The Roots
Rising Down
(Def Jam)
It's been a tricky time for the Roots recently. The Philadelphia hip hop collective had penned Birthday Girl, a soporific pop song that had the kind of crossover potential to send the band into the stratosphere. Yet hardcore fans were scathing, scenting a Black Eyed Peas-style sell-out to the extent that the song was pulled from US versions of Rising Down and given bonus-track status instead.
Hence, there's barely an interval on the Roots' eighth studio album where the sun breaks through the doom-laden monochrome. Theirs was an odd decision to book-end the album with a 1994 conference call featuring band members whining about a perceived lack of respect from their record label: it threatens to lance any sympathy you might have for their cause.
Thankfully, the Roots are the first to admit there are bigger problems out there and spend the remaining tracks establishing a queasy sense of dread. The title track addresses an Earth that is 'spinning out of control' with taxmen, computer chips, souls for sale, disease and the rest.
