Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
List Price:
Our Price: $9.99
You Save: $8.99 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $6.39 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Gnarls BarkleyEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-05-09
Music Label: Downtown
Soundtracks:
- Go-Go Gadeget Gospel
- Crazy
- St. Elsewhere
- Gone Daddy Gone
- Smiley Faces
- The Boogie Monster
- Feng Shui
- Just a Thought
- Transformer
- Who Cares?
- On-Line
- Necromancing
- Storm Coming
- The Last Time
Free Music Notes for St. Elsewhere
Free Music Review: I remember when I lost my mind! It was two years ago...
Hit: 5 Stars
I remember when I lost my mind! It was back in 2006. It wasn't when I first listened to this album--because on first listen, I only liked it. But that was only because I wasn't quite ready for it. Before long, it drove me nuts. I was bonkers, I went ga-ga, I lost myself in irrational exuberance.
It's a hoary clich? to say something was "the soundtrack to my summer," but this clich? rings true for this album, for my 2006 was very manic-depressive. I lost a good job and a bad one, then found one that was both. I was desperately poor but often incredibly happy; I spent many unemployed afternoons at the neighborhood coffeeshop hammering away at what I hoped would be the Great American Screenplay, and I gave serious thought to moving to Los Angeles with a U-Haul and my ego to try and sell it. I was in love with the cute 19-year-old barista, and I'd take smoke breaks with her and hang out with mutual friends at night, and we'd put on "St. Elsewhere" back-to-back, and I'd sip sober sodas while my friends got drunk and did crazy things. And usually I had no desire to live that life again, but every once in a while, that level of insanity looked fun.
Vaguely I knew my own decisions and attitudes were none too wise. But fortunately there was an album that felt as crazy as I did.
"Crazy" of course, ended up being this album's anthem. And it is a true classic, a song for the ages, and it has earned its rightful place on the eternal-DJ-wedding-playlist, somewhere after "Baby's Got Back" and "Billie Jean." So I'll probably be dancing to it in my eighties, shaking my moneymaker and saying "I remember when I lost my mind" until I do, literally, lose my mind. But I must admit, "Crazy" almost drove me mad, because it distracted people from an album that is every bit as solid as its most famous song.
Most great albums get that way by having a reasonably consistent feel. This one lacks one; it careens across the sonic landscape like a dune-buggy being driven by an over-caffeinated ferret. There are glorious Gospel-tinged melodies, heavenly and happy and reasonably wholesome, and there are also dark and sinister songs like "Monster" and "Online." And then there's "Necromancer." I'm tempted to say it's as outrageous a black comedy as anything since Guns n' Roses' "I Used to Love Her (But I had to Kill Her)"--but that would be unfair, because this is a much better song. In it, Cee-Lo raps about (and to) a beautiful corpse-bride. "Did you hear what I said? With this ring I thee wed," he says, then comments: "She was cool when I met her, but I think I like her better dead."
There are times when the wordplay isn't quite as brilliant, but a lot of the less crafty lyrics are at least (for most of us!) easier to relate to. And best of all, Danger Mouse's beats are consistently compelling. "It's clearly the theory of less is more," Cee-Lo says on "Feng Shui," but here more is more; the album's so sonically schizophrenic that you can--and you will--listen to it back-to-back without feeling like it's boring you. And that's quite a feat. With a lot of other artists, even excellent ones, I will lose interest somewhere around the fifty-minute mark, look around for something different, and come back to their work whenever I get around to it. But back in 2006, it seemed like every third or fourth time I'd put something on, it was "St. Elsewhere."
Anyway, now it is 2008, and rather than being a relatively irresponsible late-twentysomething, I'm a relatively responsible thirtysomething. The coffeeshop has become a Mediterranean eatery, the barista is gone from my life--but not my cell phone--and I've gone through any number of other crazy infatuations since then. California remains the golden dream while I while away the days in snowy Chicago, waiting tables and writing the Great American Novel and waiting for the day I can sell it. And Gnarls Barkley have a new album, and I don't think it's destined for immortality, but at least I can still seek intercession from "St. Elsewhere." It blew me away in 2006, and I can still listen to it twice without giving the matter a second thought, and I have the feeling it'll be just as good in 2016, or 2056.
St. Elsewhere Poster
In 2006, Danger Mouse is King Midas of the music world. He has an uncanny knack for creating jagged, dense, frenzied beats and odd, eerie, vivid soundscapes that never compromise the music's natural flow. Meanwhile, rapper and singer Cee-Lo, a veteran of Atlanta's Dirty South scene, has never been one to be constrained by hip-hop conventions, and is a willing partner in adventure. The result is an intrepid psychedelic blend of pop, hip-hop, soul, and rock that consistently challenges and delights. It's no wonder that "Crazy," with its modest riff, irresistible hook, and disarming opening line ("I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind") became a worldwide Internet sensation a full six months before the official release of St. Elsewhere. But that relatively simple soul-pop gem is the tamest track on this wide-ranging, often dark and introspective collaboration. (In fact, the duo considers Gnarls Barkley to be a wholly new creation, as opposed to a collaboration of existing artists.) "Everybody is somebody, but nobody wants to be themselves," Cee-Lo croons on "Who Cares?" He and Danger Mouse try very hard not to be their old selves as they creatively and confidently break down boundaries, but the brilliant cores of their musical personae--Cee-Lo's eccentric spiritual soul man and Danger's bold sonic explorer--remain. --Marc GreilsamerGnarls Barkley is the highly anticipated collaboration from Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo. Danger Mouse is one of the most important artist/producers in music today. "Demon Days" sold over 5 million worldwide and Dangerdoom's "The Mouse And The Mask" sold over 100,000 units. Accolades include GQ's "Men Of The Year" honor; Spin's "Eccentric Genius Of The Year", NME's "Hottest Hip-Hop Producer In The World", Entertainment Weekly's "Album Of The Year", Grammy nomination for Producer Of The Year, and more. Cee-Lo is a Grammy-nominated, founding member of Goodie Mob. He wrote and produced the Pussycat Dolls #1 smash hit "Don't Cha", and his two solo albums for Arista scanned over 500,000 units combined. He also wrote hit singles for Ludacris, Common, P Diddy, Trick Daddy, and others. "Goodie Mob" has sold over two million albums worldwide. "Crazy", from this release, is all over UK's Radio One.
Alternative Rock Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Music For Dancing That I Do Appreciate It - Final Part
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before LongRelease date: 2007-05-22; Music CD
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
Amy Winehouse - Back to BlackRelease date: 2007-03-13; Music CD
Best price: $8.69
Price in other shops:
Lily Allen - Alright, StillRelease date: 2007-01-30; Music CD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Gnarls Barkley - St. ElsewhereRelease date: 2006-05-09; Music CD
Best price: $8.98
Price in other shops:
Mika - Life in Cartoon MotionRelease date: 2007-03-27; Music CD
Best price: $7.69
Price in other shops:
Macy Gray - The Very Best of Macy GrayRelease date: 2004-09-07; Music CD
Best price: $6.88
Price in other shops:
Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey RaeRelease date: 2006-06-20; Music CD
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops:
Imogen Heap - Speak for YourselfRelease date: 2005-11-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.23
Price in other shops:
LCD Soundsystem - LCD SoundsystemRelease date: 2005-02-15; Music CD
Best price: $6.83
Price in other shops:
UNKLE - Never, Never, LandNEVER NEVER LAND (CD); Release date: 2004-10-26; Music CD
Best price: $10.39
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Gorillaz - Demon DaysRelease date: 2005-05-24; Published: 2005; Music CD
Best price: $5.80
Price in other shops:
Beck - The InformationRelease date: 2006-10-03; Music CD
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
The Roots - Game TheoryRelease date: 2006-08-29; Music CD
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm NotRelease date: 2006-02-21; Music CD
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops:
Thom Yorke - The EraserRelease date: 2006-07-11; Music CD
Best price: $8.18
Price in other shops:
OutKast - IdlewildRelease date: 2006-08-22; Music CD
Best price: $2.27
Price in other shops:
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium ArcadiumRelease date: 2006-05-09; Music CD
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops:
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd CoupleRelease date: 2008-03-21; Music CD
Best price: $9.23
Price in other shops:
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy SoldiersRelease date: 2006-05-16; Music CD
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the MaskRelease date: 2005-10-11; Music CD
Best price: $9.70
Price in other shops: