DJ Shadow-The Outsider.

Orizio

So what does everybody think?The Hyphy stuff is embarassing imo(yes all of the tracks),while 3 Freaks isn't so much embarassing as the most god awful track I have ever heard.

After that Nump track things pick up significantly.He should have had a better MC to take advantage of that haunting beat on Seein' Things while that Phonte track is disapointing as it drags on needlessly for 7 minutes and the beat is plain dull.Saying that,the Chris James' tracks and Enuff are some of the best tracks I've hear all year.

3 mic album to me.

Makaveli

It's a mess. I wrote a big review of it but with search not working properly I can't find it right now.

The first half is awful, the second half is good but really only in comparison to the first half. He can't decide on a style to go with so goes with lots of different ones so you never settle into it. Not enough instrumental tracks, some songs sound like Coldplay tracks (ugh) and the decent MCs on the album are wasted.

If it didn't have the name DJ Shadow attached to it I'd be pretty sure this would be dismissed as a crap album (which it is).

projectmayhem

damn. i was looking forward to getting this.

Makaveli

Found it.

me on 23-07-2006, 19:44 wrote:

DJ Shadow - The Outsider. Eh, it's bad. Not all bad mind you but it will send you running to Endtroducing just so you can feel clean again. Starts off like something epic is going to happen, with the intro and voiceover through it, then it leads into This Time and you're thinking hey this isn't too bad, got a bit of Brainfreeze vibe to it, cool. Ha, don't be fooled, honestly the next track will have you checking to see if you're still listening to the same album and leave you wondering did some record over the album accidentally with some other crap?

I'm sure you've heard 3 Freaks? Yeah, well if not you're not missing out on anything. DJ Shadow does Hyphy! It's bad, really bad. Then it's followed up with another slap to the face with Turf Dancing. More hyphy bullshít. At this stage you want to turn it off, but like morbid curiosity you keep playing and it looks bleak. Keep Em Close is next and it's more of the same, the lyrics are pathetic and the beat is poor. Next is the David Banner track, the beat picks up but I dunno it's like a crunk hyphy mish mash and although it may do it in a club it's just not that good.

So at this stage you're pretty much ready to make a frisbee out of this album, however things start to look up a bit at the mind way point. For what it's worth, the tracks that aren't featuring someone are actually pretty good. Good enough to listen to while avoiding the hyphy crap. The track featuring Phonte (Littlebrother's Phonte in case you're wondering) is a nice track. Not what you would expect from Shadow but hell at this stage you just want to find anything redeeming from this album and well here is a shining light. Phonte is Phonte so you know what to expect.

Then it moves onto the track Triplicate Something Happened That Day, hmmm, an instrumental, more mellow, is this actually what we're used to? A more typical DJ Shadow track? Well, in a way. It never really picks up and there's no real hint of a beat, but I'll take what I can at this point. Another promising track, that's two back to back, I'm starting to forget about the first half of the album. If this continues I may actually make it to the end of the album.

To be honest this album is all over the place. It has too many styles and lacks any real consistency. It's as if he has taken tracks he has in his back catalogue when he was into different moods and sounds and stuck it all together in one album. It doesn't work for me. It's too hard to get into the album because when you think you're about to settle into it the pace and style changes again. Ironically the most consistent part of the album is the hyphy part but you just want that to be over and done with as quickly as possible (well at least I did).

The Tiger is the next track, and it sounds different to last the track. Vocals on this track by someone I've never heard of so I dunno what sort of music they make. It's not a bad track, but again it's not exactly what you would expect. Indie rock style, but the beat to it is nice. Singing is a bit whiney (I dunno if that's the best way to describe it, maybe exagerated would be a better word).

Just realised I made a bit of jump further back. There is a bridge between the David Banner track and the Phonte track. The two instrumental tracks in between are Broken Levee Blues and Artifact. They are the turning point in the album and are decent tracks. Honestly, if you take the intro and track two and then jump to track 8 you'll be doing yourself a favour.

After The Tiger it all goes a bit indie. The beats are DJ Shadow beats but the vocals don't really do them any favours. Had they been left as instrumentals they would be better appreciated imo. Still at least they are sounding like DJ Shadow of old.

Then the next track goes in yet another direction. Guitar laced track, female vocalist, it's not a bad track but I dunno where it's come from. Really this album is a mess. No consistency. Endtroducing and The Private Press worked, they made sense as albums there was a flow to them, not this though you'd get motion sickness from the chops and changes in styles.

Erase You feat Chris James (shouldn't that be Chris Martin?) Coldplay all the way with this track. If you like Coldplay then you'll like it, if you, like me, think Coldplay are bland then you'll be less than impressed, however be glad you're listening to that rather than another hyphy track.

The track with Q-Tip and Lateef is meh. Beat is all wrong, out of place and ill suited. Still at least it's not hyphy *sigh*.

Right well to sum it all up, the album is a mess. Ends stronger than it starts but that's not difficult. Listen to it for the novelty that it is. If you listen to it expecting another Endtroducing or Private Press you will be bitterly disappointed. I dunno what DJ Shadow was thinking when he made this, maybe he was thinking about making big bucks out of it, if so, well I wish him luck, maybe he'll go back to making good records then.

To be honest, I haven't been bothered going back and listening to it since I wrote that review.

Orizio

I find Coldplay(along with most other 'rock' bands around these days) to be whiney little bitches,but I thought those Chris James tracks quite well done.It is a bit disconcerting that the more rock oriented tracks are the only ones to really stand out.That really isn't what you expect when you listen to DJ Shadow.

Orizio

projectmayhem wrote:

damn. i was looking forward to getting this.

There are plenty of better al ums out this month,nevermind this year.Method Man,J Dilla,The Roots and Masta Killa's newest stuff for a start.

me and the biz

Yes its terrible, I've tried taking it for what it is.. he is from Oakland and its his take on Hyphy and all that, but its still terrible. Extreme disappointment

D-Generate

With all the guest features and lack of album consistency it strikes me as an UNKLE album only not as good...

Orizio

His UNKLE stuff was some of his best work imo.

Really its the Hyphy **** that ruins the album.

StevieG

Overall i'd agree with 3 mics

Some of the hyphy ain't to my taste but i think the E-40 track is banging and the more typically Shadow stuff on the latter half of the album is pretty good

Orizio

Well forget about it, and buy Pete Rock's Underground Classics instead.There bangers all over the place.;)