Search - Rjd2 :: Horror

End all, Be all...

Mason Williams | Mars | 08/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm dropping this review out of pure frustration. Nobody has really nailed the "really-real" about this record, so here we go, short n' sweet.



This "e.p." is about 45 minutes long. Full album length. It comes with a bonus CD that plays on your computer (it's not a DVD). The bonus CD is pretty swell and easy to navigate. The live footage of RJ is sublime. If you are familiar with DEADRINGER you may get a little upset because the "remixes" are very subtle remixes, meaning you'll have to really listen to hear any differences. If you're not familiar with DEADRINGER and you're between picking up DR or THE HORROR, I say get this! There's less filler, and more importantly, fewer MC's. RJD2's music really gets bogged down when he ads rhymes to the beats.



The packaging is pretty spooky, movies like WRONG TURN & TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE come to mind, grainy crime scene footage that doesn't match the music at all (but that's what's so f'n cool about it).



If you need a little sum'n sum'n to compare it to, think DJ SHADOW after a year on Prozac.



Another DEF JUX classic."

Excellent, but no Shadow

Craig J. Stern | Chicago, IL United States | 05/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I opted to order this cd instead of "Dead Ringer" in part because of the price tag and in part because of the smaller number of tracks with rap in them. I don't regret the decision: this is an excellent cd. It strikes me as a sort of best of / remix version of Dead Ringer, since many of the tracks are either instrumental versions or remixes from the original cd. I don't know how well it holds up against "Dead Ringer" on its own, but I found it extremely enjoyable and excellently produced. The songs are remarkably catchy and in some cases quite beautiful. "Sell the World," for exmaple, is flat-out gorgeous. There are two tracks on this cd with vocal accompaniment. The vocals leave RJD2 very little room to play around, and consequently these are comparatively rather boring from an instrumental point of view. The cd would have been better if left as pure instrumentals, but I guess we can't always have what we want, now can we?There have been a lot of comparisons between RJD2 and DJ Shadow. I'm not sure why, honestly--RJD2 has a bit of growing up to do before he can hold his own against Shadow. Comparatively, RJD2's compositions are simplistic and repetitive. Shadow weaves his songs like tapestries, sliding in themes and building upon old ones effortlessly. RJD2 lacks that sense of play: he simply has a theme that repeats for eight bars, a variation that goes on for 8 bars, the original, the variation, a bridge... you get the idea. On the other hand, however, RJD2's songs are much more bouncy and danceable than Shadow's and are great compositions in their own right. It's hard to tell in many spots that RJD2 is using samples at all--the production values on this cd are stellar. Overwhelmingly, RJD2's style is more polished, simple, and mainstream than Shadow's. For 11 bucks, you'd have to be either pretty poor or in pretty poor taste not to pick up this cd. There can only be one Shadow--and RJD2 is damn good in his own right."

RjD2 likes the "death" theme

balloonholocaustt | Joplin, MO | 07/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a bad EP by any means, but I consider it just another bite to tide you over until the next full-length RJD2 project. If I'm not mistaken, (please correct me if I am), the next big one we're waiting for is the Soul Position LP that teams him up with Blueprint (we got to hear a taste of this duo on the Dead Ringer album, and then the Soul Position EP that came out here recently). Like many reviewers are saying, RjD2 has got appeal in a DJ Shadow kind of way. Don't get too stuck on that comparison, though---he's his own guy---he's making his own sounds. As he keeps developing, this is going to become more and more apparent.The Horror is good, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying it first. There's a lot of good tracks on Dead Ringer that you'll be missing out on, and the remixes that are on The Horror will be more welcome and better understood after you've played out the originals (and you will play it out---doesn't necessarily mean you'll get tired of it, though). Dead Ringer really is a must-have album; this is a supplement. Don't get me wrong---it's good. This artist has a lot of hype surrounding him right now, and deservedly so, but this EP is presumably here to push a potential single and also to give his popularity an additional push. I think one of the other customer reviews reflects somthing about RjD2's fan base: he appeals to people beyond the hip-hop realm. The reviewer comments that he bought The Horror thinking it had less rap on it than the other one. It's a moot point, but considering that Dead Ringer has more tracks, The Horror actually has a larger percentage of rhymes in it. Lest we forget, RjD2 is a hip-hop artist. If you are coming to Rjd2 from somewhere outside the genre, don't start in criticizing certain aspects that are intrinsic to hip-hop music. Please try and take this opportunity to learn appreciation of an art you may not have previously understood. Artists like Rj who have this kind of crossover potential will hopefully lead folks into hip hop who weren't there before, bringing greater diversity into the culture.I think this EP is more for the already converted than it is for everybody. But that's not to say that you won't like it anyways. Good beats, good atmosphere, a solid EP with a second disc of extras included (which makes for a good selling point in and of itself)."