some

critic said:

Funny I always looked @ them as a duo, not a frontman w/ a "comic sidekick" (though Dre is the stronger of the two, shit always appeared balanced on record IMO) - is it me or does Jim even know this group?

CalhounSquare, quit being so cynical..lol

CalhounSq said:

I think so. To be honest, I listen to so many albums, sometimes within a short span of time, that I may not have ever owned that one. But I did hear at least a few songs from it. If I didn't listen to the whole thing, I should have given it a try, because I did own Aquemini...taped "Liberation", and got rid of the cd. Damn, I love that song.

there's been alot of comparing andre 3000

2 prince

i can see some similarities

however...

no one can touch the level of artistic

mastery or erotic intensity that prince

has


some r too quick 2 put another

in prince's shoes

andre's cool

but he can never wear the purple crown

from allmusic.com:
"By contrast, The Love Below isn't so much visionary as it is unapologetically eccentric. And as the cocktail jazz pianos that sparkle through the first few songs indicate, it's not much of a hip-hop album. Instead, Andre 3000 has created the great lost Prince album -- the platter that the Purple One recorded somewhere between Around the World in a Day and Sign 'o' the Times. It's not just that the music and song titles cheekily recall Prince -- "She Lives in My Lap" is a close relation of the B-side "She's Always in My Hair" -- it's that Dre disregards any rules on a quest to create his own interior world, right down to a dialogue with God. The difference between Andre 3000 and Prince is in that dialogue, too: Prince was tortured; Andre is trying to get laid. "



It is funky, but if memory serves me correctly there WAS an album between ATWIAD and SOTT...but it was a diversion.

Very funky, but Andre tries a bit too hard to hit EVERY style and angle, and it ain't successful...but gotta give him credit for trying.

I love Outkast because they have a sense of humour and adventure that is so needed in a moronic macho homophobic "hip hop" culture

I take one song on per day; yesterday I was dancing to Andre's Happy Valentine.

Now that is a song that grips me booty.

Christopher said:

Hmm, Im of the same opinion as U Christopher my friend. It hasn't instantaneously grabbed me yet. I really like Pink and Blue the strings R delightful.

JDINTERACTIVE said:

thats the one about the older ladyfriend?
its cool...i still need to sit down and really try to get into it...

album of the year so far

Let's discuss my booty.

PhilG said:

You got it. I'm liking the album more and more everyday and I see some similarities with Prince but, no it's not a lost Prince album. Andre's still got some hip-hop flava. Something P never quite captured. Maybe it's the album he wanted to make in the early 90's.

CalhounSq said:

Well I hated the segues on Stankonia too. But, I agree with a lot of what you're saying. Speakerboxx has good beats but big Boi seems to spend a lot of time cussing and flinging "nigga" around (seems like 10 times a song) and talking about his dick. I really hated the fact that he let his toddler son cuss on one of the segues. It's bad enough the segues are there in the first place, and then I hear that crap. Andre could have cut out the "sweet bitch" shit. Dracula's Wedding is cool. I also like the acid jazz/funk twist he put on "These are few of my favorite things".



I had the misfortune to sit in traffic for 45 minutes listening to that boring ass album. Repetitive beats, repettive lyrics (when there were lyrics). I hope her record company sees the result when you presure an artist to put something out quickly. Mama's Gunn is fantastic. Classic.

Just yesterday I was wondering what happened to you 69.

CalhounSq said:

Agreed! I was wondering exactly the same thing! In addition, it is widely known that the reason they opted for a two-disc format is that Andre decided to do his own project, and Big Boi simply responded with one of his own.

OK... so I finally bought the discs today and well... I don't hear a lost Prince album in "The Love Below", it's not even a Prince-style album IMHO, Andre3000's got his own style, if Prince would make an album like this it would be fucking lame... It is a nice album though...
Now... Big Boi's "Speakerboxxx", now this is one shitkicking album I love it way more than Dre's disc...

Neversin.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

I too hate that Big Boi thinks it's funny when his YOUNG son says "muthafucka" on record - that is NOT cute. He's on some bamma shit w/ that...

The more I listen to The Love Below, the more I like it. "She's Alive" is really nice, his little unfinished rap @ the end has a nice flow. I really dig it now, I can even get through She Lives In My Lap. I like Dracula's Wedding up to a point - when he says "that freaks me ouuut" all off key & then the chick starts rapping about marshmallows or some shit, they lose me

Neversin said:

This cannot be true! Big Boi's cd is nice and all but better than Dre's? HAHA! Yeah right!

Big Boi's CD is an above average rap CD, simple as that. The Love Below is something altogether different, on a different level. It's easily the best album this year.

I listened to a few if not most of The Love Below.

It's good. There's a song on there were he's TRYING to do the sped up voice thing like Prince and Sly. But its kind of weak and one dimensional, I forget the song.

But Spread is a pretty cool song. The falsetto thing is really suprising. It's actually refreshing to hear that again in Black music these days.

Reminds me of Prince's HIGH.

But personally, I DO NOT see any, ANY similiarities with Parade or something along those lines. Nope. Not that good.

It's hype. Media hype and people wanting to be excited about something.

FlyingCloudPassenger said:

Exactly...

Neversin.

magnificentsynthesizer667 said:

I don't hear anything on Dre's disc that hasn't been done better and more original before... It's not like some groundbreaking/earthshattering, end all be all, perfect, one of a kind album now is it... It's a nice (overhyped) album, nothing more...

Neversin.

i keep reading about the prince influence on this album, particularly love below, and the other disc is meant to be equally strong material wise. its for sale right now at cdwow for 7quid, so i was thinking of picking it up. good idea? in terms of hip hop i like tribe called quest (low end theory), however, i wasnt blown away by ms jackson, though its a nice enough song. what do you think??

I think that both discs hold EQUAL merit, but both have some glaring flaws:

Andre's disc has some good ideas, but most of them are very underdeveloped. Most songs rely on verse and chorus with not much else to offer. Sonically, the instrumentation is too limited...there are some nice horn florishess, but nothing we haven't heard before...this album prides itself on eccentricity, but sadly there isn't much substance to warrant repeated listens.

Big Boi's disc has a lot more of a full sound and sounds more finished, but he needs Dre's personality to offset his gangsta schtick...the main problem I found though was that Big Boi's album lost its way about 2/3 of the way through.

And as Supernova said, too many segues which aren't all that good as in the case of Stankonia et al.

I give the whole album ***1/2

It could have been great if they combined the best songs into one album perhaps...or just spent a little more time on some of the songs.

Not a bad album by any stretch, but its not their best.

.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 15 5:53:22 PDT 2003 by mrdespues]

Neversin said:

You're right it all has been done before, but it's the way he's doing it that makes it incredible.

I hear so many different voices in this album,Jimi Hendrix, Boosty Collins, Nat King Cole, Al Green,Ohio Players,Funkadelic,And of course Prince!

I don't think any artist can call themselves an original everyone has been influenced by another in some form. I don't think you can point out a recent album that serves up a gumbo like The Love Below, if you can please tell me the title and I won't waste anytime in purchasing it.

I'm not saying that there aren't any weaknesses with Dre's disc but I think that's part of the beauty,to see an artist, especially someone in his Genre and his history, break away from the stereotypes and release something that he's truly feeling rather than recycling the same ideas and formula. I

I have yet to see an artist bring something like this to the table. Now Big Boi's cd that's all been done before.

"Hey Ya!" is DIFFERENT...luv it!

also like "Last Call"

the rest sounds like it's got potential to
grow on me...