I guess the time has come to dissect this year's "new Prince". After reading numerous praising reviews (well three) and being couraged to buy the album by the record store personnel ("Buy this." - don't you just love when they pick up the CDs for you, so you don't have to spend energy on what you'll end up spending your money on?) I picked up a copy of Cody ChesnuTT's "The Headphone Masterpiece" and I have to say I'm not that impressed in whole. Sure, the two CDs contain some excellent music covering myriad styles from rock'n'roll, electro, reggae, rap, folk (yes, folk) and soul, that actually sounds like real classic soul music as opposed to last years' enjoyable but fickle trend: nu classic soul. And the price certainly is right - two CDs for the price of one. His songwriting and playing skills at best are admittably as good as it seems to get these days - as showcased by numbers such as "The Seed", "Look Good In Leather" and "Smoke And Love". The release certainly doesn't lack on musical potential.

I'm not turned off by the lo-fi approach either - this is sonically the album I've been personally waiting for years. The rhythm tracks sound terrific - they're dead just in the right way - and the guitars perfectly dry and twangy. As whole, the record's considerably well engineered, even if Chesnutt recorded it all by himself in his basement. But the problem is with the terrible structuring, half-written songs filled with "cool" background chatter and endless array of nonsense seques - which I guess is the plague you can afford to waste your time on when you have your own studio at your disposal. Many of the better songs here also sound more LIKE classic songs instead of BEING classics. There is a fine line between sincerity and trying too hard to recapture the past. But a mediocre song is a mediocre song, even if it would invoke memories of Marvin Gaye.

Moreover, albeit the demo-like sound quality is rather enjoyable the same doesn't go with the demo like vocal performances. Too many numbers are just whiffed with that coy too-close-to-the-mike-I-can't-raise-my-voice-cause-it-pops manner in situations that would call out for proper singing. Another unpleasant curiosity are the lyrics, which are filled with quite ridiculous and unnecessarily macho flailing - even straightforward misogyny - that not only sounds terribly out of place when placed next to the more mature material like "Boylife In America" but also makes the listener question Chesnutt's value as a serious performer - there are just so many times you can mention "dick" before it becomes disturbing. Who wants to spend two hours listening to a double album, constantly thinking about the image of the artist's genitals? Cody ChesnuTT's concept of sex seems to be straight out of the pages of Hustler or Boobs, or whatever - as epitomed by the embarrassing female-spoken segue that follows the album's first track which, essentially, is just another seque. And I sincerely hope the usage of the words "Jesus" and "bitch" within the same chorus is a joke.

Or art.

thanks for the review , but I think that this guy is more interesting than lenny boring kravitz
Who wants to spend two hours listening to a double album, constantly thinking about the image of the artist's genitals? I don't care if the songs kick ass + Im french
Cody ChesnuTT's concept of sex seems to be straight out of the pages of Hustler or Boobs I don't care if..., + since P is sooooo wise
And I sincerely hope the usage of the words "Jesus" and "bitch" within the same chorus is a joke. why? Jesus loves everyone
-
[This message was edited Thu Jun 5 4:12:56 PDT 2003 by jn2]

Thanks for the breakdown Novabreaker. I saw him live at a recent 'Roots' gig (brilliant by the way!) and he seemed pretty cool. I may have to pick this lp up.

Sly said:

Did he talk about God for half of the set? It seems stupid when you have such a short set to begin with.

ogh...saw him open for erykah badu...it was a fucking nightmare...would have been alright..if he would have gotten off the damn god soapbox for 5 min but that never happened...

Cody's aiiight. He's got a voice like TTD, an imagination like Arthur Lee and ambitions like, uh, our other hero. But he tries too hard, IMO. But "Bitch, I'm Broke" was mad funny .

Definite dud. I tried to fill a single disc with worthwhile material and it wasn't happening. Download "...Leather", "The Seed," and "Serve this Royalty"--skip the album.

I found the album boring but the version of The Seed w/the Roots displays his real potential. He thinks a little too much of his abilities, and he needs a good production team.

He definetly has some flavor but an artist needs to realize when he needs some outside production. I understand all of that artist nonsense "i don't want anyone tampering with the integrity of my music" but it's like you either want to blow up or you don't. Artist have to realize their not P as much as they think they are or wanna be. His album could've been so much more and I could've done without the double disc set, just give me the real deal. Well anyways his disc has it's moments,hopefully with his next release he'll wisen up and correct the three biggest mistakes he made with this project which were, poor sound quality, no production, and too much filler. I know he's trying to keep it real but maybe he's over doing it just a little.

i'm sorry...that "i look good in leather" song sucks...I was like WTF is this crap...not interested.

lovemachine said:

He didn't open for 'The Roots' - he just came on during 'the seed'.

Sly said:

He opened for the Roots at the Minneapolis show so I just figured he still was the opening act.

I'd still recommend the album for anyone interested in good music.

Can't stand this tired mofo. And forgive my lova all. she hates God..lol