Standing at the Crossroads Review

My first thought upon taking in the new AD album Standing at the Crossroads was "score another one for the old guys."

At one point in time, it was nearly impossible for a rap artist to have a sustained career in the genre.  Even legends like Run-DMC struggled to stick around despite multiple comebacks.  Yet the careers of acts such as KRS-ONE, Public Enemy, and even say Jay-Z have proven that you can have a lengthy career in hip hop.  And recent albums over the last month or so by Nas with Life is Good, Public Enemy with Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp, and Masta Ace with Ma Doom: Son of Yvonne have proven, once again and emphatically, that not only can veteran rap artists have a career, but they can remain artistically viable- not just viable, but they can remain at the peak of the artform.  If Chuck D lost some his flow he's lost none of his firepower or message, and Masta Ace may be using recycled beats by MF Doom, but since he's making those beats his own, I question whether that even matters.  (Doesn't hurt that I hadn't heard any of the beats going in I suppose.)

And Arrested Development can give away an album for free, and rather than it coming across as a glorified mixtape, we instead get an almost wholly original work of art that if I had paid for I wouldn't have felt slighted in the least.

Oh sure, there are a couple of songs we've heard before.  "Living" is the single that's been kicking around for a minute though it still sounds fresh, and "I'ma Fight Right Back Now" was released as a Speech single last year.  (It's personally not one of my favorites, but I understand it's inclusion.)  But other than that, we've got brand new songs, plus liner notes to boot.  I love liner notes, and these are superb, with each song broken down in detail along with full lyrics.

A Couple of Tidbits

First off, if you haven't downloaded the new AD album Standing At The Crossroads for FREE yet, make sure you do so below.  I will have more thoughts later as I'm still taking it in, but it is a legitimate album, not a mixtape.  (Though I wouldn't complain about a free AD mixtape, don't get me wrong!)

Secondly, the next single from album per the AD Twitter site will be "Raga in Coolangatta" which will include a video release.  Sounds good to me!  For whatever reason I've never warmed to Twitter but maybe I should pop in more than once a month or so since that is where a lot of news breaks these days....

Also, here's a fairly recent interview with Speech from one of his hometown papers that I should've posted a month or so ago.  Hat tip to Kel Arroyo for both of the above tidibits!

And lastly here's an older interview from 2010 with a website called Baller Status, which sounds to me like a great site to cover AD.  But honestly this is a good one because it's with Eshe and One Love, and they don't always have the opportunity to be heard from in that kind of forum.

New Album Out Now! For Free!

The title says it all- I am downloading it now and will be sure to have my thoughts as soon as I take it all in.  Thanks to Christian for letting me know it was available today!

Living Remix Contest

Vote here, vote now, vote by August 3rd.  Looks like there are well over 234 remixes to choose from! 

Set Your Calendars

August is shaping up to be a big, big month for Arrested Development.  First off, their new album, "Standing at the Crossroads," is scheduled to release on August 6th.  The craziest thing is this will be a FREE album.  Yes, free.  Why, I've paid up to $40 for new AD albums!  How can this be?  Is this to good to be true?  You'd be crazy not to download a free AD album.   

Yes, you would.  But like those TV infomercials that sell a good deal, I will now hit you with:  But wait, there's more!

Because also on August 6th we will see the long awaited "Unsung" episode featuring the group.  It will be interesting to see how their history is presented- hopefully they don't ignore the long run of excellent albums they have cut since reuniting with "Heroes of the Harvest."  I won't be able to watch this on air, but I hope to find a way to do online, and if I do I will certainly share it here.  So keep your ears tuned and make sure to check out the free album on August 6th.    

Indigo Blume On Sale

If you haven't had a chance to pick up the children's book Indigo Blume and the Garden City, well, here's your opportunity, and at a great price:  $10 with free shipping.  And why is this relevant to AD and/or Speech fans?  Because the book includes a bonus CD with a song by Speech called "I'm Different" as well as an instrumental version, and personally, the song is probably worth the $10 on it's own.  The book itself is a fun book, bright, colorful, and well illustrated, and my three-year old daughter has asked me to read it to her quite a few times- and we have a ton of books for her, so that's saying something.  Just wanted to pass it on as this is a really good deal.  Anyway, here's the link.

New Album Release Date!

Here it is- the release date for the new AD album as well as a title:  "Standing at the Crossroads."  And the release date is August 6th according to the group's newsletter.  As you can imagine, I am pretty excited about this as I'm sure you are if you are checking out this site.

In other exciting news, the group is prepping a (long awaited) US tour.  Hopefully they will come somewhere near where I live because I will be there for certain.  It looks like they might be performing the entire 3 Years album alongside newer material, which would be something to see for sure- in fact, a while back I tried to put together my own live version of that album and wasn't able to finish the job!

So great news for us AD fans!  Also, I'd like to tip my hat to Kel for sending this information my way as I hadn't quite gotten to it yet.  It was a welcome surprise.

Farrakhan

Here's an interesting video that was recently posted of Louis Farrakhan showing some love to AD, from 2011:

New Public Enemy Song With Speech Cameo

Well, it's not quite the long-awaited Speech/Chuck D collaboration- but Speech pops up on this low quality version of a new PE song from their upcoming album releasing July 4th called "Most of My Heroes Don't Appear on No Stamp."  I'm not sure if this is just an overdub for the radio or if this will pop up on the album version as well, but listen for Speech around the 3:15 mark with a shout-out to Public Enemy.

I'm Not Dead!

Current blog status.

Sorry for the lack of activity- I just haven't had anything to post and don't like to post just to post.  But I did want to check in and say that the blog is still very much active (I especially wanted to post this as I will be on vacation for a couple of weeks this month), and I'm just lying dormant for the next blast of AD activity which should be kick into high gear this year- hopefully soon!  Should be an album, a mixtape, and it sounds like a US tour this year, which will be great.

Future blog status when AD material begins to drop.