This is the second album review I've ever written, and it's long...

I've been somewhat unsatisfied with the few reviews of _A Book of Human 
Language_ that I've read, so I thought I'd write my own... basically, my 
complaint with the reviews that I've read is that they didn't really 
address the purpose and aim of the album, and consequently failed to 
properly assess its successes and failures. That's unfortunate because 
so much of the album doesn't make sense without an understanding of what 
Aceyalone is trying to do with it, and reviewers therefore tend to 
interpret its moves as curiousities and indulgences rather than 
(successful and unsuccessful) attempts to build a coherent whole.

_Human Language_ is an ambitious project, ambitious enough that I feel 
no contradiction in calling it a worthwhile failure... not that 
Aceyalone isn't one of the most talented and imaginative motherfuckers 
in hip hop. Nor is it that there's anything wrong with Mumbles' 
production. Still, it seems that on this album Aceyalone's reach exceeds 
even his considerable grasp. Of course, at a time when artists such as 
Rakim and Organized Konfusion self-consciously court the lowest common 
denominator, and even De La Soul gives up their trademark obscurity in 
order to be understood, there is a lot to be said for an album which 
pushes boundaries and demands the attention of the listener. Still, the 
price of risk-taking is the possibility of failure and disappointment, 
and I think there are two central flaws to this album:

First of all, as the title and cover artwork suggest, _A Book Of Human 
Language_ is a concept album, conceived of as a book which records a 
totality of human experience, from birth and life to death. But in a 
single-driven medium such as hip-hop, the concept album has repeatedly 
failed to live up to its promise. I would argue that, with the proud 
exception of _De La Soul Is Dead_, the classic hip-hop albums have been 
collections of classic songs rather than artistic wholes. Think of 
classic albums such as _Criminal Minded_ and _Paid In Full_, which were 
in reality little more than collections of previously-released singles. 
Aceyalone's classic and underrated solo debut, _All Balls Don't Bounce_, 
with its tag team of producers and guest appearances, was similarly a 
collection of songs of diverse musical moods and topics. Yet on _Human 
Language_, Acey attempts to present the album as a unified 
work--musically, by keeping Mumbles as the sole producer, and 
thematically by presenting each song as only a chapter of the larger 
book. Yet this unity often comes at the expense of individual tracks; 
for instance, in the time and energy Aceyalone expends in unifying the 
songs ("Contents", "The Reason", "The Vision", "The Hunt Prelude", "The 
Catch") rather than cutting back the framework and letting the stronger 
tracks speak for themselves.

Second, and probably more disappointing for fans of _All Balls_, in 
reaching for universality and poetic depth, Aceyalone often neglects his 
own most unique gifts. As a rhymer, Aceyalone has a rare ability to 
unlock and unfold language: at moments his playful rhymes and cadences 
appear to reveal hidden meanings, as though the English language were a 
personal toy that mere mortals like ourselves might borrow but never 
fully exploit. See, for instance, "Headaches and Woes" and "I Think." 
_All Balls_ also showcased a rhythmic imagination, revealing a world of 
possibilities that a universe of 4/4-bound MC's never dared to venture 
into: consider the quirky stutter-step of "Arhythmaticulas" and the 
ground-breaking 6/8 flow on "The Greatest Show On Earth." Yet on _Human 
Language_, in his quest for lyrical seriousness, Acey's flashes of 
linguistic and rhythmic playfulness are fewer and further between. 

Having said all of that, here's a track-by-track sort of breakdown, for 
those of you who like that sort of thing. The introductory "forward" 
(get it, "foreword"?) presents some moody jazz instruments over an even 
moodier track, featuring what must be Mumbles' favorite sample in the 
world (it's the sample he used for "Makeba," on _All Balls_, and the 
beat reappears in the "afterward" [read, "afterword"]). Next comes "The 
Guidelines," which apparently was intended for _All Balls_, but instead 
appears here as a kind of preface to Acey's new book and features what 
are perhaps the album's most playful lyrics over Mumbles' subdued and 
moody beats. 

Next is "Contents," essentially a table of contents for the "book" being 
presented. No beat here, just Aceyalone reciting the names of the tracks 
to come (you can read along on the album cover, if you like...). For the 
rest of side A the album slumps quite a bit. Next is "The Balance," 
which goes on for five minutes but never really expands its subject 
beyond it's opening line: "The second somebody dies, somebody else is 
born/ People are celebratin', while other people mourn." Filling out 
Side A are "The Energy," which is obscure without much of a lyrical or 
musical payoff, and "The Hurt," which is probably the most rhythmically 
unconventional song on the album. Still, it's difficult to say what the 
point of the song is, and the delivery and the beat don't seem to get 
along happily.

Side B gets better, beginning with "The Hold," which presents an 
interesting drum pattern that interacts much better with Aceyalone's 
voice than any of the previous beats. Lyrically it's still obscure, but 
fun to listen to. Next, "The Walls And Windows" starts somewhat slowly 
and repetitively, but picks up as a playful meditation on ears and eyes 
and (what else) walls and windows. "The Jabberwocky" is indicative of 
all-too-much of this album: ambitious, interesting, different, but not 
necessarily enjoyable to listen to. Aceyalone recites the Jabberwocky 
from Alice In Wonderland, except with his voice distorted somewhat 
distractingly... honestly, I got tired of it about halfway through and 
flipped it to 45rpm, which came much closer to the natural sound of 
Acey's voice. The first disc ends with the nice "Grandfather Clock," 
which presents Aceyalone's skill in familiar glory: playful, 
rhythmically curious, and with a storytelling bent for the absurd. 
Unfortunately, the beat on this song is distracting: it mimics a 
grandfather clock's pendulum by sounding the same tone on every beat, 
which is conceptually interesting but once again not much fun to listen 
to.

Disc Two opens with "The Reason," a funky and soulful loop wasted upon a 
reiteration of the table of contents. Next comes "The March," which is a 
lot of fun to listen to... lyrically, musically, and conceptually. 
Really, this to me is one of the tracks on the album which lives up to 
the ambitions of the entire enterprise. Things slow down for "The 
Vision," which is really little more than a prelude to "The Faces," 
which was released as a single and is classic Aceyalone. "The Faces" by 
itself boasts more personality and charisma than the entire first disc, 
perhaps because Acey loses some of his universal, view-from-nowhere tone 
and returns to the first person. 

The next four tracks come together and naturally lead into one another: 
"The Hunt Prelude", "The Hunt", "The Catch", and "The Thief In the 
Night". Honestly, I didn't care much for this mini-series... the tracks 
are dark and slow and somewhat predictable, and the subject matter is a 
bit too obvious for Acey to get very far with. (For instance, on Thief 
In the Night: "today's subject is... death.") 

This procession saves, I think, the best for last. The conclusion of the 
album, entitled "Human Language," ties together all of the ambitions of 
the album and is in my opinion nearly perfect: the drum pattern set up 
by Mumbles provides a perfect backdrop for Acey's freewheeling lyrics, 
while the bridge is set off by a subtle bass and a horn solo that fits 
in wonderfully. This high point is followed up by a stage freestyle and 
the album concludes with Mumbles' "afterward," nearly indistinguishable 
from the "forward" but nice all the same. 

So, let's cut to the chase. Should you buy this album? As always, it 
depends. If you're looking for a collection of dope songs with ill 
lyrics, you could do better with the same amount of money by picking up 
three singles: "Faces"/"The Guidelines"/"Fortitude", which has the first 
two songs plus "Fortitude," a track whose mellow, whispery vibe I've 
really been getting into; "Me And My Main," a cool collaboration with 
Abstract Rude over one of Kool DJ EQ's more interesting beats (though 
it's mixed sort of poorly and it's hard to make out some of Acey's 
lyrics... if you're dedicated you can take the acapella and instro and 
work it out yourself); and the Haiku De Tat single, which has Acey with 
Ab Rude and Mikah Nine over a live band and is hella, hella nice. 

However, if you're sick of talented hip-hop acts selling themselves 
short and you want to hear a gifted artist reach and stretch himself to 
his limits (and yes, at times beyond them), then you really can't find a 
more adventurous album than this one. It's by no means a perfect album, 
but in contrast to the complacency of most contemporary hip-hop it never 
fails to envision something greater. That's more than enough for me, 
though it's not something that everyone can or should be able to get 
into.


... and of course, you should do everything you can to get your hands on 
a copy of _All Balls Don't Bounce_, which at least every aspiring MC 
should listen to and study... it depresses me that right now DJ's and 
producers are creating and imagining completely new directions for 
hip-hop, but for the most part MC's have failed to imagine anything 
beyond the flow and topics that Rakim was doing a full decade ago. Of 
course, I've said this before, but it's also depressing that people on 
this newsgroup consider it blasphemy to even suggest that a future MC 
could elevate the artform beyond Rakim, as though hip-hop were frozen in 
time back in '87. Especially given Rakim's rather obvious limitations, 
not to mention the unlimited possibilities of rhythm and language...