- Audio CD (18 Sep 2006)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Universal / Island
- ASIN: B000HKDB7M
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
7,662 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
- #62 in Music > Hip-Hop & Rap > Hardcore & Gangsta Rap
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Outsider Intro - DJ Shadow |
| 2. This Time (I'm Gonna Try It My Way) - DJ Shadow |
| 3. 3 Freaks - DJ Shadow, Mistah F.A.B., Turf Talk, Keak Da Sneak |
| 4. Droop-E Drop - DJ Shadow |
| 5. Turf Dancing - DJ Shadow, The Federation, The Animaniaks |
| 6. Keep Em Close - DJ Shadow, Nump |
| 7. Seein' Thangs - DJ Shadow, David Banner |
| 8. Broken Levee Blues - DJ Shadow |
| 9. Artifact - DJ Shadow |
| 10. Skullfuckery - DJ Shadow, The Heliocentrics |
| 11. Backstage Girl - DJ Shadow, Phonte Coleman |
| 12. Triplicate/ Something Happened That Day - DJ Shadow |
| 13. The Tiger - DJ Shadow, Sergio Pizzorno, Christopher Karloff |
| 14. Erase You - DJ Shadow, Chris James |
| 15. What Have I Done - DJ Shadow, Christina Carter |
| 16. You Made It - DJ Shadow, Chris James |
| 17. Enuff - DJ Shadow, Q-Tip, Lateef The Truth Speaker |
| 18. Dats My Part - DJ Shadow, E-40 |
Product Description
DJ SHADOW The Outsider (2006 UK 18-track CD album - In the 4 years since Private Press DJ Shadow [aka Josh Davis] has discarded the cinematic instrumental hip-hop soundscapes for which he is renowned and has done a musical U-turn back to his love of early party rap touching on areas and genres that he previously didnt dare go near and that suits him just fine; including the single Enuff plus guest appearances from David Banner Heliocentrics Kasabian Chris James
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've been a Shadow fan since his very first Mo' Wax releases way back in the early 90's. Unlike other reviewers I like both good west coast hip hop and the sort of sample based crate digging constructions for which Shadow became famous, yet I still can't comprehend this album.
The problem that Shadow obviously faced when making this album was how to be innovative and groundbreaking, (considering the weight of expectation on his shoulders from his previous work this is no mean feat), while showing that he can develop his sound without returning to the tested methods of his former glories. However, by going into the territory of Bay Area gangsta rap with an album laden with "Featured" artists (always a tell tale sign of lack of direction) he's added 2 + 2 together and come up with 5.
While the production on this album might be amazing, (as you'd expect from any Shadow release), good production alone doesn't make good music unless the songs themselves have something more. Apart from maybe track 2 which shows hints of Shadows musical knowledge, versatility and constructive expertise any other noteworthy elements of this album are drowned out by a barrage of mundane and predictable vocal offerings from the likes of David Banner et al.
I can only assume that many of the positive reviews of this album came from people caught up in the hype of the sort of mediocre west coast rap that's spewed out through the music channels on a daily basis, not the sort of Shadow fans that expect music a lot less one-dimensional than what you'd find on this album.
While many of the previous reviews claim that this album is innovative and progressive I completely disagree. Shadows previous album 'The Private Press' showed real progression and sophisticated experimentation that did much to abate the appetite of fans expecting the impossible feat of another 'Endtroducing'. In contrast 'The Outsider', by turning it's back on these developments in search of so-called 'innovation', does nothing but concede to the unimaginative status quo of contemporary hip hop culture.
Far from proving to be an 'outsider' of the inspirational genius kind we know he truly can be, the DJ Shadow on this album merely proves that he can cut it with the conventional and unimaginative hip hop crowd.
The problem that Shadow obviously faced when making this album was how to be innovative and groundbreaking, (considering the weight of expectation on his shoulders from his previous work this is no mean feat), while showing that he can develop his sound without returning to the tested methods of his former glories. However, by going into the territory of Bay Area gangsta rap with an album laden with "Featured" artists (always a tell tale sign of lack of direction) he's added 2 + 2 together and come up with 5.
While the production on this album might be amazing, (as you'd expect from any Shadow release), good production alone doesn't make good music unless the songs themselves have something more. Apart from maybe track 2 which shows hints of Shadows musical knowledge, versatility and constructive expertise any other noteworthy elements of this album are drowned out by a barrage of mundane and predictable vocal offerings from the likes of David Banner et al.
I can only assume that many of the positive reviews of this album came from people caught up in the hype of the sort of mediocre west coast rap that's spewed out through the music channels on a daily basis, not the sort of Shadow fans that expect music a lot less one-dimensional than what you'd find on this album.
While many of the previous reviews claim that this album is innovative and progressive I completely disagree. Shadows previous album 'The Private Press' showed real progression and sophisticated experimentation that did much to abate the appetite of fans expecting the impossible feat of another 'Endtroducing'. In contrast 'The Outsider', by turning it's back on these developments in search of so-called 'innovation', does nothing but concede to the unimaginative status quo of contemporary hip hop culture.
Far from proving to be an 'outsider' of the inspirational genius kind we know he truly can be, the DJ Shadow on this album merely proves that he can cut it with the conventional and unimaginative hip hop crowd.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you've read anything from the Shadow camp about this album you may already have reservations about the new direction taken for this release. Unfortunately I can't say anything to reassure you, and as a massive DJ Shadow fan I really wish I could! "The Outsider" is Josh Davies' third major studio album. The previous two releases "The Private Press" and 1996's classic "Endtroducing..." plus the rarer early release "Pre-Emptive Strike" set a high standard. Add to that side projects such as the legendary mixtapes "Brainfreeze" and "Product Placement" with Cut Chemist, "Psyence Fiction" as a member of James Lavelle's UNKLE, and Solesides and Quannum Projects and fans have understandably high expectations of any new material.
"The Outsider" is a far more diverse collection of styles than the previous albums and includes many contributions from rappers and vocalists as well as live instrumentation, all of which differs greatly from the sample based instrumental work that Shadow is known for. The trouble is that I've heard most of these styles done better elsewhere and this incoherent collection makes Shadow seem like an impressionist mimicking his influences rather than taking inspiration to create anything new or exciting from them. Now don't get me wrong, change is a good thing and I don't think an artist should try to relive past glories for the rest of their career, but I would have expected better than this from someone with DJ Shadows back catalogue. Not that "The Outsider" is a bad album, it's just a bit of a strange one. Shadow jumps through an array of styles encompassing funky soul, psyche, hip hop, rock, Morricone sounding instrumentals, Thom Yorke / Primal Scream (circa Evil Heat) style indie and hyphy - the grimey hip hop sound from the Bay Area which Shadow is vocally championing. Unfortunately these hyphy tracks are my main concern with "The Outsider". At times sounding like weak derivatives of Missy Elliot and (eek) even Eminem these tracks left me wondering what Davies, not only as a producer but as a prolific collector and music fan, was thinking. Much of the rapping is tediously uninspired and in the case of "Keep em close" just painful. "3 Freaks" and "Backstage Girl" cause me further problems as they demonstrate the cliched hip hop misogyny that had been happily absent in Shadow's previous work.
I can't help but feel that this is an album by an artist less concerned with making great music but more interested in achieving broader commercial success. There are good (but not great) tracks on this album, which are also stylistic departures, "This time (I'm gonna try it my way)" and "What have I done" are highlights. With such a wide spectrum of sounds it feels like Shadow is casting his net too wide by trying to be "all things to all men". As a result "The Outsider" makes difficult listening and I predict that anyone will do so with one finger on the skip button.
If you are a DJ Shadow fan you'll buy this anyway, just don't expect too much and you probably won't be disappointed. If you're new to Shadow start elsewhere.
"The Outsider" is a far more diverse collection of styles than the previous albums and includes many contributions from rappers and vocalists as well as live instrumentation, all of which differs greatly from the sample based instrumental work that Shadow is known for. The trouble is that I've heard most of these styles done better elsewhere and this incoherent collection makes Shadow seem like an impressionist mimicking his influences rather than taking inspiration to create anything new or exciting from them. Now don't get me wrong, change is a good thing and I don't think an artist should try to relive past glories for the rest of their career, but I would have expected better than this from someone with DJ Shadows back catalogue. Not that "The Outsider" is a bad album, it's just a bit of a strange one. Shadow jumps through an array of styles encompassing funky soul, psyche, hip hop, rock, Morricone sounding instrumentals, Thom Yorke / Primal Scream (circa Evil Heat) style indie and hyphy - the grimey hip hop sound from the Bay Area which Shadow is vocally championing. Unfortunately these hyphy tracks are my main concern with "The Outsider". At times sounding like weak derivatives of Missy Elliot and (eek) even Eminem these tracks left me wondering what Davies, not only as a producer but as a prolific collector and music fan, was thinking. Much of the rapping is tediously uninspired and in the case of "Keep em close" just painful. "3 Freaks" and "Backstage Girl" cause me further problems as they demonstrate the cliched hip hop misogyny that had been happily absent in Shadow's previous work.
I can't help but feel that this is an album by an artist less concerned with making great music but more interested in achieving broader commercial success. There are good (but not great) tracks on this album, which are also stylistic departures, "This time (I'm gonna try it my way)" and "What have I done" are highlights. With such a wide spectrum of sounds it feels like Shadow is casting his net too wide by trying to be "all things to all men". As a result "The Outsider" makes difficult listening and I predict that anyone will do so with one finger on the skip button.
If you are a DJ Shadow fan you'll buy this anyway, just don't expect too much and you probably won't be disappointed. If you're new to Shadow start elsewhere.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you want to buy a DJ Shadow album, please steer clear of this one. Buy Endtroducing or The Private Press instead. I can listen to those other two albums again and again, but I struggled to listen to this one all the way through. I don't know what happened but DJ Shadow clearly lost the plot somewhere between albums number two and three.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good communication and fast delivery
Good communication and fast delivery with this seller. I was a bit dissapointed though because the cover on Amazon was green and the cover I got was yellow!
Published 20 months ago by I. Sen
Disappointing
I can fully understand that any musician worth their salt doesn't want to keep producing the same sort of music, album after album. Read more
Published on 18 April 2010 by Adhemar
cool, everybody else thinks this is a load of w*** too!
great 1st song, down hill and eventually you may well hav to switch it off... how could this get to be released, a bit of the emperors new clothes goin about the studio I'd say.. Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2010 by Nico
DJ Shadow's new approach? Well, this has blemished his reputation!
Let's be frank, we would never reach for this release if it weren't stamped with the Shadow's name.
What was he thinking when he was making this album? Read more
What was he thinking when he was making this album? Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2009 by andy
It's not genius, but my God it's intelligent
I bought "The Outsider" on the strength of DJ Shadow's previous work, which is not the way to do it. Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2008 by James Harrison
Nothing like Endtroducing, The Private Press, etc, etc.
DJ Shadow is clearly trying to break into the lucrative world of gangsta rap since at least half of the tracks seem to emulate Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, etc. Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2008 by DaveW
My only regret is that I didn't buy the Album + DVD
I'm shocked that this album has received such bad reviews to be honest.
I held off buying this album for ages untill it was being sold for about £3.50. Read more
I held off buying this album for ages untill it was being sold for about £3.50. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2008 by Mr. L. Adams
What a bizarre album
This album is really disappointing and I pretty much only bought it for the track "This Time". Its such a good track, almost soul, and expected the rest of the album to be like... Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2007 by Ms. Layla Benkhayal
Why I ask myself, why!!!
I saw DJ Shadow play out at the UEA at the end of 2006 and his performance was fantastic. I wept when I heard this album, not with tears of joy but with tears of pain. Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2007 by Krisman
Largely rubbish with a few glints of brilliance
You have to see this work in its own right; It's nothing like his past work (all amazing recordings). Read more
Published on 31 May 2007 by Adam "Reviewboy" Yorkie'bar
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Music > Pop
- Music > Rap & Hip-Hop
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
