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Topic: Amethyst Rock Star


  
  The Oberlin Review Online
Amethyst Rock Star marks his inevitable expansion from spoken to the sung word.
I was, to say the least, surprised by the incongruency between that floaty concept and the unrelenting, voracious momentum of Rock Star, especially because a driving element is rage, a state that I never connected to this poet in search of peace.
Amethyst Rock Star could be categorized as a cathartic piece of art, but I would rather say that it simply is a catharsis, for Williams and for some who hear the album.
www.oberlin.edu /stupub/ocreview/archives/2002.02.15/arts/heardHere.htm   (1301 words)

  
 AMETHYST ROCK STAR - tastes like chicken
And from a distance, you can hear the gurgle of electric guitars from a rock concert in the park.
All this is going on as mom and dad walk in and begin shouting Public Enemy lyrics at the top of their lungs.
Amethyst Rock Star is a pretty interesting album worth experiencing.
www.tlchicken.com /view_story.php?ARTid=165   (290 words)

  
 Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star: Silent Uproar
I've listened to Amethyst Rock Star about 40 times already, not really because I like it a lot, but because I want to like it more.
The rest of the tracks are either unmediated noise accompanied by "spoken word" vocal delivery or trite rock anthems that border on, dare I say it, rap-rock.
Amethyst Rock Star is an enjoyable listen, but it does loose my interest at times, so I will give it 3.2 manstyle points.
www.silentuproar.com /showreview.php?ID=106&archive=yes   (408 words)

  
 neumu [ inquisitive ]   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
But a good place to see his star rising in a clear night sky is "Slam," the 1998 fiction film made by documentarian Marc Levin ("Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock," "Thug Life in DC," "Soldiers in the Army of God").
The poem he screams is "Amethyst Rocks." It was the first poem Williams ever wrote, his "coming out" as poet.
But it's not just its words — "check your flagpole: stars and stripes; your astrology is imprisoned by your concept of white" — or their delivery that stop ultra-violence in its tracks, it's Williams himself.
www.neumu.net /inquisitive/saul_williams/saul_williams_02.shtml   (719 words)

  
 village voice > music > N.E.R.D.'s In Search Of . . . ; Saul Williams's Amethyst Rock Star by Jon Caramanica
Neither of the Williamses (related in style, but not blood) is a technically superlative singer, but their brand of rock is all attitude.
Amethyst is produced by original genre-fucker Rick Rubin, and where In Search Of.
Amethyst is a genre answer-record, a good old-fashioned manifesto for the uplifting of the people trapped in the hip-hop muck.
www.villagevoice.com /music/0151,caramanica,30835,22.html   (1425 words)

  
 RTE.ie Entertainment - Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star
This founding father of social poetry has never really been toppled from his throne, despite the abundance of pretenders.
Step up Saul Williams, a spoken word performer who vents spleen on his debut album 'Amethyst Rock Star'.
Williams shoots through the hoops of class-consciousness, race, family and love with all the sensitivity of a tabloid hack.
www.rte.ie /arts/2001/0816/williamss.html   (330 words)

  
 The Academy of American Poets - Saul Williams: Dreadlocked Dervish of Words   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
In 2001, he recorded his own album, Amethyst Rock Star, co-produced by Rick Rubin, the legendary producer of Public Enemy, Run DMC, the Beastie Boys, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the co-founder of the record label Def Jam with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons.
In 2004, Williams released the self-titled album Saul Williams, for which, as he explained, he approached the music as a musician, not as a spoken-word artist.
"Amethyst Rock Star has to do with the fact that when you're tuned into your spirit you realize that we are all stars by birth," the poet has said.
www.poets.org /viewmedia.php/prmMID/5813   (590 words)

  
 GIANT STEP™ | Release - Amethyst Rock Star by Saul Williams
Release - Amethyst Rock Star by Saul Williams
Poet/actor/musician Saul Williams releases blisteringly passionate album, "Amethyst Rock Star".
"Amethyst Rock Star" coming 10.23.01 a timeline of Saul Williams to date.....
www.giantstep.net /releases/185   (30 words)

  
 Record (Metro Times Detroit)
Nuyorican poet and American recording artist Saul Williams' new album, Amethyst Rock Star, works on all the levels that Cornel West’s opus does not.
Amethyst, produced by Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash), is an angry, psychedelic, conflicted monster of a hip-hop record filled with drum ’n’ bass breakbeats, upside-down string work and ungh-riff guitars.
Though the message is not nearly as hopeful or concise, Williams’ Amethyst locks into the zeitgeist expressing a story worthy of Professor West’s dramatic vision.
www.metrotimes.com /editorial/review.asp?id=60492   (210 words)

  
 RapReviews.com Feature for April 2, 2002 - Saul Williams' "Amethyst Rock Star"
The obvious pun of his album's title is that in poetry circles (such as the "Slam" of his film) he IS a "Rock Star", although outside of those groups he may be perceived more as an "Amethyst Rock": the quartz whose purple hues have hidden depths that make it at first simple but ultimately inscrutable.
Williams turns out to be more the amethyst rock which is both found in the depths and containing depths to reveal.
Having polished his wordplay to a fine shine, "Amethyst Rock Star" is the magnum opus of a young rapper slash poet slash musician who in revealing his depths has only just scratched the surface of what he has yet to achieve.
www.rapreviews.com /archive/2002_04F_rockstar.html   (1106 words)

  
 In Music We Trust - Saul Williams: Amethyst Rock Star
Lyrically sly, fast-talking hip-hop, Saul Williams' Amethyst Rock Star is the punk rock of the hip-hop world.
An against the grain record with a flavor for speaking its mind and delivering it in a palatable, if slightly jarring collection of some of the boldest hip-pop you're likely to come across.
Refusing to over produce or deliver an MTV-ready album shallow and lacking, Saul Williams is all about substance, making Amethyst Rock Star the cross over hip-pop album of the year; an album indie rockers and punkers will like and hip-pop fans will embrace.
www.inmusicwetrust.com /articles/46a01.html   (125 words)

  
 Amazon.com: Amethyst Rock Star: Music: Saul Williams   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
On Amethyst Rock Star Williams exorcises urban music of its self-destructive excess, channeling its rowdy energy into a ritualized raising of consciousness.
Williams's singing voice is as robust as his words, soaring like a veteran rock croaker; on "Fearless" he attempts to dissolve the influence of an unnameable "she" on his psyche by spontaneously bursting into song.
Saul himself talks about "Rocking the party" in "1987", a track that leaps from chamber music beginning to electric guitar rock beats with big hihat and cymbal drumming throughout.
www.amazon.com /Amethyst-Rock-Star-Saul-Williams/dp/B00005QKBM   (2082 words)

  
 Musictoday® -- Empowering Fan Connection
Williams was a hip hop kid, and while the words and sounds that make up his music may not fit in with what Williams calls "faulty definitions of hip hop," the writer has clearly absorbed the genre’s teachings.
Williams’ debut album, Amethyst Rock Star, probably isn’t getting much airplay on urban formats, but it pushes the hip hop envelope farther than anyone has dared until now, calling into question our very understanding of what it is that renders something hip hop in the first place.
With Amethyst Rock Star, which was produced by Rick Rubin for his American Recordings imprint, Williams has created an intelligent manifesto that, in many ways, shows how interconnected poetry and hip hop truly are, all the while exposing some of the more personal aspects of Williams’ artistic persona.
musictoday.com /news/artist/saulWilliams.asp   (1189 words)

  
 Rolling Stone : Amethyst Rock Star : Review   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
Amethyst Rock Star is more of an event than an LP, an electrified head rush of street prophecy, dense wordplay and urgent truth-speaking.
The diverse, Rick Rubin-helmed background sonics play second fiddle to Williams' thunderous verses, but that doesn't stop the groaning funk-metal guitars, spare rhythms and the digital menace of DJ Krust's drum-and-bass beats from magnifying the experience.
This is an album of all substance and no singles; Williams' thickets of metaphors may cause more head throbs than head nods among casual listeners.
www.rollingstone.com /reviews/album/91312/review/5943625/amethyst_rock_star   (212 words)

  
 Poetic Rock Star | Fresno Famous
Williams is the author of four phenomenal poetry collections: The Seventh Octave, She, Said the Shotgun to the Head, and his newest release Dead Emcee Scrolls.
Meanwhile he has pioneered a whole new genre of music by interweaving poetry, song, and rock n’ roll in his musical albums Amethyst Rock Star and his most recent self-titled release.
Music is poetry, and hip-hop can be rock and roll, and rock and roll can be funky.
www.fresnofamous.com /node/3046   (1330 words)

  
 Amazon.co.uk: Amethyst Rock Star: Music: Saul Williams   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
Williams delivery of his lines is phenomial and recalls the likes of KRS 1 at his angry spitting best.
The production is unusual often drifting into rock and drum and bass (including the relentless stormer coded language produced by Krust), but it virtually all works, adding to the intensity and rage of Williams vocals.
I have been listening to this for over a year and it just keeps getting better, definately one of my favourite hip hop albums.
www.amazon.co.uk /Amethyst-Rock-Star-Saul-Williams/dp/B00005QKBM   (530 words)

  
 Integral Naked Presents:
Here you will find a stream of consciousness shared between two conscious brothers exchanging soul-symbols over copper wires, molding verbal form to the demands of that which cannot be expressed, and yet must be.
Mere language is profanity, I’d rather hum, or have my soul tattooed to my tongue, and let the scriptures be sung in gibberish, as words be simple fish in my soul aquarium.
Slam,, said the shotgun to the head, S/He, Amethyst Rock Star, K-PAX, Sai Baba, Plato, Thomas Edison, Integral University, "What Is Integral?"
in.integralinstitute.org /talk.aspx?id=86   (501 words)

  
 Saul Williams: Amethyst Rock Star: Pitchfork Record Review   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
It's not that these tracks are particularly horrible, but they seem to distort the flow of the album and sometimes segue in an awkward fashion.
The problem is, I don't know of a place for Amethyst Rock Star.
Your level of enjoyment depends on how much you invest in the lyrics and metaphors-- Saul's observations come flying at breakneck speeds and require undivided attention, rendering the album unlistenable as background music.
www.pitchforkmedia.com /article/record_review/23192/Saul_Williams_Amethyst_Rock_Star   (546 words)

  
 Amethyst Rock Star - Saul Williams - Song Listings
Amethyst Rock Star - Saul Williams - Song Listings
The art of spoken word is a terribly delicate one.
Write a Review Tell the world what you think about Amethyst Rock Star by Saul Williams!
www.mp3.com /albums/475676/summary.html   (395 words)

  
 music-reviewer.com - April, 2002 - Saul Williams
Amethyst Rock Star plays like fierce spoken word poetry; Saul Williams is an intelligent artist whose lyrics do not involve the words “bling bling” and “them hos”.
A simple beat and layers of lovely guest vocals endow it with the most enjoyable quality.
Another real musical treat is “Fearless.” The piece has a smooth introduction and rock chorus that allows listeners to really feel Williams’ emotion in his gritty voice.
www.music-reviewer.com /04_02/williams.htm   (382 words)

  
 Slamming Hip-Hop
This son of a preacher man and a teacher woman rose to national prominence in 1998 as the star of the Sundance- and Cannes-acclaimed feature Slam, in which he played a jailed marijuana peddler who literally redeems himself through his rhymes.
Williams followed up the film, credited by many with bringing spoken-word poetry from smoky urban cafés into the mainstream, with She, an expressive volume of written poetry about love, loss, and family.
His new album, Amethyst Rock Star, is an audacious attempt to transform his first love, hip-hop, with a Coltrane-esque torrent of rhyme and a squalling six-piece band.
www.motherjones.com /magazine/JA01/saul_williams.html   (1267 words)

  
 Saul Williams Amethyst Rock Star [PA] at Smarter.com   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-04)
Saul Williams Amethyst Rock Star [PA] at Smarter.com
Rolling Stone (6/21/01, p.76) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...An electrified head rush of street prophecy, dense wordplay and urgent truth-speaking....When...
Rolling Stone (6/21/01, p.76) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...An electrified head rush of street prophecy, dense wordplay and urgent truth-speaking....When Williams is in the zone, he spits enough fire to wreck a thousand mike nights..." Less
www.smarter.com /amethyst_rock_star_pa_---pd--ch-5--pi-395190.html   (236 words)

  
 NME.COM - Reviews - Saul Williams : Amethyst Rock Star
Stories, hallucinations, apologies: they all run together in a stream of consciousness that's awesome to behold, and a bit much to take in.
Produced by Rick 'Def Jam' Rubin, 'Amethyst Rock Star' is an ambitious collision of rock, hip-hop and spoken word, all united by a refusal to conform to the conventions of any of them.
And his spectacular voice: alternately furious ('LaLaLa', 'Om Nia Merican'), soulful or hypnotic (pretty much everywhere else), it pulses through every word on this record like a living thing.
www.nme.com /reviews/saul-williams/5583   (379 words)

  
 NOW : Music : Discs: Amethyst Rock Star : Apr 25 - 2, 2001
SAUL WILLIAMS Amethyst Rock Star (American) Rating: NNNNN
Brooklyn poet Saul Williams isn't exactly an MC in the Fubu-wearing, you-know-what-I'm-saying sense, but Amethyst Rock Star is the hardest-hitting hiphop record you're likely to hear all year.
Pissed off and literate enough to say something about it, Williams is relentless on his debut album, spicing up his spoken-word rants with a range of intense, self-produced breakbeats, orchestral moments and jungle breaks.
www.nowtoronto.com /issues/2001-04-25/music_discs7.html   (156 words)

  
 The My Hero Project - Saul Williams
Williams and his poetry have also been featured in a variety of documentaries about the Spoken Word circuit.
Williams is also a published writer and musician whose album, "Amethyst Rock Star," was critically acclaimed but ignored by most of the general public.
He continues to perform his poetry at festivals around the country and is a role model for all people trying to express themselves using a medium closer to their hearts than the rigorous structure of mainstream poetry.
myhero.com /hero.asp?hero=saulwilliams   (641 words)

  
 World's Best Source For That Ol' Boom Bap
I don't even know what type of music to classify this as.
It contains elements of Rock, Rap, and Spoken Word.
Even the amount of guest stars is original - zero.
www.thaformula.com /saul_williams_-_amethyst_rock_star.htm   (275 words)

  
 GotPoetry.com > > News > > Video - Saul Williams performs "Amethyst Rock Star"
News > > Video - Saul Williams performs "Amethyst Rock Star"
Saul Williams performs Amethyst Rock Star in the flick Slam.
Re: Video - Saul Williams performs "Amethyst Rock Star"
www.gotpoetry.com /News/article/sid=3152.html   (253 words)

  
 Saul Williams Interview
Saul: Half the poems I write I think of as that.
Erika: Mini speed round: Favorite punk rock band?
Erika: Do you have a favorite industrial band or song you like?
www.fourteeng.net /saulwilliams.html   (1421 words)

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