Yep, an Artifacts poll on Super Bowl Sunday. Just what The Lesson's been waiting for. I feel like I'm the only one who didn't dig That's Them that much. Between a Rock and a Hard Place is a banger IMO. I'm having this debate with my cousin on Super Bowl Sunday. He actually likes That's Them more. This poll may only get two votes total but fuck it. Which one you got? I'll take the one produced by Buckwild, T-Ray & Reggie.

Poll result (11 votes) 1994 (8 votes) Vote 1997 (3 votes) Vote

Between has higher highs though.

I see these albums like I do with Word...Life and Jewelz.

Word...Life has the classics but as a whole (and maybe it was due to 97 lacking) I played the shit out of the Jewelz a lot more.

Same thing with the Artifacts.

>Between has higher highs though.
>
>I see these albums like I do with Word...Life and Jewelz.
>
>Word...Life has the classics but as a whole (and maybe it was
>due to 97 lacking) I played the shit out of the Jewelz a lot
>more.
>
>Same thing with the Artifacts.

You think 97 was lacking fam? I'm looking through my collection and it was pretty solid. I understand not diggin the Bad Boy takeover but you had releases by Busta, Beatnuts, Royal Flush, CRU, Scarface, CNN, Wyclef, Wu, Rakim, Tha Liks, etc. It did start getting a little more glossy though.

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

>You think 97 was lacking fam? I'm looking through my
>collection and it was pretty solid. I understand not diggin
>the Bad Boy takeover

Nah I wasn't

but you had releases by
Busta - wasn't feeling him after the first album...was a cartoon
Beatnuts - I rocked it but it wasn't mind blowing...just a cool record
>Royal Flush - this shit is tough!
CRU - didn't rock with them. I hated their video and style. Beats were cool.
Scarface - top 5 that year
CNN - yeah this was dope
Wyclef - rocked it but it was just a fun record and didn't take it seriously
Wu - yeah this got burn but it wasn't Cuban Linx, Liquid or Ironman good
Rakim - yeah I rocked this tough
Tha Liks - like Beatnuts...got play but was just cool

2 albums you didn't name that were in my top 5 are Uptown Saturday Night and One Day...

97 was cool but when compared to 93, 94, 95, 96 and shit, even 98...it lacked those monumental classics in my opinion.

>2 albums you didn't name that were in my top 5 are Uptown
>Saturday Night and One Day...
>

Two of my favorites from 97. Not sure how I missed naming them.

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

It had albums that I def. loved:
Funcrusher Plus
Likwidation
That's Them
Jewelz
Stone Crazy
Soul Assassins Vol. 1
Latryx self titled
One Day It Will All Make Sense
Sex Style
The Carnival
Beats and Lyrics compilation

But there was a lot of stuff that, while I liked it a lot, and would fit in the above group, was kinda flawed:
Wu-Tang Forever
I Got Next
Equinox
18th Letter
The Pick, the Sickle and the Shovel
Hatred, Passions and Infidelity
When Disaster Strikes
Back In Business
In My Lifetime Vol. 1
Untouchable

It did have a lot of solid stuff:
Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album)
War Report
Da Dirty 30
Ghetto Millinaire
(the last three I didn't get into until years later)

And as said above, that was the year that all the Jiggy/Shiny Suit shit took over, so I spent A LOT of time listening to local independent shit by artists that I ordered from the online shops at the time.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

Haven't played their stuff in a long time. Good post.

"Between" had that dark raw shit; lots of rough edges. Tame was a beast and the beats were better.

However, "That's Them" has a lot going for it. For one, El Da Sensei got A LOT better. Dude was at times pretty awful on their first album, and he really stepped his game up. And Tame's performance on "Ingredients For Time Travel" is one of my favorites by him. It drags on a few tracks, but it's one of the better albums of '97.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

Top 10 of 97 or top 20? Post up your top albums of 97 list

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

Here's more or less my top 20:

Funcrusher Plus
Likwidation
Wu-Tang Forever
One Day It Will All Make Sense
The Carnival
Beats and Lyrics compilation
Jewelz
Stone Crazy
Soul Assassins Vol. 1
That's Them
I Got Next
Sex Style
Equinox
In My Lifetime Vol. 1
Latryx
Silent Weapons For Quiet Wars
Back In Business
Accept Your Own and Be Yourself (The Black Album)
Da Dirty 30
War Report

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

******************************************
Falcons, Braves, Bulldogs and Hawks

Geto Boys, Poison Clan, UGK, Eightball & MJG, OutKast, Goodie Mob

Truthfully, I've never really been a Camp Lo fan like that. I liked "Uptown Saturday Night" almost entirely for the beats. And the only other album of theirs I felt like that was "80 Blocks From Tiffany's Pt. 2", and the Pete Rock beats were the biggest part of that one too.

-----------------

www.albumism.com

Checkin' Our Style, Return To Zero:

https://www.mixcloud.com/returntozero/

That was such a disappointing album to me. The only tracks I remember liking were "Art of Facts" and "The Interview". One of the most disappointing sophomore releases ever. It just lacked all the punch of "Between..." I really hated this record though. This and SOM's "No Man's Land".

You're such pests...now, what is it you want? In your depths of your ignorance, what is it you want? Well, whatever it is you want, I can't deliver because I just don't see it. - Orson Welles


Never Tired, Always Sleepy

it sounds a lot better than what I remember
I do remember being mad as fuck when it came out tho
like for real? this is it? this is the follow up to one of the GOAT debuts?

Maybe the same applies to That's Them. But I think it just fell victim to the rappity-rap wanting to be lyrical miracle but coming up short.

>it sounds a lot better than what I remember
>I do remember being mad as fuck when it came out tho
>like for real? this is it? this is the follow up to one of
>the GOAT debuts?
>
>Maybe the same applies to That's Them. But I think it just
>fell victim to the rappity-rap wanting to be lyrical miracle
>but coming up short.

>it sounds a lot better than what I remember
>I do remember being mad as fuck when it came out tho
>like for real? this is it? this is the follow up to one of
>the GOAT debuts?
>
>Maybe the same applies to That's Them. But I think it just
>fell victim to the rappity-rap wanting to be lyrical miracle
>but coming up short.

It's not that there's something inherently wrong with "That's Them", it's just mediocre. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it did follow up a masterful debut. "No Man's Land" and "That's Them" are the epitomes of the sophomore jinx. Picture perfect examples. I remember getting both records and being as mad as your Xavi avy.

Artifacts are fortunate they came out with "Between..." first, because no one was checking for "That's Them" I'm not even sure they shot videos for the 1 or 2 singles. Was there a video for "The Ultimate?"

That's my other issue too. I felt "The Ultimate" was a horrible choice as the mainstream single. It had no punch, and had none of the grit and grime that made "Wrong Side of the Tracks" so dope. It was just to sanitized, and just was not a very good song at all. I felt it was one of the lesser songs on the High School High soundtrack. College radio was at least giving "Art of Facts" some spin, but that whole album is disappointing altogether.

Granted, No Man's Land is better than That's them, but it's still nowhere near '93 til... But then again, not many albums are.

You're such pests...now, what is it you want? In your depths of your ignorance, what is it you want? Well, whatever it is you want, I can't deliver because I just don't see it. - Orson Welles


Never Tired, Always Sleepy

>Yep, an Artifacts poll on Super Bowl Sunday. Just what The
>Lesson's been waiting for. I feel like I'm the only one who
>didn't dig That's Them that much. Between a Rock and a Hard
>Place is a banger IMO. I'm having this debate with my cousin
>on Super Bowl Sunday. He actually likes That's Them more. This
>poll may only get two votes total but fuck it. Which one you
>got? I'll take the one produced by Buckwild, T-Ray & Reggie.

It's a collection of songs, some of them better than the songs on the first album. But you could dump a few songs and add "Brick City Kids" & "What What" and have a nice little mix.

Let my love slide in and never slip out

...hard to choose a winner here ...im just going to say "Whayback" is my favorite Artifacts song of all time

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