D'Angelo - Black Messiah

WhoIsTony?

Member
do yourself a favor and pick up this record

the musicianship on it is absolutely ridiculous

Pino and Quest are like butter .... and I think James Gadson may actually play some drums on it as well.... I cannot find a personnel list anywhere.... but I know Quest and Pino are all over it

D is the only cat that I can remember who absolutely lives up to 15 years worth of hype since his last record

the drumming on this record is absolutely second to none

I understand D'Angelo is not for everyone .... but give it a listen

you're welcome
 
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Really killin bass and drums throughout. The groove on Prayer is so filthy. I'm thinking if James Gadson was on any track it would be the title track, but I could be wrong.
 
I follow Bomani Jones on Twitter (writes about sports, music, politics and such, for those who don't know) and while he's famous for not being a fan of D'Angelo, even he admitted it was good.

I will definitely check it out.
 
This is a great album - first time in a long time that I’ve been excited about something new...

What I heard was Questlove is on all songs except Really love and Sugah Daddy - James Gadson.
 
Not to hijack - but another really cool new album is Screaming Headless Torso’s “Code Red” I discovered these two albums on the same day, and they’re kind of fun to listen to back to back. Both funky, but in a different way. Torsos music is fusion-ish but kinda hooky too :)

Anyway, D was well worth the wait...
 
Honestly, and being a long time D'Angelo fan, I didn't manage to connect with the album yet. My biggest grip is the mix. Everything sounds so muddy and hard to distinguish. Most of the times one can't even distinguish what D is singing.
 
Honestly, and being a long time D'Angelo fan, I didn't manage to connect with the album yet. My biggest grip is the mix. Everything sounds so muddy and hard to distinguish. Most of the times one can't even distinguish what D is singing.

Not so sure I'd blame the mix.....it IS D'Angelo we're talking about
 
Not so sure I'd blame the mix.....it IS D'Angelo we're talking about

One can listen to D in Voodoo and brown sugar, here not so much, but sure I can understand that simply it's just the instruments seem to be conflicting so much that I need to crank my stereo up to distinguish them. Maybe I need the cd version that I heard is not so muddy
 
First impression is that I need to listen again. Really wanted to like it, just didn't.
Playing obviously is great. I'm just not sure the the songs are so strong.
 
First impression is that I need to listen again. Really wanted to like it, just didn't.
Playing obviously is great. I'm just not sure the the songs are so strong.

Same for me, but if so many people are acclaiming it, I must be missing something I suppose
 
if you are looking for cleanly produced and mixed singles like Brown Sugar then this is probably not the album for you

everything you hear in Black Messiah sounds as it does on purpose

they are creating a vibe ... a very raw analog vibe

Yeah, I know that they are going for vibe and I'm not looking for a polished production. Just want to like the songs I'm listening to. You can have all the vibe and analog you want with great players but it can't help a song that hasn't been written well. Their heroes wrote great songs. ex Sly & The Family Stone.
 
seems that you would be in the absolute minority in thinking the songs are not good

tastes vary of course

I've found that some people need to be spoon fed hooks to think a song is "good"


Some people feel pressured to like things that are suppose to be cool. Don't need a spoon personally.
 
Voodoo had a similar response when it came out. Its deemed a classic today but at the time people thought D's album should have been more along the lines of *shudders* Chico Debarge! I think D and Russell took a chance and went with a strong contrast to the flood of EDM influenced music out now. Glitch and lo fi beats weren't understood til it was clear they were here to stay and could be played live.

Oh well, I dig it. Not to mention D, Pino and Chris still kick ass live!
 
I'm coming to this with completely fresh ears. I have no idea who this artist is, & the material is certainly way off my radar. I like the production values, & as Tony points out, superb rhythm section performance, although I do get a degree of rhythm section disconnection from the song in parts. Overall, I really like the production values. Maybe trying a bit too hard in parts, but if you're shooting for a certain vibe, then go for it. Better to be slightly over the top & be noticed than just short of the mark & slide into benign.

I'm currently on a personal journey with material I don't necessarily like or gravitate to. It's opening up my receptors slowly, but it's still a struggle. I may well fail, but if I do, the journey will have more value than the end result, so all is good :)
 
DAngelo Black Messiah

Hello everyone. I am a fan of Arx Fatalis from Arkane. I have not kept up with it all for a while now. at one point there was speculation that Dark Messiah was a prequal or sequal to Arx. Was any of that true, or just wild theorys? How is Dark Messiah compared to Arx?
 
Still waiting for the damn vinyl to drop..

Promised myself to hold on from listening until I get it on wax. I have heard a few cuts on the radio and they did sound good, oh yes!

On a side note, I find it interesting that Quest was apparently using a set of Ludwig Vistalites in the studio. They get a lot of bad rep for "not being good drums to record with", but that's not really the case. They may not be your all-purpose drums, but they have a great sound to them!
 
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Been listening to D'angelo for some years, because of Chris Dave. Really dig the dilla beats.
 
thank you so much for that vid

around 34:00 where he starts breaking down J Dilla is fantastic

I get questions about this kind of drumming constantly .... yes even to this day .... when I play that style ... as if it is brand new or something ....well I guess it still is to some....
.... but I get questions about what the hell I am doing .... and now I can just reference this video and make my life a whole lot easier ... hahaha

thanks again

great stuff right there


You are very welcome mate, glad to hear it was of interest.

Not only is Questlove a great player, the mans music knowledge is insane.. I've taken many a listen based on his recommendations given in interviews - and have not been disappointed yet.

I get what you mean by about that style. It took me a while to figure it out back in the day and its still needs polishing, a fair bit of polishing!
 
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