Best Ever Albums

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Sun, 2 Nov 2014 16:08:38 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/02/2014 21:08

The Devil always loses in the end

10-9

Skelethon advances.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Sat, 1 Nov 2014 04:26:48 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 11/01/2014 08:26

Oh boy. I'm totally regretting my nostalgic vote for my nom here. 😕

I clearly have fond feelings for The Devil Made Me Do It but it really doesn't compare to Skeleton's dystopian, cyberpunk landscapes. Skelethon's a total grower of an album that divulges new delicious secrets with each listen. There's really no one else like Aesop Rock, and I'm pretty positive Skelethon will eventually claim a respectable place next to his past classics given time.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 04:44:25 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/31/2014 08:44

Whoa! Just voted for The Devil Made Me Do It because I assumed it must be getting blown out by the super-talented Aesop Rock.

Aespo Rock is one of my favorite rappers with both Labor Days & Float being personal faves. Harkan beat me to nominating Aesop Rock via Labor Days by literally a few minutes. I remember being actually psyched at the time because I hadn't heard Skelethon yet. Now I'm more ambivalent.

Anyways, as Skinny & Drak mention, side A of The Devil Made Me Do It scores pretty high in the "dark & claustrophobic" department 😜 and still hits me twenty-plus years later. Here's what I wrote when I nonmed it....

Quote:

One of my faves from growing up along with It Takes A Nation of Millions, By All Means Necessary, and AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. All potent political albums with a great sense of urgency.

Hadn't listened to it in ages until last night and forgot how powerful, emotionally charged, and HEAVY the beginning of The Devil Made Me Do It is. I was on the brink of tears it was so great so it seemed liked a slam dunk nom. Childhood fave, something everyone should hear, etc. But the second side just doesn't sound as urgent as the first side. To be fair, the first side is so emotionally charged it's probably damn near impossible to keep that up. I was definitely being hyperbolic when I said the second side sounded like b sides. It's not bad at all. Just not nearly as dope as side A. Still vital after all these years.

Weirdly enough, I think Skelethon actually improves over the course of the album despite starting off a little weak compared to his early years. I still really need to give it a few more touches though...

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 04:00:20 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/31/2014 08:00

Skelethon

I was on a trip the other day where (while going towards the location) a friend of mine and I listened to Busdriver radio and lot of Aesop came on. Anyways, vote to Aesop as I enjoy Skeelethon quite a bit. The Devil made me do it didn't ring as too intriguing to me. Overall, it was pretty decent.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

SuedeSwede — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 18:27:49 GMT

Author: SuedeSwede

Posted: 10/30/2014 22:27

Both were just okay. I enjoyed The Devil Made Me Do It a little more though.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

meccalecca — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:54:28 GMT

Author: meccalecca

Posted: 10/28/2014 16:54

dividesbyzero wrote:

Aesop Rock is responsible for a couple of my favorite hip-hop albums of the 2000s, but I feel like at this point in he's just becoming everything his detractors accused him of since Labor Days

Yeah. I was kinda of sad to see Skelethon as the album reppin Aesop. Bazooka Tooth was my first Aesop Rock record, and likely because of that, it's stayed my favorite.

Still gotta check out The Devil Made Me Do It before i throw a vote either way

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

WindowAbove — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:43:13 GMT

Author: WindowAbove

Posted: 10/28/2014 16:43

Skelethon, even though I'm not that much of a fan of Aesop Rock. I didn't like the Paris album at all.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 10:02:04 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/28/2014 14:02

That's a big no on Skelethon. Aesop's rhythm is great, but I just can't look past what he's saying. It sounds like a bunch of words from pop culture arbitrarily pasted together. The best comparison I can think of is Billy Joel on "We Didn't Start the Fire".

The Devil Made Me Do It

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Norman Bates — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 08:24:23 GMT

Author: Norman Bates

Posted: 10/28/2014 12:24

Going for Skelethon as well, must say The Devil... was quite the discovery though. Thanks to Repo for this very good rec indeed. A very difficult matchup.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

WindowAbove — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 07:42:52 GMT

Author: WindowAbove

Posted: 10/28/2014 11:42

Skinny wrote:

his beats are white as fuck.

Well fuck you then.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Skinny — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 06:54:59 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 10/28/2014 10:54

I actually think Skelethon is Aesop Rock's best. It just feels more focused and cohesive than previous efforts. Anyway, I once heard rapper Nocando compare Aesop Rock to Chief Keef, in the sense that you kind of let both rappers' respective voices just ride the beat and wash over you, not necessarily paying full attention to what they're saying (Keef because it's just empty aggression, and Aes because it's so dense). Whatever, I neither love nor hate Aes - he's undoubtedly talented, but I don't really connect with what he says very often. Also, his beats are white as fuck. Anyway, The Devil Made Me Do It is dope too, if pretty top-heavy. It just struggles to maintain the momentum it comes bursting out of the traps with, and at times it feels a little too generic and a little too dated, though I do enjoy the dank, suffocating production, particularly where Paris' vocals sit in the mix. But yeah, it just loses too much steam for me to really put it among peers like Road to the Riches or AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, whereas Skelethon is my favourite representation of Aesop Rock's unique style. Vote to Skelethon.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 23:00:26 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/28/2014 03:00

Skelethon

Not crazy for either and I'll admit that The Devil Made Me Do It ended up being much better than I anticipated, but eh, not really into much Political Hip-Hop.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Hayden — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:33:36 GMT

Author: Hayden

Posted: 10/28/2014 02:33

Aesop is the better rapper without a doubt, but Skelethon is one of his weakest albums imo.. It never seems to pass 'average'.

The Devil Made Me Do It gets my vote. Also in the hopes that other people give it a chance.

Re: CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 22:26:34 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/28/2014 02:26

Aesop Rock is responsible for a couple of my favorite hip-hop albums of the 2000s, but I feel like at this point in he's just becoming everything his detractors accused him of since Labor Days: running words through a thesaurus, using big words for the sake of big words, and occasionally sounding like a rhyming dictionary in a washing machine. I adore Labor Days and None Shall Pass, as well as his most recent weird-as-shit-but-somehow-endearing album with Kimya Dawson as The Uncluded, and while any number of Ace Rizzle's hyper-literacy fests could've taken this round for me, Skelethon is not one of them

CLOSED - 750: Round 1: The Devil Made Me Do It v. Skelethon

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Oct 2014 20:16:28 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 10/28/2014 00:16

Captain: RepoMan

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

The Devil Made Me Do It by Paris

v.

Captain: Borejko

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Skelethon by Aesop Rock