A Book of Human Language

Track Listings

1. Forward

2. Guidelines

3. Contents

4. Balance

5. Energey

6. Hurt

7. Hold

8. Wall & Windows

9. Jabberwocky

10. Grandfather Clock

11. Reason

12. March

13. Vision

14. Face

15. Hunt (Prelude)

16. Hunt

17. Catch

18. Thief in the Night

19. Human Language

20. Afterward

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
As a member of the influential L.A. hip-hop group Freestyle Fellowship and on his solo debut, Aceyalone pushed the boundaries of lyrical possibilities via tricky cadences and abstract wordplay. Independent of any major-label restraints, A Book of Human Language, Aceyalone's sophomore effort, is an attempt to "redefine your hip-hop guidelines," as the MC creates a highly conceptual album based on no less than the whole of human experience. Since this record is a "book," each song is a chapter that builds onto the song prior and lays the foundation for the next, all made conceptually cohesive with interludes, narratives, and the dark, jazzy production of longtime collaborator Mumbles. With Human Language, Aceyalone manages to insightfully and provocatively cover a universe of subjects, delivered in poetically complex rhymes. In other words, it's exactly what one who is familiar with Aceyalone and Freestyle Fellowship would expect. --James Tai

A Book Of Human Language (Accompanied By Mumbles)

Average customer rating:

INTELLIGENT, LITERATE, SMART, FUNNY, AND STILL WESTSIIIDE
My favorite Hip Hop album
It took a few listens....
Pure poetry
As Fly as a Buffalo Wing in the Sky

A Book Of Human Language (Accompanied By Mumbles)
Aceyalone
Manufacturer: Project Blowed
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

West Coast | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Experimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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Temptations

ASIN: B000006C6A
Release Date: 1998-04-14

Tracks:

Forward
The Guidelines
Contents
The Balance
The Energy
The Hurt
The Hold
The Walls & Windows
The Jabberwocky
The Grandfather Clock
The Reason
The March
The Vision
The Faces
The Hunt Prelude
The Hunt
The Catch
The Thief In The Night
Human Language
Afterward

Amazon.com

As a member of the influential L.A. hip-hop group Freestyle Fellowship and on his solo debut, Aceyalone pushed the boundaries of lyrical possibilities via tricky cadences and abstract wordplay. Independent of any major-label restraints, A Book of Human Language, Aceyalone's sophomore effort, is an attempt to "redefine your hip-hop guidelines," as the MC creates a highly conceptual album based on no less than the whole of human experience. Since this record is a "book," each song is a chapter that builds onto the song prior and lays the foundation for the next, all made conceptually cohesive with interludes, narratives, and the dark, jazzy production of longtime collaborator Mumbles. With Human Language, Aceyalone manages to insightfully and provocatively cover a universe of subjects, delivered in poetically complex rhymes. In other words, it's exactly what one who is familiar with Aceyalone and Freestyle Fellowship would expect. --James Tai

Customer Reviews:

INTELLIGENT, LITERATE, SMART, FUNNY, AND STILL WESTSIIIDE.......2006-11-25

BACK IN THE DAYS OF THE FREESTYLE FELLOWSHIP MOVEMENT, 4 M.C.S (NOT MAINSTREAM BY ANY MEANS) ATTACKED THE EARS WITH STREETWISE HUMILITY, GANGSTA ISSUES, AND BRAIN CELLS, AND BROUGHT TOGETHER AN INCREDIBLE PIECE OF WORK. INNER CITY GRIOTS!

AMONG THOSE FOUR WAS ACEYALONE (BORN EDDIE HAYES), WHO AMONG THEM STOOD OUT AS A LONE GUNMAN WHO BATTLED MANY, AND WON. ACEYALONE KICKED INCREDIBLY VICIOUS INTELLIGENCE, ALONG WITH WITTY, GRITTY STREET RHYMES, FOR AN AUDIENCE THAT WERE ALL ABOUT SMOKING WEED, GANGBANGING, AND BI**HES.

LET'S SWITCH 2 YEARS LATER TO 1995. A MORE SOLEMN, FORGIVING ACEYALONE IS IN THE MIX WITH HIS DEBUT ALBUM, "ALL BALLS DON'T BOUNCE". HE OPENED DOORS TO HIS WORLD, A WORLD OF COMPLEX SYMBOLISMS AND INCREDIBLE SYNCHRONIZED BEATS AND LYRICS. HE CAME TO THE PLATE LETTING PEOPLE KNOW HE IS IN THIS TO PLAY BALL. THE TITLE TRACK HAD PEOPLE GRASPING FOR MORE WAITING FOR THE NEXT TASTE OF WHAT WAS TO COME.

FADE 3 YEARS STILL, TO 1998, WHEN ACEY KICKS HIS SOPHMORE ALBUM "A BOOK OF HUMAN LANGUAGE". INEVETIBLY HIS BEST WORK TO THAT DATE, AND THIS DATE, (OBVIOUS TO THE HIGH RATE OF PAY FOR THIS ALBUM AS IT IS HARD AS HELL TO FIND, AND, JUST PLAIN BRILLIANT), MANY HAVE CALLED HIM SHALLOW, PEDANTIC, AND EVEN BRAGADOCIOUS, BY THE WAY HE "SUPPOSEDLY" MADE PEOPLE FEEL MENTALLY UNCONSCIOUS AND INADEQUATE BY HIS VAST KNOWLEDGE. ALL HE DID WAS MAKE AN ALBUM THAT HE FEELS COMFORTABLE DOING, AND FOR THOSE THAT CAN FOLLOW HIS STYLE, AND RIDE HIS WAVE LENGTH.

IF THAT MAKES ONE PEDANTIC, THEN HE WOULD PROBABLY AGREE WITH ME IN SAYING, IT WORKED.

TREMENDOUS FROM THE DELICIOUS PIANO SAMPLE AT THE START TO THE ALMOST DRAMATICALLY CONTROLLED DRUM/FUSIONED FINISH, HE LEAVES US ASKING, CAN WE HAVE MORE?

HERE'S HOW IT BREAKS DOWN AS AN ALBUM....

ACEYALONE - A BOOK OF HUMAN LANGUAGE
1. Forward
2. The Guidelines AMAZING
3. Contents
4. The Balance AMAZING
5. The Energy
6. The Hurt AMAZING
7. The Hold
8. The Walls & Windows AMAZING
9. The Jabberwocky
10. The Grandfather Clock
11. The Reason
12. The March
13. The Vision
14. The Faces
15. The Hunt Prelude
16. The Hunt
17. The Catch
18. The Thief In The Night
19. Human Language
20. Afterward

WELL, THEY ARE ALL TREMENDOUS TRACKS, MY AMAZING LISTED TRACKS ARE THE ONES I'LL LISTEN TO AGAIN AFTER THE ALBUM IS OVER.

THINK ABOUT THIS ONE, THROUGH AND THROUGH, THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT, AND A PLEASURE FOR THE EARS.

THANKS,
THE SOPHISTICATED RHYME PRO

My favorite Hip Hop album.......2006-10-12

The best thing about this album is the subject matter - the whole thing is a lesson in our relationships with eachother and our perceived realities. This is like Taoism on a Rap CD. Acey is one of the most poetic, comedic and authentic storytellers of our time and is one of the only Hip Hop artists I still listen to. This is the kind of album you listen to when you want to be able to rap along without realizing you just said some of the most ignorant nonsense ever. If you are lucky enough to find this album anywhere then I HIGHLY recommend picking it up.

It took a few listens...........2006-08-06

At first, when I heard this release, I was turned off by the dated beats. That was probably because I just found this album in 2006. That being said, there are some hip hop albums that are so timeless that you cannot really decipher what date they are from. Once I got over the ancient beats, I was turned onto the lyrics, which are amazing and poetical. Some of the greatest lyrics I have heard in hip hop. Aceyalone truly shines on this album. And the concept to the album is tight too. This is a definite must have for hip hop fans.

Pure poetry.......2004-10-24

I almost jumped out of my shoes when I found this one in a record store! I knew it was out of print. Since I had discovered Acey as a member of Freestyle Fellowship and I already had "All Ball Don't Bounce," I could only imagine obtaining this album. With the cover, and the title, I wanted this cd so bad. I was almost pinning it as my favorite Hiphop album ever before I even bought it. See this is why it's bad to go into albums with specific expectations because we need to keep an open mind at all times...not saying that this album was a disappointment, but my expectations were unfairly high for this 1998 album, a year in which underground/conscious Hiphop was making a comeback.
If you don't know, Aceyalone is an incredibly talented and unique MC. He can pull off gangsta-type bragging (with Freestyle Fellowship) or go conscious, abstract, comedy, or off-the-wall. Acey is probably the most slept-on MC in history. This was his second solo album, and it is approached with a loose concept theme. He covers everything from death, time, balance, the state of Hiphop and mankind, etc. Twenty tracks all in the same focused manner.
It took me a few listens through to regard this as a five-star album, mostly because it's so tough to pull off what he attempts. I still regard most of my favorite songs here in the first half, although the second half contains standouts "The Face," "The Thief in the Night," and "Human Language." The ones I like in the first half are "The Guidelines"(Hiphop guidlines that is-maybe the album's strongest song), "The Balance," "The Energy"(the best short song here, out of quite a few short ones), and "The Walls and Windows." "The Grandfather Clock" is solid as well. "The March" and "The Vision" in the second half are both short, but have nice jazz music in the background. The vocablulary here is impeccable, of the highest quality, like you would never expect from a rapper. Some reviewers have complained about the beats on "ABOHL." I liked it though, although none were upbeat, many of the backgrounds produced by Mumbles were unique and organic. I like how Acey rhymes with no background music at times, and there is a live recording at the end of track 19.
I think the reason this album wasn't the best Hiphop cd ever was because it is a tough task to accomplish throughout an album. Acey gives us straight up poetry in its purest form, and if you love poetry, you need to get this! He tackles heavy issues, while barely even cussing, or bragging, and never mentioning anything about hoes, sex, his sexual triumphs, etc. No cliches, very little ebonics! An album of this sort is almost impossibly unattainable, and Acey trys hard and nearly pulls it off. You have to commend him for that. It's just that even though he experiments with his voice, his flow (flavor basically) it's almost impossible for the album to not come off as dull. Just keep listening to overcome this notion. I guess it does kind of depend on the mood you're in before you listen to this. Like I said, while Acey is positive and telling the real, nothing upbeat is to be found (even though there's a reason for that). This album is serious. Although when Ace is experimenting with his voice and flow, at times it seems as though he's not taking his own subject matter seriously (check track 7 for this). Nonetheless, Aceyalone is a talented, intelligent artist who goes for the unthinkable in this album.
Like I said, my high expectations for this album almost caused me to overlook the beauty that it contains. So, is "A Book of Human Language" the best album ever in Hiphop? -I wouldn't go that far. Does Hiphop need an album like this? -Definitely. An album that expresses Hiphop in it's truest form (poetry), and steers away from superficial subject matter. I'd say, if you like mainstream rap or want to get deeper into Hiphop, this album is a great place to begin (if you can find it)! Don't forget about the vocabulary though, oh my God it's beautiful! Instead of the best Hiphop album ever, it should be regarded as another exceptional, high-caliber disc from a gifted, multi-dimensional artist that has a catalog of high-quality releases. I can't think of any MC from the West Coast that is as smart, talented, versatile, and dedicated to the Hiphop art and culture as Mr. Aceyalone.

As Fly as a Buffalo Wing in the Sky.......2004-05-18

Hip-hop is known to have some of the most unfairly underappreciated talents of all time. Stretching from Kool Keith to MF Doom, but if one artist of the last 20 years has been criminally slept-on, it's been Acey des uno. Aceyalone. Ever since his debut with Freestyle fellowship, Ace has shined for at least a decade. With classic material all throughout the 90s, Acey has proven to be in the upper echelon of emcees through out the history of hip-hop. But, as awesome as Ace's other work has been, nothing is as monumental as "A Book of Human Language". This could be one of the greatest concept albums of all time, and not just in hip-hop, and Acey is completely flawless and magnificent on the mic as you can get.

It's a shame that "A Book of Human Language" is out of print now, because it is an opus of magnum force. For all you that doubt the steez, pick up The Book and listen to what an underappreciated prophet has to say.

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