They kick it off with "Rock You," mainly a furious rap by MC Black Thought and a percussive riff that sounds like a garbage can smashing into a police car.
From there, the group spins through a startling array of hip-hop reinventions, including the hardcore-punk scree of "Track 2" and the thrilling, rave-rap hybrid of "Track 18." The neosoul of "The Seed," which features the marvelous guest singer Cody Chesnutt, is mind-blowing -- a stark, angry blueprint for twenty-first-century pop music that replaces the unprocessed fury of gansta rap with bullish compassion.
But Phrenology's best moment comes with a straightforward hip-hop number, "Pussy Galore," when Black Thought spits, "The world is a sex machine," turning a James Brown quote into a Cliffs Note about the commodification of sexual desire. The Roots don't matter because they're smart; on Phrenology they matter because they make themselves understood.
2. Rock You 3:12
3. !!!!!!! 0:24
4. Sacrifice 4:44
5. Rolling With Heat 3:42
6. Waok (Ay) Rollcall 1:00
7. Thought @ Work 4:58
8. The Seed (2.0) 4:27
9. Break You Off 7:27
10. Water 10:24
11. Quills 4:21
12. Pussy Galore 4:29
13. Complexity 4:47
14. Something in the Way of Things (In Town) 7:16
15. [Untitled Track] 0:20
16. [Untitled Track] 0:20
17. [Untitled Track] 7:59
18. [Untitled Track]