★★★★★
Filled with '60s and '70s vocal samples, boom-bap drum patterns and razor-sharp, polysyllabic flows, Drinking from the Sun, the latest album from Australian rappers Hilltop Hoods, is a throwback to another era. Thankfully, their old school tendencies take the form of homage rather than straight-up fetishism. MCs Pressure and Suffa complement each other perfectly...
- exclaim.ca
2012-04-26
★★★★★
Hilltop Hoods Drinking From the Sun (Golden Era/Universal) The immediate danger in writing about Hilltop Hoods is appraising them as Australian hip-hop rather than just hip-hop. Today, though, the Adelaide trio's devotion to hip-hop is so entrenched that their homeland is secondary. On top of that, Hilltop Hoods approach their ambitious sixth album like a moody, big-scope rock album, unleashing offbeat samples, a string quartet, a horn trio and a choir...
- www.thevine.com.au
2012-03-06
★★★★★
Summary: Adelaide-based trio returns with a markedly-improved effort all-around, with biting social commentary and heaping piles of black humor. As it turns into nervous energy, anticipation can really screw with you. From simple pleasures (ordering my favorite meal at my favorite restaurant) to more life-altering experiences (preparing for my upcoming wedding day), a person can clearly run the gamut of emotions depending on his/her circumstances...
- www.sputnikmusic.com
2009-10-31
★★★★★
"The Hard Road: Restrung" is an ambitious effort. Everything about the albumshouts grandiosity, from the gorgeous, illustrated cover art to theorchestral tune-ups of the Hilltop Hoods' original smash-hit Australian LP.That's right - what was once a normal, boomety bappety, hippity hoppety,MPC-produced album was given the ultimate "remix," in the form of the31-piece Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Now THAT'S doing it big.The whole "restrung" concept is one not well-known in the hip-hop world...
- rapreviews.com
2009-07-21
★★★★★
The Hard Road, the sophomore album from Australia's premier hip hop outfit Hilltop Hoods, won the J Award for 2006a relatively new award for best Australian album of the year (the inaugural winner, in 2005, was Wolfmother) given out by Triple J, the national youth radio network. Though it's debatable The Hard Road should have won over stellar efforts from Augie March and Gotye (and Dappled Cities' stunning Granddance, which didn't even get a nomination), as a triumph for Aussie hip hop in the...
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-23