A Tribe Called Quest - The Love Movement

[SupaVillain]

Meh. Wish we coulda got what tip had working before his house got burned

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Not a bad analysis re Slum without Slum, however i'd argue Jay Dee was sounding more rigid and maybe polished for lack of a better word at this point of his production. This is compared to Fantastic 2 (interestingly released after Love Movement. the latter of which probably got recorded pre Love Movement and finessed and released later i.e. The Fantastic Vol 1 re recorded songs and repeats present on Vol.2.

I can't remember if it was this album or the Tip/Amplified album in which Dilla lost the entire albums instrumentals mid album and then had to start everything again? That had to have impacted whichever one it was, its never the same when you do it all again. Tip then having his records flooded or burnt in the following few years too, bad run of luck!

The Love Movement you can hear the disconnect as a group, Dilla completely carries it, and that's not a good thing. Either way it had a half dozen classics as you mentioned.

Yeah Fantastic was supposed to come out in '98 but their label got bought by Interscope and Interscope delayed the release cuz they didn't know what to do with it. That's why Get Dis Money was on the Office Space soundtrack in 99

Q-Tip's fire happened in early 98, during The Love Movement's recording

 

[Why-Fi]

love this album. but i love all their albums some more than others

 

[Why-Fi]

First album put them on the map, but under no circumstances was it a classic

their first album changed the way hip hop sounded

 

[qnsfinest]

It was good. Nothing special. Had some great joints on there. But overall probably a 3.5 mic album.

But they dropped 3 classics in a row, i won’t even entertain a debate about that.

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

Made Beats, Rhymes and Life sound like Midnight Marauders.

 

[GeeEffKay]

It gave us find a way

 

[Majestyx]

i fukk with this album more than most. i think it gets hated on unfairly, but it is what it is.

 

[get these nets]

their first album changed the way hip hop sounded

Public Enemy and De La Soul albums from roughly the same time period changed the way hip hop sounded much more than 1st Tribe album.
I also think Jungle Brothers Done by the Forces of Nature did too.
Those 3 albums are classics.
.1st Tribe album was different and good, but not a classic to me.

*Gangstarr was doing jazz samples (popular & obscure) in that era if that's what you mean about changing the sound

 

[TripleAgent]

I liked it. It was doomed to be compared to their classics, but that's not fair.

 

[Da_Eggman]

A great solid 4 mic album it didn’t flow as well as there others felt a bit like a Qtip project but as usual with any tribe album the production was great

 

[Art Barr]

It was good. Nothing special. Had some great joints on there. But overall probably a 3.5 mic album.

But they dropped 3 classics in a row, i won’t even entertain a debate about that.

Can't be a 3.5 mic album because it would have dark horse quality to possibly be a classic.

A 3.5 is the most sacred rating outside of the coveted five mics

Art Barr

 

[Dillah810]

This comment took me out
"I bet his wife him it wouldn't kill you to take out the trash"

 

[Awesome Wells]

Tribe has been my favorite group of all-time since The Low End Theory, which is my favorite album of all-time.

So when The Love Movement dropped, I knew it was over. The chemistry was gone, but they were also wild stagnant creatively. They didn't even record most of the album together. Dudes were showing up to the studio separately to do their verses and not working together on concepts like they did on the first four projects. They had Dilla in there just making mad beats with no real direction. And when you listen to the album, it sounds like it. You can hear how dysfunctional they became.

I remember Ali was on BET saying that the name of the album was actually the opposite of what was going on with them at the time. It was just a sad ass ending to a group that shaped my whole ear as a kid, and meant a lot to me. I hated how they went out. There's only two songs on this album that I still listen to, and even those sound like they're just struggling to get through them.

 

[ShaDynasty]

Flawed album but its an interesting one. I still listen to it.

I think the 2nd, 3rd and 4th albums are straight classics. Maybe the 1st album too, but it also has much less replay value for me. TLM was their 'contractual obligation album'.

Theres no bad individual songs on the album but the production gets very samey if you play it from start to finish. No risks were taken. Its very polished and has a uniform production sound (I feel like The Neptunes took a lot from this album). Lyrically the passion isn't there. On Beats, Rhymes & Life they still had something to prove, they were angry even. Here they're really going through the motions.

Amplified is the superior record. I'm not sure why the backlash because musically and lyrically its not much different from Tribe, it was just a bit more experimental and varied.