I think it's safe to say that The Roots have one of the best catalogues in hip-hop and I knows that we've ranked all of their albums but I'm interested in what I think are clearly their top 3. I know others have Do You Wamt More, Phrenology, and even Rising Down in this mix...so make note of that if you'd like...

Illadelph Halflife
Things Fall Apart
Game Theory

Oh yea...explain the hairs you are splitting while ranking as I can see a case for any order here.

Peace!

3. Game Theory
2. TFA
1. Illadelph Halflife

.

But, like you, I wouldn't argue too strongly in support of this order or against anyone with the opposite order (like the two posters above me), or any other order. All 3 are great and like you said, are clearly IMO their top 3.

I think my ranking them this way has a lot to do with my age. I was old enough to know of and hear of the Roots when Illadelph dropped but I didn't buy it at the time of its release, only hearing it in full after TFA dropped. In other words there's nostalgia tied to TFA and Game Theory that isn't necessarily tied to Illadelph for me, even if I still recognize it as a top-tier, excellent album. And while I love TFA, I find myself listening to Game Theory way more often since it dropped and I think they found a good balance of mature subject matter and the same playful, jam-band tracks they made their name on.

But again, that's just me. Someone could tell me they were 1a, 1b and 1c and I wouldn't argue. It's interesting that you made this post today cause I just listened to Game Theory front to back on Monday for the first time in a couple of years and was thinking how great it is and that it's clearly my personal favorite from their catalogue.

This also reminds me, I meant to make a post about this: why is Rising Down not on Spotify, does anyone know ?

I can't help but make faces when I hear people disregard The Roots discography post Fallon.

But yeah, I think this is my order as well.

DYWM might creep in their for nostalgic reasons. It basically was my soundtrack my freshman year in college. That, Halflife and Mint Conditions "Definition Of A Band".

>I can't help but make faces when I hear people disregard The
>Roots discography post Fallon.

I used to chalk up their slight fall off to basically being done as a group in a traditional sense after Rising Down...but you may be on to something.

Maybe they fell off at least partially due to the Fallon gig...who knows.


Anyway, I agree that Game Theory is amazing. Favorite album of the decade, in fact.

GT is their master-piece

TFA is their classic

Ill is their lyrical showcase


That's how I'd rank em.

>I used to chalk up their slight fall off to basically being
>done as a group in a traditional sense after Rising Down...but
>you may be on to something.

I also really like How I Got Over and ...and then you shoot your cousin.

It's Rising Down and undun that don't particularly hit for me.

And even then, I don't chalk that up to The Tonight Show, but like you said them changing as a band.

... Game Theory is just as relevant TODAY as it was when it was released. Oh and Black Thought goes super ham on it!

Game Theory is a great album but there's a few songs I could do without where on Illadelph and TFA, I don't skip. As someone else in the thread already said, TFA was more varied than Illadelph, which is why I put it above it. Illadelph was great, but TFA was just, like, extra next level. All great albums though.

About a third of Game Theory is just ok to me. A few corny moments to me.

Illadeph is a masterpiece, but also kind of exhausting, with maybe too uniform of a tempo to be spread across such a long album. I like the individual songs, but not as much when they're played back to back.

TFA is a masterpiece, but also a joy to listen to from front to back, with more variety.

TFA documents what made The Roots so special - it is varied and complex - while also being straightforward and honest.

Game Theory's side A is the bets side of any album by The Roots.

Ilaldelph is great - but not quite as great.

But since you asked about those 3:

Overall

TFA
Game Theory
Illadelph

But just on a purely lyrically level:

Illadelph
TFA
Game Theory

I can honestly see any order.

Truth is, where one lacks, another picks up the slack and vice versa.

Illadelph is what made Black Thought my favorite MC since 96. He was on absolute beast mode way before Marshawn. And Malik kept up with him incredibly. With that said, this album is long and dark. Panic!, It Just Don't Stop, Episodes, and the Hypnotic all bring concepts into the mix. But overall the album is a chore to listen to and as much as I loved it back in 96, I find myself reaching for it less and less. And you know I can't not mention how much I hate Ursula Rucker. I've since swapped that bullshit out for the gem on the High School High soundtrack which fits in nicely.

Things Fall Apart...this is their classic. It has some of my favorite moments ever on here including the song I believe is their best, Double Trouble. With that said, outside of You Got Me, the ONLY topic is how nice they are. Well, I guess you could add Act Too as a topic but it's still about hip-hop. I've grown to appreciate an album about nothing if that's what it's aiming for. Like the Artifacts' "That's Them". Nothing wrong with some good old fashion MCing. It's just when it comes to splitting hairs, I do think "rapping your ass off" and "rapping your ass off on topics" is fair game to nitpick. It's just hard when it's this good. One of my favorite Intros of all-time as well. Too bad Ursula Rucker is on here with her dumb ass. I've since swapped her out for the impeccable bonus track "I'm Out Deah Pt 3"

Game Theory to me is their tightest album. 13 cuts. Perfect length. Topics. Beautifully produced. The last album still with Thought as the lead MC before he got mixed into all the guests. There pretty much nothing I dislike about this album. The title track is one of my favorite Roots songs ever. Only negative is that it just doesn't have the same nostalgia feeling as TFA does to me.

Gun to head...
1 TFA
2 GT
3 IH

And it might change next reply...

The nostalgia element is different for me as I discovered these albums around the same time, so my order is:

1. Game Theory
2. TFA
3. Illadelph

and i'm interested in your problems with ursula rucker?

Two things I hate that as soon as I "feel" it, I just can't rock with it are; 1 being extra and 2 shock value. Those things can go hand in hand. And my disdain for these two things isn't limited to music.

For starters, I'm not a fan of spoken word. It has always come off as a cliched art form in terms of delivery. I love poetry but spoken word is just over the time for me and fits my definition of 'extra'.

Second, I just don't think she's a very good writer. The pieces come off as "let's see how many times I can mention the words dick and pussy here" and it comes off as shock value and very elementary and immature despite the subject matter. I feel the poor self-editing hurts the topics and issues that she is speaking on.

Also, specifically for TFA, her piece sticks out like a sore thumb and comes off as an attempt for them to add a concept track that could fit the title since the other tracks really didn't.

I loved the production on all three but I give the nod to Illadelph due to the lyricism...

We know that Black Thought is one of the greatest MCs of all time...should be in everyone's top 5 at a minimum...

Illadelph was the album that showcased his ability the most to me...lyrically...this is the one...him and Malik B complemented each other so well...best duo rapping in 1996 was these guys...

I've always treated Illadelph and TFA as 1A and 1B...and Game Theory being 2...

tfa
game theory
illadelph

tfa is their best, followed by game theory

illadelph is maybe third, maybe fourth

next 3...

Illadeplh
DYWM
Tipping Point or Rising Down

And it's damn close to Illadelph and at some points, overtakes it for the third spot.

Was just listening to Thought @ Work this morning, in fact. I love that song so much.

I didn't like it that much when it dropped.

Thought @ Work is a banger.

I still don't like The Seed and I could do without Pussy Galore.

I don't like a lot of songs on TFA.

I'm really not a big fan of The Roots even after I bought
every album through Rising Down.

I probably like Phren more than TFA but didn't want to
have to argue why about it on here.

Game Theory being the exception, I LOVE that album.
The rest - a few songs here and there on each album.

except the last 2 probably - those were duds.

imo - Game Theory is probably their only album where I'd say
The Roots were doing them.

Questlove has always said, yooooooo we went in there and tried
to make this or tried to make that. Yeah it was still the roots
because the music was made with a band but the influences were TOO clear.

when I first heard the album version, I was disappointed because it was different from that original beatles version, but it might have been for the best. both versions are dope. thought just destroys it.

I like the album version more than the Beatles version (and it's not close for me). The album version was so much more frenetic and seemed to fit Thought's flow better. The other version was dope but didn't punch me in the face the same way. One is solid jab, the other is a upper-cut to the chin!

Don't think I ever heard it.

Obviously never officially released due to sample clearance. But it's out there...

I love it.

I also appreciate how they didn't change the essence / feel of the song when they had to switch samples. Scratches are the same, pauses in the beat are the same, etc.

Three straight homeruns in a row on some,
"let us pour some blunt ashes on ya'll lil dudes" tip.

Den they jumped the shark and abandoned the HipHop-Jazz aesthetic
that they spearheaded.

But regardless, cant nobody take dat trilogy from them!
They indelibly solidified their place on the Mt.Rushmore of
most bangingnest 1st 3 jointz.

the original, non released version? i used to have it, but lost it somehow.

1) DYWM!!!
2) Illadelph
3) TFA