Album Details

• Artist: Gnarls Barkley
• Album: St. Elsewhere
• Label: Downtown
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2011-02-26

Shock and awe! Why hasn't this album been reviewed?! Another one through the cracks, now caught and properly praised. Gnarls Barkley, the brainchild of producer/musician/twisted genius Danger Mouse and vocalist extraordinaire Cee-Lo Green, has long since the debut of St. Elsewhere become a name brand. For me, it was the combination of their sample-swapping music and quite clever and humorous band pics from the time (which used famous characters such as those found in Wayne's World, The Big Lebowski, and of course Cheech and Chong) that caused me to fall quite quickly in love. These songs are fantastic, not one of them bad, each one unique in what it offers, true testament to a creative manipulator of sound and a sublimely unique voice.

Most songs on the album contain samples from music I've never heard, so in my ineptitude, I can't really say for sure how much of the album is "original" in terms of melodies and beats, but, frankly, that's not the point at all. The point is the perfect melding of those melodies and beats into cohesive, catchy music, and Cee-Lo's provacative, eccentric lyrical approach hits home on top of it all. "Go-Go Gadget Gospel" is about as descriptive an opener you'll get on such a varied album. "Crazy" is, after all this time, still a fun song to listen to and sing along with, a song whose popularity was well deserved. The title track is decidedly mellow, smooth and very crisp, with Cee-Lo hitting some higher registers, perhaps outside of his comfort zone but melodically sound all the same."Gone Daddy Gone" and "Smiley Faces" sound like revamps of nostalgic Motown, at once indie in spirit and roaming in the realms of Beatles-esque unapologetic poppiness. "The Boogie Monster" is a playful adaptation of a creepy campfire story, and Cee-Lo does his best Dracula impression, combining eccentricity with what one might take to be an actual attempt at horror. "Just A Thought" is one of my all-time favorite songs, beautifully tragic with a certain sense of humor about it that is hard to pin down. It's got one hell of a beat to it. And to follow that up with the truly bizarre "Transformer" goes to show you this album is not about flow from song to song, but from moment to momen, each song encapsuled and isolated on it's own island, damn near an album in each track. The rest of the bunch all offer something to the listener, but my favorite is "Necromancer", very twisted, dark and containing the sort of sense of humor that none of us want to admit to having, but I feel most of us do. This, and "Just A Thought", are like mirrors placed facing each other.

I considered it before I started writing, but now I know I have to do it. This album belongs in the vault. For popularity's sake? No. For the chemistry of two collaborating artists, on their debut, to show this much talent and to create such wonderfully deep and provocative pieces of music. To manipulate sounds in such a way as to make samples sound like original compositions, and to fully embrace the production space in a way I've heard very few do. Danger Mouse is a genius, Cee-Lo Green is a masterful voice and Gnarls Barkley were, on St. Elsewhere, one of the most enjoyable musical experiences to be had.

User Reviews and Comments

Review:

on 2012-03-08 CharlesMartel Said:

Atlanta duo Gnarls Barkley made music history when their single, taken from the album, "St Elsewhere" was the first to go to the top of the US charts as a download only release. Now "Crazy" was an okay song. It was not something which was going to set the world alight but it had enough to make it, justifiably, a hit. The trouble is that Gnarls Barkley were unable to follow it up on their album.

Take one pretty good pop single. Add to the mix a handful of decent if run-of-the-mill melodies and throw in a load of worthless filler. You will, unfortunately, end up with something which sounds pretty much like "St Elsewhere". Nothing else on the album comes close to "Crazy" and anyone expecting anything of the sort will be sorely disappointed. As was I.

Now DJ Dangermouse (one half of the duo) may have gone on to bigger and brighter things, while Cee Lo Green (the other half) may have embarked on his own, largely forgettable pop career, but the combined talents of these two (for Cee Lo does have a fine voice, even if the sounds which come out of it of late are frequently uninspired drivel) have not lived up to expectations on this album. OK, "Go Go Gadget Hospital" is tolerable, but there are some real shockers on here - "Necromancer" being the obvious one but "The Boogie Monster" is not that far behind.

In fact, since I bought the album and first listened to it, I have not sat and listened to this album the whole way through. I just cannot manage it. It seems to me to be the classic example of an album put out by a singles' band - pride of place to the hit single, throw in a couple of other near-misses in the charts and then pad out the rest of the album with whatever crap comes to hand. To make matters worse the album tries to hide what it really is - a pop album. There is nothing wrong with some decent lightweight pop every now and again, but to pretend that this is either soul or hip hop is really taking it too far.

At the end of the day, this is one album which annoys me, perhaps more than any other. It gets a rating only for "Crazy", and were it not for that track I think I would find it hard to give this anything at all.
Rating: 5/10

on 2011-02-28 Sinist3r Punk Said:

Hooray this got a review!! Good job Kevin, I'm glad your back
Not Rated