Track 1 Iron Galaxy:
Might be the single greatest intro song to any rap project ever. The spaced out and metallic beat is beautifully ugly and just sets of the mood of the project immediately. Both Vordul and Vast k** their verses with memorably iconic lines throughout. Vordul comes through with this unforgettable line
“f** five I want a hundred and eight mics”
But Vast slaughters with his first half of the verse
(And if there's crack in a basement)
Crack heads stand adjacent
Anger displacement from food stamp arrangements
You were a still born baby, mother didn't want you
But you were still born
Boy meets world, of course his pops is gone, what you figure
That chalky outline on the ground is a father figure?
So he steps to the next stencil, that's a hustler
Infested with money and diamond cluster
Lets talk in laymen terms
Rotten apples and big worms, early birds and poachers
New York is evil at it's core, so those who have more than them
Prepare to be victims
One of the dopest ways possible to start an album
10/10
Track 2 Ox Out the Cage:
Another amazing El-P instrumental that is hard to explain other just having a droning robot noise interspersed with random shrieking in the background. Producto stops by trade off verses with Vast with both of them k**ing their parts. Vordul brings it all home with a monstrous 36 bar verse. A slower song with lots of growing potential that has went on to become one of my favs on here
10/10
Track 3 Atom:
One of the few songs that has features on it and this one employs two. The good news is that both of these little known MCs pull of some really hard verses as well as Vast coming out with one of his strongest verses on the whole album. The instrumental here is absolutely amazing too with their being a lot moving parts to it. The most significant contributions being the really slamming drums and the occasional little video game sounding effect that pops up every once in a while
10/10
Track 4 A B-Boys Alpha:
One of the best songs on the whole project right here. Some all time memorable verses and one of the all time best instrumentals I have ever heard. Once again Els drums are real hard and stand out, but that gritty piano looming in the background sets this sh** off. Vordul also might possibly drops the greatest verse of his career on this song just absolutely going off
Just some examples here of how crazy this song is
My mother said, “You s**ed my p**y when you came out
Don't ever talk back
I handed you life and I'll snatch it back”
Vordul's entire verse
Straight out of the depths of hell
Reflect the sec and
Inhale the buddah wisdom
Envision and edit inscriptions of a Megalah spiritualism
Paint a picture from the spiritual
And seriously spit a lyric
That'll rip through a physical ligament
Trigger living in these city limits
Limited with no money, going through crazy minutes
Crazy thinking of back in the days
When blazing the lazy writtens
Before we was swallowing deuces, popping with gooses
And rocking the bubble gooses
Trouble lose kid, puffin a loosie
Hopping off Huffy, stealing Marvel comics and water uzis
All of us canoeing through sewers with juvenile maneuvers
Caught up in nooses from borders with troubleshooters
On corners where coppers will hop out of Dunkin Donuts
Popping they gun and shoot us
Or more of us aware
Thinking Rudy Giuli really don't give a f** about a mouli
Got me woozy, sipping Kalhuas losing my noodles
Screwed up in the two triple losers
Spraying it live, b-boy graffiti alpha
Out of rap-palooza
Bruh this sh** is ridiculous
10/10
Track 5 Raspberry Fields:
This is very memorable for two reasons. The first being the absolutely crazy beat that has some sort of sinister string crying in the background while drums get the sh** smacked out of them. The second reason being Vast Aire's first verse where he says a word twice and then goes back and spits it again changing up some words and then finishing it out like nothing happened. Vordul routinely tears it up too
10/10
Track 6 Straight of the D.I.C
On first listen this didn't standout that much to me, but after years of listening to this it has become a hidden treasure of sorts. An extremely airy beat that just drones on with the oh so amazing drums pulls you into this. Vast leads things off with a great verse and Vordul tears this up hard with another standout verse of this album. The slight beat change during the hook is perfect
10/10
Track 7 Vein:
Has one of the most left field and out there beats. Kind of like a video game type feel after it has been jettisoned into space or some sh**. Really dope sh** with Vordul providing two great verses and Vast k**ing the one verse he put down. The constant piano going on is also dope as f** as well. The ending lines to this song are great as well
10/10
Track 8 The F-Word:
Yes they have a “love” song on here that is actually dope and is basically the early version of the friendzone. Most likely a lot of people including myself relate to this song which makes it all the better. I think Vordul and Vast have their best flows on this song and also some pretty great lyrics too. This is one of the most laid back beats on the tape, which means it still has an intense cosmic feel to it
10/10
Track 9 Stress Rap:
This has one of the most upbeat instrumentals with some bell sounding effects constantly jangling away and a beautiful horn that sporadically appears. The hook on this rolls of the tongue so easy and is so dope to listen too. I'd say it's a tie on this one between Vordul and Vast, but they both flow perfectly to this beat
Hummingbird style, seventy times in one second
IDK why but that line has always been super dope to me
10/10
Track 10 Battle for Asgard:
Another track that has little known features that k** the sh** out of their features. Life Long kinda sounds like Aesop Rock which is pretty cool and the bigger feature C Ray Walz goes hard as well. The whole thing feels like a rapid fire cypher that is just cool as hell. The beat harkens back to the Fantastic Damage days of El-P with a much more cluttered and metallic beat that grows on you a bunch. The intro and outro beat to this manages to sound like an extremely f**ed up carnival
10/10
Track 11 Real Earth:
First off the opening line of “They lied when they said there was no Aire in space” is one of the dopest ways to kick off a verse possible. Secondly this beat is crazy from the futuristic murky sound going on in the background. Thirdly, this is a Vast Aire solo track and he does his best to kick off lots of quotables and just an overall great performance
10/10
Track 12 Ridiculoid:
The beat on this thing is so incredibly crazy, with the intro and outro being extremely messy sounding robots fighting. The main instrumental itself is a beautifully heady beat that has that unmissable plinking noise that flies in. El-P stops by for a huge and dense verse that is his typical paranoid self. Vordul and Vast k** it as well with this instrumental fitting perfectly to their voices
10/10
Track 13 Paink**ers:
This feels more personal than a lot of their songs and this hits hard if personally relate to the subject matter. I myself haven't lived the most sober of lives (actually going sober tomorrow :( and this song sort of tears me up when I listen to it. That feeling of wanting to escape reality but still dealing with pain is hard to deal with but this song tackles it head on. The instrumental has an amazing piano within it and I love how Vordul's verse starts off with his voice altered and the beat switching to a slower and drugged feeling to it. A masterpiece of a song that never gets old listening to it. the outro to this song has such a beautiful beat that instills both hope and dread within it
10/10
Track 14 Pigeon:
First off the intro with the guitars in it is some of the dopest sh** that I have ever heard. The main beat is actually kinda jazzy and has a dark 90's vibe to it. The lyrics and concept of comparing themselves to Pigeons is beautiful and allows for some really dense and abstract lyrics to shine through. Vordul came through a little stronger on this one with an amazingly dope verse that pulled the whole thing together
Eskimo medal doctrine locked in oxygen shell
Words shot plated metal lung which spun kids' carrousel
sh** like this had me scratching my head and coming here for answers. This album is actually one of the reasons why I started using this site. The outro is also awesome as well with some hardcore sh** going on with that guitar work
10/10
Track 15 Scream Phoenix:
My favorite track on the album here was the perfect way to finish the project on a high note. The beat is just so amazing with a victorious and galactic sound to it with metallic grinding and a beautiful angelic voice in the back. This basically sums up the themes of the whole album in both MCs verses. The concept of becoming the phoenix and coming out to a rebirth, but it ends on a sad note when Vast Aire states that we are pigeons trapped in the system. I have fond memories of getting super f**in stoned off wax on my way to school senior year, with this song always getting played in homeroom with me staring off into a beautifully hazy reality
10/10
Final Verdict:
Well if you couldn't tell by now I really f**ing love this album. As I have stated before this is my favorite rap album of all time and easily makes it to my top 10 albums of all time regardless of genre. El-P basically had a home run with this being the best produced rap album of all time imo. Vast and Vordul just had such insande lyrics on here I feel privileged just having listened to this
I would consider this in the top 3 best rap albums ever made, possibly even the best one ever made. This might be one of the only albums in existence that I gave every song a 10/10 on. I think this project deserves its praise that much. Please listen to this if you get the chance
10/10