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APRIL
2004
> THE DOUBLE BLACK ALBUM (2004) | adam barrett
This is how CDs work
with a lot of people: it sucks until the third time it's heard. The
Double Black Album has this effect on me, and at first I didn't give it
the chance it deserves. Cheap Cologne's mix of Jay-Z's Black Album
lyrics over samples of Metallica's Black Album, is hailed by him as a
joke that went too far, and at first listen seems like an apt description.
My second, third, and forth listens brightened my view on the CD, though.
One real gripe I have is that it doesn't establish a hard start. The best
you can expect is a building of anticipation from the beats in Public
Service Announcement, but then is calmed with Change Clothes that
only shines in certain areas of the song. It works as a song, mixed nicely,
but falls in the crack between PSA and the next song Dirt off Your
Shoulder.
Dirt off Your Shoulder works off a slowed down Enter Sandman
underwater (yes, underwater) and into the song, more things come to
attention that makes it more likeable. It's a different take on the versions
I've heard from Danger Mouse and Kanye's original beat, subdued compared to
stand-out. Afterwards starts the real album. It's almost a night and day
difference. The first four songs are all forgotten when 99 Problems
plays with Sad but True samples. James Hetfield's rhythm guitar
screams in the song, and the lyrics flow right over Sad but True like
the two music icons were in the studio working on it at the same time.
Afterwards, the CD finds its legs and runs out, with exception to Lucifer
that doesn't always match up. Lucifer is the best song on the album
if you can bear the cluttered hook. Encore is right up there with
Lucifer, playing over Through the Never. It starts off hard and
abrupt; something that you'll notice the beginning of the CD doesn't do many
times, which is why I feel like it's two different records. The Double
Black Album finishes up with what I can tell is a Cheap Cologne original
beat with "H to the Izzo" lyrics that sounds like Phil Collins crossed with
Aboriginal tribes in Australia. The CD will keep your interest for awhile,
but you'll be skipping the first couple of songs to get to the better part
of the record. You can get the CD from Cheap Cologne's
website or click
here to get it for
free.
>
BIOGRAPHY |
about the author
Adam Barrett is featured in
the anthology Where Handstands Surprise Us: The Best of the Bean Street
Reading Series, which was released in the summer of 2004..
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