Where is else? (St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley)

Member Name: buzzard_cad

Product:	St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
Date:	13/02/07 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some good tracks, a different sounding band

Disadvantages: Lots of short filler tracks

Firstly I must say that normally I would not have bought this album as I know nothing about the band, but this was not a normal situation. It was August 2006 and we were driving around Norway in a hired car. In our wisdom we had bought along an MP3 player instead of our usual CD walkman and discs. So we were stuck with a car entertainment system that consisted of Norwegian radio and a separate MP3 player. Mrs Cad was able to listen to the MP3 player, whilst I went stir crazy listening to circa 1980's pop music that had a nasty habit of cracking up every time I went drove over a mountain into the next valley. After nearly five hours driving I pulled into a garage and Mrs Cad saw this CD sitting on a shelf. We bought it at a premium price for around £16 along with another album and proceeded to listen to it as we drove deeper into Fjord county.

Instantly I disliked the first track 'Go-Go Gadget Gospel', it sounded broken, the beat seemed all wrong and I couldn't understand the lyrics. I couldn't wait for the next track, but as I heard the album more and more over the next two weeks I slowly warmed to this track. I could see where the gospel part of the track title came from as it did have a strong happy clapping church feel to it, which I soon liked. When I hear this track now it does induce a warm glow in me and brings a rye smile to my face.

The next track is one I recognised from radio plays in the UK. 'Crazy' starts with a slow drum beat and continues on rhythmically with a strong bass beat. The lyrics on this one are crisp and clear coming across really well. I also thought that they are profound lyrics if you have ever suffered from any sort of mental disturbance. The line '...but it wasn't because I didn't know enough. I just knew too much.' summed up the entire track for me. The whole track is very complete and has a funky feel to it with twinges of sadness injected by the violin parts over the chorus. Certainly one track that has been on my MP3 player ever since.

The third track 'St. Elsewhere' is a forgettable one with gentle guitars and a slow relaxing beat. It slots between the previous track and next one in such a way that when you are driving you hardly notice it. As for next track 'Gone Daddy Gone' the funk returns with a happy beat although listening to the lyrics you might not be so joyous. With the line '... your love has gone away.' it is certainly not about happy families. Still a track that I enjoyed.

'Smiley Faces' is the fifth track on the album and it manages to keep up the funky tempo. This is a good track which if my feet aren't busy driving I will tap along to it. Another one which has been placed on the MP3 player and will bring a grin it my face. The next track brings the beat down a notch, but continues the theme of the album. 'Boogie Monster' is a bass driven track with good lyrics, however don't listen too closely as Mrs Cad noticed that the lyrics did get a bit rude towards the end.

The seventh track of the album is it's shortest at just under a minute and a half. 'Feng Shui' is another one of these filler tracks between two better ones. Its not a terrible track, but it is not a great stand out track either. 'Just a Thought' rolls off the end of the previous track and is the longest on the album at over three and a half minutes. It is a slow tempo track with lyrics that are lamenting and are only clear when the word 'suicide' appears. Not one of the happier tracks on the album.

The funky feel of the album is re-ignited with 'Transformer' which has a very happy feel to it. It also has a some very silly voices singing the lyrics, which makes it a track that you will either laugh along with or think what the hell? One that is on my MP3 player just for being totally different and silly. The tenth track 'Who Cares?' is a strange one with a beat that somehow doesn't quite work and lyrics that don't really make sense to me. A track I can only label as bizarre, not funky and slightly weird.

The album is slowly losing it's tempo and funk. 'Online' is another slow track that if you are not listening carefully will just disappear into the album. It is followed by 'Necromancer' which is another track that loses the happy feeling that some of the albums earlier tracks had. Musically it is okay, but if you are not in a good mood when you start listening to this track then it will not fill you with good feeling as you listen to the lyrics.

Just when you think all is lost along comes 'Storm Coming' to steady the album. It has a very good funky guitar riff and beat that I really liked. The lyrics are okay to start with and improve as the track reaches its halfway point. Another track which was on my MP3 player for a while, but didn't last long as it wasn't quite as happy or as good as some of the others. The final track on the album is 'The Last Time' which is also a good track and rounds the album off nicely. It pretty much sums up the album with a good beat and lyrics in places, however it loses it towards the end.

In short this is a good album, it has some decent tracks on it in places, but it also has some tracks that don't quite fit. The following tracks were initially put onto my MP3 player, 'Go-Go Gadget Gospel', 'Crazy', 'Gone Daddy Gone', 'Smiley Faces', 'Transformer' and 'Storm Coming'. Over time though I have whittled the list down to 'Crazy', 'Smiley Faces' and 'Transformer' so I would have to recommend these tracks as ones to listen too. As for the other tracks they are not that bad and the testament to that statement is for two weeks the whole album was played in the car whilst we were travelling around Norway. True we had another album to play with, but the fact that we never threw it away or had to buy another album makes this an album which doesn't annoy after repetitive listening. The album should be cheaper than we paid for it, but at no time did I feel that I had been diddled out my money and felt that what I paid for it under the circumstances made it good value.

(c)buzzard_cad 2007
This review may be found at other websites under the same user name and is also written by me.

Summary: A different unique sounding album