884. Erykah Badu--Baduizm (1997; #2) (2)

884. Erykah Badu--Baduizm (1997; #2) (2)

1. Rimshot (Intro) (5+)
2. On and On (5)
3. Appletree (?) (4)
4. Otherside of the Game (?) (2)
5. Sometimes...[Mix #9] (?) (2)
6. Next Lifetime (?) (2)
7. Afro (?) (3)
8. Certainly (3)
9. 4-Leaf Clover (?) (3)
10. No Love (?) (2)
11. Drama (?) (3)
12. Sometimes... (?) (2)
13. Certainly (Flipped It) (?) (5+)
14. Rimshot (Outro) (?) (5+)

REVIEW:

I always like the sound of Erykah Badu, if not the particular songs. In a way she's like an edgier Sade; her sound is memorable if the individual songs are not. I like a couple of songs here, but overall I give it a 2.


With this post, I'll begin adding reviews from our other two reviewers, Ed Dill and Shin Megami Tensei. Here's Ed's review for this entry.

ED'S TAKE:

1. Rimshot (Intro) (9)
2. On and On (9)
3. Appletree (9)
4. Otherside of the Game (8)
5. Sometimes...[Mix #9] (9)
6. Next Lifetime (9)
7. Afro (9)
8. Certainly (8)
9. 4-Leaf Clover (8)
10. No Love (9)
11. Drama (9)
12. Sometimes... (9)
13. Certainly (Flipped It) (9)
14. Rimshot (Outro) (9)

OVERALL RATING: 9

REVIEW: If ever I've given an album rating vs. a collective song rating, it is here. I mean, the album, as an album is highly listenable to me and it AIN'T the songs, per se. There are no stand outs here (yeah, I gave most of them "9's") but they are ALL standouts in one (or two) respects....first and foremost it is Badu's voice. I've never been good at describing voices but suffice it to say that the way she works AROUND a lyric is always more important than the lyric itself. And, the choice of accompaniment was excellent with the heavy bass leading the way. Because I'm often at a loss to describe what I like about a given singer, I thought I'd do what I often do....."borrow" from allmusic. They use some words/phrases that I agree with wholeheartedly

"The grooves and production on the album are bass-heavy R&B, but Badu's langurous, occasionally tortured vocals and delicate phrasing immediately removed her from the legion of cookie-cutter female R&B singers. "

"Two years after D'Angelo brought the organic sound and emotional passion of R&B to the hip-hop world with 1995's Brown Sugar, Erykah Badu's debut performed a similar feat. While D'Angelo looked back to the peak of smooth '70s soul, though, Badu sang with a grit and bluesiness reminiscent of her heroes, Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. "On & On" and "Appletree," the first two songs on Baduizm, illustrated her talent at singing soul with the qualities of jazz. With a nimble, melodic voice owing little to R&B from the past 30 years, she phrased at odds with the beat and often took chances with her notes. Like many in the contemporary rap world, though, she also had considerable talents at taking on different personas; "Otherside of the Game" is a poetic lament from a soon-to-be single mother who just can't forget the father of her child. Erykah Badu's revolution in sound - heavier hip-hop beats over organic, conscientious soul music - was responsible for her breakout, but many of the songs on Baduizm don't hold up to increased examination. For every intriguing track like "Next Lifetime," there's at least one rote R&B jam like "4 Leaf Clover." Jazz fans certainly weren't confusing her with Cassandra Wilson - Badu had a bewitching voice, and she treasured her notes like the best jazz vocalists, but she often made the same choices, the hallmark of a singer rooted in soul, not jazz. Though many fans would dislike (and probably misinterpret) the comparison, she's closer to Diana Ross playing Billie Holiday - as she did in the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues - than Holiday herself.'"

Ironically, I personally think that Badu is a much better "technical" singer than either Bille or Nina. They both, on the other hand, had the ability to convey a tremendous amount of passion in everything they touched. Finally, one other "borrow" from allmusic. Part of the site's "schtick" is to express a performers style with a variety of descriptive words describing the "moods" their music conveys. I find the ones given to Erykah to be most revealing:

Elegant, Intimate, Earthy, Organic, Carefree, Summery, Laid-Back/Mellow, Sensual, Confident, Stylish, Playful, Reflective, Sexy, Confrontational, Sophisticated, Soothing....

Listening to this album again, I am reminded of seeing Badu on tv the first time. I WAS quite taken by her physical presence on stage. She was regal and, yes, elegant. At the time, she was wearing African clothing and wearing an African headress. (I still remember later seeing her in a video WITHOUT the headress and had to re-orient myself to actually seeing her rather wild, natural hair.) In thinking about that as I listened to Baduizm, I am wondering, again, how the physical presence of a performer affects our hearing. I finally "GOT" the affects of seeing someone live, especially in rather intimate circumstances. (I'm not sure how Row Z helps the intimacy of a live performance). But I've also noticed that performers CAN convey something and actually affect how we later listen to their recorded music even when seen on film or on tv. Is it STILL the music? That's one of the initial arguements about videos. They added a non-musical dimension to the music and often even changed the way we understood the song itself by adding a storyline to it. With Badu, it may be more the sense of her presence on stage, adding to some of those qualities above, i.e., elegant, sensual, confident, sophisticated, etc.

This album is NOT, again, an album of easily remembered individual songs. It is an album of a voice, a style, a sound. And I like it alot. I'm still thinking about that comment made by the allmusic.com writer and I think I understand it even though I think of Badu as a much more compelling singer than Ross. Her Billie IS more Billie channeled thru Ross than Billie herself. And, I like it just fine......

ed.