Search - Eyedea & Abilities :: By The Throat

Not what most people were hoping for.

J. Olsen | 07/22/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a huge fan of Eyedea. From discovering a brand new album called First Born from a "new and upcoming rapper", way back in the days of Audiogalaxy and Napster, through his entirely self written, self produced near-masterpiece The Many Faces. On to E&A, a still strong but disappointing return of the acclaimed duo, and then through these last few years of Eyedea's exploration of grunge, alternative, freestyle performance and jazz. Eyedea has, as an artist and as a lyricist, has had nothing but a huge impact on me as a hip hop fan and as a person, and on the underground scene. I have nothing but respect.



But with all that said, this album just leaves me feeling kind of let down. It's not that it's a big departure from what I would've expected. Of course many of us were hoping for the return of the pure, all hip hop sound of First Born and E&A. But this isn't that. For those familiar with Eyedea's side project Carbon Carousel (grunge/alternative), the sounds on By The Throat are noticeably influenced by that style. Honestly half these tracks sound like they should be under the Carbon Carousel name, and not under the guise of E&A. There's little pure hip hop on here, and a lot more fusion of that grunge/alternative/live band/hip hop sound, with just your occasional beat and scratch.



Right now I'm only on my second listen through, and despite being a disappointment, it's not a disaster. But here's my two biggest issues with this release. One, is that it's just clearly not the Eyedea & Abilities everybody's familiar with. You just know half the people that buy this record aren't going to get what they expect. And my other issue is, 29 minutes? Seriously? This is pretty much an EP, not a full length.



So here's the tentative conclusion. This isn't the E&A of old. This isn't the big reunion and homecoming most of us wanted. This is a brand new Eyedea, with an almost completely new sound (since "E&A"), and really, it should probably be under a new name. But if you can listen with an open mind, and can deal with imperfection (and short length), this release isn't a disaster. If you're a fan of Eyedea as an artist, and not just the old E&A sound, give it a chance. But many fans may be disappointed here.



Update 7/25/09: After a couple more spins, I will say some good things here. Eyedea is clearly more honest and introspective (and somber) in this release than previous E&A albums, and a couple of the tracks on this album are great. It also has good replay value, this is the kind of album that grows on you the more you listen to it. But with all that said, it's still 29 minutes, it's still a significant departure from what most fans were hoping for, and it's still lacks some cohesion and refinement. It's still three stars from me.



Update 8/10/09: Have listened to the album a lot more now. Still disappointed in the short length, and the overall lack of cohesiveness of the album. It still feels a bit unpolished. But I will say that the more I listen to it, the more I think Eyedea's on to something. A few of the tracks on here are strong, and hint at a sound that--if refined and expanded on some more--could blossom into something much bigger. But for now, this album itself is still 3 stars from me. Maybe 3 1/2. It's interesting and holds up to repeated listens, but it's still disappointing for the reasons stated above."

Tear the Walls Down

T. Boehnlein | Dayton, Ohio, USA | 08/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you approach this album from the perspective of punk, then I think you will be quite happy with it. If you approach from the perspective of the previous albums, you will probably be disappointed. Eyedea is doing his own thing here more in the vain of punk. All previous albums be damned. His lyrical attack and intensity in this album is excellent. And it is short but again from a punk perspective, it is quite normal to have short albums. The singing in some of the songs is really not what anybody was expecting, but from a punk perspective it fits in perfectly. How many punk bands had singers that weren't quite up to par but their message and intensity is what really counted? Eyedea could have easily brought in somebody else to sing or fixed it up with software. But he didn't. He wanted that raw unpolished sound which fits perfectly with the rest of the album. Abilities did a tremendous job with the beats in this album. He had to be pushed way out of his comfort zone and he succeeded. You can look at it as a short album or you can look at as an album that doesn't waste your time. This album is raw and quick like a sucker punch in the gut. I didn't see it coming, but I hope this is the start of something rather than a one time thing.



Listen to it at least twice. Once completely focusing on Eyedea and once completely focusing on Abilities. It's only 29 minutes, right?



If you haven't checked out the music video for Junk then I highly suggest you do. You get a much better feel for what they were trying to create with this album."

Their craftiest work to date...but leaves me wanting more

M. Rodenhauser | Houston, TX USA | 07/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The only thing I don't like about this album is that it is technically an EP, is very short, yet Amazon fails to mention this fact and still charges 9.99. I don't really mind paying that though because I want to support these guys.



That aside... this album makes me wish there were more artists like Eyedea & Abilities. I had to listen to the album a couple times to fully grasp the level of craft used in most of these songs. I still feel like I'm getting more out of several songs every time I hear them after 5+ plays. I think the album not only represents a much needed level originality in hip-hop, but also a much desired level of collaboration between DJ and MC. There really isn't much else out there like this.



There are some not-so-amazing(and very short) songs, but at the same time, there are songs like Burn Fetish that are worth $10 alone in my mind. I buy full albums because I like experiencing everything the artist wanted me to, but if you are not that type, are a fan of hip-hop at all, and want to hear something truly original, you have to pick up at least Burn Fetish, Smile, and probably Junk too. Time Flies When You Have a Gun is a well crafted track as well, (Abilities really comes through on that one), but I'm just not a fan of the subject matter.



The short previews here on amazon do the songs very little justice as far as getting an idea the real content. Also, if you don't like this album the first time you hear it, just give it one more listen. I almost wrote a pretty bad review for this before I listened again. Now I can't get enough."