Castles In The Sky (Volumes I, II, & III) has been considered a Hardcore/Fantasy album to note for one because to genre this album is to be unjust to it's creativity as well as it's cinema like format. Castles is a film of the imagination, an original idea that questions our existence and place therein. A story about a "See'er" from another world that hints at the concept that maybe this world "The Wonderland" is Heaven per say. Furthermore, maybe a "see'er" from this mythical world "The Wonderland" is an angel.
In the tale, There are four worlds, The Wonderland where everyone from the three worlds in the story (The three discs each represent one of each of the worlds) is from originally, The Underland where people who begin to fall from grace and have trouble go and it's a bit less saintly, and thirdly The Neverland which is a hellish like place where all extremes exist and those who can't find balance in the other worlds end up. The fourth world is Earth and where we exist.
The lead character in the story "Prahphet", a see'er from The Wonderland is at the beginning of his decline and fall from grace when the story begins. In Wonderland he is all powerful, and has a gift as all see'ers do that has him leave his body and astral-project himself from his body into the bodies of people on Earth whenever he falls asleep. His waking dreams are literally the lives of different individuals every night.
Flying around Wonderland and being a hero that can leave his body at night sounds great, until you realize the only way he enters someone else body in an avatar like manner, it's only during times when they are seconds from being murdered, and it's his job to save them and avoid an untimely death. No one knows why this is, a see'er has no idea how this happens or if this is their only purpose. This becomes a problem for Prahphet, he began to feel the weight of this responsibility is too much and takes what most consider a gift, his curse.
Imagine never having a life of your own, consider being snatched from your body into awful situations every time you sleep and having the blood of countless lives on your hands. Throughout the album we are granted moments to peer into the mind of Prahphet struggling with his predicament, what's more is when other characters start to come into play. The story grows from a crazy lyrical opening on Disc One "The Wonderland" at a song called "Non Believers", to Prahphet losing himself, being buried alive by a maniac, finding balance, getting married and having a child and having his wife fall from a skyscraper... and that's only the middle of the story!
This is an ambitious body of work, one that should not only be praised for it's execution, art, and creativity, but also for it's amazing music and quality. One would never imagine this was all done by one person, the productions, the singing and rapping and the different styles surrounding the song and music within this album is brilliant. The fact that a story ties every single song together wand still manages to be as diversified as a Grammy's awards makes this album unique, dope, intense and prototypical as ever for a generation that's been dying for something amazing.
Well here it is, from the mind of an artist, and cinematographer unleashed; Castles.
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