| Product Summary | | Label: Universal Music Group | | UPC: 00602527036045 | | Release Date: 6/9/2009 | | Buy.com Sku: 210912774 | | Item#: M4M57M | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 291 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Boom Boom Pow ~ Black Eyed Peas |  | | 2. Rock That Body ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 3. Meet Me Halfway ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 4. Imma Be ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 5. I Gotta Feeling ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 6. Alive ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 7. Missing You ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 8. Ringa A Ling ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 9. Party All The Time ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 10. Out Of My Head ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 11. Electric City ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 12. Showdown ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 13. Now Generation ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 14. One Tribe ~ Black Eyed Peas | | | 15. Rocking To The Beat ~ Black Eyed Peas | |
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Hal Ritson (vocals, guitar, keyboards); George Pajon (guitar); will.i.am (piano, synthesizer, drum programming); Printz Board (keyboards, synthesizer, bass synthesizer, drum programming); Adam Walder (keyboards). | | Audio Mixers: Joe Peluso; Dylan Dresdow. | | Audio Remasterers: Chris Bellman; Brian "BC" Catena. | | Arranger: will.i.am. | | Black Eyed Peas, the hip-hop crossover juggernaut that propelled singer Fergie and producer Will.I.Am to superstardom, have, since 2003's ELEPHUNK, been audaciously plugging away at their bombastic but lighthearted style of rap-cum-dance pop--an effort that has translated to a run of successful chart-topping singles including "My Humps," "Pump It," and "Don't Phunk with My Heart." Eager to follow up on the platinum-selling success of 2005's MONKEY BUSINESS, Black Eyed Peas have returned with THE E.N.D. (an acronym for "Energy Never Dies"), their third studio effort. Combining Will.I.Am's thumping 808 kick drum-infused beats with production assistance from a host of collaborators (including vocoder-loving Torontoians MSTRKRFT and French house veteran David Guetta), BEP's infectious party-time rhymes are an easy match for the album's Ed Banger-style of electro rapping and Auto Tune jamming, especially on lead-off single and sure-fire 2009 summer anthem "Boom Boom Pow." | | The Black Eyed Peas make effective pop/crossover music, but they aren't content to be disposable pop stars; they also want to write anthemic, vital songs that speak for a new generation. And so comes The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies). For every hyper-sexualized, by-the-numbers track like the hit single "Boom Boom Pow," there are message songs like "Now Generation," which begins, in cheerleader fashion, with the lines: "We are the now generation! We are the generation now!/This is the now generation! This is the generation now!" Led by will.i.am's production, which is continually the best thing about the album, the Black Eyed Peas move even farther away from hip-hop into the type of inspirational dance-pop that has become ripe for advertisements and marketing opportunities, including "I Gotta Feeling" ("I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night") and "Party All Night" ("If we could party all night and sleep all day, and throw all of our problems away, my life would be ea-say"). Granted, there's nothing here as embarrassing as "My Humps," and the production is a shade better than previous material from the group or Fergie solo (although still not as good as will.i.am solo ventures), but The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) becomes a mess of pop/dance/rap crossover. ~ John Bush | | The Black Eyed Peas make effective pop/crossover music, but with all the limitations of the form -- vapid lyrics, clumsy delivery, vocals smoothed over by Auto-Tune, and songwriting that constantly strains for (and reaches) the lowest common denominator. Worse yet, they aren't content to be disposable pop stars; they also want to write anthemic, vital songs that speak for a new generation. And so comes The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies). For every hyper-sexualized, by-the-numbers track like the hit single "Boom Boom Pow," there are message songs like "Now Generation," which begins, in cheerleader fashion, with the lines: "We are the now generation! We are the generation now!/This is the now generation! This is the generation now!" Led by will.i.am's production, which is continually the best thing about the album, the Black Eyed Peas move even farther away from hip-hop into the type of blandly inspirational dance-pop that has become ripe for advertising and marketing opportunities, including "I Gotta Feeling" ("I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night") and "Party All Night" ("If we could party all night and sleep all day, and throw all of our problems away, my life would be ea-say"). There's also a call for unity titled "One Tribe," which gradually descends into confusion -- and nearly self-parody -- with a line about the dangers of making enemies, rapped this way: "If I had an enemy, then my enemy's gonna try to come kill me 'cuz I'm his enemy -- one tribe y'all." Between tracks, there are also occasional cameos from a narrator, who sounds strangely like Star Trek's Worf, intoning nuggets like these: "There is no longer a physical record store, but we will continue to let the beat rock!" and "The most powerful force on the planet is the energy of the youth/But when this powerful youth becomes activated and stimulated and collectively decides not to buy things, what will happen to the economy?" Granted, there's nothing here as embarrassing as "My Humps," and the production is a shade better than previous material from the group or Fergie solo (although still not as good as will.i.am solo ventures), but The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) is a mess of pop/dance/rap crossover. It certainly won't change the minds of everyone who thinks that the group's pandering approach and clumsy execution make it the worst thing about pop music in the 2000s. ~ John Bush |
Producer: David Guetta; Jean Baptiste; Printz Board; Will.I.Am; Will.I.Am |
Engineer: Will.I.Am; Padraic 'Padlock' Kerin; Will.I.Am |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 06/09/2009 | | Original Release Date : 2009 | | Catalog ID : 001288702 | | Label : Interscope Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00602527036045 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.72)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "'Rock That Body' tosses up everything from huge kick drums to synth figures that sound like crow caws to a famous Rob Base sample..."Entertainment Weekly (p.60)
- "[W]hen the group's glitchy future-funk beats sync up with Fergie's unabashedly feminine melodies, as on the sweetly insidious 'Meet Me Halfway,' they find pure Top 40 nirvana..." -- Grade: B Billboard (p.36)
- "15 high-powered rave-rap jams that rarely lack for melodic hooks or rhythmic thrust." |
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| | Bio | | | This Los Angeles, California, USA-based multi-ethnic rap crew joined artists such as Black Star, Jurassic 5 and the Roots at the forefront of the cultural and musical renaissance in hip-hop at the end of the twentieth century. The manifesto of Will.I.Am (b. William James Adams Jnr., 15 March 1975, Los Angeles, California, USA), Apl.de.Ap (b. Allen Pineda, 28 November 1974, Pampanga, the Philippines) and Taboo (b. Jaime Gomez, 14 July 1975) is clear. They aim to unite musical communities by serving up radio-friendly tunes while maintaining their hardcore integrity.
Will.I.Am and Apl.de.Ap first met in 1989 as eighth grade students, and began performing around the Los Angeles district as Atban Klann. An abortive recording contract with Ruthless Records left them wary but unbowed, and after recruiting Taboo in 1995 the newly named Black Eyed Peas were finally rewarded with a major label contract with Interscope Records. The trio’s 1998 debut, Behind The Front, adopted the musical aesthetic of the Roots, with the three MCs rhyming in front of a live band that eschewed samples and scratching to create an organic, up-tempo groove. Up-and-coming soul singer Macy Gray was featured on one track, and repeated the favour two years later on the trio’s second album, Bridging The Gap. Sticking to their non-confrontational manifesto, this superb album confirmed Black Eyed Peas as the spiritual and musical heirs of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Despite all the critical plaudits, however, the album suffered the same fate as its predecessor in failing to set the charts alight.
After a brief hiatus, the Black Eyed Peas reunited in 2003 with female vocalist Fergie (b. Stacy Ann Ferguson, 27 March 1975, Hacienda Heights, California, USA; ex-Wild Orchid) now a full-time member. Their third album, Elephunk, generated a surprise UK chart-topper in September with the brilliant single ‘Where Is The Love?’, which featured that year’s favourite former boy band singer, Justin Timberlake. The Black Eyed Peas enjoyed a second UK hit in December when the follow-up ‘Shut Up’ reached number 2, and further transatlantic hits confirmed the group’s remarkable rise as a commercial force. Elephunk also finally broke the group in their native America and went on to achieve double platinum status. Released in autumn 2005, their fourth album Monkey Business was premiered by the hit single ‘Don’t Phunk With My Heart’. The album, which narrowly missed the top slot in the USA, also featured the transatlantic hit singles ‘Don’t Lie’ and ‘My Humps’. A growing number of critics bemoaned the fact that Ferguson’s strident vocals now seemed to be dominating the group’s sound.
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