Detroit-based Insane Clown Posse have, for the past twenty-six years, told stories about what they saw, and still see. Now, the state of society envisioned through their eyes is back with the flip side to April’s The Marvelous Missing Link : Lost, a cornucopia of hard, dark, and sometimes beautiful melodies that marries Metal/Hip Hop tinged with occasional piano/synth work, Horrorcore-style imagery delivered by smooth line delivery, and sometimes raspy dulcet choruses bordering on an R&B-like vibe with positive silver linings. One difference that set it apart from previous Insane Clown Posse albums was that the messages come across straight without dark comedic commentary. The Marvelous Missing Link: Found was produced by Otis, Mike P of Zug Izland, Kuma, and Seven of Strange Music on Psychopathic Records, as well as was released to coincide with Insane Clown Posse’s annual Gathering of the Juggalos to fans and the rest of the world on July 31st.
The Marvelous Missing Link: Found is a 14-track dose of tongue-in-cheek matter-of-factness. As with all Insane Clown Posse albums, the “Intro” is a Zen-like voice-over that sets the theme for Found. Next, pianos bring in “Found” as a voice-over confession begins, before the bass kicks in as the guys lay down straight lyrics of finding their Higher Power. Moving onto “Get Clowned,” which begins with a demented sounding barker that gives way to a funk-filled beat as the guys lay in with tongue-in-cheek “ode” to the haters with the lyrics, “Getting clowned/right to your face/filling up your anus…” Going straight ahead, “OK” begins with the guys telling the listener everybody falls, and the longer they stay down, the parade will pass them by as they pronounce that “we’ll all be OK” with a fun genre-bending Pop-ish, old school Hip Hop beat. Darkness returns in “Lost at the Carnival” with the demented barker returning when a hypnotic Carnie beat with an underscored guitar riff begins. Then, the guys rap about touring a screwed up carnival, which could be a metaphor for the world, saying, “You’re alone/lost at the carnival.” Going old school, laid back after a dark voice-over, is “Mr. White Suit,” a straight metaphorical ode to God, with the words, “If you need something/if your life’s not right/Keep your eyes open for the man in the white suit.”
“Pineapple Pizza” has an old school Electronica beat as a comedic voice-over, mocking the “innocent” Cindy, narrates her side throughout to the guys’ story of being played and getting revenge, stating, “You should know this sho’/a ho is a ho.” A conversation introduces “Juggalo Party” as a Pop-like beat begins, continuing with head-bopping lyrics of “There’s a party tonight.” The demented barker brings in “The Midway” followed by a flat-keyed Hip Hop beat with out-of-key piano in this metaphor for living middle-class as the guys drop, “Shitty prizes/but you’ll be back.” Dirty cops is the topic of “I Fucked a Cop” with its ’90s throwback beat and CB voice-over.
Everybody always says you have to go for yours, and that is what the track, “The World is Yours” coveys with its simple piano-led beat that accompanies a light high hat as the guys pronounce, “I found my missing link/and I’m incredible/unstoppable…The world is yours.” Vocals bring in “Dreams of Grandeur” as the comedic, backwoods Hip Hop kicks in with a sliding guitar riff in this story of you choose your bed, so lay in it with lyrics of, “My delusions of grandeur/made me think I could have/made me think I could have her.” An Insane Clown Posse ballad comes with “My Sweet” as the guys tell of those people that have your back, but then “embellish” their achievements rapping “I don’t care if it’s 21 on 1/I got your back, son/with a punch like a Gatling gun.” Finishing Found is “Time,” a piano-led intro with an R&B vibe following throughout as the guys come straight about the limited time we are not promised…so make the best of it; “Once we’re gone/the world spins on.”
True to Insane Clown Posse’s word, The Marvelous Missing Link: Found is a different beast from Lost in that most of the Metal is replaced with genre-bending blends of Pop/Hip Hop and even a pinch of Country/Hip Hop, a dash of Electronica, and a bit of ’90s as the lyrics’ convey ying and yang from straight up, no-nonsense messages to the return of the darkly comical Horrorcore-style parables Insane Clown Posse is known for that forces the listener to think past the lyrics for the social commentary. Behind the make-up is the thinking man’s Rap group…with Soul. CrypticRock gives The Marvelous Missing Link: Found 5 of 5 stars.
){kind=link}
No comment