They try to sound "hard" but because of production, and an
"anything but tight band", they come off weak. I felt like they were trying
to fit in this genre instead of letting the style come naturally. They
used to be a hardcore group, and after hearing bits and pieces of it on
this album, it makes me wish that they would've focused more on that than
the rap. Music is supposed to fit you, not the other way around, and trying
to force a style will show through in the music and leave our ears ringing
with an empty sound.
Some of Concrete's songs would have nice little runs but
there were too many holes in the music which would make the song sound
hollow. Occasional mess-ups in the instrumentation would throw the song
off line for half a second and would ruin the groove. I guess the best
word to describe the music would be "bare."
But having said that; there was just something about them that I
couldn't help but like. Maybe it was their sound clips from "Princess Bride",
or the "hidden track", or the "Korn" rip off, or more likely, it was their
no-nonsense approach to the Word. I give them much respect for the
Spirit-led lyrics that don't back off, back up, or back track. Thanks to
the lyrics, the lazy musicianship was almost balanced out. I said "almost."
The best track is "SKD" (steal kill and destroy). It starts off
with an electronic intro that sounds like one-half Ron D Core and the other
half is the bass line from Seinfield, then it jumps back into the
screaming and rhyming. Nothing new, but still enjoyable.
So to cap it off, every song is layered with scriptures, encouragement,
and salvation. But even still, I don't think that those can save this album
from being labeled as nothing more than "something that shows promise".
Justin W. Jones 8/26/99
