Rising Tied [Edited] [Digipak] by Fort Minor (CD, Nov-2005, Machine Shop Recordings)

Fort Minor is poetry to a beat.
Each song has a meaning and tells a story; and each line has power.
There are songs about the truths of life, what's happening right now to regular people like you and me ("Right Now"); there are songs about loving and losing ("Where'd You Go"); there's a song about a part of history we never learn ("Kenji"); and there are songs about rockin' out ("In Stereo").

The first songs I ever heard from them was "Where'd You Go?" which was huge on the radio for a while, and I really liked it. Eventually, newer stuff came out and people forgot about it, but I became interested--what else do they have?
So I checked out their album from the library and liked most of the stuff I heard.
At the time I hadn't realized that the one I had was the edited version and when people heard some of the songs, they asked me where I got the clean ones from and I was like, "you mean they have a CD that's NOT censored?"

I've never been a fan of cursing--I don't curse, myself, and I don't like when others around me do either. So for me, I get the same stuff that everyone else listens to, but it's appropriate to listen to and if there are kids in the room, it doesn't really matter.
:o)

I would just ask for better packaging next time. The contents of the package were a little crushed but not too bad.

One thing I liked before Fort Minor was Linkin Park's ability to produce unique sounds with tons of animation within it all. I especially liked when Mike hit the mic (pardon the pun). With this new collaboration with him, Jay-Z, Styles of Beyond, and more makes it a great combo to turn up a notch in the headphones.

What really sets Rising Tied apart from other albums is the lyrical content. I bet 75% of all hip-hop now contains stuff about cars, chains, money, blah blah blah and all that repetitve garbage, if you listen to Mike and the hooks on this album though, he takes peoples experiences, and real life to the mic. It leaves somewhat of a dark image to go with the intense keyboards and beats, making it emotionally appealing.

Good - As always creative beats, keys, and scratches to go with creative lyrics.

Bad - Track #9 --> "Cigarette" stinks up the album, having a beat with no substance, and stale lyrics.

Verdict - A definite buy if you like hip-hop at any degree, and if you liked Linkin Park, then its a no-brainer. 4.5 out of 5 for me.