If you live under a rock or missed this record when it came out, Them Crooked Vultures is a supergroup consisting of John Paul Jones (from Led Zeppelin) on bass, Dave Grohl (of Nirvana/Foo Fighters) on drums, and Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss) taking care of vocals and rhythm guitar work. This was their first and (so far) only record.

What makes the record so special is its throwback vibes delivered with modern kerfuffle and sincerity. Top notch production means that John Paul Jones’ masterful bass work can actually be heard. Grohl pounds the drums like you’ve never heard him pound drums. Josh Homme is in top form. The band sounds like a Zeppelin-inspired Queens of the Stone Age most of the time, but that’s a great thing because it makes all these guys better.

Each of the songs is worth listening to, with nary a bad one in the record, but the best songs tend to be the long ones. Zeppelin was always at their best when they were free to write epic rockers, and the formula works here too. I can’t recommend this album enough; it’s one of my favourites.

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Illadelph Halflife is often labelled R&B, which is strange: it’s as R&B a record as To Pimp a Butterfly is a jazz record. While it features prominent R&B musicians, and a lot of jazz players too, Illadelph has more stone-cold rap on it than most rappers dare play with today. Although the rap group experiments with all sorts of other genres, they remain consistently interested in hip hop as a craft.

The Roots also never shone brighter as a conscious hip hop group, with songs that rebel against stereotypical gangster ways and encourage responsibility. Instead of focusing on the braggadocio or their street cred, The Roots make a name for themselves on Illadelph Halife by separating their behaviour from that of their peers. It all amounted for a watershed moment in 1990s hip hop, particularly in an era where it felt like every week a new gangsta rap record was dropping.

Historically, Illadelph Halflife was The Roots’ breakthrough record that got them the claim to fame they were looking for. Today, it sounds a little rough aroung the edges — but that’s just the dated production values. Give this a whirl and it’s old-school vibes will have you bobbing your head like it’s the 1990s all over again.

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