.:Release Info:
Artist : Mars Ill
Album : Slow Flame
Genre : Hip-Hop
Source : CDDA
Label : indie
URL : http://www.myspace.com/marsill
Date : 15-08-2009
Encoder : LAME 3.97 (-V2 --vbr-new)
Quality : 192kbps 44100Hz Joint Stereo
Tracks : 19
Time : 69:02 (min)
Size : 100.60MB
.:Tracklist:
1. Mars Ill - Slow Flame Intro 1:01
2. Mars Ill - Say So 4:05
3. Mars Ill - Sound Off 3:35
4. Mars Ill feat. Cappadonna - Too Strong To Change 4:33
5. Mars Ill - Dog Eared Page 3:47
6. Mars Ill feat. Ahmad and Anthony David - More 4:22
7. Mars Ill - Stand Back And Watch 4:43
8. Mars Ill - Just The Two Of Us (And Some Lawyers) 2:13
9. Mars Ill - Wicked Ways 4:32
10. Mars Ill feat. Ishues and D.R.E.S. Tha Beatnik - Saturday 4:46
Night Special
11. Mars Ill feat. Prince Po - Glam Rap 4:59
12. Mars Ill - Higher 1:17
13. Mars Ill feat. X:144 - Effortless 3:29
14. Mars Ill feat. Ben Hameen and J-Mil of Collective Efforts - 3:54
Write Of Passage
15. Mars Ill feat. Elias - When Heaven Scrapes The Pavement 5:12
16. Mars Ill - I Is 4:44
17. Mars Ill - We Out 1:00
18. Mars Ill - Feelin' So High 3:52
19. Mars Ill - Run Wonderland 2:58
69:02 (min)
.:Release Notes:
Never one to be out of your CD players for too long, hip hop duo Mars ILL comes
back with a new project to bob your head to. In the vein of artists like
TobyMac and Linkin Park, Mars ILL have taken their 2006 album Pro*Pain and
remixed the beats to every track. In addition to that, the finished product,
entitled Slow Flame, contains two brand new songs, as well as the songs cut
from the original 2004 version of Pro*Pain as a CD-rom bonus.
It's a strange album to listen to the first time through. If you're familiar
enough with Pro*Pain, it becomes almost difficult to picture those lyrics with
any other beat. So the opening beats of "Say So" seem somewhat awkward, as with
a lot of the other tracks as well. But when manCHILD's skillful lyrics come
into play, you feel back at home. And it's nice that 99.9% of the vocals are
unchanged, so you can still rap along without missing a beat. There are,
however, slight changes made to accomodate the new music. A good example is the
chorus of "Too Strong To Change," which features the same lyrics, just sung a
little bit differently. Unfortunately for that song, Cappadonna's guest
appearance is still as weak as it was on Pro*Pain.
Another notable plus for Slow Flame is that portions of the lyrics are a little
easier to understand. It seems either the music is slightly quieter, or they
turned up the vocals. Either way, it's nice to hear more of what manCHILD has
to say. At the same time, for the most part, the samples that were seemingly
non-understandable the first time aren't any easier this time around.
The first of the two new tracks, "Feelin' So High," seems almost a little out
of place, just because it comes in after what was Pro*Pain's outro. But the
song has the Mars ILL strength that fans of theirs look for. The jazzy beat and
music aid in it being a more laid back jam. It fades into the last track on the
album, "Run Wonderland," which has about the same tempo and feel as the
previous song, just with more of a modern hip hop sound. Hopefully these are
the sounds that the duo will feed us on their next outing.
It doesn't stop at the remixes and new tracks though. If you put the CD in your
computer, you can access three other tracks - the three that were cut from the
original 2004 version of Pro*Pain for the 2006 release: "Moment," "Loud!," and
"All Out." It's understandable why, if any songs had to be cut from the album,
these would be the ones. That's not to say that they are bad songs, because
they're certainly not. They're definitely Mars ILL quality, however they just
seem to be a little weaker than the rest... Just a little.
I don't think I can honestly say that this is a better album than Pro*Pain
itself. While Mars ILL never disappoints, Slow Flame loses points in two main
areas: 1) remix albums are just all too common anymore, and 2) it's hard to get
used to the new beats after becoming so comfortable with the originals. Don't
let that deter you from picking this up, though. The quality is still
outstanding, as can be expected in anything that bares the name Mars ILL.
- Review date: 3/19/08, written by Scott Fryberger