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The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D.  |
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It looks like ‘The E.N.D.’ for the Black Eyed Peas. No, not the literal end, but the end rather of their career long four-year hiatus between albums. We haven’t seen the band together since 2005’s ‘Monkey Business,’ a time that saw the band going in different directions. Fergie released her uber-successful debut solo work ‘The Dutchess,’ which has sold over six million copies and Will.I.Am became a sought after producer, manning the mixing board for such artists as Justin Timberlake, U2 and Michael Jackson, while the other half of the band, Taboo and Apl.De.Ap (bet you didn’t even know their names), sat idly by waiting for the band to reform.
Well, thankfully that time has arrived for them, but not so much for the rest of us.
‘The E.N.D.’ is an acronym standing for ‘The Energy Never Dies,’ something Will.I.Am has an interesting explanation for. He stated that it is something more than an album, more of a diary, something that can be updated at any time. Ok Will, thanks for the explanation, too bad it doesn’t make any sense.
With this new record, the Black Eyed Peas have already done something they have never done before; spawn a number one single in the U.S. The lead track of ‘The E.N.D.,’ ‘Boom Boom Pow’ finally got the band to the top of the charts, which is surprising considering the bands mainstream body of work thus far. The track is classic BEP, a combination of powerful grooves and dance floor thumps that should keep many nightclubs hopping well into the night. As for the rest of the album, you will get your fill of eye-popping hooks, seriously catchy sing-a-longs and infectious party scene jams. The ‘E.N.D.’ also sees the Peas trying new things, including electronically saturated reggae (‘Electric City’) and bad, or ironic, 70’s disco techno (‘Rockin’ to the Beat’).
Luckily for the group they have Will.I.Am, whose superb production skills work miracles covering up most of the potholes on ‘The E.N.D.,’ including mindless, vapid lyrics, or else who knows how far this disc could have fallen.
In the end (pun intended), this disc comes off as one of the bands rare missteps, a characterless mash-up of electro-dance-pop that lacks a certain identity. The Black Eyed Peas simply tried to jam way too much into ‘The E.N.D.,’ which leads to a lot of the material housed within to sound out of place and altogether uneventful.
Grade: C
Listen to: ‘Boom Boom Pow,’ ‘Imma Be’
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