Saul Williams

Saul Williams - Saul Williams

Saul Williams
Our Price: $13.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $7.00 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Artist: Saul Williams
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-09-21
Music Label: Fader Label
Soundtracks:
  1. Talk To Strangers
  2. Grippo
  3. Telegram
  4. Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)
  5. List Of Demands (Reparations)
  6. African Student Movement
  7. Black Stacey
  8. PG
  9. Surrender ( A Second To Think)
  10. Control Freak
  11. Seaweed
  12. Notice Of Eviction

Music reviews of Saul Williams

Music Review: "Load their guns with songs they haven't sung"
Rating: 5 Stars

Saul Williams offers listeners a socially-conscious, honest, musically mature and lyrically transcendent collection of songs. Though the album is primarily defined as hip-hip, and to be sure there are some great hip-hop tracks, what is also found here can more accurately be defined as "a master of spoken-word poetry accompanied by music." Fans of his style and performance will not be disappointed. Furthermore, varying musical influences lift this album above the confines of a strictly hip-hop recording, such as the industrial beats of "List of Demands (Reparations)" or the muted rock performance of "Telegram." It is this pushing of boundaries that makes it readily accessible to listeners whose main musical interest lies outside of hip-hop (myself included) while still carrying the standard of the best of what hip-hop has to offer, and unfortunately has yet to fully embrace.

Williams is poignant in his observations, poetic in his presentation, and optimistic in his outlook. He sees the world through eyes that recognize not only the symptoms but also the afflictions, and a mind that is mature and forward-looking enough to see the solutions and the possibility of something better. He refuses the notion that accepting the current sad state of affairs is "keeping it real," but rather views living up to true human potential as the only "real" worth keeping.

While all the tracks have something valuable to offer, either musically or lyrically, a few standout examples are worth noting here. "List of Demands (Reparations)" is a great explosion of creative energy, and many listeners will certainly want to pound their fist in the air to this one. Perhaps the most moving and memorable piece is the auto-biographical "Black Stacy," which is a personal confession of the insecurities felt due to skin color and the process of finally coming to terms with one's appearance and self-responsibilities. The lyrics are powerful and should be heard by every hip-hop fan, young and old, but especially those impressionable youths who look to materialistic moguls or defeatist gangsters as surrogate role-models. Finally, in Saul Williams, they have an artist worth looking up to.

Description of Saul Williams

Arriving six years after he made a splash with the film Slam and three years after his debut disc Amethyst Rock Star, the second album from spoken-word standout Saul Williams is a knot of contradictions. It challenges hip-hop orthodoxy through the liberal use of heavy rock samples and beats (see especially "Grippo")--not to mention incendiary cameos from rockers Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Zack De La Rocha (Rage Against the Machine)--but it also gets bogged down at times by repetitive riffs ("List of Demands"). At his best, as on the opener "Talk to Strangers," Williams's measured delivery packs an entrancing power. Elsewhere, however, he sounds like he's just reading, not flowing, and his words fall flat. It doesn't help that Williams occasionally lapses into lecture mode, broadly dissing commercial hip-hop in the spoken-word piece "Telegram." He fares far better when he turns his lyrical lasers on legitimate foes, like the oil-thirsty warmongers in "Act III Scene 2." --Anders Smith Lindall

General CDs

Music Genres
Bestsellers in General CDs
Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers ImageThe Smothers Brothers - Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers
SMOTHERS BROTHERS; Release date: 1998-03-03; Music CD
Best price: $5.65
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Happiest Baby on the Block New "Super Soothing" Calming Sounds CD (now ... with 5 great sounds!) ImageDr. Harvey Karp - The Happiest Baby on the Block New "Super Soothing" Calming Sounds CD (now ... with 5 great sounds!)
Release date: 2005-10-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops: $12.95
Loverly ImageCassandra Wilson - Loverly
Release date: 2008-06-10; Music CD
Best price: $7.41
Price in other shops: $18.98
River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive ImageHerbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive
Release date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: $18.98
Guitars ImageMcCoy Tyner - Guitars
Release date: 2008-09-23; Music CD
Best price: $11.58
Price in other shops: $16.98
The K?ln Concert ImageKeith Jarrett - The K?ln Concert
Release date: 1999-11-16; Music CD
Best price: $11.98
Price in other shops: $17.98
Beyond the Pale ImageJim Gaffigan - Beyond the Pale
Release date: 2006-02-07; Music CD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $12.98
The Cole Porter Mix ImagePatricia Barber - The Cole Porter Mix
Release date: 2008-09-16; Music CD
Best price: $9.63
Price in other shops: $17.98
Do You Believe in Gosh? ImageMitch Hedberg - Do You Believe in Gosh?
Release date: 2008-09-09; Music CD
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops: $13.98
Don't Come Home for Christmas ImageJeff Dunham - Don't Come Home for Christmas
Release date: 2008-11-04; Music CD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $13.98
Similar CDs
Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D / [CD/DVD Combo] ImageNine Inch Nails - Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D / [CD/ DVD Combo]
Release date: 2007-11-20; Music CD
Best price: $8.96
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Odd Couple ImageGnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Release date: 2008-03-21; Music CD
Best price: $8.71
Price in other shops: $18.98
Not in My Name ImageSaul Williams - Not in My Name
Release date: 2003-06-17; Music CD
Best price: $99.99
Said the Shotgun to the Head ImageSaid the Shotgun to the Head
by Saul Williams
MTV; Published: 2003-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.93
Price in other shops: $12.95
The Slip ImageNine Inch Nails - The Slip
Release date: 2008-07-22; Music CD
Best price: $11.91
Price in other shops: $24.98
She ImageShe
by Saul Williams
MTV; Published: 1999-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.86
Price in other shops: $12.95
Slam ImageSlam
Lions Gate; Release date: 1999-03-09; DVD
Best price: $4.11
Price in other shops: $9.98
Amethyst Rock Star ImageSaul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star
Release date: 2001-10-23; Music CD
Best price: $17.28
Price in other shops: $17.98
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust ImageSaul Williams - The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust
Release date: 2008-07-08; Music CD
Best price: $7.82
Price in other shops: $13.98
The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop ImageThe Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop
by Saul Williams
MTV; Published: 2006-01-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops: $13.95
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles