Da Feelin: Even LL Cool J would call this one a comeback. After 6 or so years apart, four of the original members of AD reunited and recorded a 7-song EP that was released exclusively in Japan. It went out of print some time ago although it can still be found at various prices used.
To me, this is the start of the second of three phases of Arrested Development- you had the first phase that broke up in 1995, the second phase that starts here that includes the four surviving members of Speech, Rasa Don, Eshe, and Baba Oje, and then the third phase that begins with Among the Trees as they start to add in new members. That phase is still going, ahem, "Strong," today.
I think it would be fair to say that this EP has been overlooked by most AD fans. It's pretty tough to find, and if you glance at the track listing, three of the songs are featured on Heroes of the Harvest, so it would be easy to think "well, they took the best songs, used them again, and left the lesser songs alone." But is this the case? Not necessarily. Let's take a look track-by-track.
1. If Dey Ask - This one is on Heroes of the Harvest, but in a somewhat shorter version minus an entire verse of Speech's. Great song and one of the first times we hear Rasa Don rap on a song. This version is non-essential if you have Heroes, but still, I like to check out alternate mixes and so forth so this is nice to have.
2. Fame - This is a pretty good song. It does a nice job of switching up the beat during the second verse so that it doesn't get too boring. Eshe grabs the mic and raps for the first time on an AD cut on this one. This won't blow anyone away, but it's a nice song.
3. Fire - To me, "Fire" is kind of one of the gems on this one as far as rarely heard songs. Features guest artists Show & Amari with Rasa Don. A rare AD song that does not feature Speech on lead vocals- I only hear him doing a background vocal during the hook.
4. Not Worthy - This might be the song that sounds the most like AD's previous work in my opinion. I really like this song, so this would be the other rarely heard "gem."
5. On Conscious - This is the same version on Heroes. Kind of a spoken-word track if you're not familiar with it. Speech is great on this.
6. Conditional Love (Original Version) - "Conditional Love" was remixed for Heroes of the Harvest. One thing I can't wrap my mind around is this is labeled the original version on the package yet it came out well before Heroes of the Harvest (which featured the "Pocket Monstas" version), so did they know it was going to be remixed down the road? Or was it released on a single as well? The chicken or the egg? I really don't know much about this Da Feelin' project.....
7. Fayetteville Experience - The album closer. This is a pretty mellow rap song describing Speech's life in Fayetteville basically. A really good song that grows on you, in my opinion.
Another note on this album is that Ike "Za" Williams plays the bass on four songs, and he would go on to become a full-fledged member of Arrested Development by the time Among the Trees was recorded.
As far as the EP as a whole, it's a good effort that lets the world know AD is back- if you looked hard enough. Bigger and better things would be on the way, beginning with Heroes of the Harvest, but it's a good listen for AD fans. The liner notes and packaging are done really well also, and it seems that they had pretty lengthy photo sessions for this release as there are a ton of pictures included, as well as full credits, lyrics, and thank yous.
To wrap up, here are some of the songs that did not appear elsewhere. See what you think if you have not had a chance to hear them before:
Fame
Fire
Not Worthy
Fayetteville Experience
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