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Thirteen years later, Deltron 3030 has returned with the sequel to their self-titled classic album.  As mentioned in my concert review from a couple months ago, I went to a live preview of the new album back in 2012, and it sounded awesome with a live orchestra recreating the beats.  Now that we have the studio recordings of these songs, we can hear more refined versions of them and really take in the sound they were going for.  The production from Dan The Automator and DJ Kid Koala sounds just as good as the first album, and you can tell it took years to come up with the concept and direction for each song on the album.

While the original album was based in the year 3030, this one begins with a monologue by Joseph Gordon-Levitt explaining that it’s now 3040 and the heroes Deltron Zero and Automator have been missing for years in this fictional universe.  We’re then hit with “The Return”, an epic track that sounds like it could be played during the opening credits of a film.  As we progress through the album, Del’s raps take us on a journey through a possible future where corporations control everything, the environment is diminished, and food floats while we cook it.  The creativity from the first album persists throughout the sequel, however there are issues with the execution that prevent this album from living up to the original.

There are moments on this album where Del’s rhyme density is sacrificed to stay on topic and make certain references, causing some of the rapping to sound forced.  There are also times where the production is so melodic that it kind of distracts us from Del’s rapping, and his flow doesn’t always fit the beat perfectly (whereas the first album had him at the forefront of every song).  I also found that while most of the guest features added to the album, some of the skits were unnecessary and could have been somehow worked into the music better.  Despite these issues, I still find that overall it’s a worthy sequel album that doesn’t leave much to be desired.

My Joint:

My Grade (based on how well I connected with it, no disrespect if your experience was different): A-

Come back to my blog tomorrow to see which album or mixtape came in at #5 on the countdown!