Gnarls Barkley Album: “The Odd Couple”

"I got some bad news this morning

Which in turn made my day..."

If you've seen the video for "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)," the first single from Atlanta based Gnarls Barkley's second LP, The Odd Couple, you'll get a sense of the juxapositions that run through the rest of the densely layered, emotionally complex album: 60's and 70's pop and soul bumping up against modern hip-hip and electronica; breezy, upbeat sounding music over dark, even menacing sounding lyrics and vocals. If the result is occasionally disorienting, it's also almost unfailingly intoxicating and just plain fun to hear. Even though the strongest material is weighted towards the first half, The Odd Couple is head and shoulders a better album than St. Elsewhere, and that album wasn't too shabby. Here's hoping that Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse, the two talented musicians behind Gnarls Barkley, are just beginning to build a body of work for their band. Standout cuts: "Charity Case," "Going On," "Run [I'm A Natural Disaster]" and "Surprise."

I've been living with this CD for about a fortnight now and while I absolutely love it, while I strongly believe that Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green are one of the most innovative and exciting duos in music right now, and while this album offers much of what I was hoping for - fresh, modern music, soulful vocals set to solid beats, and deep, introspective lyrics - I found that it took a little longer than

to get into. Nothing jumped out and grabbing me by the b**s like a handful of the tunes on "St. Elsewhere" did and I initially struggled to see how some reviewers could consider this the better album.

But, slowly and eventually it came to me, much like a celestial revelation. The more I listened, the more I got it. This album is absolutely incredible. Take songs like "Charity Case" (love the backing vocals by Sierra Simone) and "Who's Gonna Save My Soul", (rumoured to be the second single; Cee-Lo definitely has one of the most soulful voices around at the moment and just check out the opening lyrics: "I got some bad news this mornin'/ Which in turn made my day/ When this someone spoke, I listened/ All of a sudden had less and less to say"). Once I REALLY started to listen, both made me think, ah, yes, this is just like old times! This is what Gnarls Barkley are all about!

Then there's the incredibly danceable "Going On", the manic lead single, "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)" and to be honest, so it goes right up to the final track, "A Little Better". I do have favourites though: All of the aforementioned, "Whatever", the western-styled "Surprise", "Blind Mary" (another strong contender for a single, methinks) and "Neighbors". That's more or less every song on the CD.

So the answer is yes. In my opinion, and without any doubt, this IS a much better product than "St Elsewhere". What I'm not so sure about is whether it will have the same mass appeal. This one requires a bit more thought and most people just don't have the patience these days.

I'm just saying.

The exprimental 2006 collaboration between R&B singer/Rapper Cee-Lo (ex Goodie Mob) and Producer Danger Mouse who worked with Gorrillaz and the world's most reserved Rapper/Producer MF DOOM (who always wears a mask not to reveal his face) proved successful. The odd couple known as Gnarls Barkley scored one of that years biggest hits with "Crazy" from debut album

The music they delivered was odd, witty, playful and very exprimental with samples from all kinds of genres. The paranoid hit "Crazy" had sampled some obscure Spaghetti Western from the 60's and further proved what you can do if you have fantasy, humour and alot of time on your hands. The rest of the album had it's moments aswell even if the oddity that you found on song number 12 was a bit too much in my opinion. However, "Crazy" became the only hit from "St Elsewhere" and the album eventually sold almost 4 million copies, far more then they ever thought it would do. Gnarls Barkley had no other choise then to get back into the studio and record it's successor, "The Odd Couple" and it's released just two years after.

Before getting into their new album let's start by saying that the whole point with their debut album was to explore new territory, not only musically but also within themselves and to have fun during the process. And "St Elsewhere" succeeded with finding new angles of two very strong personalities and also to make remarkable music that was both unique and challenging. That "Crazy" became such a big hit and closely associated with them was just a bonus and perhaps at times even a liability. On their sophmore effort they don't try to re-create "Crazy" nor making overly commercial radio singles, instead they dig deeper into their creative minds and the end result is something rather diffrent with alot of dark midtempo's that are innovative but take more listens to enjoy. Having said that, the album is still unpredictable, charming and funny at it's best and should atleast make some people content. The album gets a good start with "Charity Case", a beautiful slowtempo with distorted female vocals. Next up is "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" a somber slowtempo which feature a very powerful performnce by Cee-Lo but the song itself is dark and depressing. "Going On" is most likely about dying. It got this very catchy electro beat sound on it's hook and I'd say it's one of the best and most engaging songs. "Run" is the closest you got to "Crazy" cause it's the only uptempo this album offers. It got this 60's rock feeling mix with dance music and surely got the hit potential aswell. The lyrics go like "You can't win child,

/We've all tried too/ You've been lied to/ It's already inside you

/Either you run right now, or you best get ready to die" I'm not sure wether the songs refers to running away from danger or run to the floor to dance? That's the brilliance of GB's unpredictable lyrics. "Would Be Killer" on the other hand is just to dark and obscure when Cee-Lo sings he's some kind of evil-minded serial killer. Infact, he sound rather evil here. "Open Book" feature tribal drums and a hard electro beat and plenty of shouts of desperation. Another really odd number. On the 60 pop esque "Whatever" Cee-Lo sounds whiny for the major part and sings about a lonewolf kid that doesn't have any friends. The song is actually whatever to me. Cee-Lo offers some of his best lyrics on "Surprise", yet another 60's sounding pop/soul song. The lyrics here are ironic but that's not surprising?.

Breakup song, or is it about death again? "No Time Soon" is exprimental and melancholy but this time it works rather well cause of it's beautiful sound. "She Knows" seems to be a love song or something in that way, it's slow but forgettable. I couldn't quite figure out wether "Blind Mary" is a love song about a blind girl or to a certain Mary Jane. It's anyone's guess. I found the lyrics "She's my friend she doesn't judge me/ She has no idea I'm ugly/ So I have absolutely nothing to hide/because I'm so much prettier inside" to be rather funny actually. Aparently Cee-Lo got issues with his neighbours aswell on the next song called "Neighbour", when everything was already going wrong atleast he could have been more lucky with this. The song is once again sang in a melancholy and somewhat sarcastic mood. "A Little Better" seems to be about dying too. Not too remarkable, but it's sang in a faster way then most songs here. With 13 songs it closes the album.

Overall, Some people are gonna love this and say it's ultimately one of the most exprimental, creative and original albums of the year, while others will say it's too exprimental, too somber and lacking from the obvious big hit single. At times this album is absolutely brilliant and it feels more coherant then their first one with it's themes and sound, on other occasions it's just to "artistic" and there are a few songs that could have been left out. Some more uptempo's wouldn't hurt and I miss Cee-Lo rapping. But the final outcome of this album isn't surprising me alot, Gnarls Barkley doesn't compromise nor settle for pretty radio hits. This project is all about exprimentation and getting the best out of themselves. And they suceed with that for the major part. However, It does have it's points with rich sound, smart lyrics and alot versatility in Cee-Lo's vovals. If you feel like this is what you asked for from the start, you should give it a try but people that expected them to make more songs like "Crazy" should be forewarned. Final rate 3'5. I certainly hope to hear more from them in the future.

Back again, Gnarls Barkley cannot fail to deliver. Don't be surprised, though, if it takes more than one listen to get hooked. It happened on the second for me. Why, you ask? To me, it's because this is much more of a psychologically charged album than its feel-good predecessor. As exposed in St. Elsewhere, the feel of the soul-infused craziness moves deeper to a more manic state of soulful agitation in the Odd Couple. It may be a metaphor of the GB persona as there is a Jekyll & Hyde feel to this album; GB has descended from a self-aware state of craziness to a musical personality that seems to border on insanity, an ego uncontrolled and exploring its limitations.

There is a definite progression in the songs from "Charity Case" all the way to "Surprise". If one can get beyond the groove, the precisely orchestrated beats, you might just feel the transformation. Lyrically, the Odd Couple is kinda creepy, albeit gloriously set to music. In this way it's more subtle than St. Elsewhere, but its depth is piercing. It's about the pain of being a self-described natural disaster, an ugly wretch, an open book for all to see, though possessing a final chapter yet to be written. There's a whole lot of pain, but a whole lot of soul here as expected, too. Danger Mouse is a genius, and Cee-Lo has got to be the reincarnation of Otis Redding. A perfect match.

Love the new album. I was a fan of a few of the singles from the first album. On their sophomore effort, Gnarls Barkley has fully accomplished consistency. The entire project sounds like it was meant to go together. The tracks just flow together so fluidly, and they all feel like part of the same family.

Would recommend highly if you like that mid-tempo, funk infused vibe.