Once upon a time, a producer made albums for the love of the music.  They weren't known for selling extremely well no matter how big the producer (exp. The Neptunes' Clones), but they often either went unnoticed or became a slept-on classic (exp. Marley Marl's In Control Vol. 1).  This album has the makings of the latter, as the underground hype surrounding this Alchemist release is mindblowing.  However, 2004 is the year of the superstar superproducer, and as Kanye West will tell you, all those old rules all fell down.  Producers (especially producers who rap) can't just make overlooked gems or forgettable LPs.  They need to sale.  Therefore, the first great producer to have to deal with the College Dropout curse will be the Alchemist.  Even as he assembles an album full of star guest appearances, all eyes will be on Soundscan; yet still, he has to deal with those same underground people who are waiting for the album it took him two years to make.  He attempts to fill all of those expectations and a lot more on his debut LP, 1st Infantry.

The album starts along with a chronilogical "Intro" which ventures through snippets of Alc's earlier hits like Dilated Peoples "Worst Comes 2 Worst" and Jadakiss' "We Gonna Make It".  The album then bursts into the first song, "Dead Bodies", a cryptic collaboration between G-Unit affiliate the Game and Mobb Deep's Prodigy .  While Prodigy sounds comfortable, as he's worked with Alc on numerous occasions, the Game seems like this isn't exactly his strong suit, with his usual violent lines sounding forced.  The beat is also quite basic for Alchemist, but it's still more than enough to nod your head with.  After an annoying skit, the Lox join Alc for "The Essence", a downright bad team up of the D-Block gangstas and the minimalistic strings and weird sample of Alchemist.  Alc soon redeems himself with the first single, the gritty, love song "Hold You Down", featuring Prodigy, Illa Ghee, and Lumidee-a-like's Nina Sky.  Alchemist even turns in his own verse, flexing his lyrical muscle with lines like, "The Alchemist in the flesh/ and I love this profession, but I'll throw it all away in a second".  After further pointless skits, even the non-existent chemistry between Southern flash-in-the-pan Stat Quo and NY screaming veterans M.O.P. can't take away the brilliance of the beat in "Stop the Show".  On "D-Block to QB", a host of rappers including Havoc and Styles represent where they're from very predictably.  The beat, while generic for Alc, tries to push the song over the top, but still cannot overcome the blandness of the track.  "Bangers", featuring Lloyd Banks, makes up for the valleys of this album, as this is certainly a peak.  The unconventional Alc beat (which utilizes a high-pitch string and a funky bass line) helps even Banks show off his punchline skills (exp. "An icepick'll do ya liver harm/ And have you screamin' in the back of the club louder than Lil' Jon").  Devin the Dude is pure smoothness over an extremely soulful Alc beat on "Where Can We Go"; his perfect cadence and excellent voice makes him the audible equivalent of butter.  Dilated Peoples reunite with their former in-house producer on the album's undeniable spike, "For the Record".  The production is utter perfection, and Evidence and Rakaa still match impeccably with Alc's loops.  "Boost the Crime Rate", is not only one of the most ignorant titles of all-time for a song, but also a waste of an excellent beat.  Sheek Louch & J-Hood ruin the synth-heavy banger while making the listener fiend for their far-superior D-Block members Styles & Jadakiss.  Chinky shows up on the soulful, but cliched "Strength of Pain".  She fits well over his heavy samples, but Alc obviously made this track with a singer in mind.  B-Real, from Cypress Hill, appears on "Bang Out", and , well, bangs.  On the mellow "Tick Tock", Nas and, once again, Prodigy appear on a track made especially for street storytelling.  Both sound entirely in their comfort zone, and Alchemist shows up at the top of his game on this street single.  T.I and the PSC lay their usual Southern threats over Alchemist's excellent instrumentation on "Pimp Squad", which lays the groundwork for the album's closing.  1st Infantry finishes on a high note, as the conceptual work behind "Different Worlds" comes off well.  Twin donates his story of a grimy upbringing, while Alc tells of his sunny (literally and figuratively) LA childhood, and how it's "two different stories, but one picture".  It's a good way to conclude the far reaching, but at times convoluted, piece of music he had made here.

In the end, there is nothing here made for the type of Kanye success anyone might hope for; fortunately, he's signed to a much smaller record label (Koch) than Roc-a-Fella/ Def Jam.  Alc put together his music his way, and for the most part, it worked.  However, there are numerous occasions on 1st Infantry in which the music feels forced and generic, which in turn halts the album.  While it may have taken him two years to make this, hopefully, it'll be much shorter when he figures out what went wrong.

iPod Worthy: "For the Record", "Bang Out", "Where Can We Go", "Hold Me Down"

Skippable: "It's a Craze", "D-Block to QB", "The Essence", "Boost the Crime Rate"

Overall: 4 out of Six Shots