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All Balls Don't Bounce

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All Balls Don't Bounce
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 24, 1995 (1995-10-24)
StudioKitchen Sync Studios; Hollywood Sound Recorders, Hollywood, CA
GenreAlternative hip hop
Length61:46
LabelCapitol
ProducerThe Nonce, Punish, Vic Hop, Chillin Villin Empire, Mumbles, Aceyalone, Fat Jack
Aceyalone chronology
All Balls Don't Bounce
(1995)
A Book of Human Language
(1998)
Singles from All Balls Don't Bounce
  1. "Mic Check"
    Released: 1995
  2. "The Greatest Show on Earth"
    Released: 1996

All Balls Don't Bounce is the debut studio album by American rapper Aceyalone.[1] It was released in 1995 on Capitol Records.[2] In 2004, it was re-released on Project Blowed and Decon as All Balls Don't Bounce: Revisited with a bonus disc.[3] It was named by OC Weekly as one of the "Five Classic West Coast Rap Albums Turning 20 in 2015".[4]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Austin Chronicle[6]
RapReviews10/10[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Spin9/10[2]

Writing for The Austin Chronicle, Rashied Gabriel thought that the album's production and Aceylone's "various styles" worked to complementary effect.[6] He went on to label All Balls Don't Bounce "a sureshot record", and felt that it delivered "verbal calisthenics that astound with fresh insight as well as lyrical wizardry."[6] Robert Christgau gave it a "neither" rating, indicating that an album "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."[9][10] The Village Voice noted that "the beats ... have that West Coast vibes-and-upright-bass feel, peppered with whistles and old-school drum machines, but they're stripped down to new specs: raw but not East Coast grimee, slinky but not Snoopish."[11]

In a retrospective review, Steve Huey of AllMusic described Aceyalone as "one of the greatest lyricists the West Coast has ever produced, twisting his fluid rhymes around and off the beat with the improvisational assurance of Rakim."[5] He also commented that "[the production] is solid if unspectacular, usually spare and jazzy, with lots of piano/keyboard samples and some fitting nods to the abstract side of hard bop."[5]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."All Balls"The Nonce4:31
2."Anywhere You Go"Punish4:10
3."Deep and Wide" (featuring Abstract Rude)Vic Hop2:32
4."Mr. Outsider"The Nonce5:53
5."Annalillia?"The Nonce4:13
6."Knownots" (featuring Abstract Rude and Mikah 9)Vic Hop5:00
7."Arhythamaticulas"Chillin Villain Empire3:28
8."The Greatest Show on Earth"Mumbles4:47
9."Mic Check"Vic Hop4:23
10."Call It Cali"Punish0:54
11."Headaches and Woes"Punish3:57
12."I Think"Aceyalone1:18
13."Makeba"Mumbles5:20
14."B-Boy Kingdom" (featuring Abstract Rude, Mikah 9, and P.E.A.C.E.)Fat Jack5:37
15."Keep It True" (featuring Abstract Rude and Change of Rhythm)Fat Jack5:33
All Balls Don't Bounce: Revisited bonus disc
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."All Balls Intro"The Nonce3:13
2."Universal Soldier"Riddlore, NGA Fish, C.V.E.1:02
3."Headaches and Woes Intro"Aceyalone0:38
4."Headaches and Woes (Remix)"Fat Jack5:56
5."The Greatest Show on Earth (Remix)"Fat Jack4:35
6."The Greatest Show on Earth (Remix)"Bar 94:02
7."Mic Check (Remix)"Kemo4:46
8."Show Your Right"Fat Jack3:59
9."The Nobodys"Fat Jack3:42
10."They Don't Know"Underground Railroad4:15
11."Feet Up on the Table" (featuring Riddlore, Vic Hop, Ellay Khule, NGA Fish, Mark the Murderah, and Abstract Rude)DJ Homicide4:41
12."Tweakendz"Vic Hop, Aceyalone4:27
13."I Dream"O-Roc, Aceyalone5:37
14."Believe in Your Self"Fat Jack4:02

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "All Balls Don't Bounce by Aceyalone". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 41. Oct 14, 1995. p. 71.
  2. ^ a b Aaron, Charles (October 1995). "Aceyalone: All Balls Don't Bounce". Spin. Vol. 11, no. 7. p. 114. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  3. ^ Hermes, Will (May 2004). "Reissues". Spin. Vol. 20, no. 5. p. 104. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  4. ^ Kangas, Chaz (January 28, 2015). "Five Classic West Coast Rap Albums Turning 20 in 2015". OC Weekly. Archived from the original on March 28, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Huey, Steve. "All Balls Don't Bounce – Aceyalone". AllMusic. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Gabriel, Rashied (November 17, 1995). "Aceyalone: All Balls Don't Bounce (Capitol)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  7. ^ Juon, Steve "Flash" (August 3, 2004). "Aceyalone :: All Balls Don't Bounce – Revisited :: Project Blowed/Decon". RapReviews. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  8. ^ Matos, Michaelangelo (2004). "Aceyalone". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 4. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Aceyalone: All Balls Don't Bounce". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Key to Icons". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  11. ^ Frere-Jones, Sasha (31 Oct 1995). "Aces wild — All Balls Don't Bounce by Aceyalone". The Village Voice. Vol. 40, no. 44. p. 57.
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