Review Summary: just my 2 cents
A very good album.
What I like most about it is the diversity of the sounds included in the beats, but I would have to say it swings towards the commercial end of things, rather than the abstract. That being said, the *musicality* of the beats is very high, and has some very nice arrangements and chords, if you're into that kind of thing.
Another thing I really liked about it is that each track has a distinct style and feels like a properly written *song* about something very specific - not some thrown together verse with a very loose thread of ideas. I also enjoyed the lyrics on this album, he has no issues with bearing it all, and exposing himself - which is a good thing for hip hop. His voice is also very clear, and on an average pair of speakers or headphones you should have no dramas hearing all of the words, and his voice isn't fatiguing at all.
I normally listen to rock, but I have listened to this album many, many times since buying it on CD a couple of months ago. The best thing I can say about the album is that it works so well as music you can either listen to privately, or alternatively just chuck on in the background, because the beats are so good by themselves. I can't pick out my favorite songs on the album though because I really feel that they all have something great about them, however, 'Miracle In A Costume and Hope You Don't Mind' are the two songs that really made me stop what I was doing and pay attention. One last note, I bought 'Falling and Flying' at the same time as buying the new Hilltop (State of the Art) album, the newest Drapht album (The Life of Riley), the Bliss n Eso album Running on Air, as well as Watch the Throne and this is the one that i listened to the most out of all of them. By far.
