Best Ever Albums

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

paladisiac — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 18:20:53 GMT

Author: paladisiac

Posted: 12/23/2014 23:20

19loveless91 wrote:

Black Messiah by D'Angelo

HEY, let's all laugh at all the music publications releasing their year end lists before this came out!!!!!!

many of 'em will just pop it onto their 2015 list like they did with the 2013 beyonce surprise on this year's lists.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 12:49:10 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/23/2014 17:49

Skinny wrote:

I feel this album's greatest strength is the way it manages to sound so relaxed and spontaneous and yet still feels like it has been painstakingly slaved over, with every sound adjusted and readjusted down to the tiniest detail, which is exactly the same feeling I get from Aphex Twin's Syro.

Great comparison. Been having a mini-obsession with that one too. Maybe my favorite James release, though I'm not nearly familiar enough with his catalog for that to carry much weight.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Skinny — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 12:20:16 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 12/22/2014 17:20

Definitely getting major Sly Stone and George Clinton vibes, but Prince sounds like the overriding influence to me. Some of the sweeter songs in that middle section sound like they could've come from Around the World in a Day. Anyway, the album is excellent, been listening to it quite a lot since it dropped. Difficult to say where it ranks among D'Angelo's other albums, but they're all of very high quality. I feel this album's greatest strength is the way it manages to sound so relaxed and spontaneous and yet still feels like it has been painstakingly slaved over, with every sound adjusted and readjusted down to the tiniest detail, which is exactly the same feeling I get from Aphex Twin's Syro. The mixing's fantastic, from the relentless unease brought about by '1000 Deaths' to the way 'Really Love' slowly unfurls from very little to feel like a lived-in classic. 'Another Love' is practically a Delfonics song, which I can definitely dig. Anyway, album is dope, easily Top Ten of the year, good to have D'Angelo back. (I wasn't joking with that Erykah Badu comment, though.)

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 11:17:33 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/21/2014 16:17

This album dropped just as I started really getting into D'Angelo, so it was a really pleasant surprise. Really good album, perhaps even better than Voodoo at times simply because it has the variety that Voodoo suffers from lacking. I certainly need to give it another listen, it could very confidently lodge itself into my top 5 for the year.

I wonder if there's any science behind why things can be so damn smooth.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

alelsupreme — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 10:46:13 GMT

Author: alelsupreme

Posted: 12/21/2014 15:46

I swear to god I've heard The Door on an advert...

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Mercury — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 01:41:14 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 12/21/2014 06:41

This album is amazing! On many levels. I love how when I listen to it I am kind of reminded of similar vibes from earlier greats like Sly Stone and Prince and Al Green. At the same time I am looking at a whole unique evolution and somewhat woozy experimental album at times too - an album that doesn't sound like the past but something NOW and into tomorrow. And at the same time the issues and the subjects at times totally reflect a vital "NOWness". It's a beautiful balance. And his vocals are just so strange at times. And at other times so traditional and affecting in either mode he goes into.

It's a brilliant record.

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

19loveless91 — Sat, 20 Dec 2014 07:36:42 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 12/20/2014 12:36

satiemaniac wrote:

if you're ever thinking in reference to anything involving sexuality you're either a gender theorist or doing it wrong

I don't think I'm talking about what you think I'm talking about. And tbh I'm not sure what you're talking about.
That comment, which I in all honesty regret now, came from my experience of listening to Voodoo and Black Messiah back-to-back in my bed, and suddenly thinking "damn is it lonely in here?".
Having Richard on Skype just didn't suffice my needs.

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:33:46 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/20/2014 01:33

Quote:

It's got the same sort of smooth vibe that makes you want to get laid.

Muslim-Bigfoot wrote:

And here I thought that's the default mode for humans.

You've known how many women exactly? 🤣

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 20:04:57 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/20/2014 01:04

19loveless91 wrote:

Well sure but I don't think about it all the time

if you're ever thinking in reference to anything involving sexuality you're either a gender theorist or doing it wrong

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

19loveless91 — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:55:21 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 12/19/2014 20:55

Muslim-Bigfoot wrote:

And here I thought that's the default mode for humans.

Well sure but I don't think about it all the time

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Muslim-Bigfoot — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 12:28:44 GMT

Author: Muslim-Bigfoot

Posted: 12/19/2014 17:28

19loveless91 wrote:

It's got the same sort of smooth vibe that makes you want to get laid, but it's possibly more "immediate" track by track, and also explores a larger territory in its neo-soul/RnB genres.

And here I thought that's the default mode for humans.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 22:57:27 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/19/2014 03:57

everyone i know across a variety of different musical tastes is obsessed with this record, but two listens have left me completely cold. nothing feels immediate to me, and the fun and pop of Prince at his best or even Andre 3000's peaks on The Love Below pack a lot more punch for me. the political sentiments are very vital, and this album is definitely gonna benefit from being very of the zeitgeist while simultaneously having a nearly universal aesthetic appeal. i really want to like it as much as everyone else cause everyone seems to be having a great time, but it just hasn't clicked at all.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 22:17:45 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/19/2014 03:17

Kool Keith Sweat wrote:

Politically-charged songs about the plight of blacks in the US also make me want to snuggle

Absurd as that sounds, if you read the lyrics of the individual songs on paper, there are dramatic examples of both snuggle music and politically charged rhetoric. I've been poring over this album the last few days try to figure how the hell he makes that work. It probably helps that the lyrics are near incomprehensible at times, but still, I get a very different vibe from "1000 Deaths" versus "Sugah Daddy". Maybe the point is that living with those contrasts is part of being black in America.

Anyway, I love this album. I've been resisting the urge to put it on my overall chart after less than a week, but it's so enraptured me since it came out that it just feels wrong for it not to be there. I could compare it to a lot of things... What's Going On? is an obvious one, since both are political statements with a grand scope. Probably the best comparison for my experience, though, is Loveless, just because of D'Angelo's obsessive attention to every little detail in the music. Sometimes I want to sit back and let it carry me away, but other times I just want to study it and try to get even the smallest insight into the workings of his insanely honed musical mind.

Can't recommend this highly enough.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 20:01:17 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/19/2014 01:01

The music and D'Angelo's voice go so well together, great record. I'm not big on the second track, though I can see it growing.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

19loveless91 — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 19:45:50 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 12/19/2014 00:45

Kool Keith Sweat wrote:

Politically-charged songs about the plight of blacks in the US also make me want to snuggle

lol there really aren't that many like that though.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Skinny — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 17:19:42 GMT

Author: Skinny

Posted: 12/18/2014 22:19

I suppose it'll suffice until the next Erykah Badu album.

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 16:20:26 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/18/2014 21:20

Politically-charged songs about the plight of blacks in the US also make me want to snuggle

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

19loveless91 — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 15:24:07 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 12/18/2014 20:24

You underestimate me. But yes there is a reason I chose my words as I do.

On D'Angelo:
[16:57:58] Jure Pl: it's really smooth
[16:58:01] Richard: yeah
[16:58:08] Richard: i really like its vibe
[16:58:16] Jure Pl: makes me want to snuggle with somebody
[16:58:20] Jure Pl: : (
[16:58:34] Richard: awww
[16:58:36] Richard: wit me
[16:58:36] Jure Pl: foreveralone.jpg"

Re: ALC #30: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 15:07:46 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 12/18/2014 20:07

a kissless virgin wrote:

[That] vibe that makes you want to get laid

🤣

Re: ALC #31: Black Messiah by D'Angelo And The Vanguard

WindowAbove — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 14:32:04 GMT

Author: WindowAbove

Posted: 12/18/2014 19:32

This is already one of my favorite albums of all time. It's definitely the best R&B/Soul album I've ever heard, and by far my AOTY. There's not a single track that isn't mindblowing and elevating. I liked his first two albums a lot, but this definitely trumps most albums ever released. #10 on my overall chart.