Hieroglyphics Album: “3rd Eye Vision”

This album, from '98, is exactly what hiphop is meant to be; immaculate lyrics,flows,beats and samples,cuts & alla that good stuff! yeh! 3rd Eye vision is fresh... the feel you get is reminiscent of bizzare ride II (Pharcyde), with a jazzy feel that reminds you of why hiphop is so good. The group; made up of Del (the funkee homosapien), Pep Love, A-Plus, Causal, Tajai, Opio, Phesto, Domino, Jay-Biz, Toure & Extra Prolific (well, not really anymore since events that had taken place between him & casual's sister were revealed) show that they're in it for the love and not for the money...with every MC kicking a verse in a track all to themselves! STRAIGHT HIP HOP. All I can say, is if you are into that jazzy, fresh, original essence of hip hop then this is for you! Although it is somewhat of an aquired taste, most real heads will have stumbled across a slept on gem here,(By the way, check out Del's; no need for alarm/Future Development and Extra Prolific's ; like it should be...as they are the best from the groups memebers, in my opinion, and worthy of recognition!)

Best Tracks : Off the Record

You Never Knew

Mics of the roundtable

See Delight

The Last one (but every single track is sick!) DONT SLEEP

LYRICS - 10/10

BEATS - 10/10

ORIGINALITY - 10/10

Peace

If you found this helpful, check out my other reviews

For years now the Hieroglyphics have released numorous albums estabolishing themselves a household name in the West Coast. But right before this album, many tragedies struck the Hiero Fam. First Del the Funkee Homosapien was cut from Electra's Record's Roster after the album "No Need For Alarm". Souls Of Mischief were also cut from their record label after their release "No Man's Land". Casual had a fall out with a good fiend Saafir which sparked the Hobo Junction/Hiero battle. And last Hiero member Snupe of Extra Prolific was cut during the making of this album. The whole Hiero fam would put their minds together to come out with an underground classic "Third Eye Vision" (believe it or not, this is their debut as a whole group). I have to say that this album blew my mind completely, because I didn't think that this group was going to come off with anything special on this album. Boy was I wrong.

One thing that many fans have an expectation is that each memeber to rhyme over some funky-jazzy type production, as was shown in previous Hiero albums. The majority of these songs fit that type of description. Mostly with some nice samples added to it. "You Never Knew" would be one of those songs, as most of the members open up the album, giving what you to expect. Another example is the low funky song "All Things" as Opio and Pep Love trade verses. Another great song that carries with a nice beat is "Miles To The Sun", the very last track on the album.

Also, the Hieroglyphics are known for comming off with some hard but at the same time creative lyrics. An example of what I can think of is on the song "No Nuts", Del The Funkee Homosapien says "Even if our demo tapes add to the myth of Hiero's gifts/ Those that don't agree is just pleading the Fifth...". Many of the members get their own chance to shine on their self-titled tracks, cutting a rhyme for about a minute in a half, possibly letting new fans know who is who if they didn't know. Aside from those, the members would also come off hard on normal tracks. Del is mostly known for his battle rhymes dissing wack emcees, head on the song "At The Helm", telling people if they don't have the rhymes, not to speak. Pep Love's dark and echo voice, carries on the dark song "After Dark". The Souls Of Mischief would come together to pass the mic around throughout the song "Mics Of The Roundtable". Another great song is when some of the members come togeher for the song "Off The Record" to show off their mic skills.

I believe that is one of the most under respected, and unappriciated albums that ever came out in the 90's. All of the Hieroglyphics related albums were heavily slept on, and this would be a fresh new independant start to gain some appriciation. I just so happened to read the magazine reviews that this album received, and saw that The Source called this album medicore and gave it 3 mics. It shouldn't suprise me, because this album came out in 1998, when mostly rappers from the east coast and the south were starting to blow up. So when something like this came from Oakland, the media didn't want anything like this to become national and stay underground. God forbid people to accept who you are, if you kept true to your mic skills, and didn't rhyme about cars, girls, or shooting someone like everyone else did back in '98. Also around that time, there was a saying that "The West Coast was dead", and I highly can prove that untrue. Comming from the south, I've always believed that The West Coast can come with some of the most creative music to hear, and the Hieroglyphics "Third Eye Vision" just proves that. I recommend this to anyone and everyone who like underground hip hop with creativity.

Lyrics: A

Production: A+

Musical Vibes: A+

Overall: A+

My favorites: You Never Knew, All Things, Duane Methane, Mics Of The Roundtable, Off The Record, Miles To The Sun

I bought this CD because I had heard two songs on the new snowboard vid "Technical Difficulties". This absolutely rocks, I'm not really into the rap stuff nowadays, but this is totally different. Like they say, they're trying to make something better, and this definately is! If you like this, also try Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and The Roots.

When it comes to innovative, entertaining , and fresh hip-hop; Hieroglyphics is the crew to check out. It seems that now in 2001 and 2002, with underground hip hop getting more popular, more people are finally discovering this dope album, and crew. "At the Helm," is one of the best Del songs ever, and the list goes on with Third Eye Vision. "If you ever Knew," and "After Dark" are some other lyrical gems. Anyone who likes this album should definitely check out any of Pep Love's,Del's, The Souls of Mischief, and Casual's sounds. Better yet, they should check out Hieroglyphics.com, to listen to just about any song this crew has ever done.

Hiero has been in the game since the early 90's. And I have loved del since "I wish my brother george was here" .

When I heard he was teaming up with Souls Of Mischief and Casual

3rd eye vison is hip-hop in it's purest form. Just a bunch of guys

Since I don't think we will ever get back to a point where they will play good hip-hop on Tv again. Thank God for independent labels like Hiero - Imperium.

I like every song on this album.

Especially One life one love and oakland blackouts.

This album is classic material. Go see these guys live if you can.