Search - Dream Warriors :: Subliminal Simulation

Break The Stereotypes...

? | United Kingdom! | 07/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"3 Years after their debut "And Now The Legacy Begins", the Dream Warriors returned in '94, with a release that innevitably set the benchmark for Canadian HipHop & put the Up North on the map...



Although clearly enriched with a typical mid 90's formula ; jazz/funk/reggae/boogie blues elements, bass-heavy, hi-hats, snares, Cuts, breaks & a mid tempo vibe, "Subliminal Simulation" also seems to possess a slight "ahead of its time" factor, which undoubtedly, gives it a "timeless" quality enabling a listen which still sounds fresh, even today.



It has become clear, that over the years many have ignorantly dubbed this masterpiece as just being "Good Ol' summer hiphop" & being "Nothing original, but sticking to a flawless forumla nontheless" THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE NEED TO RECOGNISE...

SS is a much more thought-provoking & deeper album than most think, it's just the ignorant heads who don't give it a chance, they just flick through the tracks, make a quick analysis & decide on a rating, simple as that! That's exactly the reason for why so many HipHop Classics, past & recent, are so slept on...



The album starts off to a very chilled & refreshing intro, with the words "It is Eternal Youth, coupled with Power" being left to resonate through the listener's mental, before the raw & addictively laced bass on "Are We There Yet" hits you. That comforting lazy & vibin' feel that we all crave to indule to in at times, comes into effect with the track ; "Day In Day Out" sliiding its way on shortly after.

The Premo (DJ Premier) produced "It's a Project Thing" reigns as the album's most significant highlight, being one of Premier's most elegantly "bouncy" beats he has ever done. The Cuts on this track are likely to send any hiphopper's head noddin'.

"I've Lost My Ignorance" featuring Guru, gives a slightly more dark & solemn feel, as the hypnotizing piano riffs fit with Guru's trademark, monotone voice like a glove. Then, with the addictive "Break The Stereo" & the laid-back "Tricycles & Kittens", anybody listening is sure to have become captured in the Dream Warrior's world. "You just can't get enough of that funky stuff, with a little bit of jazz & the rough rough reggae".

"California Dreamin'" has to be in the top 3 highlights of the album, serving as the the PERFECT summer track with elegant horns accompanied by an airy "spacious" feel, that is sure to send anyone's positive vibes rocketing to the ceiling...pure hiphop.



"Adventures of plastic man", "When I Was At The Jam", "Burns 1" & "Sink into the frame of the portrait" are short tracks in which more of a spoken - word style is taken on...showing both Ling Lou's & Capital Q's alternative compassion for the roots & deeper side, from which Hiphop is partially based upon...poetry. However, the track "You Think I Don't Know" has to be the album's most powerful spoken word interlude, with the words;



"Radical Noise; BLACK Music,

Illegal Sales District; BLACK Market,

Stock Market Crash; BLACK monday,

The Bad Guys wear; BLACK,

Evil Mistress; BLACK Widow,

Followed by Evil; BLACK shadow...

YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW, THAT EVERYTHING YOU FEAR; IS BLACK,

I AM BLACK,

AND AWARE, SO BEWARE AS I CROSS YOUR PATH,

FOR I AM THE ONE THAT BRINGS BAD LUCK,

BLACK CAT..."



Being passionately stated...is the idea of the context in which the word "BLACK" is so commenly used in phrases to depict negative situations. This is where Subliminal situation is far from just your typical easy-going hiphop, it has meaning.

Additionally, the album ends with the words; "What Is...Immortality?" claiming the "Outro" over the same beat as the intro. This rhetoric question can be seen, almost, as leaving the listener thinking & consciously-nourished...just like intelligent HipHop aims to do.



This is easily one of 1994's best albums, and a Canadian Hiphop Landmark in it's own right. It needs to be checked out by everyone who can relate with alternative/intelligent & "real" music from the golden era...STOP SLEEPIN' PEACE!



Lyrics - 8.5/10

Beats - 10/10

Originality - 9/10

Replay Value - 10/10



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