Speakerboxxx/The Love Below [PA] - Outkast

Advantages: Amazing Outkast Production, Big Boi's traditional work, Andre's experimental creativity, Fun, Musical Variety
Disadvantages: No Duo Collaborations, Some weak production, Some Filler Songs, Not For Everybody

Outkast has always been an unbelievably creative and experimental group. Arising from the south, which is typically plagued with no-talent wannabe-emcees who can't seem to keep their platinum teeth off each other's rectum, they manage to always provide conventional and beautiful music. Their dope debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was just a mere introduction to their skills, and would only pave the way for their untouchable classic known as ATLiens. ...
...grouping of introspective and thought-provoking music, with their own P-Funkish beats. Their experimentation only continued on their third album Aquemeni, which is yet another superb album. On this one, Big Boi and Andre 3000 experiment with some new sounds, go for some new creative subject matter, and slow down the tempo on a few notes. Their most recent album, 2000's Stankonia, showed how dynamic they were, giving us a mix of unbelievable, up-tempo ... Read review

Advantages: Basically Two Albums in One
Disadvantages: Features Explicit Lyrics (Not that this bothers me)

A couple of days ago I saw the video for Outkast's new single 'Roses' on TV. Set in a 1950's style school gymnasium, it reminds me of the singing contest in 'Grease 2' - vocal harmonies and finger clicking routine accompanied by wails from screaming girls in the audience, and of West Side Story with its depiction of the rivalry between the two gangs representing the two parts of the double album - The Speakerboxx and The Love Below. Brilliantly directed ...
...defining the general feel of 'The Love Below'. The witty lyrics tell of Caroline - 'all the guys would say she's mighty fine / But mighty fine only got you somewhere half the time'. Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000) then goes on to explain 'Caroline, she's the reason for the word "bitch"' with a hilarious and ridiculously catchy chorus that emphasises that appearances aren't everything - 'I know you'd like to thank your sh*t don't stank / But lean ... Read review

Advantages: great variety of songs, good value for money
Disadvantages: tend to listen to just one cd

So the two members of Outkast wanted to go in two different directions with their music - so, rather than stick everything together on the one album, they decided to each produce their own album and combine them together. A fairly novel idea, I think most would agree. And the fact it still retails at the price of a single cd album means its very good value for money. As long as you like at least one of the cds! Track Listings Disc: Speakerboxx ...
...Brown & Jazze Pha 5. The Way You Move Featuring Sleepy Brown 6. The Rooster 7. Bust Featuring Killer Mike 8. War 9. Church 10. Bamboo (Interlude) 11. Tomb Of The Boom Featuring Konkrete, Big Gipp & Ludacris 12. E-Mac (Interlude) 13. Knowing 14. Flip Flop Rock Featuring Killer Mike & Jay-Z 15. Interlude 16. Reset Featuring Khujo Goodie & Cee-Lo 17. D-Boi (Interlude) 18. Last Call Featuring Slimm Calhoun, Lil’ Jon & The East Side Boyz ... Read review

Advantages: FRESH, FUNKY TUNES!!!
Disadvantages: can be a bit repetitive on some of the songs!

If you like outkast then buy it now because it is so much better than their last album. Obviously outkast have thought this album through with a lot of time and effort to bring us this fresh and funky album! The album includes great tunes such as HEYA, THE WAY YOU MOVE and ROSES - you just wonder what will be next! Even if you've not heard of outkast or not too keen on them one of their songs is bound to get you bopping to the beats! This album ...
...with a good beat to it of which my personal favourite is spread which seems to be a bit crude but has a really good beat to it and never get bored of it!! The album consists of two 2 disks (40 songs altogether) of which the first disk is by Big Boi and the second Andre 3000 who recently released the first fast and funky tune 'Heya'. The second tune outkast released is called 'The way you move.' Hot out in the charts not so long ago was the song ... Read review

Advantages: 2 albums, different styles
Disadvantages: Few cross overs on songs

...which preceded this one. Speakerboxxx/The Love below transcends even this album, it is a great mixture of Rap, R&B and the Sound of Music. Speakerboxxx is the offering from Big Boi, and is predominantly what i would consider a rap album (i do not have great experience within this music group), it has some very good beats and his voice is complented well by Sleepy Brown who appears on many of the songs. The highlights of this CD are the single ...
...young son Bamboo, where Big Boi's dislike of Michael Jackson is revealed. The Love Below is the better of the two albums with the highlights being the totally infectious 'Hey Ya' and 'Roses' as well as the jazzed up version of 'My Favourite Things'. Andre 3000 blends great lyrics with amazing beats and the occasional bout of weirdness which make this cd one of the greatest and easiest to listen to that i have heard. The two CD's complement each ... Read review