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Old 09.11.2014, 02:48 PM   #1069
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Common - One Day It'll All Make Sense - 1997 - Relativity
One Day It'll All Make Sense is a really good album. Except when it's not. It is a truly transitional record. One where an artist is not only re-evaluating his position in music, but also in life. It's a soul-searching record. A brutally honest one. And while that makes for a riveting listen most of the time, it also means there's some horrible self-indulgence to wade through as well. The album starts off strong, kicking off with the jazzy "Invocation" that wouldn't sound out of place on Resurrection three years earlier. A few tracks later we get to "Retrospect For Life," an amazing story-driven track where Common lays out his fears, doubts and complete apprehension of becoming a father. It's perhaps one of the most honest hip hop tracks I can think of about the prospect of fatherhood. What's most compelling is that it doesn't paint Common as just excited or scared, but as downright human even if it might make him look selfish and immature at moments. The track gains extra levity knowing that he became a father by the time the album came out, yet those second-thoughts about not just a child but about the mother are left there for the world to hear. While the first third of the record stays solid - even while switching gears to 80's hip hop tribute with guests De La Soul, there's a sudden shift around the middle of the record. There's a lot of meandering. "Gaining One's Definition" explores the subject of religion, but there's a bit too much Cee-Lo and not enough Common. "My City," is interesting the first time, but it throws the momentum way off to sit through a five minute spoken word by Malik Yusef every time. A few tracks later "All Night Long" with Erykah Badu starts to shift things back into focus, though admittedly its seven minute runtime is a bit too much as well. Thankfully most of the remaining third stays pretty great. A suite about being robbed( "Stolen Moments" parts I-III) make for an interesting storyline with Q-Tip and Black Thought as guests, "1, 2 Many" finds Common back in his early boom-bap flow style and "Reminding Me (Of Sef)" is a nice breezy walk down memory lane. Ultimately there's plenty to like on this album, but there's also about a third that feels skip-worthy. It feels like Common had ambitions that were maybe bigger than need be. Or maybe he just had too much he wanted to say for a single album.
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