Disco de Atmosphere: “You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having [PA]”

The last track on this album is the tripartite "Little Man", in which Slug addresses the first verse to his son, the second verse to his father, and the last verse to himself. Acknowledging genealogical traits consistent among the three generations, Slug places himself at the center of the three generations in a way that suggests that the father and the son are variations of himself. Thus the piece has a sense of folding in on itself in the last verse when Slug addresses himself, and this abstract idea is reflected by the physical image of the overly self-conscious rapper curled up on an anonymous hotel bed: "rolled up like a naked fetus / come and save him, Jesus / place him back in time before the Reaganomics and Adidas". It's a masterfuly constructed piece, and though the lyrics are more blunt and conversational than philisophical, the abstact nature of the song is captured by the pentatonic, Eastern-influenced music that forms the backdrop for Slug's rhymes and gives the entire piece a quasi-mystical feel.

Nowhere else can you hear hip-hop like this. So it's ironic that, in the last verse of "Little Man", Slug sings this line to himself: "Your raps are exhausted / Stop it / Everybody knows that you've lost it". In fact, nothing could be further from the truth; with the release of this album, Atmosphere has taken their game to a whole new level.

Atmosphere showed early promise on the geeky, lo-fi "Overcast!" (circa 2001), and seemed to peak on 2002's "Lucy Ford" release. Their third CD, "God Loves Ugly", managed to be both completely introspective and almost entirely uninspired, and the follow-up CD, 2004's "Seven's Travels", was a hit-or-miss affair with a handful of memorable tracks and a truckload of filler. By 2005, the only Atmosphere CD I was listening to was "Lucy Ford", and time had tarnished most of the rhymes on that album; with the exception of "They're All Gonna Laugh @ You", the tracks on "Lucy Ford" sound somewhat juvenile today, as charming as they still are.

So I kept walking the first time I spotted this CD in the record store, figuring that Atmosphere was long past whatever brief prime they might have enjoyed a few years back. But when I sampled some of this CD on Amazon, I realized that these guys have pulled off a major comeback from out of nowhere.

The most immediately arresting feature of this CD is the production; Ant has dug deep and come up with a mind-boggling array of samples that gives this record a character unlike any other Atmosphere CD, or any other hip-hop release in recent memory. The album is permeated with a gritty, old-school flavor that relies heavily on fuzzy, distorted beats, gospel riffs, turntable scratching and sampled voice-overs that bring to mind Public Enemy's "Fear of a Black Planet". There are fantastically intricate layers of sound at work here, but never so much that the beats detract from the rhymes. On the contrary, the choice of beats and samples seems more directly related to the rhymes than on previous releases (see the discussion of "Little Man" above) in a way that gives this record a rare degree of integrity. The one notable exception is "That Night", which purposefully stands apart from all the other songs on the album and thus has a sound all its own.

Ant's complex and edgy production seems to be spurring Slug on; his delivery is far more sure here than on any other Atmosphere CD. His rhymes were always intellegent, but there's a more confident flow at work here, and even his voice seems to have more character.

Like all great pop music, this album succeeds on several levels. It has a consistency of character, but enough variety from track to track to keep the listener from getting bored. On some of the songs, distortion or other effects are applied to Slug's voice; on "That Night" he delivers the lyrics in a hushed, intimate tone. As background music, most of the songs on the album provide plenty of bump; on the other hand, discerning listeners will find that the lyrics almost never disappoint, and there's always plenty to come back for.

Playing into the joke of the album's title, I don't remember when rocking shows across the country, getting paid and laid wasn't fun, but nonetheless, Atmosphere is back with another dope album. You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having is 13 tracks of finely crafted music by producer ANT, who flexes as much originality as he does versatility. Lyrically, Slug complements the music with abstract concepts ("Smart Went Crazy"), and well-structured story raps ("Musical Chairs"). I can't foresee the day when Atmosphere will make a bad album, and You Can't Imagine... follows the tradition of good hip-hop we've come to expect. It's just comforting knowing that other people are devoid of complete happiness, too.

- Corey Bloom

Synthesis.net

Bottom Line: If you like hip-hop, you'll dig this. Yes, it's better than Seven's Travels. No, it's not the same as Lucy Ford or even God Loves Ugly. However, it's still dope, so quit lying to yourselves. If you like Atmosphere, buy this CD. Just do it. Notice the 3-or-fewer star ratings all say 'It's still a solid album, and Ant did a really good job, and the lyrics aren't bad, and it's still better than everything out there right now, and you should definitely buy this CD, but....". Enough said.

While this album does have some memorable moments it does not live up to Atmosphere's previous efforts. The opening track is a wonderful opener grabbing your attention and forcing you to sit back and enjoy. However the rest of the album does not live up to the hype. Some of the tracks lack focus and come off as tracks that should have been thrown in the recyle bin. With that being said there are some extraordinary tracks on here. "hockey hair" is an upbeat song with slug talking about the difficulties of being on the road. "Angelface" is another good one offering the same insight on what he has learned from touring the country. Overall I like this album, but it lacks some of the cleverness, that made Atmosphere's really releases so memorable.

slug is an amazing rapper, is lyrics are so deep and inspiring. he is a true poet and knows how to flow on a beat. he needs more exposure to the public. more people should know about him. smart went crazy is one of the best rap songs ever made no doubt. all songs on this album are great, i can listen to it from start to finish. if you are a fan of REAL rap or are a fan of atmosphere, then buy this album. support real music!!!!