Phrenology (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Phrenology
Type = Album
Artist = The Roots


Released = November 26, 2002
Recorded = June 2000–September 2002
Genre = Hip hop
Experimental Music
Alternative Hip Hop
Rapcore
Neo Soul
Length = 60:47
Label = Geffen
Producer = ?uestlove
Reviews =
*Metacritic (87%) [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/roots/phrenology link]
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:iqjv7i83g76r link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1534&name=The+Roots link]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (B+) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,393129,00.html link]
*HipHopDX Rating|4|5 [http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/reviews/id.254/title.roots-phrenology link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.1/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21399/Roots_Phrenology link]
*PopMatters (favorable) [http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/r/roots-phrenology.shtml link]
*RapReviews Rating|8.5|10 [http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2002_12F_phren.html link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theroots/albums/album/267761/review/6067367/phrenology link]
Last album = "The Roots Come Alive"
(1999)
This album = "Phrenology"
(2002)
Next album = "The Tipping Point"
(2004)

"Phrenology" (released November 26, 2002) is the fifth album from The Roots. Immediately following the breakthrough success of "Things Fall Apart", its release was highly anticipated and highly delayed, as recording took two years. The album includes guest appearances from artists including Nelly Furtado, Cody ChesnuTT, Musiq, Talib Kweli, and Jill Scott. "Phrenology" did not chart as high as "Things Fall Apart", reaching #28 on the Billboard 200 in comparison to "Things Fall Apart"'s eventual peak of #4. However, like The Roots' previous album, "Phrenology" sold steadily and was eventually certified gold, signifying sales of at least 500,000 units.

The album was named for the discredited pseudoscience of phrenology, the study of head shapes to determine intelligence and character. Phrenology was sometimes used to justify racism in the past.

Track listing

# "Phrentrow" (featuring Ursula Rucker) – 0:18
# "Rock You" – 3:12
# "!!!!!!!" – 0:24
# "Sacrifice" (featuring Nelly Furtado) – 4:44
# "Rolling with Heat" (featuring Talib Kweli) – 3:42
# "WAOK (Ay) Rollcall" (featuring Ursula Rucker) – 1:00
# "Thought @ Work" – 4:58
#* contains elements of "Apache" by The Sugarhill Gang, "Jam On The Groove" by Ralph McDonald and "Human Beat Box" by The Fat Boys
# "The Seed (2.0)" (featuring Cody ChesnuTT) – 4:27
# "Break You Off" (featuring Musiq) – 7:27
# "Water" – 10:24
#* contains elements of "Her Story" by The Flying Lizards and "Come Out" by Steve Reich
# "Quills" – 4:22
#* contains elements of "Breakout" by The Swingout Sisters
# "Pussy Galore" – 4:29
#* contains elements of "Because I Got It Like That" by The Jungle Brothers
# "Complexity" (featuring Jill Scott) – 4:47
# "Something in the Way of Things (In Town)" (featuring Amiri Baraka) – 7:16
# Untitled (hidden track, silent) – 0:20
# Untitled (hidden track, silent) – 0:20
# "Rhymes and Ammo/Thirsty!" (featuring Talib Kweli,Dice Raw) (hidden track, silent until 2:00) – 7:59
# Untitled (hidden track, silent) – 0:05

Album chart positions

ingles chart positions

Trivia

"Thought @ Work" was originally recorded to be on a Black Thought solo album which has been scrapped. The original version used a sample from The Beatles' "Hey Bulldog" but at the time Michael Jackson and Sony Music were fighting over who owned The Beatles' music and thus no samples were being cleared. ?uestlove tried what he could, including contacting John Lennon's son Sean, but there was nothing that could be done except to remake the track.