By shelz.

It’s ironic that the Black Eyed Peas have named their latest album The Beginning, because I have no idea where to start.  The LP is ten pounds of past, present and future stuffed into a five pound bag.  Many of the songs change speed, melody and tenor so fast they play like medleys, perfect for an ADHD driven music audience who have calluses on their skip button fingers.  It’s not as sonically epic as The E.N.D., but the beginning usually isn’t.  You have to start somewhere.

The pixilation of the 8-bit inspired cover lets you know tunes from the time of Pong will be represented, but these songs don’t rest on nostalgia.  There is a plastic, spacey veneer on all of them that makes you think of partying like its 2099, just with a DJ who likes to dig in the crates.  Considering the sophomoric lyrical range of the crew, it’s necessary for their musical underpinnings to hold your ears in a head lock and BEP’s are cognizant and capable of that.  Some of the songs fall short though.

Golden oldies like the Dirty Dancing theme “Time of My Life,” Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” and KC and The Sunshine Band’s “Baby Give It Up” are looted for their instant recognition and then immediately turned on their axes. The production magicians pull “The Time,” “Light Up the Night” and “Love You long Time” respectively out of their hats with huge amounts of sticky thump, wispy atmospherics and crawling, key-hopping synth that snuffs out all the 80’s sensibilities as the songs progress.

Other songs are less obvious with the retro nods.  “Someday,” a tune about work ethic and making all your life’s dreams come true, sounds like a disco re-work of Chris Isaacs’ “Wicked Game.” The auto-tune is heaped on so heavy I can’t tell the BEP’s apart, but this song is hypnotic.  The most reverent of all the backward looking jams is “Fashion Beats” which sticks to Chic’s standard disco groove as Fergie gives her best Debbie Harry impersonation.  The party people demand change though, and the song responds by laying on the bass, dropping the Chic, adding some guitar and turning this into a rocking disco throw back while the BEP’s implore you to dance.  “Don’t Stop the Party” gets really Luke Skywalker for a second, before it transforms into a huge stabbing, thumping, throbbing electro pastiche that can probably throw your heartbeat off.

“Do It Like This” has an old school Hip-Hop bassline and clap that recalls bamboo earrings and Kangol’s turned to the back.  Even with the drunken bumble bee synth and the stop/start craziness of the vocals, it still sounds like Jeep Wranglers with cassette players. Well, until it turns itself inside out into a sonic LSD trip.  The room is spinning, but I can’t imagine the party people complaining.

Fergie takes the lead on the most straight up pop song of the collection “Whenever.” It’s a pretty party respite that tackles the great things that happen when you wait on love.  It also gives you a chance to rehydrate and catch your breath.  “The Situation” keeps Fergie in the driver’s seat.  It’s part pop, part new wave and one of the least interesting songs on the album.

There’s some chopped and screwed island flavor with “The Coming.”  “Own It” shovels out inspiration over fuzzy synth, piano and a military drum  and is followed by “The Best One Yet,”another bland “you can do it” song. Not that I have an aversion to motivational lyrics, but they tend to be connected with less than rousing tracks. The album closes with “Play It Loud” an anthem for the rhythm nation that is very U2-ish in style and fits the sequencing flow, which makes the LP enter like a lion and exit like a lamb.

The Beginning is a far out trip for the BEP’s.  They took some risks and reaped some rewards.  The party set will pay homage to it.  The traditionalists will dismiss it as poppycock and the futurists will build from it.  But if you just need a couple of old school/new school, pop, disco, Hip-Hop songs to shake your ass too, then this should be right up your alley. There isn’t a sound that isn’t represented.  Kumbaya bishes.

Black Eyed Peas – “Fashion Beats”

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3.75 out of 5

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