Rewind Effect

There have already been a thousand posts written complaining about the absence about Saigon's long overdue debut, "The Greatest Story Never Told".  There are thousands more would-be journalists and critics who have made much ado about the ironic title of said debut as they not-so-cleverly comment on the nature of self-fulfilling prophecy.  They say he deserves it for daring to compare his album to "Illmatic" before it even sees the light of day.

I'm guilty too.  And in my two decades of being a hip hop fan, I can't recall any album I have anticipated for going on 5 years.  I just want the damn thing.  And as is my nature to wax nostalgic about things that haven't even happened yet, I find myself piecing together whatever fragments of this album I have at my disposal and compulsively listening to them ad nauseum.  Call me neurotic.  Call me obsessive.  Call me pathological.  Call me any combination of these adjectives and whatever else you can come up with.  But if you can relate in any way, or are merely curious as to what can lead to such a condition, I present to you my half-assed rendition of "The Greatest Story Never Told"...

"T.G.S.N.T (The Rewind Effect Edition)".  (Click to download)

Tracklist:

1) JBTV Snippets.

I'm told Just Blaze has removed JBTV from Youtube.  But at the time, he had put together a video and dropped teaser samples of TGSNT throughout.  From what I can tell , these snippets are of "The Invitation", "Friends", the title track, a track I can't identify, and "The War".

2) "Come On Baby" Remix.

I personally like Saigon's verses on the original version better.  But I can see why this made the tracklist.  I mean come on, it's Jay-Z.

3) "The War".

Or at least I think that's what it is.  Judging by the hook at the end.  I think this is one of the tracks Just Blaze post on his blog but I can't remember.

4) "Preacher".

I had heard an early version of this song had dropped on a mixtape.  But I had a hell of a time tracking it down.  I finally did about a year and a half ago.  Supposedly they have updated this song for the final version.  And who the hell is DJ Neptune?

5) "Believe It".

The song I bitched about before.  The perfect single for Saigon that Atlantic did not get behind.  The song that should've been Saigon's "Live Your Life" or "All of the Above".  Oh well.  At least we got to hear it.

6) "Chilly Boom".

This song no longer seems to be listed on the final track list.  It was originally.  And it's a good song.  So I included it here.

7) "Just Blaze Meets Saigon".

Another song that doesn't seem to be on the final track list.  Unless it has been renamed.  This song dropped on the TGSNT prequel, "Moral of the Story".  It's Saigon on a hot Just Blaze track so it had be included here.

8) "Pain in my Life".

Saigon's ill-fated first single.  I guess that's what he gets for trying to go against the grain and be positive.  It is not my favorite Sai joint... but still a solid, positive song and still listed as a bonus track.

So there you have it.  How much longer do I have to wait?  No word from Sai or Just in awhile.  I guess I'll go back to just bumping this for awhile.  Dammit.