Search - Mint Condition :: From the Mint Factory

Most Underrated Band in History!

D. Raphael | Marlin,Tx | 11/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mint Condition is my favorite R&B Group period. It is a damn shame that a band as talented as them have not gotten the props they deserve. Unlike their other R&B counterparts they write,produce,and play live instruments.They probably could not point out a beat machine if their lives depended on it.This album is filled with classic MC songs such as the hypnotic ballad"You send me swingin."Which is one of my favorite songs of all time and other classic songs such as "Someone to love","Always","So Fine", and the mid tempo infectious "Nobody does it better." Which is a song that should be based on their music. This is a sick Cd from start to finish. What bothers me most about the music industry is that Talented bands like MC don't recieve substantial video or radio play.However, artist such as Tyrese and Tank who really have no talent recieve ample airplay, and end up going platinum off that "One" hot song they have on their whole cd.It just goes to show how watered down the industry has become and how you really don't need talent to make it in the industry. At least with MC you can rest assuure that with any one of their cd's you are definitely going to get a double dose of great instrumentation, heartfelt ballads and lyrics, and the complete embodiement of what a band or group should be. This album as well as all the other albums will definitely stand the test of time! Real music always does. Nobody does it like Mint Condition!,ya dig!"

UNHERALDED CLASSIC R&B

Curtis Hall | Jacksonville, Florida United States | 07/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Much has been debated about the demise of the band within black music. From the mid-' 60s to the mid-'80s, packs of self contained singers, rhythm sections and horn players ruled the land. They were not only able to reproduce records exactly as you heard them on the radio, the amazing showmanship chops, dazzling choreography and charisma. Though their reputations were rarely staked upon it, most of these bands were well versed in all styles of music. Beyond R&B, they could usually hold their own in whatever vibe was called for. But as disco morphed into techno and hip hop strains, and records began to be more producer-powered than musician-driven, bands slowly faded from the landscape. One band had the fortitude, talent and multiplicity to keep the torch not just lit, but BLAZING. That band is Mint Condition.

"From The Mint Factory" is probably one of the BEST and yes I say BEST R&B/Soul albums in the last 25 years. It has everything from Afro-Carribean to Blues to Contemporary to Funk to Jazz to Rock and is held captive to no genre of music. Mint Condition is the only R&B act that can play to any vibe and do it at a superior level. Check out the dizzingly hooky "U Send Me Swingin'", or the searing guitars on the soaring ballad "So Fine" and the masterfully arranged "Someone To Love". Other standouts are the rock inspired "Fidelity" and the whisper smooth "Ten Million Strong". I would put Mint Condition in the same class as the Legendary Earth, Wind and Fire, Parliament, Frankie Beverly and Maze and Kool and the Gang.

Mint Condition is one of those better bands, but their biggest hurdle has always been that they were a R&B band with no outlet to be a R&B band. What's more, unlike the rock and country genres, there is almost no American infrastructure for live Soul music. I believe that is the reason this LP is so overlooked. Perhaps Mint Condition came too soon to the music business to truly be appreciated, trying to make their old school skills appreciated amidst a '90s scene that was deeply entrenched in the last days of New Jack Swing and the heyday of Puff Daddy's shiny suit rap. But as any good band does, they developed a strong and loyal fanbase.



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Straight Outta Fort Knox

GF3 | New York, NY | 07/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While I absolutely love hip hop music (I'm a South Bronx native who remembers the genesis of the artform) I am somewhat dissapointed by the subsequent fall of true Rhythm & Blues (thank you Teddy Riley!). It is difficult to find any contemporary Black artist that touch me with the same energy that Stevie Wonder or Earth Wind & Fire did in my youth. Though not on the level of "Songs in the Key of Life", "From the Mint Factory" is the very best of Mint Condition to date. While other Mint albums have produced better singles, none were as consistently good from beginning to end as FTMF. The instrumental continuity of this album gives you the feeling of listening to a concert where one song just flows into another. Stokley demonstrates what true soul vocals are (check out "So Fine") without sounding dated. More importantly MC show that a real band cannot be bound by categories when it has soul (check the differences in style between "Fidelity" & "10 Million Strong"). There is no single song on this album that is enough, it keeps your attention from start to finish. Though released in the middle of the hip-hop/r&b heyday, the music speaks for itself without the benefit of flashy videos or gimmicks. In retrospect, this may be the finest "Real R&B" album of the 90's."