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Gnarls Barkley - St. ElsewhereAlbum Review by:
Steven D. Gayle
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
 Gnarls Barkley is the name of the duo which consists of Producer Danger Mouse and rapper Cee-lo. In a recent interview, Danger Mouse denied that the band's name referred to former Pro-basketball player Charles Barkley saying, "Nope. It's just like everything else on this record. There was no conscious decision about stuff." That quote makes a nice sum up for the album,“St. Elsewhere,” whether it be for the better or worse.
The eclectic album starts with, “Go-Go Gadget Gospel,” which is like most Cee-lo songs, in the sense that it has a religious tone with Cee-lo’s voiced blended to sound like an Southern Baptist church choir. The song titled “Crazy” is a relatively mellow song that makes one consider portions are in reference to his conflicts and reunion with the Atlanta-based group, Goodie Mob. Green sings, “And when your out there /without care/ yeah I was out of touch/ but it wasn’t because I didn’t know enough/ I just knew too much /does that make me crazy?”
As opposed to most collaborations, “St. Elsewhere” shows no clear line of separation between Danger Mouse and Cee-lo’s styles, they simply blend into a single uniform sound. An example would be,“Gone Daddy Gone” which sounds like a song straight out of the late sixties. Cee-lo fits well singing, “‘Cause it’s gone daddy gone/ love is gone yeah it’s gone daddy gone love is gone” you could easily have this song playing in the background of next Austin Powers movie.
“St. Elsewhere’s” hits its high points with the groovy track “Smiley Faces” which is arranged well, bridging gaps between different musical genres, and “Feng Shui” for fans who are more fans of Cee-Lo’s MC skills. Those who favor the rapping talents of Cee-lo would gravitate to “Feng Shui” quickly. On, “Just a Thought” the rapper/singer laments, “I prefer peace, wouldn’t have to have one worldly possession/ but essentially I am an animal, so just what do I do with all the aggression?/ well I’ve tried everything but suicide/ but its crossed my mind.”
Most songs are no longer than two minutes and thirty seconds which is occasionally a good thing. The song “Transformer” is one such track. The number is just too chaotic to listen to and enjoy. All of the synthesized sounds and altered vocals turn the song into more of an anxiety-filled headache instead of a voluntary musical creation. The track, “The Boogie Monster also misses the mark completely. Without going into inappropriate detail, the song is more or less Cee-lo’s rendition of Tweet’s “Oops” for lack of an adequate comparison.
Overall, this first effort by the Gnarls Barkley duo is quite interesting yet far from innovative. Chances are if you were a little put off by Andre 3000's “The Love Below” or not a fan of Bilal Oliver’s “1st Born Second,” Common’s “Electric Circus” or any of Cee-lo’s solo works, you probably won’t listen to Gnarls Barkley for longer than two minutes.
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