Enough with the arguments. Everyone knows what Shadow's best tracks are. Some of them are on Entroducing. Some are on Preemptive Strike. A couple are on Private Press. He also did some real magic with James Lavelle on Psyence Fiction. And almost all of his best are on In Tune and On Time.

But if you look at In Tune and On Time, his live album, as a reflection of what Shadow is most proud of and what he is most "into" at the time, it seems pretty clear to me that he is 1) enamored with his recent work (Private Press), but 2) still sees his vision as a product of his early musical conceptions. It is these early musical conceptions (and some revamped ones) that you get with Preemptive Strike.

I am a huge Shadow fan and have been for a long time. blah, blah, . . . I was fortunate enough to see him perform the In Tune set live at Stubbs in Austin when he toured for the release of Private Press. Shadow is a showman extraordinairre and I was blown away. The amount of brilliance that went into his visuals and track order have seen few equals. I remember that he dropped the first track (Fixed Income) after the following words:

"The most important thing for me is that you know how much I appreciate you and have a good time. You see, I view you, the fans, as my employers, and this is my resume . . ."

This kind of humilty and appreciation is sadly missing in most musicians.

Therefore I don't think that it is out of line to view In Tune as a reflection of his own view on his career. The two clear winners are Private Press and Preemptive Strike. Private Press can be explained by recency, but I think the reason that Shadow still plays so much Preemptive Strike is because it still reflects how he views himself.

As much as I love Endtroducing (Building Steam, Midnight, and Stem/Long Stem are clearly some of his best), Preemptive Strike is no less essential listening. Between In Flux, High Noon, and Organ Donor, you have as much of a concentration of greatness as the best tracks on Endtroducing. And then there is What Does Your Soul Look Like, which is like a warm blanket, flowing, changing, and walking you through Shadow's own soul. Just amazing. It seems incredibly ironic to me that Preemptive Strike seems to flow more smoothly than Endtroducing, despite it being a chronological compilation of previous endeavors.

My point is not to pick a fight between Entroducing and Preemptive Strike (or fuel the existing battle), but to encourage any fan of DJ Shadow to make sure Preemptive Strike is on your absolute shortest list of must own albums. Do not underestimate this album because of its origins. Camel Bobsled Race is also great; getting a chance to hear Q-Bert remix/compile Shadow is a treat.

I also think that Psyence Fiction is essential, and it is pretty clear that Shadow likes those tracks too. Also don't miss the bootleg of him live in Austin or his old Soulside tracks. Product Placement is a fun mix, too.

This CD is a masterpiece in ambient hip-hop. The sounds are beautiful on this laid-back, heavily sampled score featuring awesome scratching on the one and two. While "Organ Donor" and "High Noon" are the catchiest, with their quicker beats and less trance-ish sound, the other songs are all incredible. The monstrous epic "What Does Your Soul Look Like?" spans 4 tracks and over 40 minutes. The beats vary as much as the samples, and Shadow is at his best with these roving, abstract songs. "Organ Donor", however, will probably stick with you the most. The entrancing organ melody and wicked scratching elevate this song above most DJ music you have ever heard before. DJ Shadow, while comparable to DJ Krush, is not as futuristic, relying more on samples than his Japanese counterpart. He utilizes funkier beats, and it works. Buy "Premptive Strike", and check out Krush while you're at it.

This is pretty much a collection of songs DJ Shadow did before his "Endroducing.." albumn. If you don't own Endtroducing, get it. Don't get this one. Endtroducing is an amazing albumn. This albumn is good, but its best suited to those who are already fans of DJ Shadow. It has the whole "What Does Your Soul Look Like?" series. On the down side, two of these are already on Endtroducing. That leaves you with two new "What Does Your Soul Look Like?" songs, "In/Flux", "Hindsight", "High Noon" and a new version of "Organ Donor". The best part of this albumn may be the 8 minutes at the end with "High Noon" and "Organ Donor". This is really a great version of Organ Donor. All the songs are good (although 'Hindsight' didn't do much for me), but not up to par with Endtroducing. That's to be expected since this is a PREemptive Strike. If you don't own a DJ Shadow albumn, get Endtroducing and if you love it as much as I do you'll probably find your way to this albumn later. If you already own Endroducing and can't get enough Shadow then get it.

What at amazing sound of drums and beats... a musical piece of art.

This album will grab you, the drums are very relaxing and soothing. After listening to the whole album you will feel very positive. I think the major quality of this record is that it gives you a nice mood that can inspire you to do creative things, or lets say, it gives you motivation.

Dj shadow is a genious making music, the 4 parts of what does your soul look like is a rollercoster, shadow can move from slow drums to saxophone and flute and then all of these elements are mixed with some orchestral' strings. Hearing the climax of all the 4 parts of what does you soul look like is similar to when your girlfriend says I love you for the first time, the music gives you a big smile and it makes you forget about your problems.

Dj Shadow creates masterpieces from simple drum samples and strings. I wish he released a new album soon because it has been 3 years since he and James Lavelle released U.N.K.L.E.

Listen to this album when you want to relax or chill with someone special. What does your soul look like (part 2) is the best song of this album, it lasts an amazing 13 minutes, this song has an epic feeling and believe me, this song was created with the intention of making you feel lucky, of feeling love, its simply a masterpiece.... just imagine moby using slow drum beats, strings and saxophones to chill you, if you imagine this, then you have an idea of the quality of What does your soul look like (part 2) and the greatness of Dj shadow.

The only aspect that I can get off my mind is that some reviews say that preemptive strike is a 2 album record, which i find confusing because my version only has only cd and it doesnt include the megamix mentioned in some reviews, can someone please explain this?

Overall an excellent album, especially if you like soft relaxing electronic music like: Groove Armada (Preemptive Strike reminds me in part of "Back to Mine"), Moby, U.N.K.L.E. (obviously, DJ Shadow is part of U.N.K.L.E.) or Air. Buy this album, it will change the way you think about drums and beats.

I loved Endtroducing and I prefer this cd over endtroducing Davis again desplays his immense talent in this sophisticated blend of tracks the four piece "what does your soul look like" is sufficient enough to merit five stars for this album, Davis could have released a cd with just these four components and still pleased, however with this album you also get the genius "organ donor" the extended version a great track released on endtroducing, the sophisticated "influx", and the very chill "hindsight" this cd is definitely worth anyones money and I would pay twice the amount it is offered here for. Bottom line I listen to Shadow and am overwhelmed with his musical genius many of his tracks are similar to a great painting in the fact that all elements of the track are compositioned perfectly and one more or less stroke would ruin the track. If you are interested in DJ's and you are looking at this album buy it and be astounded. A definitive piece of work by a definitive forerunner for this musical style..get it!. Peace.