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Review Summary: This oft-forgotten hip-hop project by The Black Keys will have you bobbing your head one minute, and lowering it in shame the other. Since their 2001 inception, The Black Keys have been riddled with comparisons to The White Stripes. I'm sure Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney don't like it, but it seems fair enough to me. Both are two-person(I almost typed man) bands; one on drums, one on guitar. Critics have called both acts blues-rock and garage-rock a hefty amount of times. And it's only natural for one to say "The Black Keys are similar to The White Stripes" rather than vice versa. The Stripes were established in 1997, four years before The Keys. After 2001's White Blood Cells, the indie scene huddled around The White Stripes like Christ's second coming. They're arguably the bigger band; Jack White seeing more success through 2 side projects, The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs.
Meanwhile, I wouldn't count out The Black Keys just yet. Most likely in an attempt to distance themselves from these tired comparisons, in 2007 they announced their collaboration with hip-hop producer Danger Mouse and blues legend Ike Turner. The project continued, even with the latter's death in December 2007. Attack and Release turned out to be very good; a pleasant surprise that a DM-produced blues album actually works. And I guess Patrick and Dan really are interested in hip-hop. Their newest release, Blakroc is another collaboration between [themselves, of course] and some of hip-hop's biggest names in 2009. After collaborating with a respected man that made his name collaborating with other respected men, the sky must be the limit for The Black Keys' hip-hop aspirations! Yeah, you'd think that.
It's hard to say Blakroc is a successful idea. Right after something dope finishes, you're treated to something mediocre-at-best. RZA's "Telling Me Things" honestly sounds like he just tagged along with Rae to the studio, and just decided to wing it when he was asked to contribute something. It's the epitome of filler. "Hope You're Happy" is about heartbreak; I think. Which is fitting, I guess, it's a blues-hip-hop album. It's also Q-Tip's sole appearance on the record, in the form of a miniscule 30-second verse.
"Just another basket case, stricken with the lonlies/
Invoke(?) the man, out through the tenderoni(?)/
Couldn't leave the children left a little alimony/
Nothin' in my cup it's just stale macaroni"
What? I'm sure I heard the second line wrong, but you just try and replace "invoke" and "tenderoni" with anything that makes it sound sensible. And why is he rapping like a robot? "Coochie", the album's opener, is great from a lyrical standpoint. It's an old ODB verse, featuring Ludacris rapping with the late ODB's track. That said, it just doesn't work well at all with The Black Keys' instrumental. It's no wonder the track is not included on the iTunes release. Hopefully someone remixes it.
Listen, this is not at all a terrible album. Right after "Coochie" is "On The Vista", undeniably the album's best track. This is what the whole album should have been. Patrick's drumming is perfect with the piano melody, guitar solo, and Mos Def's Rapping. NOE's performances on the record are among the best, and likely to be overlooked; his voice a crystal-clear reflection of early Jay-Z. Raekwon's "Stay Off The ***in' Flowers" is great; another short-but-sweet 2 and a half minute track. Praising Rae's lyricism and flow would have been necessary 15 years ago, but you know already.
Blakroc is very hit or miss; after you're done dancing to "Ain't Nothing Like You", "Hope You're Happy" will make you wonder why you picked up the record in the first place. None of these tracks are downright awful(with the exception of "Telling Me Things"), there's just a lot of uninteresting in something that has the potential to be superb. It's a great idea that just isn't executed well enough to merit any overwhelming praise.
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lol good first review
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This is my second, and I forgot to re-add italics after I copy and pasted the original.
You should read my first review, it's much better than this one.
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Keep up the good work. I like your writing style.
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I didn't realise
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Hmm good review, but I've been really enjoying this. Coochie and Stay off the Fuckin Flowers are so great.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Maybe something's wrong with me, but I just really don't enjoy Coochie. Stay Off The Fuckin Flowers and On The Vista are superb, though.
I don't hate this album, I probably would have given it a 6 or 7 on a 10 point scale.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
well, then your score on a 5 point scale should be at least 3, surely?
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I don't think this album is "good" though, which is what a 3.0 on this website embodies.
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im not sure a one-week-old album can be considered oft-forgotten.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I don't think this album is "good" though, which is what a 3.0 on this website embodies.
Yeah, I wouldn't take the score descriptions too seriously though. Like a 3.5 is meant to represent a 'great' record, which doesn't really match up. There are few 'great' records released each year, but 3.5 is the same as 7/10.
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This review really doesn't tell me how the record sounds. It's probably a 3 for me though, not a Black Keys fan, but it's pretty creative.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
"im not sure a one-week-old album can be considered oft-forgotten."
As in, "I forgot this album is still coming out"
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
"This review really doesn't tell me how the record sounds."
>2.5
Average
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lol that's called an "album rating" guy.
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I gotta check this out. From how this review was made, I am highly dissapointed in this project. Black Keys collaborating with a redefined Dame Dash to create something powerful for the indie/hip-hop lovers but ends up a big flop? My heart hurts. I'll give this a listen tonight.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
If it makes you feel any better, I've actually still been listening to a few of the album's standout tracks.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
@kingsoby1
"great from a lyrical standpoint"
"The Black Keys' instrumental"
"Patrick's drumming is perfect with the piano melody, guitar solo, and Mos Def's rapping"
"his voice a crystal-clear reflection of early Jay-Z"
If you want to see a track-by-track analysis of an album, read my first review of Thunder, Lightning, Strike.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off
Octoberfest 86, listen for yourself before you decide this album is a flop based on one person's opinion. Cause IMO, this album holds together quite well and is better than probably 99 percent of the popular (not pop) music out there; what it has lacked so far seems more to be aggressive marketing. We'll see what happens on that front in the next several weeks (lol... lpstudio, "im not sure a one-week-old album can be considered oft-forgotten.").
But overall this is a wonderful and creative mixture of blues and soul w/ a touch of funk, clever rhyming (Carter definitely needs to work on that interpretation of Q-Tip's verse) to strong beats, and great r&b/blues singing. I agree there are weaker and stronger points to this album, but think it holds together well as a whole, and the only track I would think about skipping over once in a while might be "Telling Me Things." There are all kinds of little touches in the music that are like gold nuggets you might miss by trying to be overly critical rather than listening to the music for enjoyment. If you want to be critical, save it for the other 99 percent of popular music that deserves it, and just enjoy the ride with this album.
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The only thing you said that is analysis what-so-ever is that NOE sounds like jay-z. honestly, this review DOES read more like a track by track review... you just go on and on and on about each track with very terse descriptions. I'm not trying to make you look stupid guy... I'm giving you constructive criticism so that you actually say stuff when you review.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off
Having just finished listening to this album two more times, I wish to amend my previous comments. As a whole, Blakroc is a near perfect piece of artistry. So far, it seems that those who like it less tend more towards rock in their musical tastes than hip-hop, and so don't appreciate the superb rhyming, from a standpoint of both lyrics and execution. Nikki Wray's soulful singing lends a battle of the sexes element to the album, which would be almost too heavy on the testosterone without it. No elements are misplaced here. Billy Danze's gruff verses cut sharply through the beautiful fusion of soul, rock, blues, and hip-hop to contribute to the grittiness of the record. Even the RZA's "Telling Me Things" is growing on me (his input on Dollaz & Sense made that song great), and I doubt I will ever skip over it because that would ruin the continuity.
To anyone who hasn't listened to this album yet, and even those who have and may have missed the full experience, I recommend listening to it through several times. And Carter, thanks for re-directing my attention to the Q-Tip verses; they're turning out to be among my favorite on the album. My main problem with this entire record is how to pick a favorite from so many gems.
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