Okay, I've listened through this album once now. It's still Outkast and it's quality. I'll just do a quick rundown without going through all 25 tracks one-by-one.
The intro is a reference to Outkast acting in movies. It goes to Mighty O, which is a dope track. Idlewild Blues and Morris Brown (the current singles out now) are early into the album. I really like these singles and their videos.
There's five interludes. The only one that I could really do without is Big Boi's kids rappin. It wasn't so bad in Speakerboxxx... for some reason. I'm not trying to criticize the way a 7 year old (or so?) raps, I'm just saying that this is the kind of track that will get to know the Skip Track button really well.
About halfway through the album is Hollywood Divorce. This is the song with Lil' Wayne. Let me start by saying that I hate Lil' Wayne... That said, I think he must have gotten some help because his flow wasn't the garbled mess I'm used to hearing from him. At first I had only heard Dre on the track and had the surprising thought that Dre brought him in on the album. Then Big Boi came into the song and put that to rest in my mind. I'm sure he brought him in.
Speaking of Dre though, many of his songs are shorter than Big Boi's. Under three minutes short. They are good, but short. There's more songs with them together than The Love Below/Speakerboxxx, but I'd still like them to make an album completely collaborated like it used to be.
The movie isn't out, so I don't know exactly how much of the album is in the film and vice versa. "You're Beautiful," the last interlude, is clearly from the movie though. "PJ and Rooster" is as well, it's a song they've used in the movie trailers. Dre's solo songs fit in with the Idlewild movie theme more than Big Boi's, I like both styles though. It's also nice to hear Dre rapping more after the Love Below.
Like I said when I first saw the track listing, I love that the album ends on "A Bad Note." This song goes on for over 6 minutes (with a guitar riff) before you hear anyone speak. The album ends with Dre singing in the theme of the movie. I have a feeling the movie will use this somehow, in a shorter form as the song is almost 9 minutes long.
Overall! I really like this album. I thought that Speakerboxxx and The Love Below were both good albums but I wanted more of the Outkast that raps together. This album has more songs together, but manages to stand out with its solo songs as well. This will definitely get a lot of spins from me.
God Blessa!