Record Rack

** The Roots, “The Roots Come Alive,” MCA. Fans who have either seen hip-hop’s best instrument-playing band live or purchased this year’s “Things Fall Apart,” the Philadelphia group’s fourth album, will surely question the worth of this live offering. More than a third of the songs here are from that recent album, and the collection doesn’t include the “Hip-Hop 101” portion of their show, where they interpret classic rap cuts. The group plays the House of Blues on Nov. 24-25.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.