Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
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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.
Free Music Review: One of the best CDs of the decade.
Hit: 5 Stars
No exaggeration.
Music is absolutely great. Each and every cut is a different style.
....and the big surprise ?
The lyrics - smart, funny and tends to bring you back - hear this CD again and again.
Free Music Review: Worth every penny.
Hit: 5 Stars
For the price of the CD, it's definitely worth buying the full length (as opposed to the single for 'Crazy') because it's packed with great songs. The music is funky and - compared to what's on the radio today - definitely unique and catchy. It doesn't really fall into the hip-hop/rap genre that my iTunes automatically dubbed it.Free Music Review: Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
Hit: 4 Stars
A fresh take on 70's funk...with the added suprise of both gospel and rap tracks included on one CD!
Free Music Review: Gnarls Barkley
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought this CD as I love the song "Crazy"...but the entire CD is great. I am very satisfied with this purchase!