album #78

the love below (outkast)

I actually think I prefer Speakerboxxx. Two aspects of The Love Below are particularly appealing… the musical versatility (funk, jazz, rap, soul, instrumental, musical, acoustic and more), and the thematic coherence- it flows together almost as one narrative, the story of this man's love life. It's rather compelling as a soundtrack, as the evolution of a romantic story… the dreamer, the cynic, the plea, the meeting, the sex, the morning after, the serenade, the argument, the breakup- the entire first half of the album all feel like they follow the same story. And then in the latter half it's like experiences with different women- the bitch, the lady, the cougar, the sweetheart and more. Hm. In describing it I'm liking the album more than I did at first. The versatility is really quite engaging and it makes for a good, thoughtful listen.

Some favorites: the jazzy, soft but pulsing "Love Hater," the hard-to-assess-because-I've-overheard-it-and-some-of-it-is-way-too-cute-but-it's-still-catchy "Hey Ya!," the jazz fusion instrumental of "My Favorite Things," genuinely one of my favorites.

My main problem with the record is when it gets too cutesy… "God (Interlude)" for instance, is incredibly cloying, way too high schooly precious. Sometimes the quirky lyrics are charming, other times they're eye-rolling. Also, despite their versatility, some of the songs feel slightly dull… I guess that's just expectable when it's such a stuffed record. It's more like, everything's cool and interesting, but there are surprisingly few songs that I absolutely love. Speakerboxxx has more songs that I absolutely love. I feel like this is a good record to listen to a minute of each song, just as a reminder of how interesting and fun each of the songs are, even though I'm not in love with each song.