The whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

Review Score: (10/10)
At first thought, this is one of the most interesting fusions of musical styles in the past decade. Who would have thought that a "tough" rapper could pick up an acoustic guitar and perform what could almost be described as folk music? Not me, I can tell you.

In fact, as soon as I heard about this I thought it would be one of the worst CDs around and become almost entirely unlistenable after a while - I was wrong.

The first single "What It's Like" proves that it is possible to perform a blues/folk track in rap idiom and that was all I needed to persuade me that this album was one to get.

Throughout the album, even on the rap cuts, Everlast shows that he has evolved from the brash thug that he was in House of Pain and now thinks about his lyrics before performing them. He also shows a deep spirituality on many tracks - a feature which seems to be lacking from most music of the late 90s.

"What It's Like" and "Ends" have roughly the same idea behind them - showing how "the other half" lives - but the emotion of the lyrics prevents me from saying that they're just bad re-hashes of each other. Other standout tracks are "Praise The Lord", "Painkillers" and "Today", all three of these tracks are quasi-rap cuts which have some of the most thoughtful lyrics I've heard for a long time.

The tracks where the rap is de-emphasised are probably the most interesting of the album. "7 Years" almost sounds like a track from the backwaters of the prairie with its chorus "It's been 7 years since I did my baby wrong/Lord won't you please bring my baby home?" and it is at moments like these that it is quite easy to forget Everlast's past and think that he is an entirely new artist.

I recommend tracking down the lyrics to this album as well as just listening to it because even on the most hip-hop tracks, you'll realise that what you were getting down to actually had a lot more meaning than you thought.

All in all, an album to listen to without prejudice against hip-hop, blues, folk or acoustic guitars. Listen without prejudice and have your mind expanded and your soul moved.

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