About damn time: New D'Angelo album *** "Black Messiah" Out Now on Itunes! *** (Stream)

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

Four days later, still over this album.

The fact that he's been working on it for over a decade but it still sounds new speaks to the album's timelessness and D's foresight.

The last couple of months in Black music has been interesting. First time in a while, I've genuinely felt that some sort of change for the better is on the way, in terms of more socially conscious and soulful records not being thrown in the bushes or pigeonholed.

 

[The_Third_Man]

"Brown Sugar" to (modern) R&B is what Illmatic is to hiphop imo. Voodoo was as good.

But I don't like this album YET. It's just that the multi-layered harmonies and vocals irritate me. Am I the only who found D'angelo sound a little like Cee-lo on this album?

I will give it more time

 

[Buckeye Fever]

"Brown Sugar" to (modern) R&B is what Illmatic is to hiphop imo. Voodoo was as good.

But I don't like this album YET. It's just that the multi-layered harmonies and vocals irritate me. Am I the only who found D'angelo sound a little like Cee-lo on this album?

I will give it more time

I kind of echo your sentiments. And there is a such thing as an album growing on you, contrary to what people say.

I spun it at work last night and I must say, with each listen, it gets better.

 

[Adam3000]

"Brown Sugar" to (modern) R&B is what Illmatic is to hiphop imo. Voodoo was as good.

But I don't like this album YET. It's just that the multi-layered harmonies and vocals irritate me. Am I the only who found D'angelo sound a little like Cee-lo on this album?

I will give it more time

Its not an easy record to fully digest, I'm surprised that more people don't feel the way that you do (maybe they are just not speaking up against the positivity mob)

The album is full of unfamiliar chord progressions, off key moments, unique verse/chorus/bridge song structures, and subtlety. These moments are jarring to your brain. Your brain may literally not even be able to process these unfamiliarities upon the first few listens. That is not a patronizing comment....it literally is science proven through behavioral studies.

Even people who liked this album immediately like myself are literally not able to fully understand it at first. We recognize the brilliance, but we will still be discovering new moments upon the 10th, 15th, 20th listens that deepen our appreciation for it.

I wish I could find the study I read years ago about how unfamiliarity with certain sounds can often be beyond our neurological capactiy to interpret upon the first listens. It was pretty fascinating. As someone who listens to a lot of jarring/noisy/difficult music, I know that melodies can remain hidden for a while. But once they expose themselves it becomes earth shattering.

Here is a quick video for anyone interested in this concept. It was the best I could find with a quick Google search:
http://video.about.com/neurology/Brain-on-Art--How-the-Brain-Reacts-to-Unfamiliar-Art.htm

 

[Regine Hunter]

Another Life

Really Love

Betray my Heart

 

[JCalli]

Its not an easy record to fully digest, I'm surprised that more people don't feel the way that you do (maybe they are just not speaking up against the positivity mob)

The album is full of unfamiliar chord progressions, off key moments, unique verse/chorus/bridge song structures, and subtlety. These moments are jarring to your brain. Your brain may literally not even be able to process these unfamiliarities upon the first few listens. That is not a patronizing comment....it literally is science proven through behavioral studies.

Even people who liked this album immediately like myself are literally not able to fully understand it at first. We recognize the brilliance, but we will still be discovering new moments upon the 10th, 15th, 20th listens that deepen our appreciation for it.

I wish I could find the study I read years ago about how unfamiliarity with certain sounds can often be beyond our neurological capactiy to interpret upon the first listens. It was pretty fascinating. As someone who listens to a lot of jarring/noisy/difficult music, I know that melodies can remain hidden for a while. But once they expose themselves it becomes earth shattering.

Here is a quick video for anyone interested in this concept. It was the best I could find with a quick Google search:
http://video.about.com/neurology/Brain-on-Art--How-the-Brain-Reacts-to-Unfamiliar-Art.htm

Great post.

This is exactly how I felt about instant vintage when that album dropped. I didn't get all the tracks at once either, it took me some time.

I felt this album from the first listen, but it only gets better. I'm hearing different things every time, I literally be buggin the fukk out. I'm not exaggerating when I say I repeat most tracks constantly. I struggle to get past Ain't That Easy . The verses filled with funk, then when he leads into the verse with that last bar and the pitch of his voice just so dam beautiful "faithfully we'll see this love through" ...... then that chorus drops . I got to reload that

He gave us something special here, ain't no doubt about it.

 

[Whitty Hutton]

Gives me a slight boost in my faith in music fans to see that this album came out of nowhere and did 100,000

 

[LLMR]

Ben Kane one of the engineers for this album is dropping a lot of info on the credits on his twitter: https://twitter.com/kanevibrations

James Gadson is drumming on three songs and Isaiah Sharkey blessed a lot of tracks with his playing. This dude is the new Spanky Alford

 

[NYC Rebel]

I'm still trying to process this album...

As of right now, the best album I've heard this year that's captured the range of blues, R&B, Hip Hop & Jazz is Otis Brown III "the thought of you" album

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-thought-of-you/id898129099

I'm still processing Black Messiah. Right now Back To The Future, & Ain't that easy are the two songs I'm vibing with

 

[Tetris v2.0]

Gave this like 3 spins yesterday. AOTY easily

They dont really make music like this anymore, like yall saying, Im still wrapping my brain around some of the tracks

 

[FlyRy]

Man, it's gonna be really hard for me not to start trolling some peeps with that "Sure, he can be inaudible, but it's about the way he sings it". I actually agree with that (in particular the poster who said his voice sounds like it becomes one with the instruments) but it also makes me wanna post some death metal songs of guys screaming and roaring in the mic and be like:

"Sure, you can't understand what he's screaming, but it's about the way he screams it, you know?"


Also just found out he put the entire album on Vevo/Youtube like that. That's the GOAT artists, those who don't matter how you hear it as long as you get to hear it.

it's one of the dumbest things i've read in a long time.

we couldn't understand every word Michael Jackson or James Brown said either.

still GOATS

just like D'angelo

 

[WeInHere]

Uhhh I think my copy is in French or something because I can barely make out any of his words, or is that how it is suppose to sound?

Either way this sh*t is

 

[swimmingpools]

I'm not seeing Prayer get mentioned a lot but I love that song. Another Life & Betray My Heart, Sugah Daddy are heavily played as well. I don't mind not being able to understand every word he says. His voice is seamlessly intertwined with the instruments in a really cool way.

 

[shutterguy]

Uhhh I think my copy is in French or something because I can barely make out any of his words, or is that how it is suppose to sound?

Either way this sh*t is

That's how it sounds......that's D'Angelo's style.........lyrics are here:

 

[Eternal Tecate]

Man, it's gonna be really hard for me not to start trolling some peeps with that "Sure, he can be inaudible, but it's about the way he sings it". I actually agree with that (in particular the poster who said his voice sounds like it becomes one with the instruments) but it also makes me wanna post some death metal songs of guys screaming and roaring in the mic and be like:

"Sure, you can't understand what he's screaming, but it's about the way he screams it, you know?"


Also just found out he put the entire album on Vevo/Youtube like that. That's the GOAT artists, those who don't matter how you hear it as long as you get to hear it.

There's some good shyt out there that I would use that sentence to describe