The Colossus should remind everyone how talented DJ-producer Ramble John Krohn was before he crafted the award winning Mad Men theme. It’s his finest album since 2002’s instrumental hip-hop classic ‘Deadringer’, balanching puncy funk (‘Let There Be Horns’) with soul ballads (‘Games You Can Win,’ featuring pensive vocals from Kenna). –Spin
The Colossus hopscotches across RJD2’s resume like a giddy kid…Krohn’s the real deal, in a world full of one-dimensional derivatives. –Filter
The dude’s hard to top for tough-as-nails, superior grade cinematic funk, deft detours down dark corridors, bits of biting wit and here and there, ‘The Shining Path,’ for instance, a surprisingly tender side. –Rupert Bottenberg, Montreal Mirror
Following upon the success of ‘The Colossus’, RJD2 returns with ‘Inversions of the Colossus’, a companion piece of its own unique nature. The ‘instrumental’ album is a time honored tradition in hip-hop that RJD2 has taken advantage of whenever possible-without an instrumental version of ‘Magnificent City’, there would be no MAD MEN theme! However, ‘Inversions’ is a new twist on the idea: in essence, all 7 of the vocal songs on ‘The Colossus’ appear here sans vocals. The remainder of the album is made up of 7 new songs- 14 tracks in all! Ranging from banging dance floor funk to extreme psychedelia, it follows a similar ‘no format’ approach as ‘The Colossus’ did. Yet another solid collection of classic RJD2.
Tracklist
1. The Perfect Occasion
2. Games You Can Win (inst.)
3. Liquid Luck
4. The Glow
5. In 3’s
6. The Shining Path (inst.)
7. Crumbs Off The Table (inst.)
8. A Son’s Cycle (inst.)
9. A Moment of Weakness
10. The First Sights of Land
11. Might As Well Step Forward
12. Gypsy Caravan (inst.)
13. Walk With Me (inst.)
14. Calm Down