Black Eyed Peas Album Review – Things Can Only Get Better It’s Just “The Beginning”
Posted: Friday, December 10, 2010
by William Zufic
EveningBox.com
I confess I had no idea the Black Eyed Peas were even working on an album, even though they announced a new album in June, until I read Will.i.am’s interview with Billboard. But combined with news that Black Eyed Peas will be performing on the Super Bowl XLV halftime show and plan a world stadium tour, for which they already tested stadiums in South America, in 2011, it kind of falls in place – let’s do an album!
Even though I could have lived happily ever after with never hearing “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” from “Dirty Dancing” (1987), sampled in the first track “The Time (Dirty Bit)” again, I still liked it and had great expectations for the rest of the album.
It feels like Will.i.am (he dominates the entire album) had a lot of raw ideas for sampling Chic, Styx, KC & the Sunshine Band’s, and so on in stock and shook them together for these 15 tracks. This time it seems a little uninspired. And that goes for the lyrics too.
Motivational songs like “Someday” (caution – Guetta ) and “Own it” (skip it) for the working man remain the domain of New Jersey based songwriters and bands. Party songs are what you’d expect to hear, but “Light Up the Night” and “Don’t Stop the Party” are the next disappointments. If you can’t get enough of David Guetta spirit you’ll be happy with “Whenever” even though it’s a rare occasion on this album where you can actually hear Fergie sing. “The Coming” and “Fashion beats” (except for the part where Fergie sings!) make you wish the album had 13 instead of 15 tracks.
Pause… the album as a whole is not that lame, but what’s written above still stands. “The Best One Yet (The Boy)”, “ XOXOXO “ with it’s catchy beat, “Love You Long Time” with KC & the Sunshine Band’s “Give it up” sampled and “Play It Loud” are ok songs and more than album fillers.
Highlights of the album are without doubt “The Situation”, “Do it like this” (the lyrics not so much) and “Just Can’t Get Enough” where the real Black Eyed Peas are hiding on this album.
“The Beginning” is a little bit too much Guetta and not enough Black Eyed Peas especially not enough Fergie (as I might have mentioned earlier). It appears unpolished and overloaded at times and is in my opinion, even though Will.i.am pledges differently in “Play it loud”, more about marketing then about music, also it is more about spreading messages (leave it to Bono) than about witty lyrics. If the Black Eyed Peas had to have an album released to push their other planed efforts, it would have been more honest to bring out a (… and I thought I would never say this) Best of Black Eyed Peas album with some new singles than to force this album out.
“The Beginning” normal edition of the album does not include the tracks “The Situation”, “Own it” and “The coming”.
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