Despite the promise of the title, the sprawling, two volume, Homegrown: A Beginner’s Guide To The Roots is, if anything, too accurate a reflection of The Roots’ bewilderingly eclectic career to serve as a concise primer for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, there is a wealth of stellar material on display here, and the dedicated listener ought to be able to form an accurate picture of The Roots’ career with a little luck and perseverance, while hardcore fans will be attracted by the high quality rarities and b-sides that fill out each volume. Though classic joints such as “Good Music”, “What They Do”, “Clones”, and “Star” are well represented, Homegrown’s disorganized, resolutely achronological tracklist might well leave newcomers bewildered, but the sheer volume of amazing material here ought to leave any listener suitably awed. Those reluctant to begin plumbing the Roots’ voluminous back-catalogue unaided could find worse places to start than the undisputedly brilliant material on Homegrown.