Outkast's "White Album"...like the Beatles,no pun intended
Written: Nov 25 '03 (Updated Jan 03 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: Variety,creativity,excellent musical expression and performance,lyrical cleverness and inventiveness
Cons: overindulgence in musical hero worship in the case of "The Love Below"
The Bottom Line: These albums are great overall because they are simply the most creative and challenging pop records of 2003,regardless of musical genre.
poetsouldier's Full Review: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below [Edited] by OutKast
These records may well be the albums of the year...in terms of adventurousness without compromising commercial accessibility,they certainly are without peer in 2003. Overall,I feel there are more hits than misses on both albums,even though the aesthetic dividing lines between these collaborators are clearly drawn here in most instances. "The Love Below" is the best Prince album Prince never made...which is not an insult to Andre 3000 but a congratulation to him for daring to be experimental in an age where hardness and machismo are the expected standard for a hip hop artist. Still,the thing that plagues me about this record is the fact that many of these songs are hauntingly...sometimes disturbingly...familiar. Its one thing to be influenced by someone,but for listeners to be BOLDLY reminded at times of these influences can be a little unsettling in some instances.
Standout examples of this are the tracks "She Lives In My Lap" and "Vibrate". Both are well-produced,but these songs sound SO FAMILIAR its irritating...its like Dre just did remakes of songs Prince already wrote and recorded. I hate to be critical cause I like the songs themselves,but geez! To be fair,there are songs that don't remind me of "Lovesexy" outtakes,at least not all the way thru. Parts of "Spread" are prince-ish,as is "Behold A Lady",but subtle variations clear them of being as intrusive as the previously mentioned songs. "Hey Ya" doesn't remind me of anyone else in particular and is very fresh in style and presentation. "Roses" reminds me of a David Bowie song circa "Diamond Dogs"...complete with a reference to "mars"! You go,boy!
"Speakerboxx" is more varied in subject matter and musical presentation overall,and a nice counterbalance to "The Love Below". Big Boi brings the much-need grit,edge and reality to the project. Standouts include "Ghetto Musick" and "Knowing"...both of which unite the halfs of Outkast equally balanced,which is a comfort and hopefully demonstrates that this duo have more to say as a unit.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![Speakerboxxx/The Love Below [Edited] by OutKast](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/6c/a3/71/2002232635-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.