The Roots : A discography

[Here4theBeer]

Hi all, figured i'd start my reviewing with one of my favourite groups discography. Hope you enjoy.

Organix (1993)

The Roots first came to life with a Beatles-esque beginning, moving over to mainland Europe and then London, constantly performing and refining their live show. This first effort, intended as a demo shows their live, spontaneous tendencies in a greater light than any studio LP since. The loose, organic feel of this record is no coincidence, a lot of this record was written, and often recorded during relaxed jamming sessions.

The album itself did it’s job, it got the band signed for a major label debut, but this shouldn’t be all one takes away from the record. The loose, posse cut feeling prevalent on ‘Pass the Popcorn’ and ‘Good Music’ feels like something one would expect from a native tongue single, not exactly surprising considering it was 1993, but definitely a fun alternative to the dark and rowdy jams of later albums, ‘Things Fall Apart’ and most notably, ‘Illadelph Halflife’.

That’s not to say there are not moments which don’t need to be on the album. The final two tracks are pointless and there is a much better version of scat/rap track
‘Essaywhuman??!’ available on the next album. When considered as part of the Roots discography, this will always simply be ‘the start’. The record that hinted at their creative genius without ever really following through (think Nirvana’s ‘Bleach’). Still though, this album deserves a serious listen, if only to see where they came from and to catch the hints of where they’d go.

Best tracks:
‘Good Music’ (including the prelude)
‘Common Dust’
‘Pass the Popcorn’

7/10