Common - Universal Mind Control (10 tracks) +Album Reviews

Sell Out

Bum Phillips | Philly, PA | 12/11/2008

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This album is wack. Common is a poet, a great lyrists. One of my favorite MCs of all time and last I'd expect to sell out. This album goes against everything he is good at. He tries to make club hits on this album. His single entitled "Universal Mind Control" feat Pharell is annoying..he says he "stays fresh like hes wrapped in plastic" and continues by saying how hes "fresh and gettin paid". only song I can enjoy is "Make My Day" feat Cee-Lo. This song is 1 of 3 not produced by the Neptunes. On the "Annoucement" feat Pharell he calls hip hop his bitch. What ever happened to "I Used to Love H.E.R"? Sorry Common, but after this album I kinda wish you just stuck to acting. For true hip-hop heads go cop "The Pre-face" by Elzhi or "Tronic" by Black Milk."

There is some heat but then there is some....... (3.5 sta

Kurupt | chicago | 12/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"WACK ISH on this album. Common comes with a fairly short album of ten tracks. Stand out tracks that i immediately go to are PUNCH DRUNK LOVE, ANNOUNCEMENT, and GLADIATOR. The songs I absolutely hate are MAKE MY DAY, EVERYWHERE, SEX 4 SUGAR, and CHANGES. Common got a little too experimental again on this one similar to how he got on Electric circus. So with me the album is 50/50. Half dope, half experimental/WACK. Half the beats/songs are dope, the other half are weird and WACK. Its really gonna come down to how experimental you are in your taste of music if you will accept the weird half of this album. if you are looking for the effort of the last two Common albums in this album, you will be disappointed."

I Have It But Trust Me I Did Not Spend My Money

Keith A. Jones | Philadelphia PA | 12/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Those are definitely words I thought I would never say about Common Sense who is one of the greatest to ever do it. But man oh man, I guess when you've been around this long that you'll have one or two of these misses. This is not the first time he's done the short track list deal but "BE" was not like this. Universal Mind Control has some heavy songs on here and a couple of my favs being "Punch Drunk Love" and "Make My Day". Now here's where the problems come in and I'm sure plenty of others have said this. Half this album is as weak as the Detroit Lions season this year and the other half is on a much much higher level.

The production with the corny tracks start you off in a bad mood and you don't even want to listen to the song after that. "Changes" doesn't even really sound like a Common track, honestly a few of em don't. Then of course you got the hot "Universal Mind Control" which was a nice first release and "What A World" is pretty good also. Lyrically the album is not one of his strongest. Common almost seems to be loosing himself a bit over the past year or two.

Really I got this album for "Universal Mind Control" and "Punch Drunk Love", there were more mediocre and bad tracks on here than I've ever heard from the man that was thought to have more sense than any rapper in the game. So get it if you want the few songs but my advice is find a way to get it without paying full price."

Different doesn't always mean bad

Aneesh Nandam | Naperville, IL USA | 12/09/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's true. Universal Mind Control doesn't represent the soulful, jazzy and lyrically deep Common that his fans enjoy. Initially, I was very disappointed.

Despite this, Common was very clear that UMC wasn't going to be that album. It was meant to be a 'just for kicks', screwy, summer-fun sort of album.

If you keep the intent of the album in mind, you'll realize that the sort of tracks on the album are very fitting. It's an interesting sound. Not the eclectic, neo-soul jazz sound of Like Water for Chocolate, but it was never supposed to be."

2-1/2 stars -- I understand what he was trying to do, but...

Anthony Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 01/09/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Common is my favorite rapper, so I was excited a year or so ago when I heard he was going to make his latest appearance on Leno. But as soon as "Universal Mind Control" began and I heard him go, "Get-get-get-get-get-get it!" I was like, "WTF is going on here?" I thought he was trying to cross over, but then Com said in interviews that with the album Universal Mind Control, he was trying to take things back to the early days of hip-hop à la Afrika Bambataa. But to say he didn't do it right would be an understatement.

What Com doesn't seem to remember is that although early rap WAS all about partying, the beats weren't blatantly radio-friendly -- in fact, they weren't radio-friendly at all. This album is mostly produced by the Neptunes (Chad and Pharrell working together? When's the last time THAT happened?), and that alone should tell you where things are headed; well, the beats don't really sound bad, but they're definitely not the kind of beats Common should be rapping over. And if that isn't unfortunate enough, Com spends most of the time throwing around corny pimp-isms, like on the aforementioned title track ("Girl, you `bout it/You can strip like comic"? Fans shake their heads in shame...). But this also shows on throwaway tracks like "Sex 4 Suga" and "Punch Drunk Love" (with Kanye West).

The only times Com really hits his conscious roots are on the two-in-a-row of "Gladiator" and "Changes" (the latter features a nice hook by a lady named Muhsinah). But even Martina Topley-Bird's smooth vocals on "Everywhere" can't make you ignore Common's uncommon (pun intended), wack verse. And now that I think about it, I wonder if his explanation of the album was really a lame excuse, considering there aren't that many songs on here -- but that's actually a good thing. Sorry, Com, I'm a big fan, but Universal Mind Control is OUT of control. I'd even listen to Electric Circus over this.

Anthony Rupert"

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