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Idlewild

OutKast - Idlewild Audio CD

A fair review of the OutKast "Idlewild" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all OutKast reviews here, or go back to the OutKast tabs.

Band: OutKast
Title: Idlewild
Rating:

Release Date: 2006-08-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Intro 2: Mighty O 3: Peaches - Sleepy Brown, OutKast, 4: Idlewild Blue (Don't Chu Worry 'Bout Me) 5: Infatuation (Interlude) 6: N2U - Khujo Goodie, OutKast 7: Morris Brown - Sleepy Brown, OutKast, 8: Chronomentrophobia 9: Train - Sleepy Brown, OutKast, 10: Life Is Like a Musical 11: No Bootleg DVDs (Interlude) 12: Hollywood Divorce - Lil Wayne, , OutKast, Snoop Dogg 13: Zora (Interlude) 14: Call the Law 15: Bamboo & Cross (Interlude) 16: Buggface 17: Makes No Sense at All 18: In Your Dreams - Killer Mike, , OutKast 19: PJ & Rooster 20: Mutron Angel - OutKast, Whild Peach, 21: Greatest Show on Earth - Macy Gray, OutKast 22: You're Beautiful (Interlude) 23: When I Look in Your Eyes 24: Dyin' to Live 25: Bad Note

Dissapointing, But Still Solid (Rating: 7 out of 10- -3.5 stars)
That being said, this album was a slight dissapointment from all other Outkast albums that I've heard. Outkast is probably one of my most influentual groups to come out of the hometown of ATL. Being based off the movie "Idlewild" I figured this would be a nice album in connection to the movie it was based on. Like a lot of people noticed, this album is like "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below". In fact it's a little too much like it (I'm suprised it wasn't a double disc as well). With Andre 3000 doing more singing, he sounds a little off with his vocals. I understand that he was experimenting with his singing vocals on "The Love Below", but I just wasn't feeling it on "Idlewild". Newer fans od Outkast (post "Stankonia") will like it, but those who have been down since "Southernplaya. . . " will be scratching their head. Nown old fans feel relieved when they hear Andre spit some rhymes, like on "Hollywood Divorce" and "Mighty O", two of the best songs on this album. Personally this is the Andre I wanted to hear. If I wanted to hear him sing, I would have stuck with their double disc.

As for Big Boi, he does a good job pulling his weight on his solo tracks. Another favorite song on here was "The Train", that was done by him solo. His style really hasn't changed much since the last album, which is actually good for me. He can still pull some dope rhymes. Some of his solo songs I wasn't feeling as well, like "Morris Brown".

Overall this is a solid album to me. Not as good as other Outkast albums, but it's still good. I just don't like the fact that there are a bunch of Big Boi and Andre solo songs with some of the songs they are on together (about three total), and then called an Outkast CD. As I said before, most of their previous albums they were rhyming toghether and very little singing (i. e. "Funky Ride" & "Liberation"). Also I found there were very limited guests from the Dungeon Family (except for Sleep Brown, Killer Mike, Khujo from Good Mob), as well as others like Macy Gray. I still love Outkast as one of my favorite groups, and how much sucessful they have became, especially with a good movie along with this. But if I had to choose their worst album, it would be this one. But thats not saying much, because all their albums are worth hearing.

Lyrics: B-
Production: B
Guest Appearances: B
Musical Vibes: C+
Overall: B-

My Favorite Tracks: Mighty O, Peaches, N2U, The Train, Hollywood Divorce, PJ & Rooster, Buggface

Honorable Mention: Life Is Like A Musical

Favorite Outkast Albums From Best To Worst:
1. Southernplayaisticmuzik
2. Aquemini
3. ATLiens
4. Speakerboxx/The Love Below
5. Stankonia
6. Idlewild

Peace Everyone!!!.

I Go Wild
My favorite song is Zora's song, Call The Law. After seeing the movie, I knew I had to have the soundtrack, too. For any woman have trouble with a man, this may help you, too. ;).

The Outkast Vehicle Makes A Pit Stop {4 Stars}
There was a paragraph in particular that pretty much summed up my sentiments. I was reading the Washington Post about two days before the release of this album and in the Style section I found a review of this album that seemed pretty fair. And it said:

"Tied to a film of the same name, the album is actually pretty good. But OutKast isn't supposed to do pretty good. It's supposed to do great, and anything that falls short is a failure" (you can pretty much google the piece I'm talking about).

While I wouldn't call it a failure, I simply couldn't put it any better. Outkast typically achieves greatness with every release. There are, in fact, some great tracks to be found. Like most, I couldn't stand "Morris Brown" when it first dropped, but now I can't get enough of it. "Hollywood Divorce" features excellent verses from Andre, Big Boi, and Lil' Wayne and, with it's great concept/topic, is one of the albums better tracks. A lot of the production is handled by Andre, Big Boi, N8 "Rocket" Wonder, Slim Jim & Mr. DJ, Kevin Kendrick, and Organized Noise. For the most part, the production is good.

What plagues the album are the number of stinkers. Just when I felt like I was with them and things were good, they'd lay an egg and prove that I didn't know what I was talking about. The best example of this would be the contrast between "Life Is Like A Musical" and "Chronomentrophobia". The former contains decent/tolerable singing and good production while the later contains a great rap verse and the beat is on point, but Dre ruins it with his off key singing. I understand though, like he said on the album, he's bored. However, I do feel like he will eventually hit his creative stride -- it just didn't happen on this particular album.

We've all become accustomed to Outkast hitting home runs with every release. After watching them do it time and time again, it's kind of awkward when they hit a triple. Despite a few misfires, there's plenty of great material to be found on the album. Idlewild is definitely worth a listen. I recommend checking this out.

Standout Tracks: Life Is Like A Musical, N2U feat. Khujo Goodie, Mighty O, Hollywood Divorce feat. Lil' Wayne & Snoop Dogg, Peaches, Morris Brown feat. Scar & Sleepy Brown, Buggface, The Train feat. Sleepy Brown & Scar, Call The Law, and Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me).

Tight Outkast Release...BUT...
While I was feelin' yet another, southern fried, stankonified, organic, red planet release from the homeboys Dre and Big Boi. . I was hopin' for alot more music from the film itself. The majority is full of new joints, while a good 5 or so are from the film. Tight release though.

Mighty ighty ighty iiiiiiiii
. . . odie odie odie ooooo!!!!!! What can you really say about these guys. Their great!! They are the best rap group in the history of hip hop! In an era of complete unoriginality, Outkast continues to set apart themselves. This album is no exception. Keep in mind, IT IS A SOUNDTRACK, not a 7th Outkast album as some reviewers want you to believe. Even with that being said, this soundtrack possesses some of that old Outkast magic like "Mighty O", "Morris Brown", "Idlewind Blues" and the incredible "Hollywood Divorse" which features Snoop and Lil Wayne and yes, 3000 spits on this track as well. Very, very nice! I highly recommend all Outkast fans to go buy this soundtrack and even if you're not necessarily an Outkast fan per say, go cop it anyways. It's got something the previous 40 or so rap cd's released this year doesn't, originality. .

You can see a complete list of all OutKast discography, or go back to the OutKast tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.