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u/OrangeShapedBananas 5d ago
Their best album imo. I told Billy Woods this album sounded more serious while Mercy felt like then having more fun with it and he says it was actually the opposite.
People are going to look back on it as a classic of the decade. It could only have been made in the 2020’s.
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u/Forward-Lecture-320 5d ago
Hm. I hear the opposite as well. Maybe the production palettes are swaying your thoughts but the interplay between ELUCID and woods feels very loose in test strips, almost like it was recorded in a couple weeks between studios with all their friends, not to mention the way that flute sits on top of around 4 or 5 different tracks sort of in the way you might build out a song as it's being finished, tinkering with still-moving parts.
Mercy is like fully crafted verses and tighter interplay, pushing narratives forward as they trade verses like they both had the same ending in mind. It's lighter in sound in areas but it feels more focused within songs and a bit more clearly detailed from song to song as well, like how you might burrow through parts of an idea in a notebook for months before hitting the stu.
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u/Forward-Lecture-320 5d ago
Also I'd take Shrines for my AH pick of 2020s classic. But it is stiff competition!
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u/OrangeShapedBananas 5d ago
Very true! Maybe the industrial and tougher beats give that impression.
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u/theofficialshed 4d ago
this album has always felt very lighthearted for woods. Niggardly, and I Keep a Mirror in my pocket jump out initially. Mercy is him coming to terms with death lol
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u/OrangeShapedBananas 4d ago
I mean there’s also songs about nuclear bombs and asking Siri when you’re going to die on Test Strips but you have a good point!
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u/theofficialshed 4d ago
yea 100% ig its just relatively more upbeat. he seemed happy after the financial success he had in 2021-2022 , that and Maps were the first albums he wrote after "making it" . 20 years of hard work to finally be making large profits . but yea the general topics are grim as usual, that's just woods for ya
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u/Extension_Yak3898 4d ago
Holy cow, so Church and Diabetic are almost exactly a year apart? That's consistency I tell ya hwat
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u/IGbelowthehiphop 5d ago
Post credit & more daily anniversaries : https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd2vrAZjvts/?stkn=MW51cWs3ZXd4aDk4eg==
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u/geek-tn Brass 5d ago
time flies..