Octave One - The Theory Of Everything

Octave One’s “The Theory of Everything,” comes across as a failed attempt to expand on the ideas and sounds set forth in “Black Water.” While it is hard to deny that “Black Water” is a classic, Theory’s attempt to recreate the feel of the original sounds more like premature mutations than credible music. The all too familiar strings of “Black Water” are copied over and over again in songs whose instruments and vocals never manage to come together as cohesive songs. If the Burden Brothers are classically trained musicians then it doesn’t show in this album.

The stand out track, “’Bout to Blow,” is perhaps the only song with some quality to it. It is Hip Hop with a distinctive Octave One twist. It is great to hear techno producers weigh in on the Hip Hop scene. That said, independent, contemporary Hip Hop producers have left Octave One in the dust when it comes to this genre. Though a noble and credit worthy attempt, it would have to be more than just a good Hip Hop track to carry the rest of the album’s failures; it would have to be definitive.