Pixta's Favourite Album of All Time...So Far - A Lesson to my Life

This review is part of a six-part series of my five favourite albums of all time. You can find the main piece of the series at http://www.epinions.com/content_3313016964

I came into this review knowing that this is going to be a review of my favourite album of all time. It's kind of a big feat...trying to do justice to my favourite artist, album, and some of the most personal songs that relate to me as a human being and personality.

So I don't know how the hell to begin a review like this, and how on earth I'm going to do The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill the justice it deserves. But then I suppose I can never keep praise locked up inside me...and this album is one that deserves all the praise in the world.

So why is this my favourite album of all time? It's made me laugh, cry, smile, gave me inspiration, influenced my life, I might even go as far to say it's made me a better person. Lauryn has made an exceptional masterpiece of an album, and words can't do it justice - but I'll try my hardest...

The album begins with the Intro - the skits/interludes on this album are in my opinion very interesting - they take place in a classroom with students discussing every aspect of love. As interesting and completely individual as these are (there's no random telephone conversations on this masterpiece...), they do occasionally seem a bit out of place - but let's face it, I'm really nit-picking now...

Lost Ones is just one of the many anthems for my life on the album. It's a hard, powerful rap song with a absolutely thumping bassline and a beaty production that signifies the lyrical message of the song - that the bad people in life will get their comeuppance on Judgement Day, and that those who are bad people, whether through greed, violence, or being a bad person, are responsible for their actions. This song really helped me to become a stronger person - that the people who are bad to me are in the wrong, and not me.
“Now don’t you understand man universal law / What you throw out come back to you hard / Never underestimate those who you scar / Cause Karma, Karma, Karma come back to you hard / You can’t hold God’s people back that long / The chain of Satan wasn’t made that strong”

Ex-Factor is absolutely beautiful. It's an r'n'b ballad - but a Lauryn Hill ballad. Lauryn absolutely pours her heart out over a simple yet powerful production, then a gospel choir joins in at the end, and the song finishes with a killer guitar solo finishing it off. The lyrics are amazing - about Lauryn's lover not understanding her feelings, and it is sung with frightening vulnerability. I suppose I can relate this to a situation I'm in now - I feel like I adore my friends and want to spend time with them in a more mature sort of way... But they don't understand my feelings.
“No matter how I think we grow / You always seem to let me know / It ain’t workin / And when I try to walk away / You hurry yourself to stay / This is crazy / No, this is crazy”

To Zion is beautiful - an ode to a child who is born. The story of his birth is tracked, from the time when she was first discovered pregnant and told to abort the child for her career, to the time she appreciated his goodness and importance in spiritual life. It’s definitely a grower – a spine tingling, powerful choir appears from nowhere to add extra power to the song in the second chorus, and an ecstatic adlib from Lauryn adds to the atmosphere, while Santana’s slick guitar melody adds an exotic feel. Superb.
“And I thank you for choosing me / To come through unto life to be / A beautiful reflection of his grace / For I know that a gift so great / Is only one God could create / And I’m reminded every time I see your face / That the joy of my world is in Zion”

Doo Wop (That Thing) is the most uptempo on the album, and the biggest hit of the singles. It has a jazzy, funky production and a carefree, sun licked, anthemic chorus. The lyrics aren’t exactly deep, but still have a lot of thought put into them – with one verse “dedicated to the men” and their failings in relationships, and another describing the failings of women in love. Rather than it be a “diss” song, Lauryn turns it into a slightly ironic social comment on clichés in men and women.
“The second verse is dedicated to the men / More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women / Him and his men come in the club like hooligans / Don’t care who they offend / Popping yang like you got yen”

Superstar is a chilled out, midtempo, lazy song, sampling the Doors classic Light My Fire. I like the feel of the song and use of vocals in this song compared with the lyrics – it’s the album’s diss song, criticizing shallow artists (I bet any money it’s directed at Wyclef), yet you feel that Lauryn isn’t getting too worked up about it – its more a feel of “I’ll do my thing, you do yours”, yet she knows that she is taking the more rewarding route –
“Come on baby light my fire / Everything you drop is so tired / Music is supposed to inspire / So how come we ain’t gettin’ no higher”
I can definitely relate to Lauryn’s story – why is it that music with no depth finds itself at the top of the sales charts?

Final Hour is a chilling story of the Judgement day, and really makes you sit up and take notice of what is happening in your life. This is the darkest rap song on the album, with good intention considering the frightening subject matter – it really made me realize the importance of my actions on this world, and that everything I do will affect me when it comes to the “final hour”. As well as giving a message to live your life according to the Bible, Final Hour can also provide an argument against “haters” – Lauryn raps the song as if directly giving advice to an enemy-
“Every law that ever prevented/Our survival since our arrival/Documented in the bible/Like Moses and Aaron/Things gon’ change, it's apparent/And all the transparent gonna/Be seen through/Let God redeem you/
A subtle jazz riff provides backing, with a more earthy production than the rest of the album. The one thing I like most about this song is it is a fantastic show for Lauryn’s knowledge – rapping about Palestine, Moses, Lalibela and Israel – do you really think Nelly or Lil’ Kim even has a clue what she’s rapping about?

When It Hurts So Bad has an exotic, lively intro, and then settles as a slow-groove r’n’b ballad – but what I like most about the song is the way it can be interpreted in so many ways. Essentially Lauryn sings about a lost love, ending cruelly and her heartache – but then brings up many other questions. For example, what is the point of loving if it throws up so much sadness? A meaning I got from it is to be very careful about relationships. The chorus also gives an interesting statement:
“What you want might make you cry/and what you need might pass you by/if you don’t catch it/and what you need ironically/will turn out what you want to be/if you just let it”
Wow – let’s just go back to that. The way I interpreted it is that we need to remain true to ourself in love and relationships, and that no matter what the situation; we will eventually get the love we want if we remain patient.

I Used To Love Him has a distinctly old-skool soul vocal over a thumping hip hop beat, and it’s one of my favourite on the album. It’s a duet with Mary J Blige, and really you can’t go wrong with Mary and Lauryn pouring their hearts out with such angst and convincingness. If “When It Hurts So Bad” is Lauryn reflecting on the relationship, then “I Used To Love Him” is the aggressive backlash on the man for inflicting heartbreak on her. It’s a powerful song that packs a huge punch in the vocals and the beat, and the lyrics too show a less forgiving side –
”Torn and confused / Wasted and used / Reached the crossroads what path would I choose / Stuck and frustrated, I waited, debated / For something to happen that just wasn’t fated”.
In typical Lauryn style, the power she needed to end the relationship all goes back to God – and God is the prime focus of the next song…

Forgive Them Father is Lauryn’s musical iteration of the Bible’s teaching “Pray for your friends and your enemies”. It has a strong Fugees feel, both in the music and the rapping (also giving it the feel of “Final Hour”). The music itself is strongly rhythmic and quite Jamaican, opening with a strong Jamaican rap. As well as praying for her enemies, Lauryn warns you not to be so gullible to people and to take everything with reservations-
“It took me a little while to discover / Wolves in sheep coats who pretend to be lovers / Man who lack conscience who even lie to themselves / A friend once said and I found it to be true / That everyday people lie to God too / So what makes you think that they won’t lie to you?”

Every Ghetto Every City sees Lauryn reminiscing about the past over an incredibly funky beat – it’s the perfect song for looking back on the past, old photos, videos etc. Lauryn goes into perfect detail of her past –
Move the patch from my Lee's to the tongue of my shoes/'Member, FreLng-Huysen used to have the bomb leather/Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick was together/Looking at the crew/We thought we'd all live forever

Nothing Even Matters is a duet with D’Angelo, and he really brings his erotic feel over to this song. It has a slow, sensual groove, relaxing yet lively, with a beautiful, strong drum beat as background. D’Angelo brings his falsetto to the ending ad-libs, and this ends up as a song better than a lot of Voodoo. The hook is repeated a lot, giving a sense of engrossment in the sexual side of the song…
“You’re part of my identity / I sometimes have a tendency / To look at you religiously / ‘Cause nothing even matters to me”

Everything is Everything is probably my favourite on the album – all I can say is “WOW!”. It sums up everything I love about music – a big, classic beat, influenced by other spectrums of music, well-thought out lyrics I can relate to, a distinct beginning, middle and end, an explosive rap and a hugely dramatic feel. I absolutely love it. That beat is a colossal urban piano riff, over which Lauryn sings to the youth of the world, then raps in an outstanding, even frightening, ode to herself and her talents-
L. Boogie spars with stars and constellations / Then came down for a little conversation / Adjacent to the kings, fear no human being / Roll with cheribims to Nassau Coliseum / Now hear this mixture / Where hip-hop meets scripture / Develop a negative into a positive picture
The message of the song is to stay true to yourself, and think of yourself as your most important person, yet to be prepared for failure. I can completely relate to what she is saying – and let’s face it, in a song as perfect, complete and powerful as this, anyone can.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is essentially an outro, and a powerful, haunting one at that. It’s the “ode to myself” that every album needs, with a passionate vocal over a chilling piano melody. This is the summary of what the whole album is about – no matter how bad the struggles of the world against you are, you will emerge a better person if you dedicate yourself to it. That is one amazing message, and this song, and really the whole album, taught me a huge lesson in life. Not many other art forms spring to mind that can do that-
Now I know His strength is inside of me / And deep in my heart the answer was in me / And I made up my mind to find my own destiny / And deep in my heart the answer was in me

So there you have it – my favourite album of all time, and a lesson to my life. I really can’t thank Lauryn Hill enough for this masterpiece – I wouldn’t be the person I am today without out, and I am so appreciative for that. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has a message in every single song, every message a one we should take heed of and implement into our lives. No other album has had an effect on me like this one has.