Albums Of The Decade: Speakerboxx/The Love Below

2003 was supposed to be the Year Of Outkast... a group releasing a double album at the height of their success and talent. But it all got weird very quickly. As soon as the Speakerboxx/Love Below combo pack showed up, it was clear something was up. Two solo albums, packaged together? Rumors that Dre and Big Boi weren't even on speaking terms. And the strange notion that you had to pick one of the two seemed to be part of the package. (Seriously, I had one conversation with a local rock critic terminated when I spoke up in favor of The Love Below. Just stone cold over.)

Well, yeah, I did favor Andre 3000's The Love Below at first. Hey Ya was a marvel to me... the decade's first honest to god Top 40 song, crossing over like Sly and the Family Stone or Deee-lite. But in retrospect, I guess I can say I was really into Love Shack the first dozen times I heard it, too. And now that I've heard both songs a hundred times, I wish nothing more than to listen to interstate traffic.

Of course, I also found Speakerboxx's lead-off single, The Way You Move, utterly boring, so I conceded the victory to Dre, and then avoided both records. Somehow, I found it in me to delve into Speakerboxx about 6 months later, and suddenly realized that I'd missed out on some real treats and some inspired music. Snatching victory away from Dre, I now switched sides and buddied up to Big Boi, still believing that you had to choose one.

In 2009 with hindsight firmly in place, I now remember one of the truly immutable truths of music: double albums just don't work in general. So, if Outkast hadn't completely imploded, maybe they would have boiled things down to 60 minutes of magic. Instead, we got left with the mess and no mop. And now, I'm even debating whether this record makes the list. (It's literally hovering at #99 on this week's draft.)

While I retire to the conversatory to ponder the fate of Outkast, I'll recommend one from Dre (Happy Valentine's Day) and one from Big Boi (The Rooster) that still sing out to me. (But sadly, I can find no simple links for either, so use your imagination.)