Monday, July 12, 2010

311: Soundsystem (1999)

(As published in the Times of Acadiana ... )

311
Soundsystem
(Capricorn)


The metal-plated power chords bridge formats, generations, and genres the way the half-sung, half-rapped rhymes mix perspectives , idioms, and value systems. Granted, some of those systems are bankrupt, but even "Flowing," which starts out annoyingly unfocused, gets around to describing a lived-in experience or state of mind eventually. If "Mindspin" didn't view "mysteries" and "truth" as mutually exclusive, and if "Large in the Margin" and "Livin' & Rockin'" didn't patch in dirty words just to get a sales-boosting warning label, this disc might be masterly art instead of masterly product. Rating: Three-and-a-half Red Hot Beastie Peppers out of five.

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