844. Gnarls Barkley--St. Elsewhere (2006; #4) (3)

844. Gnarls Barkley--St. Elsewhere (2006; #4) (3)

1. Go-Go Gadget Gospel (?) (2)
2. Crazy (9+) (possibly the best song of the decade)
3. St. Elsewhere (?) (2)
4. Gone Daddy Gone (7)
5. Smiley Faces (?) (3)
6. The Boogie Monster (?) (2)
7. Feng Shui (?) (2)
8. Just a Thought (?) (1)
9. Transformer (?) (2)
10. Who Cares? (?) (3)
11. Online (?) (2)
12. Necromancer (?) (1)
13. Storm Coming (?) (1)
14. The Last Time (?) (2)

REVIEW: Not much to hear other than the big hit and the cover of the Violent Femmes song. Those two are very good, but not enough to stretch out over a 14-track album. It gets a 3.

ED'S TAKE:

#844 GNARLS BARKLEY - ST. ELSEWHERE

1. Go Go Gadget Gospel +++8
2. Crazy +++10 (still sounds great, even after the overplay)
3. St. Elsewhere +++8 (I like the vocals more than the song)
4. Gone Daddy Gone +++9 (cover of the great Violent Femmes song...)
5. Smiley Faces +++8
6. The Boogie Monster +++9 (fun)
7. Feng Sui ++7
8. Just a Thought +++9
9. Transformer +++8
10. Who Cares? +++9
11, On Line +++8
12. Necromancer +++8
13. Storm Coming ++7
14. The Last Time +++8

OVERALL RATING: 8

COMMENTS: This is a rather odd album. The main "selling point" for me is the voice of Cee-Lo Green which is twisted pop/soul. The songs are quite twisted, too but frankly I seldom think of them. If I did, I'd have to reassess the entire album and I'm not ready to do that yet. Words like "She was cool when I met her, but I think I like her better dead" makes one pause for reflection. Anyway, my favorite is, oddly, the least experimental in structure. Crazy, indeed. In the right mood, this one could surely be deserving a "9". Then again, in the wrong mood, Bad Brains could be lowered to a "7".

(I was looking back to some ratings I gave albums based on a list Lexis found somewhere and I gave "Pet Sounds" a 9. I KNOW that with my present rating sensibilities, that album would SURELY get a "10"....and it, no doubt, will when we find it somewhere in the Top 10.)