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So, second album in a year from Missy, and on the surface quite markedly different from Miss E... So Addictive. Anyone else got this yet, and if so, whaddaya tink?
I'm in two minds about this one. Let's start with the negative bits first, although I'll preface even that by saying that I'm judging Missy against her own standards and those of her peers - obviously it kicks the ass of shit like Cannibal Ox and Coldplay and all that shit you like, bwaharr. Well, concept albums are a funny beast, and this is definitely a concept album: more worrying still, the concept is, "let's take it back to the old skool, when hip-hop was much more fun than it is now". Which would ordinarily have me running for the door, and is especially shocking coming from someone whose last two albums have been so damn futuristic. I'll move onto why this isn't such a problem next paragraph, for now let's just say that the idea is hammered home with all the subtlety of a Mark Millar comic: loads of really over-familiar vocal samples to start tracks - do we really need to hear Chuck D counting to 9 again? And is doing a track with Method Man called 'Bring The Pain' that sounds verrrry similar to the original supposed to be part of this celebration of the good old days - in which case, eh? (The song itself is okay, a guilty pleasure, but not one of her best, and Meth's rap is him only turned up to 6 or 7, although it does feature the great line "tell 'em, M I crooked letter crooked letter Y".) Also annoying is Missy's new habit of saying "This. Is. Another. Missy. Elliott. Exclusive." over the start of *every* track.
But enough griping - let's talk about the good stuff. Timbaland and Missy's beats here include some that really take it to the next level - Timbo's response to The Neptunes (as I like to imagine it, in a Beatles/Beach Boys stylee) is to make the snare drums even louder and snappier, the basslines even louder and filthier, the weird background noises and odd percussion even weirder and odder, the involuntary-neck-movement "dunh-dunh-dunh, dunh-dunh-dah" even more... oh, you know. 'Go To The Floor' - does what it says on the tin, a real carnival dancefloor number, you imagine it'll sound fantastic on a big soundsystem. 'Gossip Folks' - yeeeahhh, this isn't an old skool album at all, you think - classic ace Tim beat, Missy sing/rapping in a weird helium-induced speedy way, weird "zuh zuh zuh zuh kizzer" nonsense talking in the chorus, nice Ludacris guest spot. 'Work It' - you should know this already, sex on a plate, big squelchy funk noises, Missy's best lyrics ever, backwards vocals, just like The Gossip, "you think you can handle this guh-dunk-a-dunk-dunk?". 'Funky Fresh Dressed' - same drum sound Timbaland used on 'Oops', maybe, but who cares - great chorus, a track for getting ready to go out to, probably the best realisation of the idea of this album: building the future out of bits of the past, and maybe Tim & Missy couldn't go any further in the future-electro direction they'd mastered previously. 'Slide' - the same as 'Work It' except EVEN BETTER, highlight of the album, in your FACE Neptunes!
Right, that's enough ranting from me, I'm off to listen to this some more. |
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