RJD2 - The Third Hand
Rating
RIYL
KennaDaedelus
Air
DJ Shadow
Justin Timberlake
Tracklist
1. Intro2. You Never Had It So Good
3. Have Mercy
4. Reality
5. Work It Out
6. Laws of the Gods
7. Get It
8. Someday
9. The Bad Penny
10. Beyond the Beyond
11. Sweet Piece
12. Rules for Normal Living
13. Paper Bubbles
14. Just When
15. The Evening Gospel
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Let's be honest: It's hard to fathom buying a hip-hop producer's solo album. There's always a lingering feeling of unease from the moment you hear about it to the day it hits shelves. If the packaging isn't littered with guest artists, alarms ring, shrill and piercing, in your skull. Something is very wrong here. This is not a safe purchase. Your backup alert systems subtly suggest that this may, perhaps, be an instrumental album, much like a Pete Rock solo disc or the latest Daedelus, both of which are fantastic solo works from renowned hip-hop producers. RJD2's latest, The Third Hand, sets off all the red flags. No guest rappers or singers listed. Reports of vocals in the music media. That soothing voice that tells you everything's fine, that it's beats, beats, nothing but great beats, is mysteriously silent. But you buy it anyway.
What you get, after all this psychological trauma, is a surprisingly well-versed pop record, displaying RJD2's knowledge of current electronica and pop trends, as well as a surprising dose of old-school R&B and classic pop. Even more surprising is the vocal aspect of the record. Ethereal harmonies and gentle baritone-tenor, much akin to South Africa-by-way-of-Chicago sensation Kenna, soak through each song while occasional overdoses of charisma and energy make many tracks from The Third Hand seem like something that could easily have come off an album by Afrika Bambaataa (note the homage to "Planet Rock" in the middle of "Rules for Normal Riving"), Air, ON, DJ Shadow, even an early Beatles record (or, probably more accurately, a Paul McCartney solo album).
The most stinging critiques that can be made in regards to The Third Hand are very petty, minor things, really. Lyrically, RJD2 is fairly weak, rarely pushing the songs past a strong vocal hook or cool line. However, as heard on "Have Mercy," one apparently can make a song feature exactly one line of lyrics and still be incredible. "Have Mercy" is easily one of the strongest tracks on the disc, in fact. The other issue most will have with The Third Hand is the track count. Most albums should never go beyond twelve tracks, as anything more flirts quite aggressively with wearing out its welcome. Fortunately, RJD2 provides enough variation from one track to the next to make it a little more manageable. In fact, this disc doesn't even have a simply average track, aside from the unnecessary "Intro," until "The Bad Penny," which is nine tracks into the album and, aside from two or three oddly-placed sections, is actually quite swell.
A fifteen-track album by RJD2 is definitely miles better than a fifteen-track record by Evanescence, of course, because the only justifiable reason for a fifteen-track Evanescence record is that the album never gets any worse than it had been in the beginning, making it seem as though a few additional tracks won't kill the flow or drive the listener away. After all, if the listener sticks around for seven Evanescence tracks without hitting "stop" and flinging the damned disc into deep space, chances are they're in it for the long haul. Fortunately, The Third Hand doesn't ever come close to this kind of visceral listener reaction. It does, however, lose its grasp on the listener as it comes to a close. Twelve tracks truly would have been optimal here, even if the additional three aren't unbearable by any stretch.
It's nice to see a producer fully recognize the breadth of sounds and styles that the easily-dismissed "pop" genre actually encapsulates and uses this recognition to the best of his abilities. It's going to be a great joy to see how The Third Hand stacks up to its only real competition to the crown of electronica-heavy pop music in 2007: The new Kenna record, produced by famed Neptune Chad Hugo. There are those who will be looking deeply within the burgeoning electro-pop genre for the next big heroes of pop music and those who will look to the disposable radio pop wasteland for their sugary sweetness, but those with any sense at all will be sure to seek out The Third Hand to tighten their grasp on pop perfection.
--Ben Rice
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