a powerful, driving and spirited album that takes the listener into a million interesting, pleasurable and challenging dimensions. This artist has prided himself on breaking new ground with every release. What he achieves - whether he was conscious of this at the time of creation, or not - is music that is lasting. You can dive into this auditory blissful realm years after the fact and still be perfectly blown away.
Vision, craftsmanship and great effort have sustained this miraculous artist in moving beyond, and remaining away, from any semblance of competition.
This is a classic.
June 2, 2008 |  | Now this is the real TRICKY |  |
I have no idea why so many people dislike it for this is no doubt his best. Maxinquaye was great but maybe a bit too eclectic and it actually owed very much to Martina, Pre-millenium tension suffered from over-the-top self-indulgent lyrics and actually didn't come out very well. This is the only Tricky's album i can listen to from the beginning to the end. The sound is outstanding. It features live musicians, awesome funky beats and has a great feel of urban paranoia to it. Don't believe the bad reviews and get this right now!!!
July 6, 2006| | | So different,SO unique, So good | |
As a new Tricky fan this cd is the one i received first. I still have more to buy from him right down the list. Next i will get Maxinquaye, then Nearly GOd, and all of them.
March 19, 2005 | | Highly underrated, simply misunderstood. | |
Firstly, most don't realize this is the essence of his message. All the instrumentals match his message that he's trying to convey, and that's why it's so dark, seedy, and full of grime. "Ghetto traps didn't trap me, I got out." from Money Greedy is a crystal clear answer to that times' Hip-Hop community and their "trapped in the ghetto" mentality. With that verse alone, he belittles 2Pac, Master P, and other artists that claim to that the system can't be broken. Despite the money they've made, they're still trapped in the ghetto? Sure, and Tricky got out when he makes a fraction of their record sales.
Everyone goes on about how demented it sounds, and how it pushes you toward the brink of insanity. Well guess what? That's the point. This is the life he's gone through, what he's seen, and it's not pretty. Obviously enough, in contrast to his previous releases, he was waiting until he got someone's attention with more "acceptable" sounds, and naturally his true followers would be able to cut through the yellow tape and realize that there was a deeper message beneath everything. This is the album you should've been waiting for. And it came, went, and got blasted. Figures, but I wouldn't hesitate to pick this up if you want something new, urban, artistic, and a true centerpiece for the trip-hop underground.
This album and it's themes transcend country to country, and speak true of the danger in running the streets, daytime or nighttime, always being a target, where paranoia doesn't exist, it's a way of life, and the cesspool that mixes cops, drugs, women, money and your roots. It's like this where I live, and I know it is in NY, and I wouldn't be surprised if you can feel this anywhere on the globe.
January 30, 2005| | | What genre is this anyway? | |
I've often read how disapointed people were with this record and I have never understood why. Most artists can only aspire to re-arrange their influences in a new and sincere way. At best. Most of the time, however, we fail and only manage to produce lesser versions of what someone else has already done much more succesfully. "Angels With Dirty Faces", in my opinion, goes beyond adding a touch of sincerity and originality to other musicians' acomplishments. It is itself a fantastic example of what happens when artists let go of what they have heard or seen and reach into themselves to create something unlike anything before it. Of course nothing is created in a vacuum, and to some extent all artists build upon previous artists' works, but there are a precious few who throughout history manage to suprass their influences. Tricky is one of those aritsts, and this is his masterpiece.
December 6, 2004More reviews at Amazon.com ...
