The Well of Life and Glistening Beauty Known as Resurrection

I wake on the East Side of Stony after my Resurrection thinking about the times before my death when I used to love h.e.r.. I have even forgotten what exactly that h.e.r. was and the reason my love deceased. Now I just sit here, in this warped, surreal chasm munching on a watermelon whilst contemplating on the book of life I picked up during my arise from the ashes, really in my own world, beautiful. But my skies are darkening, I sense a second death. The only inevitablity and certainty of Life itself. Too many of these images plague my head and it seems that it will be another wasted nite with... nuthin to do. Oh!! its too dark, I cant bare it, I am losing consiousness, Can you save me???.....

I awake again in some dream like reality swirling through the atmosphere a storm of psychotropic nightmares (A lone sign says West Side of Stony). Prophetic of whats to come.... My fears, a sub conscious reminiscence of Communism. No escape, they are seemingly everywhere and impossible grasp. My only comfort, some one spooky, yet surprisingly chilled out radio station WMOEin an abandoned wreckage of a building, booming in my second and last possession my radio. Through these subliminal messages, I approach in all humilty a moment of clarity. Declaring in all my nakedness and vulnerablity to all the vultures and malevolent predators above me..."THISISME". They faded in the shining ball of my soul. This wavering reality was not so, I awoke in some paradisiacal hotel sitting in a plush, soft armchair, clutching a glass of orange pineapple juice with a dash of vodka gazing on through a window with wispy curtains flying gently in the mild breeze at a calmly setting Sun. Now truly in reality, away from now my distant fears. I am now able to contemplate man's true aspiration and desire: acquirement of materialistic wealth. My Radio is still with me - ever persistent in my journey now playing a mildly amusing story called Chapter 13(rich man vs. poor man). I chuckle, and come to myself, removing my eyes from the juicy mirage of power and riches and now in some anonymous limbo, I stay in the peak of my mental plane - Maintaining. A few hours pass in this flawless state of subconsciousness. But then I catch a bright, blinding flash in my eyes. So overwhelming and stunning I fell to my knees and dropped my half full glass. The light blinked out immediately and left pulsating scars on my eyelids. The sun had set. All was dark and cold on my naked skin. But I got up, the light awoke something in me, like a great slap in the face from deities above, I was mildly enlightened. I stumbled to the dressing table with a purpose and pulled one of the drawers out: A tattered, burnt brown book containing sum sh*t i wrote but now in front of me though ancient it all made defiant sense. Next to it was my pop's rap a humble expression of my father's heart. And then it happened. I achieved my purpose in this bizarre dream and now standing on the cliff of self control I am now ready to whole heartedly let go of my inhibitions and swan dive into the ocean of artisitic expression. Common Sense - Resurrection

Album Song Title Listing and Rating (out of 5)

1. Resurrection - 5 stars
2. I used to Love h.e.r. - 5 stars
3. Watermelon - 4.5 stars
4. Book of Life - 5 stars (OH MY GOOOODDD!!!)
5. In My Own World (check the method) - 4.5 stars
6. Another Wasted Nite With... - boring but bearable
7. Nuthin' to Do - 5 stars (OH MY GOOOOODDD!!!)
8. Communism - 5 stars
9. WMOE - interesting
10. thisisme - 5 stars (OH MY GOOOODDD!!!)
11. Orange Pineapple Juice - 4 stars
12. Chapter 13(rich man vs. poor man) - 5 stars
13. Maintaining - 5 stars
14. Sum Sh*t I wrote - 5 stars (OH MY GOOODDD!!)
15. Pop's Rap - 5 stars

It goes without saying that this is a classic album. From what I have currently heard of Common Sense this is definitely his best work. The sheer lyrical power of this album has caused me to put Common in my top 5 lyricists EVER. Even causing me to contemplate placing him at the top spot in replacement of Gza. What makes him so good and insightful into truly meaningful things is the humble mind and emotional state he is in. Unlike all the gangster rappers and so forth that are out now who talk about violent, false fanatasies that many of them have hardly ever come in contact with. Common is in the position many of the people listening are in as well. He shares the same insight many of us in epinions have into the decay of Hip Hop and the desire for true lyrical prowess. He has no known affiliation with gun violence and drug dealing and is proud of it making him able to make total unbiased commitments to Hip Hop without aspiring to be gangsta. He emits what gave birth to Rap but manages to add a whole new original pulse to the flow traditional lyricists. He possesses the calmness and cool hearted efficiency of a terorrist sniper. He is able to penetrate and shatter subject matter at seemingly point blank range, with concise and devastating shots of intelligence and humour. There is no sense of urgency or insincerity in his lyricism. He knows what he has to say and yet he feels he does'nt need to say it straight away, he can dabble in mild sarcasm and typical freestyling slapstick sparks of humour before slamming the inevitable deep message in your erratic heart.

Although many would depict his lyrical power by using the masterpiece I used to love h.e.r.(and i'm sure you have heard it all before) Which shows his highly original, and amazingly intelligent and witty skills where he is able to morph Hip Hop into the image of a woman and describe her detrimental journey. I would rather describe Book of Life where he basically unsheathes his sharp, superb lyrical blade and stabs himself in the heart and lets it bleed deep red, syrupy soul all over the vinyl.
He just destorys the audience's minds with two-way meaning shots of sceptical lyricism sentences like this #I'm twenty-two - catch in the prime of my life...# Before our feeble mind tie together the loose ends of his humourous riddles #They say become a doctor, but I dont have the patience# He moves on to the next well of ILLogic. Common Sense is a poet, we can hear it by the way he structures the song. It is not the typical Nas, Tupac, Wu Tang flow. He structures it so every word can be heard in its distinctive ringing power and it clarifying wisdom. After a few words he makes a defiant pause for just a slight longer than half a second, He speaks like he is reading poetry. Long enough for the mind to comprehend the pure dopeness writhing off his tongue. Over a pounding and slightly scraping bass, it feels like he is riding a wave of ominous illness. As each word slides in with prominence the bass uplifts his voice causing it to echo throughout the brain richocheting in bliss. Every little ambient tingle and mild guitar wobble in the beat acts as foamy bubbles rippling away from the vast wave of bass and poetry and creates a lavish soundscape of aqueous music. Common basically in this song addresses all the problems in his life and the limbo he is in as a result of laziness or maybe just lack of options for him. He looks at the fast fading of his life and the tedious routines of existence and how he should make something of himself immediately and find his niche. He is secretly addressing the fact that he has found this niche, Hip Hop #I dont think i'll ever be happy untill I rest in peace....of mind and find who I am. But thank God I found you#. He displays Hip Hop as the comfort zone for him away from all the harshness and cold reality of the professional world. The place where he can forget his troubles and all his munadnities and create what he truly loves. He basically strips himself down to an embryo and embraces Hip Hop like some benelovent womb. It is truly beautiful. And he leaves the song with a subtle scratch of very wise words that sums up the whole meaning of this Song #Dont...throw it....down...the drain..#. Songs like this prove his lyrical insight and the humility of his soul. And sorry to be tragically redundant something which countless rappers lack and cover up with false yet attractive issues. And it is something that much be treasured by all poetry lovers everywhere.

There are times when a rapper must be gentle and philosphical. But then...there comes a time when a Rapper must be a ruthless obliterator of lesser beings. An immortal prophet who cries decrees of pure evil braggadocio and ambient destruction that will resonate through the universe with a devil like guile. Sum Sh*t I wrote, another epitome of Common's lyricism in Resurrection is the full display of this. After the bubbly, bouncy and enjoyable piano drenched song Maintaining, Resurrection takes a sharp turn to the darker side. The first thing to hit the ears with sturdy pulsation and unnerving plucking of very low end piano keys, stumbling over the track in a drunken evil. Then the raping scratches dessimate the track. In my mind if there was a scene to it I would envision Common and NO I.D. sitting in a smoky players club around a poker table, about to load up there lyrical pistols with blunts in their mouth, cap fronts low down to their head darkening their forward allowing only a sly gleam in their eye ot be seen. The whole track reeks with a colluding, intoxicating power that can't be resisted. It makes my eyelids lower to medium height like cunning wolf of some sort. And a wave of criminalistic thoughts barrage through my mind. Although there is no mention of crime or guns or anything else like that, the atmosphere makes even The Cosa Nostra think again before pulling the trigger. Common basically unloads all his pirate, bootleg goods on the final smorgasboard of pure braggadocio. Proving he is the lyricist's lyricist.Down this liquor...

#Marks I erase like racism, I'm as large as a bigot
Brew is my escapism, when I'm bubbly I just kick it
What I need from you is understanding that I'm standing
On my own two, down with my own crew
Toe cancer, I'm bad to the bone too, I'm prone to snap off
When I'm off that Cognac I can't hold back like a massouse
I get loose like a screw turned from left right to tight
When it's time for some action I get Red's "Tonight's Da Night"
An eye for an eye, a life for what's right
Dissected I'm on some hi-tech s**t computers want to bite
Your style is Pascal, mine is Basic and just instinct#

Don't get it mistaken, Common is not a polished, flawless public school mama's boy poet. He is as rugged and intoxicated as ODB (RIP) and yet contains the wit and guile to morph his fractured mind into intellectual verbal fire. He has been at the lowest of low and yet manages to iron out all the creases at let the steam of his tongue rise in swindling, swanky narco-skill.

#When I'm alone in my room sometimes I stare at the wall
And in the back of my mind I hear a wack-a** rhyme
And I catch Alz-rhymers, then forget it, I get charged
Like a ni**a in position with the stolen card of credit
F**k flipping the script, the rap scene I'm trying to edit
My mellows call me "Never", they be like "Never's going to get it"
Never's too much, I'm much too, I do justice to poetics
That's why cats be like "F*ck you, f*ck you, f*ck you!"
Other studs come through to see what I am up to
They be on the dick of crew that be giving us weed and buying us brew
Like Kareem I got the hook up, brothers look out because they look up
Rest in peace to Heaven,#

To the very end Common packs plenty of laughs and thoughtful provocation. The essence that he emodies throughout the album. A skill that he has mastered: the ability to make one laugh and say "Wha? Oooh yeeaahh!!??!!".
Common maintains a humble air around him although his lyricism drips with higher level intelligence and cynicism. He holds all in his mind, whether it be incredible provocative insight, aggressive patriotism to true art, human faults and the celebration of it, the accepting and embracing of one's own personality with pure sincerity or just spitting a dope verse or two. Common has it ALL. If one was to start his Hip Hop collection and is mainly looking for albums with incredible lyrical skill above all one would chose: Rip The Jacker, Liquid Swords, ATLiens, ILLmatic and RESURRECTION.

The production on this album is what truly maks this a gem of an album. The majority of the tracks begs to be treasured and appreciated. Because every track is brimming with amazingly detailed intricacies of brilliance that once found erupts the heart in pounds of ecstacy. The majority of the production is jazz influenced using the same bubbly piano keys, sorrowful guitar slurs and thudding, chunky basslines of old time music. There are many articles of NO I.D. amazing skill where he is able to create heavenly imagery through mild sampling and threading of all of music's intricacies.

I used to Love h.e.r. Although used to describe lyrical prowess on this website has one of the most beautiful, glistening track I have ever heard. When it starts a lone guitar wail echoes through the track, it sounds like some melancholy electric dog wailing at the moon with a sparkling tear in his eye. It is so sad and heart-wrenchingly emotive Common only needs to say Hip Hop to put his point across (although he doesnt) Because that guitar... says it all. As the song progresses the production flourishes in bloom of intensely sweet soul. A solo guitar is plucked with such a memorable and saddening tone it starts of low and humble then rises slightly in a mild crescendo as if the player of it is crying and as his cries intensify the guitar responds with a sensitive cry of its own. In the slight background there are sparkling ambient triangles tingling throughout in an illuminating aura. Together with the wolf like cry and the sombre, poor guitar pluck it looks in my mind like a lone guitarist wondering into some deep mountains, who has just lost a son and expressing his sorrow through his loving guitar on the highest mountain top. As he plays with his hat tipped down in mild contemplation in the great open wild. In the dark night, glistening early born stars flash shyly in the sky whilst the wounded wolf wails at the full moon in unison with the guitarist. The whole scene in my mind generates an atmosphere of pure vulnerability and sorrow; the weakness of the starlight triangles, the frailty of the wolf like guitar wail, the bereaved heart plucks of the guitarist. It is an image that renders the heart senseless in fascination. NO I.D. adds a few mild ingenuities to the track to relate to Common's lyricism. As Common's narrative reaches the part where things are breaking up with Hip Hop, NO I.D. makes the track pause and stumble to symbolize and fortify Common's message of things distorting aand failing. Although that is very quick and subtle, when it is appreciated it is truly enjoyable to hear. When you first hear it will not be able to take it in all at once, it is so deep with layers of sadness and cold loss that the heart can only cry and hope for a happy ending. Well...we can only hope.

Further along the album is thisisme one of the best produced tracks on the album. A song that expresses humbleness more than any track could ever possibly do. It is one big collision of multiple melodic intricacies; a rapidly scratched sentence, a slow humming bass. Then an elevating short piano loop that starts as a very fast low end wobble that intensifies into a landmark high note tingle it acts in the track as a surreal, miragic firework, climaxing in an explosion of fast and spontaneous luminous soul. Throughout the track there is a shy, slow organ drag that feels like an angel's finger being stroked along the chambers of your heart. It is so benevolent and uplifting, it fortifies Common's mindstate on the song - self acceptance. Common basically drowns in his own voice, plucking a few smart sentences out of the air and blowing them back out in the atmosphere with a new found angelic purpose. He denies all gangster affiliation, expresses his love for everyone in the world and all the subtle enjoyable things about humanity in the world. Truly some kind of heavenly entity. At the end of the chorus or a verse a mild, jolly piano loop trickles down the track like the Gods' Ambrosia, it is so juicy and aquatic I cannot help but drown with Common in what is truly brilliant music. The lyrics on this song is not up to amazing status by Common standards, this is mainly because he is totally relaxed he is more or less just speaking to the beat enjoying his soul and musical ability and his very existence. And it is this great appreciation of all life that deletes all the flaws of his words regardless of the flow or cadence. Like Jimi Hendrix's 1983 the lyricism is very simple and short yet by the usage of amazing guitar and other divine instruments the lyrics are able to melt into and become one with the beats and be assimilated into musical appreciation and prophetic imagery. And thats what music is all about, imagery. Generating a whole new world for the audience that removes them totally from conscious thought and folds them in supreme waterfalls of artistic energy. This is Resurrection

There are more amazingly produced songs like Resurrection one of my favourites, chapter 13 and nuthin' to do. They all have powerful characteristics and all the production and lyricism is on a plateau of its own. Like I say for almost all albums I review, they must be appreciated in its raw form, not in HTML. How it was meant to be felt and indulged in, through the speakers. In a scorching fire of liquified production and lyrical ingenuity.

There are cons, but really I do not want to speak about them. It removes the whole feel I want you to have of the album. People who have heard it before will know what I mean. There is an atmosphere streaming off it that consists of no flaws, only spritual, souful artistic expression. The cons really are not that big. And like Common and every human being, this album is flawed but so beautifully so that it will never need changing. Favourite songs are Resurrection, Book of Life, Sum Sh*t I wrote and of course I used to love h.e.r.

Common Sense created a purified spectacle that embodied everything good about Hip Hop. And why so many of us here in Epinions love it so much. It is a beautiful art. And the essential most basic form of artistic expression. To prove to you that true rappers are really poets not gangster extortionists using commerical niches and cashcows, I would have to show you this album. So superb and numinous that I can not believe it is real (hope that adds some clarity to my little story before the review). I just have to appreciate it in it's delicately sweet and fragile form before I awake to the nightmare of present day. Hip Hop. I miss you. So does Common Sense and we who stand in this limbo of artistic expression can only wonder if another artist of present day can achieve the intellect, insight, wisdom, humility and seraphic prophecies that is Resurrection. Sadly, no. So as the many hopeless weep for better days in the river of Hades. I swan dive off the cliff into Common Sense - Resurrection and drown in the human soul. And I hope you will as well.

5 stars.