Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision
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Free Music Notes for 3rd Eye Vision
Free Music Review: Obviously adept but sadly perishable rapping
Hit: 3 Stars
Hieroglyphics are a collective of rap artists similar to Wu-Tang or Jurrassic Five, though their neatly organized production would squarely place them more towards the latter. Hardly anyone shouuld accuse this group of not being able to compose admirable rhymes, and for the lengthy 70+ minute run-time, hip-hop fans are treated to the lyrically hungry flows, swapped around by talented members on top of predictable but worthy beats. Now considering this was released in the late 90's, when returning to the disc one does get some excellent old-school (but not THAT old-school) offerings, but many tracks seem to have not aged that well. While the intsrument sampling compliments the emcee's determined, eccentric raps quite well, the dated production feels restrictive and many of the artist's sound stuck in last decade as well. With a determined coolness emanating, too self-consciously usually, from most of these gifted but weary rhymers, it seems everyone but offbeat rapper Del (even if he does blatantly rip of Beastie's "So What'cha Want") did not have enough personal style to last past the turn of the century. Nonetheless, 3rd Eye Vision remains a perfectly solid compilation of hard-working, though mechanical and outdated hip hop songs.Free Music Review: 3RD EYE VISION is the ideal view of real hiphop.
Hit: 4 Stars
Del, Souls Of Mischief, Pep Love, Jay Biz, Domino and Casual all on one album???? Has got to be hiphop heaven....damn straight. All these mc's have been putting it down in the right way for years. With Domino at the helm (to paraphrase one of the tracks titles) produces the majority and Jay Biz adding the scratches you have the ideal backbone for the most consistently tight group of mc's to lay down their art. And thats what it is, they make hiphop from the soul that you cant help but feel. As early as '91 Del and his crew have been creating soundpieces to bless our ears on Del's debut "I Wish My Brother George Was Here" were the Souls appeared on the b-side to "Mistadobalina" with the track "Burnt". Immediately I knew this was a crew to watch. Their chemistry was undeniable and their flows were unmatched back then. Through the years they've only gotten better. This is their 1st group album after all these years and from the jump its hits hard. Even the ""Intro" has a slammin' beat by Domino that gets cut to shreads with tight cuts+slices introducing each member. Then we have "You Never Knew" were all the mc's tear apart a lovely A-Plus production and gets the album off to the perfect start. "All Things" is a smooth crime story of sorts by Opio and Pep over a lovely guitar sampled beat by Domino. All 7 mc's have a min+half or so verse in between tracks throughout the album and Casual is 1st up to bat next. Smooth rhyme+beat. "The Who" is one of the standouts on here as a brilliant Del produced track becomes a victim of a lyrical gangbang from the mc's involved. The good/bad thing about this album is that not all the tracks feature all the mc's. Its good cuz it gives afew of the lesser prominant mc's their shine at times particularly Pep Love (at the time his solo hadnt dropped+he'd only featured on verses from the others albums) but the bad thing is that when they are on a track together you want them all like that. "Dune Methane" is in one word...funky. All the mc's particularly A-Plus shine on this. Phesto D's solo interlude is up next and like all of the interludes he shines on a cool production. "At The Helm" is a solo joint by Del, the grand-daddy of Hieroglyphics as Snupe introduces him on "Off The Record" later on. The head nodding beat by Domino brings out the best in this hiphop genius. "The Last One" is one of my favourites b'cuz of the amazing production by Casual and the tight rhymes by himself+Pep. After Tajai's quick verse we have "Oakland Blackouts", the 1st of 2 Opio produced tracks. The mc's really raise the bar on this one. "Mics Of The Roundtable" is probably my favourite here b'cuz of the brilliant rhymes and whiplash inducing beat by A-Plus. "See Delight" is another Opio+Pep collabo (they should do a joint album cuz their chemistry in particular is perfect) and the 2nd Opio production here. Next up is the secret weapon of Hiero til this album, Pep's interlude were his showcases his wonderful wordplay over a smooth beat. "Off The Record" is a cool track by Del, Casual and Tajai with introductions by Snupe (his only appearance b'cuz of his falling out with Hiero while making the album). Then its A-Plus' verse and its a true highlight (his solo album should be off the hook later this year). "After Dark" is a dark Pep Love solo track and its actually unlike anything on his album "Ascension". Opio's interlude just solidifies his status as probably the most talented mc in the crew along with Del. "No Nuts" is a battle track by Pep+Del, very dark and very effective. Del's interlude is typical Del, funky+skilled. The last 2 tracks are abit average in my opinion after the tour de force that was preceeding it. "One Life, One Love" and "Miles To The Sun" are both smooth jazzy tracks by Toure and Jay-Biz respectively. Nice additions but not real standouts. If you dont have this in your collection youre letting yourself down, go get it!!Free Music Review: Very dissapointing
Hit: 2 Stars
I was just overall very dissapointed. I tried to make myself listen to this album but I could only do so a couple times before I gave up. I thoroughly enjoy hip hop but much prefer Kool Keith or MF Doom or Gang Starr or other slightly less than mainstream artists.Free Music Review: True vision from the lyrical masters of hip hop
Hit: 5 Stars
3rd Eye Vision is a true hip hop classic and will always be a legendary cd. Though listening to it now, you can feel the dated" quality of it, it still rips though most emcees of today. The whole heiro crew together on an album is a joyous occasion(as was felt with Full Circle). The lyrical delivery is beyond tight(these guys can rip like no others!). Their content is filled with pop throwbacks and video game references and spiritual prose matched with west coast grittyness. The beats are tight(dated for our time, but tight). The whole jazzy hip hop thing is awesome but overdone.This album will always be a hip hop classic and go down in the hip hop hall of legends. I personally believe that if you want to hear Heiro at their best, pick up Full Circle. 3rd Eye Vision is for old school fans, true hip hop heads, Heiro Fans and the like.Free Music Review: One Of The Most Creative And Disrespected Albums Ever Created [5 stars]
Hit: 5 Stars
For years now the Hieroglyphics have released numorous albums estabolishing themselves a household name in the West Coast. But right before this album, many tragedies struck the Hiero Fam. First Del the Funkee Homosapien was cut from Electra's Record's Roster after the album "No Need For Alarm". Souls Of Mischief were also cut from their record label after their release "No Man's Land". Casual had a fall out with a good fiend Saafir which sparked the Hobo Junction/Hiero battle. And last Hiero member Snupe of Extra Prolific was cut during the making of this album. The whole Hiero fam would put their minds together to come out with an underground classic "Third Eye Vision" (believe it or not, this is their debut as a whole group). I have to say that this album blew my mind completely, because I didn't think that this group was going to come off with anything special on this album. Boy was I wrong.
One thing that many fans have an expectation is that each memeber to rhyme over some funky-jazzy type production, as was shown in previous Hiero albums. The majority of these songs fit that type of description. Mostly with some nice samples added to it. "You Never Knew" would be one of those songs, as most of the members open up the album, giving what you to expect. Another example is the low funky song "All Things" as Opio and Pep Love trade verses. Another great song that carries with a nice beat is "Miles To The Sun", the very last track on the album.
Also, the Hieroglyphics are known for comming off with some hard but at the same time creative lyrics. An example of what I can think of is on the song "No Nuts", Del The Funkee Homosapien says "Even if our demo tapes add to the myth of Hiero's gifts/ Those that don't agree is just pleading the Fifth...". Many of the members get their own chance to shine on their self-titled tracks, cutting a rhyme for about a minute in a half, possibly letting new fans know who is who if they didn't know. Aside from those, the members would also come off hard on normal tracks. Del is mostly known for his battle rhymes dissing wack emcees, head on the song "At The Helm", telling people if they don't have the rhymes, not to speak. Pep Love's dark and echo voice, carries on the dark song "After Dark". The Souls Of Mischief would come together to pass the mic around throughout the song "Mics Of The Roundtable". Another great song is when some of the members come togeher for the song "Off The Record" to show off their mic skills.
I believe that is one of the most under respected, and unappriciated albums that ever came out in the 90's. All of the Hieroglyphics related albums were heavily slept on, and this would be a fresh new independant start to gain some appriciation. I just so happened to read the magazine reviews that this album received, and saw that The Source called this album medicore and gave it 3 mics. It shouldn't suprise me, because this album came out in 1998, when mostly rappers from the east coast and the south were starting to blow up. So when something like this came from Oakland, the media didn't want anything like this to become national and stay underground. God forbid people to accept who you are, if you kept true to your mic skills, and didn't rhyme about cars, girls, or shooting someone like everyone else did back in '98. Also around that time, there was a saying that "The West Coast was dead", and I highly can prove that untrue. Comming from the south, I've always believed that The West Coast can come with some of the most creative music to hear, and the Hieroglyphics "Third Eye Vision" just proves that. I recommend this to anyone and everyone who like underground hip hop with creativity.
Lyrics: A
Production: A+
Musical Vibes: A+
Overall: A+
My favorites: You Never Knew, All Things, Duane Methane, Mics Of The Roundtable, Off The Record, Miles To The Sun