In Search Of...

Rolling Stone (12/26/02, p.108) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2002" Rolling Stone (8/2/01, p.63) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...The music is good....It's a crunch groove that's part Timbaland, part Afrika Bambaataa and part STAR TREK on Ecstasy..." Spin (1/03, p.70) - Ranked #9 on Spin's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" Spin (4/02, pp.113-4) - 8 out of 10 - "...Ace genre-mashing...the addition of a band [to their previously electronic album] makes the record weirder, punching up the rock that was merely implicit on the previous version. That's 'rock' as in rap rock, alt-rock and Paisley Park psych rock and even country rock..." Entertainment Weekly (12/20-27/02, p.126) - Ranked #4 on EW's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" Entertainment Weekly (3/15/02, pp.74-75) - "...The new, revamped album replaces their signature spartan-techno grooves with rock guitars, drums, pianos, and other oldfangled instruments....has a crackling vigor..." - Rating: A- Q (8/01, p.136) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...A striking escape from mere genre....A swaggering, rock-friendly counterpoint to the likes of Outkast. And no less essential, either." Uncut (9/01, p.96) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...They're on some kind of early Seventies cosmic/social conscience trip....This year's STANKONIA..." Alternative Press (3/02, p.86) - 7 out of 10 - "...Alluring....bearing a suprising similarity to modern metal..." The Wire (1/02, p.40) - Ranked #20 in Wire's "50 Records of the Year 2001" CMJ (3/11/02, p.4) - "...[The album] embodies an ubridled passion for music and for the aesthetics of pure sound....There's a bit of musical irony here, when happy, elementary grooves are undercut by a dirty, almost invasive, guitar licks..." Vibe (3/02, p.172) - 3.5 discs out of 5 - "...A complete departure, but with aural candy this flavorful, who cares?" Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.73) - Ranked #9 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002" Mojo (Publisher) (April 2002, p.112) - "...Unique fusions of harmony-led AOR...Sly and Funkadelic, fragile singing and Eminemesque raps, conscious '70s soul, '80s synth-pop and Hendrix-esque rock..." NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) - Ranked #40 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001" NME (Magazine) (8/18/01, p.47) - 8 out of 10 - "...Awash with fuzzy-warm highs, hazy cosmic visions and exquisite ripples in the fabric of R&B as we know it..." Paste (magazine) - "[N]obody had put rap, funk and rock together in quite the same way as N.E.R.D did on their debut..."