Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below: Review/Thoughts...

[Cliche]

One of those albums that makes "much-anticipated" an understatement.


Speakerboxxx

1. Intro
2. GhettoMusick
3. Unhappy
4. Bowtie ft. Sleepy Brown & Jazze Pha
5. The Way You Move ft. Sleepy Brown
6. The Rooster
7. Bust ft. Killer Mike
8. War
9. Church
10. Bamboo (interlude)
11. Tomb Of The Boom ft. Konkrete, Big Gipp, Ludacris
12. Emac
13. Knowing
14. Flip Flop Rock ft. Killer Mike, Jay-Z
15. Interlude
16. Reset ft. Khujo & Cee-Lo
17. Interlude
18. Last Call ft. Slimm Calhoun, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, Mello
19. Bowtie (postlude)

The Love Below

1. The Love Below
2. Love Hater
3. God (interlude)
4. Happy Valentines Day
5. Spread
6. Where Are My Panties
7. Prototype
8. She Lives In My Lap
9. Hey Ya
10. Roses
11. Good Day Good Sir
12. Behold A Lady
13. Pink And Blue
14. Love In War
15. She's Alive
16. Draculas Wedding ft. Kelis
17. My Favorite Things
18. Take Off Your Cool ft. Norah Jones
19. Vibrate
20. A Life In The Day Of Benjamin Andre

I'll go on record right now as saying that for the most part, I didn't like the tracks that leaked earlier... although i loved "Flip Flop Rock".  Right off the start I'll say that Andre singing is NOT why I buy Outkast albums... maybe you feel differently, but if I want some quasi neo-soul/blues smooth stuff i'll pop in "Hoopla" by Speech.

Amid the rumors that Kast will go their seperate ways, I was quite interested to hear how this album would turn out.  The fact that Big Boi has numerous guests while Andre has hardly any fits their styles.

Speakerboxxx

Speakerboxx tunes is right in with a Bounce-styled intro before we fly right into the franticly paced "GhettoMusick".  Andre lends his vocal talents to "GhettoMusick" and it reminds me a lot of B.O.B.  I gotta say the classic R&B break in the middle threw me for a minute when I first heard it.  Big Boi rips it when he gets on the mic though.  I like this track MUCH more than I did previously.  "Unhappy" features a nice head nodding, laid back track with some dope MCing from Kast (yes, both of em).

"Bowtie" features the first of many guests on the disc.  Jazze Pha adds a nice dimension to the track and Outkast is dope over a nice jazz-laced beat. "The Way You Move" is a nice use of a classic beat, not a great track overall but nothing wrong with it.  "The Rooster" is a head nodding track for sure and Big Boi brings it on the mic.  Perfect mix of crazy instrumentation and dope rhymes.  "Bust" is not exactly my thing, since I don't really love Killer Mike... but it's a solid track with okay production.  

"War" is an okay track that feels like it's missing something, but it's also not actively bad and it's short.  "Church" is a catchy track that I dug right away.  Nice flow over an interesting beat.  "Tomb Of The Boom"  brings a more typical southern style to the album.  The guests don't bring a lot to the table here in my eyes, this track doesn't feel like it belongs.

"Knowing" reunites both Kast members on another track, and it reminds me why I wish they would've done a conventional album.  Great chemistry.  "Flip Flop Rock" was my favorite song to leak before the album and is still probably my favorite on the whole double disc.  Dope rhymes abound on this track. "Reset" features a couple of Goodie Mob members, Khujo and Cee-Lo.  The track is a nice laid back change of tempo and both guests compliment Big Boi nicely.  "Last Call" is a posse cut, and features a guy I don't really care for (namely Lil Jon)
but the production is different, and overall it's not a bad track.



The Love Below

Musically beautiful introduction.  Exactly the kind of thing I was expecting from Dre (off the wall, creative as hell, but with singing ).  We shift quickly from soft piano to a swingin' rock/jazz track.  Unfortunately we also have more singing.  "Happy Valentines Day" is a mix of musical styles.. a dope production switch about 3+ minutes in... and Dre's rapping  He drops about a minute worth on the end of this joint and sounds damn good on it.  "Spread" incorperates some crazy organ as the backbone.  Another musical masterpiece with limited rhyming.

"Prototype" slows the pace down with a funky drum-based beat, definitely a nice track to kick back to despite the lack of rhyming.  "She Lives In My Lap" was one of the songs I disliked before the LP leaked.  Musically to me it's brilliant, but Rosario Dawson singing is not what I look for on a Kast lp.  "Hey Ya" grew on me a lot as I listened.  The production is nice and uptempo and Andre singing doesn't seem out of place.  The trend of great production continues to "Roses"  but as is the theme of my beef with this half of the double disc, why not rhyme over this?

"Behold A Lady" is one of the few tracks that don't appeal to me musically.  "Pink and Blue" starts off promising but falls into a rut once the songs actual beat drops in.  Dre's singing is just not the kind of thing that can carry a song. "Love In War" is nothing that stands out, it's pretty similar to a few other songs with Andre singing over a pretty generic beat.

"She's Alive" continues Andre's trip to the outer rim of lord only knows what.  The production is decent but the vocals are somewhat lacking in my opinion.  "Dracula's Wedding" brings back the expected Outkast funk to this disc.  Unfortunately it didn't bring Andre with it.  It's an enjoyable song despite Andre's decision to sing on it.  "My Favorite Things" hosts a frenetic paced drum track around which a nice jazzy track is built.  It's also a complete instrumental, no vocals to speak of... take that as good or bad.      

The Norah Jones collaboration is another stellar musical creation without much in the way of vocals.  "Vibrate" is an okay song, but it doesn't really stand out musically to me and Andre is really beginning to sound the same after a few listens to these joints.  "A Day In The Life of Benjamin Andre" actually has rapping on it... which is a nice change.  The rhymes are dope if not mindblowingly good.  I just enjoy listening to him rhyme though, so I'll like it more often than not... It's just too little too late for this disc and me.

Summary of Speakerboxxx

I enjoyed this disc basically end to end.  A nice variety in production and dope rhyming from Big Boi throughout really make this disc solid.  Andre's appearances only serve to make me wish for a straight up Outkast album, because the two still show amazing chemistry.  I was wondering what Big Boi would bring to the table on his own and I was quite impressed.


Summary of The Love Below

All in all, I was really disappointed here.  Musically it's brilliant more often than not, but from a vocal standpoint most of it grows stale before it grows on you.  If he would've diversified more between singing and MCing, i think the album would've been better as a result.  We all knew Andre would push the envelope but I was disappointed to see that he basically avoided MCing altogether  on his own disc in order to become something of a neo-soul/blues singer.


Speakerboxxx Rating: 8/10
The Love Below Rating:  5/10

Overall: 6.5/10

[OpTiCaL]

Speakerboxx... is out atm as a prerelease...only 6 tracks or so but its tight...



...can get on efnet now...i posted it up in the chan a few days ago..worth checkin out!

pZ

[Woodrow]

I've got the whole thing...

I agree with that review 50/50...

It seems to me that Big Boy's album starts off VERY strong. Fresh beats, fresh raps. It looses a bit of steam around track 7, but regains it again with Church (track 9). After that Big Boi throws in a whole bunch of skits that are decent, but it never really regains it's brilliance until track 16. That track however almost makes it all worth the skits and mediocre (IMO) tracks. It ends with a track called Last Call. This track is REALLY not the way to end the album, it sounds like a typical southern bounce track albeit a good one. Little John and the Eastside boys really don't sound that great, and it really seemed to be a letdown for the last track of the album

Andre 3000’s album is VERY hot. I only got through track 8 but from what I’ve heard, it’s fucking amazing. It goes through him praying to God to meet a girl, going to the club and meeting one, and bringing her home. I fell asleep around track 8 so I dunno if it keeps on this story type vibe but I can only hope so. Could be one of the most original albums if it goes through him falling in love or some shit like that. Don’t go in expecting an Outkast type album from this disc however cause you’ll be VERY disappointed.

Overall I'm gonna give Big Boi's a 8/10 because there are some less than stellar tracks on there (IMO)

I'll give Andre 3000's another couple listens in a bit here and let you know what I think. I just hope he sticks with formula he set out.  So far it's a 9.5 outta 10 in my eyes.

[PLANT]

Damn.  

[Dr._Funkenstein]

Andre 3000’s album is VERY hot. I only got through track 8 but from what I’ve heard, it’s fucking amazing. It goes through him praying to God to meet a girl, going to the club and meeting one, and bringing her home. I fell asleep around track 8 so I dunno if it keeps on this story type vibe but I can only hope so. Could be one of the most original albums if it goes through him falling in love or some shit like that. Don’t go in expecting an Outkast type album from this disc however cause you’ll be VERY disappointed.

I'll give Andre 3000's another couple listens in a bit here and let you know what I think. I just hope he sticks with formula he set out.  So far it's a 9.5 outta 10 in my eyes.

Word. I'm listening to it right now. Sounds fuckin' great!

[PLANT]

Thanks for the review tho  

[The Watcher]

hm, dont know if i like it or not yet

[Trauma-san]

Wow, well, here's my review after listening once.  

Big Boi - DECENT.  I'm not gonna hate.  Outkast are always kinda on the cutting edge, and I think I'll probably grow to like some more of this disc.  The track with Jay Z is hot.  My brother and I were listening to it, and we both looked at each other, and I told him "Shit, Jay is NOT gonna ride this fast ass beat, they're gonna switch shit up before his verse"... then, Lo and Behold, he DID ride the fast ass beat.  More reasons Jay is at least half as good as he thinks he is.  Track is HOT.  "I like the way you move" is good, it's really growing on me.  "Church" is good.  The track with Luda I liked, all in all, a halfway decent album, I'm gonna give it a 7/10 to start with, maybe it'll grow on me.

Now, yall know I love weird shit, I love classic stuff, rock, country, I like all types of music.  Unfortunately, I'm not feeling Andre's album, and that was the half I was looking forward to the most.  What happened to Aquemini?  I thought THAT was what Andre was responsible for...  This whole album, to me, was VERY dissapointing.  It's like he's trying to go with the whole Jimi Hendrix/trippy psychedelic soul album, and it didn't work.  He's got Missy/Busta disease.  He thinks to be creative, you have to be different.  Him remarking that he's trying to envoke the beatles? WHAT THE FUCK?  This stuff all sounds way to similar.  I don't mind Andre singing, and when he does his single (My baby blah blah blah whatever") it's not bad.  I don't mind that track.  But where is the rap? He raps what, twice on his half?  Somebody needs to clue him in.  The last track, The life of Benjamin Andre or whatever, is HOT.  There's no chorus or anything, so it can't be a single, but the entire album should have had this on it.  He's actually telling his life, he talks about how he goes to this club and sees this woman singing with a headwrap on, "You know her as ms. Erykah On & On Badu" shit like that, it's tight as hell.  He says she did Call Tyrone but it wasn't about him, cuz that ain't even his name, LOL he says she got pregnant and they had the kid, so they wouldn't have any regrets about abortion.  He says something about "Now He's 5, probably gonna be Six by the time I finish this Mix"... the whole song features all that blaze everybody loves about him, I think (and my brother thinks) that maybe he threw this joint on last so everybody could see he can do whatever he wants on the mike if he wants.  Look at this shit...

"So on a trip to New York on some Beezwax
I get invited to a club where MC's at
And on stage is a singer with some thing on her hair
Similar to the turban that I covered up my dreads with
Which I was rockin' at the time
When I was goin' through those phases trynin find
Anything that seemed real in the world
Still, searchin, but I started likin' this girl
Now, you know her as Erykah on and on Badu
Call Tyrone, on the phone, Why you
Do that girl like that, Boy, you oughta be ashamed
That song wudn't about me, ahem that ain't my name
But young and love, in short we had fun
No regrets, no abortion, we had a son
By the name of Seven, and he's five
By the time I do this mix, he'll probably be six
You do the 'righmatic, I'll do the language arts
Yall stand against the wall, blindfolded, me throw the darts"


TIGHT SHIT

[TRu Word]

I dont like Dre's disk at all your a rapper not a singer man, Big's CD is good Im just glad to hear a CD not talking about "I shot that nigga in his back/ sold 4 grams of crack/lost my gun bought 4 back.