Having previously covered his early childhood on Son of Yvonne, Ace continues to reminisce about both the good and bad ol’ days of life in Brooklyn while attending high school via a long bus ride. Unlike the fictionalized scenarios he acted out on Disposable Arts and A Long Hot Summer, here we find Ace recalling his teenage years as a way to observe the way things were almost fourty-odd years ago. Ace’s story is pretty straightforward yet still noteworthy in that he was able to survive the dangers and temptations around him and graduate from school in one piece, but since he’s presented as a fairly blank canvas (portraying himself as a hard-working, honest teenager with a bit of a thing for older women) his presence in the narrative serves more of a tour guide role than being purely autobiographical.
The skits are often used to introduce the concept for the following song, ranging from the amusing ‘High School Shit’ with Torae (taking the concept of ‘schoolyard battles’ literally) to the quiet tragedy of ‘Mother’s Regret’ with Queen Harawin. Elsewhere, potentially interesting songs get bogged down in too much attention to detail (‘300 Avenue X’) or are just plain boring (‘Coronation’ seems to feature the name of his entire class read out during its running time, which is about as thrilling as hearing the phone book recited over a beat). ‘Mathematics’ rehashes a concept that was executed with more finesse by Organized Konfusion in 1997 with ‘Numbers,’ while the otherwise excellent ‘Me & A.G.’ seems to abandon the concept of the album altogether apart from The Giant mentioning school in a couple of lines.
Production is handled entirely by KIC Beats, who is capable of constructing suitably atmospheric backdrops for the Masta to get loose over, but also delivers some real clangers (‘Bang Bang’ and ‘Total Recall’ in particular really miss the mark). There’s also a lot of singing, which is rarely a welcome addition to my ears but I guess they were trying to get extra emotive and whatnot.
It all makes for a sometimes rewarding but often frustrating listening experience. When it works, The Falling Season really knocks it out the park, but then there are moments where it slips into self-indulgent weirdness (such as the chanting section in the middle of ‘Story of Me,’ which I can only assume is a reference to 1990’s Gregorian chant dancefloor champions Enigma). Speaking of that track, Ace mentions that he almost had a deal with Lyor Cohen:
‘Changed his mind at the strangest time/He was still destined to sign a dangerous mind/Another cat with the grind the same as mine/Another son born on the fourth would come/He was of course the one with that course to run.’
Any ideas who he might be talking about there?
As with all of Masta Ace’s albums, this is worth a listen if only to appreciate the rare bird that is a rap concept album that works and continues to demonstrate his knack for storytelling mixed with social observations. Unfortunately it’s also let-down some poor beat choices and annoying hooks, while the skits that hold the narrative together also lose their luster by the third listen. Ace deserves respect for his commitment to releasing such well thought-out albums, but at the same time his fondness for skits and a true backpacker’s ear for beats keeps them out of regular rotation at CRC HQ. In keeping with the eighties theme, if this was a VHS tape I’d recommend that you rent rather than buy.
Any deep cuts from his work with Ed OG?
I’m glad somebody did a review on this because no other site did. I totally agree. I gave it a chance and listened to it. 3 times the limit until you say enough. Msg to Ace: the concept is good, but (dope) beats matter.
He’s talking about Jay Z on that track (sorry if the question was rhetorical).
Album is cool but quite as good as LHS or DA in my opinion. Saw him live a few weeks ago and he was dope though.
And yeah, could’ve used a bit of variety in the beats department.
Remember when he was using “Maste ASE” as his moniker?
Album bumps G!
Sounds like you got sold a bad pressing. I would take it back to the store & ask for a replacement if I were you 😜
Nobody is a bigger Ace fan than me but this album is HORRIBLE. Horrible R and B hooks , the story is corny and very poorly put together and the beats are pretty. Weak.
I use to think Ace was the most consistent but it’s been a good run. Biggest disappointment since his EP with Edo G.
I personally enjoyed this album a lot. The beats seam to fit the feel of the content very well to me. It’s not his best offering but it is a good one. If there is anything resembling a reservation that I had to this album it’s that it covered his childhood which made it similar to Son of Yvonne, tho Yvonne was mostly the 70s and this was the 80s. But personally, I think it fit well into his catalog. To me Young Black Intelligent is the best song I’ve heard all year. A couple of hooks were a little meh, but I personally don’t hold contempt for anything R & B. All in all, a quality album. I bought it and I’m happy with that decision as an ASE fan.
lol I’d never buy this…
Elzhi, Royce, Aesop Rock and Jigmastas – the rest of the year has been trash…
I like the Elzhi better than this, this better than Royce, haven’t checked for Aesop or the Jigmastas yet.
Listen to Drake Robbie. His albums are excellent!
@OnklMichael With the lineup that Royce had on his last album/! GTFOH
The new Elzhi is fiyah!
Album of the year is POWERULE by eons
I agree with Lex. I will say that I am a big masta ace fan, but I’m not so biased (hated the last eMc album and Son a Yvonne was so-so). This album is good, it’s not amazing, but definitely a solid album. Despite the beat being whatever, I did like “Bang Bang” because Cormega killed it. Droog is DOPE on the opening cut as well! Overall, solid album, not the most memorable but has some bangers.
Heard the Jigmastas now too. I like this better than that too. Don’t think I’ll be checking for the Aesop, never been much of a fan tho I respect his talent. I wasn’t too crazy about the Powerule album either. My album of the year candidates are Elzhi, DITC, Westside Gunn and this, tho I place the other 3 before this.
@LEX: Agallah’s is better than all four.
All a matter of taste. The Agallah is dope indeed.
The guy Ace was talking about with the Lyor shit was Jay-Z