Modern Tribe, The - Celebration

Advantages: All your fave Tribe Tracks
Disadvantages: None!

...from The Land Where Hip-Hop And Jazz Live. After releasing four albums, A Tribe Called Quest finally decides to put an end to their legacy. However, with The Love Movement, they definitely ended it on a good note. As usual, Q-Tip is the lyrical fronteer, but Phife comes up with some good lyrics as well. Very nice production done by The Ummah. Also, the great single "Find A Way" has one of the jazzy, noble beats that made the Tribe famous on their previous albums. "Da Booty" has a cool up-tempo beat and Q-Tip and Phife go back and forth nicely. "Steppin' It Up" features Redman and Busta Rhymes, and is a crazy track, with a Cannonball Adderley sample. Every emcee rips the mic on this song, but Redman steals the show with a hilarious verse. Then you have more laid-back tunes like "Like It Like That", which has a slow guitar loop and Q... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Tight, Old School Lyrics, Memorable Beats, Social Consciousness and Intellect, Groundbreaking Classic
Disadvantages: Not everybody's cup of Tea

...With all of the insane talk about Tribe Called Quest reuniting once again, its great to hear. After years apart and a lack of solo success by its members, its good to hear that the trio is back together. So in celebration like Madtheory, i will review what is known to be their greatest hit album yet: Midnight Marauders. This is one of my most long awaited reviews, since ive planned to do it for months but never got around to it. I think its appropriate now. Many fans cant seem to decide as to whether Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders is the better album by the Tribe Called Quest. In what came as a surprise to me, Madtheory placed these two albums as the #1 and #2 greatest albums of all-time, which are very respectable, if surprising, choices. The two albums are indeed excellent, but which is better? Maybe we'll find out at the end... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Some stunning tracks, deeply moving in places
Disadvantages: Some may find it lyrically disturbing

...Basildon's finest were previously perceived as a happy tinkly pop band although some heavy hints of a future darker sound were apparant in the previous album Some Great Reward. Black Celebration was a major departure soundwise and both alienated some existing fans and attracted new ones when first released in the mid eighties. The album has a dark and largely miserable feel and also starts to focus more on the perverse (for want of a better phrase) side of Martin Gore's interests. Black Celebration opens with a track of the same name which immedietly sets the scene with a song about escaping from the misery of the daily grind of life - the black celebration being the celebration of surviving the black day. With a slow but mesmorising build up to some more bombastic elements and industrial sounds, the lyrics lay out the album... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful