Re: Album of the day (#7364): Voodoo by D'Angelo

DommeDamian — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:41:50 GMT

Author: DommeDamian

Posted: 08/10/2026 14:41

2024: "After a few years where Brown Sugar took over as my favorite D'Angelo record, and another where both albums went on vacation from rotation, Voodoo is back in action, baby. And despite the above description being a big dumpster fire of words (how dare I diss Prince), most of the statements still ring true. D'Angelo did what he set to do by making the record feel like a demo, and imo the best kind of demo you could find. As in Voodoo sounds like a passion project from a high-spirited funk-soul band rather than a commercial product. Normally this type of funk and soul music can be very derivative to me, because it has it easy in being monotonous and tackily uplifting, but Voodoo is different; not only is there melodic layers you won't find elsewhere, but nearly every song up until the last have eerily dark undertones. D'Angelo breezes his melancholia across me as a listener, and his sharp pristine voice carries them into my heart. Through a variety f'course, because outside of delicious neo-soul, we get hip-hop soul with Devil's Pie, jazz-fusion on Spanish Joint, and Africa's combo of tribal and music-box. Also, the album is 79 minutes long, which should be a chore but it is a joy. Every song, like The Cure's Disintegration (actually more than that record even) takes its time, the shortest song being Chicken Grease at four and a half minutes. I submerge myself into this album and I forget time, and at best it can be life-affirming on multiple occasions through the experience. That's probably the biggest reason why I cannot pinpoint why some of the tunes here are the best music my ears have gotten. With every listen, the easiest thing is to follow one instrument at a time and get pure pure vibes. Cause yeah, this is urban vibes: the (classy) album."

Album of the day (#7364): Voodoo by D'Angelo

BestEverAlbums — Sun, 9 Aug 2026 16:00:25 GMT

Author: BestEverAlbums

Posted: 08/09/2026 20:00

Today's album of the day

Voodoo by D'Angelo (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 2000.
Country:
D'Angelo discography rank: 1 (out of 5 listed on BEA)
2000 rank: 10
2000s rank: 78
Overall rank: 487
Average rating: 80/100 (from 449 votes).

Tracks:
1. Playa Playa
2. Devil's Pie
3. Left & Right (Feat. Redman & Method Man)
4. The Line
5. Send It On
6. Chicken Grease
7. One Mo' Gin
8. The Root
9. Spanish Joint
10. Feel Like Makin' Love
11. Greatdayindamornin' / Booty
12. Untitled (How Does It Feel)
13. Africa

indicates a top-rated track.

Top voted comments:

"no comments at all on this album? makes sense, people were probably listening to it, ready to comment, then suddenly found themselves in a steamy, salty, nine-hour sex marathon. IT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LISTEN TO VOODOO."
- weedygonsalez (Rating: 100/100)
________________________________________________________

"I'm not one for unhesitatingly making accusations of bigotry/nepotism etc. That is unless I'm absolutely certain it's justified. This album is horrendously overlooked by this website in my opinion. It's easily one of the biggest influences on artists of the current generation in genres such as Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz etc. The name Voodoo has become so much a part of the lexicon of modern musicians that it deserves to be revered on a similar level to the likes Madvillainy, MBDTF, Illmatic and possibly even the two Kendrick albums.

3 years of recording in the making, this is one of the most perfectly engineered albums you'll ever hear, with every layer of sound recorded to perfection. And there are many layers, sometimes even up to 5 reals of tape were used on single tracks such as 'The Root', most of which where made up of the repeated takes of D'Angelo's voice harmonising with itself at least a dozen times over (none of which would ever be erased). Yet somehow despite the density of the recordings, it remains one of the most delicate and dynamic sounding albums you'll ever hear. And the delicacy is galvanised by the crazy and unsteady-yet-perfect grooves provided by the drum and bass pairing of ?uestlove and Pino Palladino, a match made in heaven.

Unfortunately this leads me to conclude that this website has something of a bias against some black musicians. I'm not saying that I think Radiohead, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc probably wouldn't be right at the top of the all time greatest artists list if you're asking hardcore music fans, but I also don't think this website is as meritocratic as it could be based on how overlooked an album like this can be. There's even a Linkin Park album that came out in the same year that is ranked higher ffs.

It's unfortunate that this album somehow didn't find the place it deserves in the critical canon, even if you do find it in the Rolling Stone top 500 list, you won't see anywhere near the same reverence for this album given by critics as you will find given by the relevant musicians of today (including the likes of Solange, James Blake and Thundercat, not to mention the countless many more who have sampled this album to death).

Anyways, rant over, please don't feel pressured to agree, this is just what's currently on my mind whenever I see this album on this website."
- Jordbord (Rating: 90/100)
________________________________________________________

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

Best Ever Albums

Re: Album of the day (#7364): Voodoo by D'Angelo

Album of the day (#7364): Voodoo by D'Angelo