RIYL: Aesop Rock, Milo, Serengeti, MF Doom, KOOl A.D.
Best Tracks of the Album: 2, 5, 7
As Open mike eagle opens he shows us an instrumental section that is as understated as it is beautiful. And he continues with this theme of saying a lot by saying it quietly throughout the album. But if you listen through the melodic rap and take yourself out of his trance, Eagle’s genius comes through in his beautifully crafted beats and lyrics. With almost every song he sets up a slow melodic beat and a relaxing pace only to keep pushing and pushing the speed limit of the track showing his constant strain to show how much he cares for these topics and these songs. Its this unflagging passion juxtaposed with placid beats that captures the soul of Open Mike Eagle and the only bad parts of this album are when this juxtaposition is poorly executed.
My favorite tracks on this album are (How Could Anybody) Feel at Home, Happy Wasteland Holiday, and Brick Body Complex. All of these tracks manage to be a subtle masterpieces balancing on the line between being enjoyable and critiquing the current confusing mess that the world seems to be now.”Feel at Home” manages to be the most catchy in the album with a beat that surprises with its driving and mesmerizing nature. “Happy Wasteland Holiday” is layered with deep dark metaphors and still manages in typical Mike Eagle fashion to be enjoyable and relaxed. Enjoy the deep political metaphors he weaves into this song as he compares our current political climate to a wasteland. The chorus even goes, “they said its normal, its normal, its normal now. … Its holiday in The Wasteland.” “Brick Body Complex” is the most unapologetically angry and fast song on the album yet it balances it with a well built backing track. As such it delivers the biggest punch with powerful lyrics about being black in the United States and backlash against police shootings. After “Brick Body Complex” the album drops off with the biggest problem being the backing beats in the last few songs aren’t as good as the beginning of the album. Additionally, the end of the album is more angry without the lyrical complexity to keep the songs interesting. The only exception is “95 Radios” a slow late night rap song that goes, “and we drove all throughout the neighborhood, trying to find a radio.” As it reminisces on early childhood in the hood trying to find a place to listen to Hip-Hop, the song quietly impresses and makes a good final impression for the album.
Overall, As Mike Eagle breaks in the album he lays down intricate and brilliant beats which underline his beautifully crafted and pointedly political rap. The album reaches its peak in the middle with quietly politic yet superbly crafted and catchy songs. Look at tracks 2, 5, and 7 for the best of the album.