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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic amoung any genre, February 4, 2005
This is without a doubt my favorite Rap album of all time. It's not the best album I have nor is it the best I've ever heard. But, I can claim that since I bought it in 1994 it's the cd I listen to the most. Even on a yearly basis, looking back at what I've listened to the most this album comes out on top. That should say something to you about the quality of "Do You Want More"
Do You Want More, more than any of The Roots other albums, makes it obvious that they are playing their instruments ALL the way through. They strayed away from this later in there careers, not necessarily a bad thing, but this album is the only one were they could legitimately play every song, front to back, all elements on stage. Every drum beat, bass strum, sax riff, has that distinct authentic sound. While "Things Fall Apart" musically constructed is their best, this album is defiantly more on the Jazzy tip.
Black Thought has only gotten better as time has gone by, but true Roots purists desperately miss Malik and Dice Raw's insane cameo's. The last time the group was intact like that was "Things Fall Apart". Sure having Talib and others on the newer albums is great... but no one complements Black Thought like Malik consistently and know one can put on as many show stoppers as Dice. ?Luv even gets on the mic in this album. The lyrical complexity is not as dense, but that brash improve is defiantly here. I dare you to find a wack rhyme.
Do You Want More has everything. A lot of laid back jams, live, improv, intense tracks with lyrics to match, experimental, funny stories, poetry, somber retrospectives... and it somehow all flows together perfectly. And as usual all the intricacies of the album are told through the hilarious and informative liner notes, defiantly worth your time to read. Here's how the album breaks down.
From the start "You are all about to witness some organic hip-hop jazz". Is there a better self description of this album??.
There's Something Going On: the "theme" of the album... it's repeated musically all the way up until the conclusion of the album. Ties in everything even more.
Proceed: the single for the album, nice laid back, sets the pace for the album.
Distortion to Static: Multiple track layers on this one (all the way to a laugh track). Nice simple drum beat and background just allows Black and Malik to show off:
"Very relevant, plus intelligently managin' matter/ that's makin' tracks fatter, revolve around Satur-in like rings and brings swings, when I sings with bass/ Then distort up in your face like mace/ Bustin your dreams like gats with loaded magazines/ I'm on the rap scene, repellin fellas like a vaccine."
"Mellow My Man": Smooth jazzy beat... even breaks down at times into a complete Jazz ensemble. More of the same lyricism from BT and Malik with some back & forth play.
"I Remain Calm": Gets intense musically and lyrically (chorus consists of a woman in the background saying "WHAT the HELL is THIS!").
"Datskat": Is basically Black Thought imitating a sort of Jazz/Skat style of singing and applying it to rap. Along with the beat it works really well.
"Lazy Afternoon": It's almost toooo laid back of a song. Black Thought even plays the part of lazy rapping the same verse three times in slightly different ways.
"? Vs. Scratch" Drums vs. the beat-box for about 3 minuets.
"Do You Want More": Bagpipes?? Are you kidding me? This has an insane beat... my only complaint is that Black Thought should have come back on for another verse, or rapped longer... or something, how often do you get to rip the mic over the Bagpipes? Seriously.
"What Goes On, Pt. 7" Thought the Neptunes used the tongue-click thing first? Great track with some great rhymes. ELO the Cosmic Eye drops a nice distorted voice verse.
"Essaywhuman?!!!??!" is a great freestyle improv live track. Black Thought and his band imitate each other through instruments and the audience responds as well. This song has been flipped a couple of different times on their albums and this is the best version.
"Swept Away": excellent track musically and the way Malik & Black Thought flow along with the music is awesome.
"You Ain't Fly" is a funny take on the group's bad luck with women. (?uest Luv on the mic!)
"Silent Treatment": a slow reflective track. Musically once again the Roots really put together an intricate song about lost love (light-years better & not corny like today's typical Thug Luvin' song). To be followed later by tracks of similar breed ("You Got Me", "Break You Off") this is defiantly superior and defiantly more genuine. Black Thoughts lyrics get pretty complex and deep at times. It's a treat to see this performed live as well (that is if BT hasn't lost his voice by that time in the tour).
The Lesson, Pt. I: The Roots break it down to the essence for the last music track. Rahzel doing some incredible beat box, one-take! Black Thought starts off just ripping the track and if he would of kept going it would have been an excellent track. But, Dice Raw makes is debut with a one-take 2:10 min hip-hop quotable. Apparently he was a mere 15 at the time, one of my all time favorite Roots tracks (as well as one of ?Love's).
The Unlocking closes the album with Poetry read by Ursula Rucker and scored by the band. It's a pretty graphic tale, but once you can get past that you realize the story is pretty deep and thought provoking, not just a simple X rated tale.
I can see this album being too smooth and laid back for some people. That's the overall tone of the album with a couple of exceptions. But, I can't imagine no one needing some down time music that's still of superior quality. This is overlooked and probably will continue to be so for another 10 years. Fact is it's my favorite album ever, and I've never had anyone tell me that they didn't enjoy it either... I guarantee it'll end up being a favorite in your collection. I'd recommend `Do You Want More' to anyone and everyone I know, good music is simply good music no matter what genre it is.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the roots is rockin non stop!, January 16, 2000
this is without a doubt one of the finest hip hop/jazz records i have had the pleasure of listening to. i enjoy mainly old school hip hop because the attitude of newer acts is swayed so heavily towards commercialism and image[see tupac,puffy etc.] however then i discovered the effortless flows of the roots. i'd put them in the same league as a tribe called quest which is not an easy task to achieve. if you've also lost faith in the new school then buy this record aswell as their new offering -as things fall apart, which is also tight. also check out jurassic 5, x-ecutioners, peanutbutter wolf, the invizible skratch piklz, & the beat junkies.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True Hip Hop, January 22, 2001
I bought this album back in 95. I havent stopped listening to it since. I remember people at my school had no idea who The Roots were. I told them "You will soon enough". Unfortunately it took about 4 more years until the rest of the world found out who these guys were. I have every Roots album (Including the somewhat hard to find "Organix CD) and I must admit this is there best. The beats are hypnotizing. The rhymes are just pure improvinizational masterpieces!! Everything on this album works. In a time when a lot of hip hop is just glamorizing and showboating...its refreshing to hear music like this. Ok I'll stop boring everyone just go out and buy this album you wont be dissapointed!!!!!!!!!
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by The Roots 
