a few times to be exact, and while it has some MOMENTS, (Devils Pie, FLML remake, Untitled, Africa) its not this "simmering slow burning stew" of a masterpiece i've heard it characterized as. at least not to my ears. it shows artistic growth but i feel like it lacks song structure and craftsmanship. its like an aspirationally funky/sexy grateful dead/dave matthews black groove band album. and if that's what he was aiming for, homerun i guess, and for those who like that, but sometimes a "stew" isn't good, it just has a bunch of stuff in it and its not always better than the sum of its parts.

as far as comparisons to prince, i dislike a lot of his "funk by numbers" stuff too, and he has lots (Freaks on This Side, Life Of The Party, etc). what elevates him when he's "trying" is song craftsmanship. i think D and his squad mistook anti-commercialism and a strong groove aesthetic to also mean minimize song structure (hell D, you can just barely enunciate on this). in multiple threads here and there, Prince's TRC album is brought up in talks about D and Voodoo. Prince opens that album with the title track but doesn't let you get lost in the "cooky voice & jazz abstraction concept" but places the well crafted Muse 2 The Pharoah appropriately next to keep you engaged, others like that follow throughout (She Loves Me For Me, Mellow).

Sequencing matters, but you have to have such sonic "moments of clarity" for the listener to TRACK with your words and content (And for P with TRC, with the Darth Vader voice and religious content, some couldn't, and didn't, but many did). With Voodoo, that "strain" remains. Perhaps time diminishes that, but its not compelling enough to keep me coming back. I hadn't missed much in all these years. My wife LOVES De'Angelo, but even she, felt like Voodoo was NOT progress, let alone Black Messiah. For me, the latter is easily the better of the two, but also overrated. Enunciate bruh. That would help a BUNCH!

[Edited 11/22/20 9:32am]

That body he had at that time though

I was trying to find his documentary, "Devil's Pie", but could only find the trailor.

his debut was stellar which is what created all the hype and great expectations

Alan Leeds managed him and said that after Prince, D'Angelo was the most talented artist.

I really like Voodoo and still listen to it often. I like it better than Black Messiah. I do agree with you about how D does not enunciate his words well, but I love the vibe of the entire cd.

daingermouz2020 said:

I listened to "Black Messiah" twice. I barely got thru it the first time. I played it for a friend of mine, not telling him how awful I thought it was. He said, "He made us wait all that time for this???" I have listened to "Voodoo" once. It was a decent enough album. Just not interesting enough to make me go back to it. I probably will at some point. Maybe tomorrow while I'm doing my holiday cooking.

I have heard Alan praise D'Angelo. I have heard others who's opinions matter, also praise him. I have no clue what the hype is. I thought the debut album was Super. Catchy songs, great organic feel. Voodoo was largely just sounds....like they were trying to sound organic on purprose...like making a point of it. Black Messiah...oh man, a let down. At the least i wanted to hear Jesse jOhnson smoke on it...nothing. D'Angelo's production is also very bass heavy....like way too much. I don't get it...and man, you can't understand his words. If BLack Messiah is wha the could come up after 15 years, pls.

Having said all that, I think he suffers from constantly being compared to Prince. I am not sure if he invites that but using so many ex Prince associates does not help. The greatest thing I've heard from him was his very emotional take on Sometimes It Snows where he couldn't finish the line...possibly the most heartfelt tribute to Prince.

Prince was a comet.....simply, a human marvel...a total genius. It's not fair to compare anyone this way.

As for Alan Leeds, if he could be unimpressed with Prince's 2014 SNL performance, how did he feel about D'Angelo's SNL performance in 2015. It was clumsy, it was something Prince could do in his sleep...at a rehearsal.

Struggles with fame, sex-symbol stuff, substance use and his sexuality. Sounded very ambivalent about the baggage associated with fame.

Margot said:

Struggles with fame, sex-symbol stuff, substance use and his sexuality. Sounded very ambivalent about the baggage associated with fame.

How come his sexuality?

so i'm not alone, in my opinion. "largely sounds" and "trying too hard to sound organic", and " overly bass heavy", truer words have never been said joey coco! thank you. i struggle to find the language i was reaching for, but that's so helpfu!

When 'Voodoo' came out, i could not NOT play it every day for weeks.

'Rave' was a let down.

Then 'The Rainbow Children" came out and i felt really guilty about being unfaithful

nayroo2002 said:

I think it is over-rated. The reviews it received was like it was one of the best albums of the decade, which I know some folks here concur with. To me, it's strength was also it's weakness. It does have a wonderful vibe that that defintielty transcends any one song and makes it an album experience rather than a colection of singles experience. On the negative side, it transcends the songs because the songs are not that special due to a lack of structure, relatable lyrics, and melody.

What an album...I'll save my comments/thoughts on this for the official "appreciation" thread that this album should get...feel like listening to "The Line" but it's too early in the day and Voodoo is better appreciated after 5pm...

My issue with this post is the idea that I found Muse 2 the Pharoah more compelling or engaging than the title track of The Rainbow Children, which I absolutely do not.


I don't know Voodoo that well but I play Black Messiah all the time.

[Edited 11/27/20 9:55am]

Possibly my least favorite Prince wannabe. Someone should buy him some black coffee, energy drink, pixie stick, etc.

[Edited 11/29/20 7:38am]

alphastreet said:

jfenster said:

Another Life. Closing track on Black Messiah. One of the most gorgeous songs of all-time. Dont write him off fully until you listen to this. Ok?

kygermo said: