Roots run dry

The Roots’ latest effort presents itself as art pleasantly blending hard hitting beats with laid back melodies.

What the listener gets is a disjointed, discombobulated compact disc.

Blood, sweat and tears soak some of the better musical tracks on the album, but poor arrangement and slight misjudgments in production may leave Roots fans scratching their heads.

From the first albums released by the Roots, one word could be used to describe the body of work, continuity. Roots’ albums flowed. Similar mindsets created songs with a common interest in mind.

The new album tramples on those ideologies by attempting to splice elements unfamiliar to the band into its sound.

When experimentation works, it’s a great success. But in this case sensual grooves trading places with garage-rock beats from track to track – the outcome is not ideal.

The disc has no overall feel. Unlike many of the Roots’ previous albums, Phrenology cannot be put into a CD player and played through.

Fans who appreciated the smoothed out melodic Roots displayed on 1999’s Things Fall Apart or the raw, natural feel displayed on The Roots Come Alive might be slightly disappointed in Phrenology.

The first 18 seconds of the album are what one would imagine – a sultry female voice speaks about “the beginning.”

That flows directly into the near annoying “Rock You.” The heavy metal edge given to the track by distorted guitar is somewhat hard on the ears, as is the third track “!!!!!!!!,” which consists only of 24 seconds of punk rock jamming.

There are some great tracks scattered throughout the disc however.

“The Seed (2.0)” is a Stevie Wonder inspired tune with live drum kit and very little production. There’s nothing fine tuned about it and that’s what makes it a good one.

Then, arrangement problems return as the next track is the ultra sleek, radio-friendly “Break You Off” which sounds very little like the Roots of old.

The contrasts in the musical styles of Phrenology don’t work.

Some of the well-crafted electronic and synthesizer experimentation, like the middle of “Water,” are vitrtually ruined by the ugly noise of the last two minutes of the track.

There’s no doubt that the Roots have talent, from the lyrics to the beats to the musicianship. When all of these elements meld together correctly, the result can be beautiful.

Phrenology isn’t the best display of the Roots’ talent being pooled to produce the most beauty possible.