Review → Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid (2010)
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
I’d never heard of Janelle Monae before seeing the cover to The ArchAndroid. The obvious Metropolis parallels in the imagery immediately appealed to the nerd in me. So I had to check it out.
One of the best decisions I’ve made in recent memory.
Her artistic vision- The ArchAndroid comprises suites 2 and 3 of a saga continues from her first EP- is great. If you’ve seen the videos, her visions of a futuristic dystopia are music to any good sci-fi nerd’s ears. And of course, there’s the music itself.
Simply put, the music here is awesome. Over the 18 songs here, it’s pretty consistently high-quality. Opener “Dance or Die” is excellent, showcasing Janelle’s excellent flow as she, in the words of Dave Chapelle, spits hot fire. After the segue into “Faster,” things slow down and get a bit more R&B and soulful, which lets her show off that great voice. This lady, she can sing!
If there’s one misstep on the album, it’s “Make the Bus” featuring Of Montreal. The track is woefully out of place, and just feels goofy. I’m not a huge Of Montreal fan anyway, so maybe fans of that band really like this song. I feel that it feels incredibly awkward here, and the album would flow better without it. But at least when you skip it, you end up listening to the excellent “Wondaland.”
There are very few guest appearances on the album; aside from the Of Montreal, the album features just Big Boi, Saul Williams, and Deep Cotton. As an Outkast fan, I was excited to hear Big Boi appear, and it’s weird to say that he’s not the best part of “Tightrope.” He’s good, but Janelle owns this whole album, and the guest stars pale in comparison. It doesn’t help that Big Boi’s verse isn’t one of his strongest, but still, she sings lyrical circles around him.
All in all, I will not hesitate to say this is one of the best albums to be released this year. “Make the Bus” notwithstanding, the album is stellar, and I look forward to whatever Janelle Monae does next. Until this, mark this as “MUST HEAR.”
ShareTags: janelle monae