Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust

Saul Williams with his album, Inevitable Rise & Liberation of Niggy Tardust! The CD contains five exclusive bonus tracks including 'List Of Demands', featured in the massive Nike 'My Better' TV campaign. Also features a cover of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.' Album produced by Trent Reznor/NIN. First establishing himself as an influential poet, and then as an award-winning screenwriter/actor, Saul Williams then went on to establish himself as an MC. His approach to MCing, though, wasn't exactly in line with the traditional school of Hip-Hop. His rhymes weren't really rhymes but rather his poetry delivered in a frenzied spoken word manner that was more rhythmic than alliterate. Album Description

Overreaching ambitions

2 1/2

This alternative hip hop project offers little more then the indulgent, experimental vibe present throughout these rap canvases. Unfortunately, Williams seems too preoccupied with fleshing out these tracks into full-fledged songs instead of embracing the chaotic fury his best freestyling indicates. In the end, aside from a few tracks which indicate how powerful this potential coupling could have been, the album plays out as Reznor's hip hop side project. November 8, 2008

Bloody Good

I am bias because Saul Williams just happens to be my hero. But I love this album. Black History Month starts the album off on such a good note and it only gets better from there. You can take so much from this album. You don't like what he has to say (doubtful) you can groove to the amazing arrangements that him and Trent created. Or vice versa. Modern day dervish of words. November 7, 2008

Tracks to Check Out

Album is great blend of the NIN sound/sampling (best part of NIN) with hip-hop lyrics and spin. It is easy to get thrown off by the obvious listens when sampling songs from this album (and those obvious songs are among the weakest on the album: Niggy Tardust- album title track/David Bowie reference for those old enough to have drown in David Bowie's sound and the Sunday Bloody Sunday cover).

The album is solid (at least 5-8 tracks that you'll want to listen to over and over again).

Top Tracks are (check these out to get a feel for this album!): Break, WTF, Skin of a Drum, Banged and Blown Through, Raised to be Lowered, the Ritual, TR(n)igger

October 31, 2008

Very good and emotional CD

I was turned on to Williams at the Oklahoma City NIN show in 2006. I was very impressed of Saul's live show. I was eager to hear him and Trent were going to make a recorded together later in the year. I downloaded the album once it was available from NIN website and I have not stopped listening to it since. I am trying to get my hands on his other two albums because I want to hear what else he has to say.

I have to many favorite songs on this album so I can only tell you to listen to the whole thing. Get some good liquor and turn off the lights do something artist with this album. It will make you feel good in the end. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust is a must buy. October 14, 2008

A revelation

(I'm French, please excuse the limitedness of my skills...)

I'd never heard of Saul Williams before this record. I wasn't really much into hip-hop, anyway. Well, on the other hand, I'm a NIN fan, so...
Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Reznor, I heard of the digital release of 'The Rise & Liberation of Niggy Tardust!'. I was quite thrilled at first at what could be seen as an Internet-scale experiment, with the 'pay and support an artist/don't pay but please spread the word' choice, etc.

So I was in.
And I didn't regret it. It even became of one those 'soundtrack of your life' albums you never stop listening to for months.

The NIN sound trademark is quite obvious throughout the album, especially with compositions such as 'WTF!' (where Trent Reznor makes a short guest appearance on vocals) and almost all of the five or six last tracks, replete with tortured sounds of strings, overdriven harmonies and bizarre beats. Despite this, the range of Reznor's talent and tastes allows much more than a NIN album with Saul Williams on vocals. Again, the sound production on this album shows the versatility of Reznor's work.

A blend of heavy hip-hop, old-school jazzy hip-hop, massive industrial beats, light, aerial melodies, grinding noises, and a more experimental aspect of fusion between poetry and rhythm; all of this sewn together by the poet himself, Saul Williams, equally at ease when rapping and singing his meaningful lyrics.

I cannot really compare this work to Saul Williams' previous ones, as I never listened to them... But I've got a more important criterion. This isn't an easy-to-listen album. You listen to it once, you put it aside for a week. Then you gradually come back to it, learning how to listen to it, realizing its qualities, enjoying while analyzing... That type of revelation doesn't happen all the time.

The alliance of the two musicians, the two universes, the two styles, produced a very interesting result, quite unique a mixture. It was a great discovery, to say the least.
Hat tip to the artists. September 9, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...