As I wrote yesterday The Roots have released their new album today, How I Got Over. I’m not an old fan of The Roots: the first album I heard of theirs was The Tipping Point, which I liked but didn’t get much replay from me. Over the years I’ve heard more of their music and gotten to know who they are as a band. Especially with their latest stint as Jimmy Fallon’s band.

After listening to How I Got Over I found myself liking it about the same as their last albums. As I said before, I’m not a huge Roots fan but this album is fairly solid. The highlight is without a doubt the track that shares the album’s name, How I Got Over. With a drum beat running at a nice clip, a mellow piano played over, and accompanied by strong vocals during the chorus, it stands out as immediately catchy and deserving of repeat listens.

However there’s other tracks on the album that do the same. Most of the tracks feature a strong drum beat, solid instrumentals over it, and a strong chorus that more-or-less pulls the song together. Really, I feel as though the album is comprised of songs with strong choruses and verses that go on for longer than anticipated. The chorus’ are undoubtedly catchy, but the adjacent verses come off as bland and repetitious.

I’m impressed The Roots were able to put together a full LP while moonlighting as the resident band on Jimmy Fallon. For that I give them major kudos. However the album itself I found – while enjoyable and calm – mostly unoriginal and bland. It’s good to put on in the background but I don’t see it ever taking center stage on my stereo.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.