those who thought hip hop couldn't get any better than Shadow's "Endtroducing" or The Fugees' "The Score." Choice cuts: All the tracks featuring rapper What What?, "Who's The Realest," "Mind in the Frame," "Road of Many Signs" (w/ The Dream Warriors), "Wall Crawling Breaks" and "The Sensual Woman." "Very Mercenary" gives hip hop what it needs--a healthy dose of cinematic noir. It gives two different kinds of energy--the kind to dance to, and the kind that stimulates thought. Never mind best of the year--try one of the all-time classic hip-hop discs ever made. It's also very revolutionary. Don't be surprised if the major playas start putting out product like this in the next five years...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The herbaliser delivers the goods.....(again!!!), October 28, 2003

By 

fetish_2000 (U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Mercenary (Audio CD)

Possibly wanting to avoid being `Confined' to the `Trip-Hop' tag, The Herbaliser moves more into a rough conceptual-themed Spy Thriller, with a abundance of 60's spy movie sample snippets littered throughout the album. With what could have been a one trick pony idea, works to overwhelmingly superb effect, "Mission Improbable" has female scattershot MC `What What', delivering complicated wordplay over a tasty bed of (60's inspired) uptempo hypnotic Hip-Hop beats. But really impresses is the way that the way that `The Herbaliser' can construct a sound or beat, without resorting to tired clichés, and interesting diverse. "Shattered Soul" really does show how the limitations of the Trip-Hop genre haven't even begun to become confining, it's a purely instrumental track (of which there are several on the album) and shows how beat creation can now truly be considered with (almost) the same creditability as a instrumentalist, and cements `The Herbaliser" as amongst `Ninja Tunes' finest.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Truly noir, June 10, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Very Mercenary (Audio CD)

Herbaliser proves themselves to be one of the most creative forces on Ninja tune. The sound on this album comes across as a cross between the cut-and-paste hip-hop of coldcut and the jazz flavor of Amon-tobin. Beautiful backgrounds are made through both noir samples and live percussions, as well as fantastic live bass playing. In fact, the entire album has a live feel that is altogether absent on most hip-hop albums. All of the vocal tracks succeed, save for the dismal performance of the Dream Warriors on the 'Road of many signs'. Strange Ninja tune released it as a single. And 'the missing suitcase' is the best spy theme since the propellerheads 'majesty's secret service'. While not perfect, Very Mercenary is a must have for fans of blunted jazzy hip-hop. If you're looking for a different side of hip-hop, buy this.