28. D’Angelo, "Voodoo"

 


This album has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the Rolling Stone Top 500.  In 2003, it was number 488.  On the 2012 list, it was 481, and now it's 28.  That's a pretty impressive jump!

I want to come right out and say that while this album is perfectly fine to listen to, it failed to ignite any strong feelings in me, which once again puts me in that awkward position of Not Really Caring About a Critically Loved Album.  And I'm not kidding about critically loved; it was Time magazine's number 1 album of 2000, a Pitchfork 10, and number 3 on Nöjesguiden's albums of the year (which I guess means Nordic youth really got down to it).

The sound is something like old-school R&B with a solid Prince influence and a chill, moody vibe.  The songs are uncrowded and mostly downtempo affairs, with a few exceptions.  "Devil's Pie" has a solid hip hop beat and layers of vocals decrying the playa lifestyle:

Fuck the slice, want the pie
Why ask why 'til we fry
Watch us all stand in line
For a slice of the devil's pie
Drugs and thugs, women, wine
Three or four at a time
Watch them all stand in line
For a slice of the devil's pie

Probably my favorite song on the album.  Most of the songs are more laid-back, reserved affairs.  Someone said it was "post-coital" and that seems about right.  Recorded on tape instead of digital, and using old-school equipment, it has a sort of timeless feeling, like it could have been made at any point in the last 40 years.  Look, I think it's probably great, it's really just Not My Thing.

See you post-Christmas.

Is this album in my personal Top 100? No.

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