Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

Some killer, too much filler.

Some of this is okay but it is just too long to keep me interested. 2 stars or D+.

Fun in sections but goes on way too long.

No, I don't get it. Again just absolutely annoying. A couple good songs but listening to this as whole makes me want to jam pencils in my ears. And it's about an hour and a half too long

I’m not a fan of most of the lyrics.

too long

Came to this with a bad outlook but its better than expected. Everytime they sang ~speakerbox~ was fun. Ok the vibe change between sides? Oh yea we know Hey Ya!

It's ok, not my kinda thing but ok. High 2.

Why can’t a single song on this record decide which genre it is?

can't listen to all of it. got enough of it to get a grasp of them. they got a few hits i know but apart from those, there's nothing that would keep me from skipping that band

Hey Ya and Caroline are still great songs, but the rest of this album was very much not

Not a classic

Just doesn’t speak to me

Some good / iconic tunes but ultimately not for me

# Album Name: Speakerbox - Love below # Artist: Outkast # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Honestly, wtf is wrong with these people who think double albums are a good idea? For me this was extremely painful. 2 hours and 15 minutes. honestly, that is mental. Theres too many shitty skits. What the F is it with these skits and rap albums. I mean, what is the point. There must be 30 mins of skits on this thing. OK, thats an exaggeration, but theres a lot. It literally brings no value to an album imo. I would have gave this album a 1. However, Hey ya is a standout 5/5 track. That song was everywhere back in the day and rightly so. Its was a cracker. This saved the album and bumped it to a 2. # Top Tunes: Hey ya # Would I listen to it again? god no.

Not for me at all. There's the very odd (in both senses) moment of - of clarity, I suppose, of a simple melody sung in a straightforward and unembellished manner. I enjoyed those bits, but the rest of the album doesn't do anything for me. It's inventive, though, I'll give it that, and wildly eclectic.

A smattering of good tracks - Hey Ya, The Way You Move and maybe Roses. Not a great ratio for a 40 track collection. Even though it gets very eclectic, something about OutKast’s style I find very tacky and annoying and too often the songs just sound ghastly. 2.5 stars.

Pretty fun

Not my genre. There are some great things here but a lot that bores me, and the interludes really dragged me down.

Beginnt schnell, wird dann aber zu funky.

I always knew this was a double album but this one felt long!

Overalll, not too bad but I am not really into that kind of rap music, although that was popular at around that time. I was disappointed that the album was 2+ hours and had 2 Discs but I had it playing in the background. Then things turned into jazz at some point and after that - just weird stuff, where you weren't even sure what you were listening to anymore. The weird stuff was better than the beginning of the album, and the whole thing was decent while playing in the background, but overall a bit meh.

Not whay I was expecting. To be honest it was a pretty good album. W

Way too long. Good range of styles, but ultimately just couldn’t wait for this to be done

Not my cup of tea.

At last! A hip-hop album from after 1992 that actually sounds quite original! Phew! Sadly it's over an hour too long. Boo! Does take more than half an hour for all the n*****s and p***y and b*****s to appear so that's nice. It's still not very amazing, but it's less bad than a lot of the rest. I listened to it all in one go and now I would like my saturday afternoon back. I've mentioned time a lot in this review. Temporally challenging.

Outkast is the greatest hip-hop duo of all time, Aquemini is top 5 all time album for me. But Stankonia was the last album from them, I enjoyed. This was bloated, and lacked the same energy as and swagger as the their previous albums. Some bangers for sure, but not the same love.

2 hours too long. Lacks focus and interest. But, on the upside, it does finally end.

I’m not listening to 2 hours of OutKast bruh

Very long with very few highlights, Hey ya can't carry 40 mediocre songs

To long. Got bored. Like some of the music, the rapping not so much. 2/5.

Too long, too self-indulgent.

This album won a Grammy for Album of the year, which goes to show how irrelevant the Grammys are and how absolutely awful the state of pop music was. I remain astonished by the way critics fall over themselves to laud stuff like: Better come back down to Mars Girl, quit chasing cars What happens when the dough gets low Bitch, you ain't that fine, no way, no way, no way Better come back down to Mars Girl, quit chasing cars What happens when the dough gets low Bitch, you ain't that fine, no way, no way, no way [Outro: Big Boi] Crazy bitch Crazy bitch Crazy bitch Crazy bitch Crazy bitch Crazy bitch Crazy bitch (Bitch) Crazy bitch (Stupid-ass bitch) Crazy bitch (Old punk-ass bitch) Crazy bitch (Old dumb-ass bitch) Crazy bitch Nice. "Hey Ya!" is a fun song, but it's not as praiseworthy as many made this out to be. Mostly weak rap tropes and computer-generated, dirty R & B. The little 'chp chp chp' sounds and fake handclaps (I know, they make them sound even more artificial than they need to be for interest) are just on the cringey side of annoying. Still looking for the "conscious" rap here, maybe self-conscious, because it certainly is that. Like you're Gil-Scott Heron? Overrated hype train with no redeeming value except for the single. Way too long, took me three days to finish it and I felt like I needed a shower afterwards. 1 star for SpeakerBox, 1 star for the OH SO SUBTLE Love Below.

Speakerboxxx was ok, but The Love Below was not for me 2/5

I’m sorry but I’m not listening to an album that’s longer than an hour, unless it’s Taylor Swift.

Não consegui ouvir inteiro. Não porque as músicas são necessariamente ruins, mas elas não me pegaram, achei cansativo de ouvir. Fora isso, ele é extremamente longo. Uma versão com metade das música ou menos seria o suficiente.

Sadly, even with what feels like three days worth of music, this album has not changed my opinion that Outkast are one of the most overrated hip hop acts going.

I like this more than I thought I would but it's still not my taste.

Not terribly interesting music.

Not my sort of thing.. it may be good if you like that.. but to me.. it's just noise.

Outcast albums always a handful of good songs and the rest is disposable.

It's OK in places, cheesy in others. It's way too long and just not my thing, but better than most stuff of this type. 2

The first half is a 1 the second half is a 3. Sorry just not my thing.

There are some good songs here but waaaaaay toooooo long

Not really my taste of music, quite a long album. That being said, a few obvious bangers (Hey Ya!, Roses and The Rooster) and quite comedic interludes (Good Day, Good Sir).

Sekava kokonaisuus minusta, vaikka rakkausteema pysyy ja speakerbox muistetaan heittää väliin. Toki taitavaa räppiä ja featit istuu hyvin mukaan. Vähän vain tylsistyttää, kun jatkuu ja jatkuu eikä tule huippukohtia. Saksofoni välillä.

I can appreciate what it is but just couldn’t get into it. It’s also over 2 hours long.

It was okay

Too much hip hop for me

I'm not a huge fan. But it did have some 90's memorable hooks.

Not me at all.

Viel zu langes Hip Hop Album mit einigen hörbaren Passagen aber auch ganz viel Mist. Einige der 40 Stücke haben ein wenig Musikgehalt (z. b. „Love In War“ & „Take Off You Cool“) aber es gibt keine Song denn ich noch mal hören will. Dar schönste Song war der letze, weil danach musste ich nicht mehr skippen.

It took me way too long to finish this album. Hey ya is a tailgate staple...but I wasn't impressed by much of this.

Together Outkast created a lot of unforgettable hip hop. Andre 3k seemed to get most of the attention but this album shows Bog Boi deserved way more credit. His piece of the album is still fun to listen to but Andre 3k’s mostly sounds goofy and desperate. This album is too long, the skits/intros are unnecessary, and it’s certainly not a masterpiece like people claim. Nostalgia doesn’t equal greatness. Speakerboxx alone would have got a 4 but as a whole this one gets a 2.

There are a few tracks on here that are excellent, but the vast majority are horrible extremely profane exercises in debasement. And at 2 hours and 15 minutes length that’s simply too much negativity for me. I deducted a star for that touching moment he gets a toddler to say MFer….very classy.

The early 2000's radio stations ruined this album for me.

Back in the day, I preferred the love below. I now emphatically think it sucks. Dragged this down from a 3-4 rating.

4.82/10 Top 3 Songs 1. Bowtie (feat. Sleepy Brown & Jazze Pha) 2. Unhappy 3. The Rooster

Too long. Would have enjoyed it a lot more if half the tracks were cut from it.

Too long, but enjoyed some of it

I almost like this. Interesting collaborations, intriguing beats, and a good flow. But I don't. It's just a bit too discordant and noisy, shouty and aggressive, and full of random noises that make it sound a bit weird and over engineered. I did enjoy Flip Flop Rock and The Way You Move, but there were also some self-indulgent, artsy efforts like 'Where Are My Panties' which I don't think add anything of value to the album. Very varied and diverse, but it didn't chime with me, and by the end of the second hour I was just waiting for it to end.

I love Outkast but ehhhhh

Not terrible, but waaaaaay too long. I would have given this a 3 or maybe a 4 if it was half the length

Mmm lo intenté 3 veces..no pude

There's a lot about this album that is done well and I enjoyed it, although the double-solo-album format makes it much too long. Speakerboxxx has a lot of P-Funk influence which I really like, it shifts through several different styles pretty seamlessly. Top scores for creativity and depth on disc 1. The Love Below however, is a bit of a letdown. I really love Andre but this was just indulgent and juvenile. It takes the album down a notch, regardless of all the hits. There are good songs but I don't like the character skits between them all and I wouldn't play disc 2 again. Still gotta appreciate their individual talents and this avant-soul concept. Not as bad as ya'll made it out to be.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this. Speakerboxx had a handful of upbeat tracks that I enjoyed. Overall I liked it more than the more experimental The Love Below. The entire package is too long as a 2+ hour listen is a tall order. However I respect the art and what they were going for on the project. Not something I'll likely go back to but I might throw an OutKast shuffle on for the right occasion which would hopefully include a few tracks from this double album. The hits from this album definitely have staying power as I still go back to them from time to time. This was my first exposure to the full project and I'm glad I listened to it. I feel like OutKast was everywhere for a couple years following Stankonia and Speakerboxx/Love Below and I now have a better sense for why. 2.2 stars

Double album of Hip Hop is not my dream day. I knew a few tracks - Hey Ya is unavoidable - and excellent. My Favourite Things was fun, like the jazzy take. But the rest of the album - did not enjoy. Don't ever need to hear the skits. Can get why you'd like this if you were into HipHop - there's a lot of variety. Not me though, 2 hours was a slog.

Not fronting, I am not much of a hip hop fan. So, this double album was too self indulgent for me to care much. Required way too much patience from me. I respect that this is someone's favorite album/albums of all time, but to me it doesn't belong on this list. I sensed these were concept albums, but for the life of me I couldn't figure them out without studying the lyrics, and I am not about to read the lyrics of a 2 hour 15 minute long opus. I was unable to relate to the lyrics that I could make out. I think it was cheeky humor, but who knows? They kind of felt like soundtracks for a pair of "In Living Color" sketch comedy films that I never saw. Not fun, mostly just an endurance race. I enjoyed the instrumentation more than the lyrics. If I had to choose one of these albums over the other, I lean towards The Love Below more than Speakerboxx, but that could just be because I have more familiarity with jazz, and I found the jazzy, bluesy exploration of melody and harmony compositionally more fun than Speakerboxx's more straight southern hip hop, which has never been my jam. I did not particularly like any of the singles. My favorite track was the jazz hop instrumental cover of "My Favorite Things" from the musical broadway show, The Sound of Music, using, I think, samples of John Coltrane's My Favorite Things album from 1960.

Seems very long, but I suppose it is two albums in one. The first album has intros and interludes, which I always enjoy in an album. So far I feel like the first half would be good as like music whilst doing things or like background music to a dinner or something maybe. Super chill vibes. It really is oh so very long though. Probably wouldn't listen to it again, but would potentially play it as some background music.

Quite funny - not more ;-)

Het eerste uur is echt korvee. Altijd maar dat voortkabbelend geouwehoer, doe me een lol. Een vastgemetseld ritmetje dat maar door blijft gaan, met oersaai geklets eroverheen. De ellende, sodeju. Ik wil muziek! En dan op 56 minuten komt er een of ander orkest het podium opgeschoven, en is muziek zowaar wat je krijgt. Experimentele jazz met een metalgitaar, funk, wat gefluister en zowaar een leuke hit. Veel beter. Maar nog steeds aan de lange kant. Conclusie: dit album had gewoon in tweeën gesplitst moeten worden, zoals oorspronkelijk ook de bedoeling was. En dan deel 1 weglaten. En uit deel 2 even nog wat dingen schrappen (onder andere ook hier het geklets). Dan had deel 2 nog wel vier sterren kunnen krijgen. Nu wordt het luisterplezier teveel verstoord door alle overbodige ongein.

I really liked some of these songs in college, now they're barely listenable. Akso, I remember being pissed that these were two solo albums (how can you even call that Outkast). Speakerboxx: 2/5 Love Below: 3/5 All other real Outkast albums that came before this: 5/5

could be better…i only listened to the first few songs but i knew it wasn’t my vibe. sometimes i like rap/hip hop but imo it wasn’t done well. some harmonies just didn’t fit. the rhythms were off sometimes

You've just got to be kidding - more rap *sigh*? I hate it. This is getting ridiculous. In fairness, some of this is just 'meh', but most of it is just plain offensive.

Too long

2 heures et quelques, c’est beaucoup trop. La moitié des morceaux sont des espèces de sketch, des dialogues, des machins qui ne servent pas à grand chose. La partie Speakerboxxx (Big Boi) est plus correcte, hip hop bien produit mais lassant à la longue. Toujours pas quelque chose que j’écouterai volontiers mais bon. Pourquoi pas “Ghettomusic”. Par contre la partie “The Love Below” (André 3000) est plus souvent quelconque, parfois désagréable en partant dans plein de directions inutiles (y a du jazz fusion avec “My Favorite Things”…) entre deux interludes foireux... Éventuellement “Roses” parce que ça parle de poopoo (lol), “Take off your cool” assez simple. Et au milieu il y a “Hey Ya!” qui restera cool. Finalement au lieu d’un double album un simple single aurait pu suffire.

Not really my thing

Hip hop, but had some interesting instrumentals (acoustic guitar, some orchestral) and good vocals harmonies

This started as a promising 3-or-4-star listening experience, but it quickly became a slog to get through. Sure, there’s variety (especially if you’re a hip-hop fan), but any album longer than two hours is going to drain the listener of enjoyment regardless of content. Couple that with my not being a fan of the genre or music era, and you have a recipe for disaster. The album is somewhat salvaged by the backing vocals, horns, and relatively hit-or-miss percussion (the percussion has to be really incredible to make up for the fact that it’s non-acoustic). The second disc is noticeably better than the first, incorporating more singing and elements of rock and jazz, but it still suffers from the overbloating problem; there are plenty of lesser songs that could be left off the record. Cut every interlude and about half the remaining tracks on each disk, and you have a result worthy of its “classic” status. Some tracks that should be left in, primarily for their fun instrumentals and singing rather than rapping, include GhettoMusick, The Way You Move, The Rooster, Happy Valentine's Day, Love Hater, and of course the genuinely great Hey Ya!

2h15 lo escuché en su época y solo recuerdo "Hey ya" (que además siguen machacando en las radio fórmula). No lo he escuchado entero (creo que es de los primeros que no oigo de los más de 500 que llevo ya).

Not the kind of music I like

Listened in two days, tough, genre has to grow on me.

Good beats, not a fan of the lyrics.

It was ok. I like Andre 3000s style but nothing overall special for me.

Not my fave

3 Metà album fa per me L’altra metà no

Only liked the popular songs that were released as singles.

Ok. Not my style of music.

2 hrs and 15 min of hip hop. Oh yay (sarcasm). But the whole point of this thing is to get exposed to new (to me) music. So, let’s dig in…. Looking at Wikipedia, this is basically 2 solo albums from the 2 members of OutKast. I guess that’s why it’s so long? Breaking it down: Speaker box: starting w/ hip-hop isn’t my thing…. In that context, this album isn’t 1/2 bad. There’s a lot of 70’s funk feel in a lot of it, only moderately diminished but the synthetic rhythm section, this works pretty well. Too much of the vocals are still the “how many words can you jam into a phrase”, but they’re not every song is seething anger, which I appreciate. Still, there’s some songs that I don’t like, and there’s a lot more “n-word” posturing. I expected to hate this but don’t mind a lot of it. Still, at 56+ minutes, it’s just WAY too much. I had to take a break at 45 minutes, only about 1/3 through the whole set. A couple of these songs would fit fine on a playlist, but sheesh. 2.5/5.0 The Love Below: this one sounds a little more “organic”, at least a little. And perhaps more pop, than pure funk. But on the whole, not as interesting. I’ll rate this 2/5…. At best. When I started listening to this, I was thinking sold 3. But as it went on and on (and on), the rating went down and down (and down). Especially the second album. We’ll settle in at 2/5 though, because there were 3-4 songs towards the beginning that were pretty good.

y’all don’t wanna hear me you just wanna dance

Not awful but not my favorite. 2 of 5

worst length ive ever seen. (interlude) only hey ya (interlude) and Roses (lil big man intro) (interlude)

Oh man… 39 tracks? Who thought that was a good idea? I get that it’s a double album… but leave it at that. Keep them split. Oh well. The only OutKast song I’m familiar with is Hey Ya, and I enjoy it, so I’ll give this one a shot. Thankfully it popped up right before the weekend, as I’ll have to split this one over a couple days. Favorite tracks: Last Call and Hey Ya!

Small 3 or big 2

Generally not a fan of hip hop but I didn't completely hate it. I enjoyed the songs on the second half more than the first half. Fav songs: I Like the Way you Move, Hey Ya, Bowtie, Roses

This journey blesses us now with 2 albums in one. To be honest, this fact surely damaged the experience and the rating. These albums are an compulsory stop in the journey from classic hip-hop to the sounds we are used to today. OutKast starts with an uplifting and groovy sound in "Speakerboxxx*, while "The Love Below" starts with a more seductive vibe. I am personally more of a fan of the first project. But then, the major hit "Hey Ya!" works a breaking point to change the vibe in the second album. For a long listen, it was easy. Also, I would like to appreciate the more than welcome appearances of Jay Z, Killer Mike and Lil' Jon. It is always a pleasure.

Too long and too much shit In between the few good songs

Liked most of speakerboxxx, disliked most of the love below, 2 hours is too long, points off for skits

Respectfully, two hours is a long time to listen to anything, especially if it’s not your cup of tea. There are some songs I like mixed in with a lot I didn’t.

It was an interesting album. Much longer than my liking but it was all over the place in terms of theme. I did like a few but with that many songs, I would hope some were good.

Pretos.lol

As a hip hop fan, it really makes me sad this is a 2. I really wanted to like it but it is far too bloated.

Way too long

Great for its time

Oh boy you're in for one of the longest albums in your life, it would have been great if it were good but alas i'm not that fucking lucky.

40 tracks is insane even for a double album. Second half is much better than the first.

This album was way too long and incoherent, Hey Ya! rules but that’s the only track I’d go back to

That was kinda... a lot. Kinda too much.

A double album often means double the dread. The fear of how much time I'm going to need to invest in a single day to unpack all the tracks and form some kind of an opinion on it. Throw on top of that we're talking about a group that's unafraid of skits and other interludes a person can become quite daunted quickly. Good thing for me that I own this record already. ;) Someone else with greater powers of pithy summarization will come along and say something succinct. They'll impart a bunch of wisdom while displaying their impressive wit. Me? I'm here to say: it's uneven at best. The best songs totally slap and all that but you have to put up with a lot of other tracks where you can tell that OutKast was at a point in their career and popularity that they lacked a person between them or in their inner circle who could successfully wield the editing pen. It's always a bit of a let down when you hear a ~40 track double album that feels like it drags in places and you know it could've made a classic, all-time great record with 12 tracks.

Prefer the Big Boi material over the Andre 3000 side. Sprawling and ambitious which I respect and both are talented. But it sounds too busy and all over the place. Didn't click with me.

Meh.

I struggled with this. Sounds ok, but didn't click

This sounds like teenagers that got ahold of expensive recording gear somehow and spent a month jerking off in the studio. It doesn't sound bad, it's just not very good.

Like the way you move hey ya roses life in a day

The second album was a lot better. I appreciated the variety, but wow this was too much for me. Some good moments, but I don’t really like hip hop so it was hard to get through

Too long and filled with not good songs, but the highlights are really good

The first part sucked. The second part was a little better with some enjoyable moments. As an album it was way too long

This was way too long, and not that fun.

I actually didn't mind Speakerboxxx but the whole double album thing was such a slog. And the Love Below really sucked.

An argument for those who feel that double albums would really be better as a single album. It's good but there's so much fluff that is masquerading as songs. So much editing needed. Best Tracks: I Like The Way You Move (feat. Sleepy Brown); Hey Ya!; Roses

Had this sprawling beast on CD - you only ever listen to the Shake it and Way You Move tracks - the rest is just nurdling tomfoolery

Enjoyable in parts but unbelievably too long

Overall fine, but not sure any individual song was above a 3

Im not a fan of this album. its good but it's not my style my favourite song off of this is hey ya but otherwise not the easiest listen 2/5 i had to skip the rest of the album after behold a lady i just cant do it anymore

The music doesn't interest me at all and it was a challenge to listen to the whole thing. I lost the challenge after about an hour and a half and had to turn it off. Self indulgent and boring are just two of the words that come to mind. No.

A hip hop album with horns.

I'm pleased that I started to play these albums early in the morning. Two hours is a lot of music to take on board. It was too much for me. I sometimes struggle with all three Sandinista albums in one sitting. Apologies, but I bailed at track 9. It offered up some hip hop humour and honesty, but it wasn't enough. I prefer UK hip hop.

Not a fan.

It’s actually ok but really not my scene at all.

I liked the first half better, which is surprising since I really like Hey Ya. Overall was just okay and clearly too long.

Hey Ya is of course a brilliant song but good lord this does not justify its run time

Voor het luisteren: Ik ben groot hiphop liefhebber maar Outkast vind ik lastig. De hitjes vind ik leuk, maar verder snap ik niet waarom mensen het geniaal vinden. Tijdens Speakerboxxx: Ik vind de stijl niet fijn. Veel beats en geluiden irriteren me (net als de interlude/skits), de stemmen zijn slecht gemixt en niet goed te volgen, de meeste nummers zijn erg vergeetbaar. Zelfs als je dit deel los ziet van The Love Below is het met 56 minuten al aan de lange kant. Het laatste kwartier van dit album vond ik het leukst, vanaf track 14 tot het einde. Tijdens The Love Below: Klinkt alsof Dreeke3000 eigenlijk liever een musical-komediefilm had gemaakt. Zeker de eerste 7 tracks hadden in z'n geheel op de snijtafel mogen achterblijven. Het meeste klinkt wel aardig en muzikaal (vooral lekkere basslijntjes), maar 78 minuten is veel te langdradig voor dit. Teveel in zichzelf gaan geloven. Na het luisteren: Bij Outkast had ik altijd al het idee dat ze een grap maken die iedereen in de groep snapt behalve ik en dat is eigenlijk niet veranderd. In mijn ogen overschat. Kort dit album met minimaal de helft in en ik geef 3 sterren, maar as is worden het er 2.

i was freaking out, it's even long

Not for me

I prefer Andre 3000's The Love Below, by far, to Big Boi's contribution. But 40 damn songs? Come on guys, learn to edit, ffs.

It’s a lot of hip hop for one man

Oh my god, over two hours?!?! I don’t have the stamina for this, it’s Christmas Day for Christ’s sake. Obviously Hey Ya! and I Like The Way You Move are excellent fun time party songs. The rest, meh.

Oh my god this album is soooo long it started in the second Obama administration. It's so long Britain has had four prime ministers (actually that'd be true of The Ramones) before side two. There are other long albums I like, but there just so many skits, filler and so on that the album of corking material is quite lost. I have this and after listening to again am ripping and recycling. So this works both ways I guess.

p892. 2003. 1.5 stars Hip-hop/rap, so wrong audience. Limited talent spread too thinly over a double album. Pass.

Well that was long

God that was painful. Endless brainless album that I never want to listen again. Once was way enough and I even had to do it in two sittings.

Cut 35 songs - do a EP and then I might gave it a 3 stars. Way tooooooo long..

It was ENDLESS.

Wow... this is so uneven. Hey Ya is incredible and there are several other songs that feel like fully fleshed out idea... unfortunately so much of this double album sounds like one experiment after another. not really a full song, but an idea that might become a song, but they put it down anyway. Some of the later tracks (e.g. My Favorite Things) are also a pretty challenging listen. I wanted to like this more, but by the end i was so happy it was finally over.

Wow, two albums for the price of one. What a steal. I envy people who can somehow focus on a 2+ hour long album without having it turn into a mush of background noise. André 3000's "The Love Below" was generally more of my cup of tea, but even then.. the final 6 tracks or so were just an endurance test. Remember in school when we would all think "Ah, 30 more minutes of class left.. just gotta get through 10 minutes three times. I can do that" This album is the musical form of that. Speakerboxxx: 2/5 The Love Below: 3/5 Together as a front-to-back album experience, I'll stick with a 2/5.

First disc is better than the second, not my favourite, but not bad.

2/5 only a handful of top notch songs

Dit is geen hey-yah. (Geintje die staat er wel op) Maar bigboy hiphop en daar ben ik niet zo'n fan van. Toeters tussendoor ben ik wel fan van. Hey-yah Roses <3 Rest = meh

The singles off this album are strong but there isn't a lot else here, and most of everything interesting is on Andre's side. In over 2 hours of music, I expected a lot more. If you've heard "Hey Ya" then you've heard the best this double album has to offer, unfortunately.

Bem anos 2000! :-) Lembro que o Connan Mockasin falou que a única influência dele é Outkast.

i think this record is probably better than i think it is but it just doesn't do it for me, too jokey and not enough heart

I was familiar with "The Way You Move" and "Hey Ya." Not a big fan of hip hop and thought this double album was too long.

Good album very fun not a masterpiece by any means but good fun

Two hours? Nah, not into it. Can't exactly put my finger on why I don't like OutKast but there seems something grubby about them. Probably that "shit don't stank" line on 'Roses'. Grubby. The flow is great when it happens, but the beats feel cheesy and overproduced and the choruses miss more often than hit. I need to listen to their earliest stuff and see if that moves me. But this was a big wad of no for me. And don't get me started on that steamroller beat over 'My Favorite Things'. Maybe it's the drums I dislike most actually. Whatever, not a great experience.

some legendary songs but a lot of filler early 00s noise. bit of a slog to get through but I admire the effort. wasn't expecting a jazzy DnB interlude. 2.5/5

An absolutely exhausting double LP. Struggles to fill the time with interesting melodic ideas and bars for even one hour, much less two - some production ideas are interesting, but the absolutely limpid vocal delivery (save for some great guest features like Killer Mike) just makes this an absolute battle to finish.

This recommendation almost isn't fair... a FULL double album. OutKast are talented and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is an ambitious and impressive production. There is some interesting music on this album, but as a whole I did not enjoy listening to the album. The lyrics (words and general content) are not for me.

Fine. Quirky

Got about halfway through before giving up.

Intro meh GhettoMusick 1.5/5 Unhappy 3/5 Bowtie 2/5 The Way You Move 2/5 The Rooster 2.5/5 Bust 1.5/5 War 3.5/5 Church 2.5/5 Bamboo (interlude) wtf Tomb of the Boom 2/5 E-Mac (interlude) no Knowing 2.5/5

I really didn't enjoy this. Extra star for an all-time banger.

As much as Outkast are a nostalgia hit for me, this album is too long

who has 2 hours for 40 outkast tracks? like a good football team the sum of the parts is better than the individuals. outkast together was decent. outkast split in half both producing albums and somehow gaffa taping them together is just self indulgent and crap. still hey ya brings takes me back to the heady days of uni.

Oh yeah, this separate double album thing they did. I'm not listening to 2 hours' worth. Andre 3000s was better.

GhettoMusick is pretty good, I don't really like the slow bits though. Last Call is alright. Hey Ya is fun. WAY too much filler, this would have felt like a much better album if it was like 40-50 minutes instead of 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Massive double album with a few great songs and a lot of filler.

Honestly may have enjoyed this more if it wasn't so GO DAMN LONG. 2hrs 15 min is just too much and a lot of it just passed me by and felt generic. Obviously a couple of recognisable bangers... but not enough to offset the rest of this. Explanation: My colleague told me this one is so long because at the time Andre 3000 and Big Boi weren't getting on and refused to collaborate very much on the album, but were obliged to because of their commitments to their label. So instead they just did one disc each ha! Which is why it is Speakerboxxx/The Low Below. Literally just two albums dumped together

You could take 80 minutes off this and it would still be too fat

Holy cow, what a long album. I don't have the energy to write up comments on all ~40 songs, so I'll just sort of give an overview once I'm done listening. Speakerboxxx was fine. I'm not really well versed in rap, nor do I listen to it much, but I thought all the beats were fantastic! I didn't love the vocals for the most part, but there were some moments in some songs that had absolutely fantastic rhymes. Gotta say, did not expect to hear Lil Jon on this. The Love Below was also fine. Honestly, some of the vocals were fun, but overall this record was just not my taste. I can see why it would be on the list, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this any time soon.

I prefer not to speak. If i speak i am in big trouble

I quite enjoyed Ms Jackson when that came out and I was aware of Hey Ya! and Roses from this release. I really thought I might dig it but man it's a hard slog getting through these songs, especailly The Love Below. Faves: GhettoMusick, She's Alive, My Favorite Things

Wanted to like this more. Double albums are a huge turnoff in this project, but pushed through. Speakerboxxx felt like I couldn’t hear the vocals. The Love Below was better but mostly because of the instrumentals.

Enorme, ficou tocando e nem percebi os hits.

If this was just one album split in half, probably a three stars but this is just too much. Some good stuff in here but it’s a lot SORRY

Gewoon helemaal gedraaid! Omdat het me niet stoorde, maar zeker niet omdat ik het zo'n boeiend plaatje vond. Meh!

'Hey ya' vind ik een topplaat, de rest vind ik tamelijk nietszeggend.

the musical equivalent of corn syrup

As the title and album art implies, this is really two separate albums. Speakerboxxx is by Big Boi and The Love Below is by Andre 3000. The two albums are very different, almost contrasting, and it is difficult to see how they work together. You may put one or the other on depending on your mood, but it is difficult to think of circumstances where you would listen to both back-to-back (unless you are on a voyage to listen to the '1001 albums you must hear before you die' before you die, of course). Based on the write-ups, I had expected to prefer The Love Below, however, my experience was the opposite. Speakerboxx is a catchy, melodic, high energy, and fun hip hop album. I enjoyed this a lot and struggle to think of a hip hop album that I have enjoyed more than this. 3 3.5/5 The Love Below is high energy and a mish-mash of styles which is fun with some cool high points (including Heat Ya!), but the overall effect is quite jarring. 2.5/5. Together this gives an average of 3/5, however, I'm knocking a point off for the two halves not really working together. I'd like to know how this came to be one Outcast album rather than two solo albums or two separate Outcast releases. 2/5

4/10 Best Song - Flip Flop Rock

There are actually a few decent tracks on here, but the running time is in no way justified.

I don't like interludes. Some jams.

The hit songs are great but the rest are just ok. It's a long album to get through when most songs are just ok.

No album needs to be over 2 hours long. There's so much filler as well

It's alright, but not really my cup of tea.

The hip hop for white critics

2/5 naaah

Mmm Hey Ya, but wierd mix.

Interesting. Not a big rap fan but I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of genres present on this album.

didn't like it, could have easily been a single album, can't believe people will complain that jazz is the musician self-indulging but would listen to 2 discs of this

Overindulgent, far too long and with a lot of filler. Ghetto Musick is great, but it's downhill after that.

A couple of songs were alright, but otherwise imo it sucked. I couldn't get into it and thus I didn't end up finishing the entire album.

The Love Below gefällt mir um einiges besser als Speakerboxxx, das besser nie aufgenommen worden wäre. Überhaupt ist diese in keinem Detail zusammenpassende Zusammenstellung zweier Alben mehr als unverständlich. Es fehlt der rote Faden und es ist nicht ein Hauch einer gemeinsamen Handschrift ist erkennbar und lässt einen ratlos zurück. Love Below 4 Sterne, stellenweise sehr geil, Speakerboxxx 0.

The Big Boi album is the better of the 2 as it's more consistent, the other one is as messy as i remember. Hey Ya and a few others are brilliant but so many meandering annoying songs as well

I'm not doing over 2 hours of Outkast today, I'm just not. This will be the first time I've not listened to an entire album, but I just fucking refuse (I ended up turning it off on the second song of disc 2). aaaaaand it's just skanky late 90s hip hop anyway. I know these guys are in the list because they had a pop hit and the compilers of this list just go by that, particularly when it comes to genres like this, but uuuugh it's just boring and I can feel the gold teeth through the speakers. 2/5.

Vi la carátula, escuché los primeros dos temas, y desistí.

Not my cup of tea - over long and rambling

Not my kind of music.

wasnt able to finish, so shitty

I'm not a hip hop fan, but The Love Below has a cool jazzy vibe, so overall the album is quite acceptable. 2/5 mostly thanks to "My Favourite Things". And God, this is long indeed.

FINALLY SOMETHING THAT ISN'T ROCK! but damn it's long. I finally finished it. This felt like such a chore but since I had already listened to like 1/3 of it I felt I had to complete it. Tbh I skimmed parts of it--- because there are some great bits (inventive, use interesting sounds, jazzy bits, neat loops), and some very boring bits (very repetitive, uninventive loops, boring sounds, bland lyrics, just way too LONG). Boring bit examples: A life in the day of Benjamin Andre, most of the interludes, Tomb of the Boom. Good (entertaining/interesting) bit examples: She's alive, My favorite things, Take off your Cool, Unhappy. If it had been maybe 45 minutes, with just the best tracks and none of the completely unmemorable tracks, then it could've been really good. But as it is, it's 2 hours and 15 long minutes of intriguing ideas interspersed with unnecessary filler.

21/2

Not what I would actively seek out. But was not terrible....

Song 5, finally the first one I know. I thought I'd know more so far since it's Outkast. First disk was ok, nothing super special I didn't think. Second disk is definitely more artistic so far, on song 5 of it. Still don't really love it, but it's better imo. Ugh, I just can't with these lyrics. They're so...... raunchy. At least for my taste. Song 9 on disc 2.... finally another one I know. Ah, I know song 10 too. Overall, meh it was ok.

Not sure about this one- particularly didn't vibe with the first half of the album but the second half has Roses and Hey Ya so made it much more enjoyable.

Classic 2000's hip-hop that I never listened to/appreciated as a kid. Too outdated for me to get into it now, but it sure was a blast from the past.

meh

Ikke helt min greie. Veldig sann tekst basert, og litt lite interesant musikk for min smak.

Better than I thought, but couldn't finish it.

HipHop ist einfach nicht meins.

That didn’t age well, did it?

Niet 100% mijn ding. De hits 'Hey Ya' en 'Roses' blijven wel leuke nummers, maar de rest vind ik wat saai

The first album we see with a Parental Advisory. I was wondering why at first since it was rap for the radio. Once the bills were paid, the gangsta came out to play. I wasn't a big fan.

Hm, ja. Hm. Haut mich jetzt über weite Strecken nicht um, leider. Nicht soo gut gealtert. Machen wir Freundschaftspreis - 2,4.

Meh

meh. very not my type.

Niet echt mijn ding, al kan ik de funk en soul elementen wel waarderen

bagunça

Too long

Sorry, but I'm not bothering with a single second of a 2hr 14m running time from an artist that I already know I don't like, and have already awarded a one star rating to prior, courtesy of their other entry in the book.

so bad

Speakerboxxx åbner lidt svagt, men bliver lidt inde i det, faktisk et ret godt Hip-Hop album. SPEAKERBOXX: 3 stjerner The Love Below er fucking mærkeligt. Det giver mening at André 3000 render rundt og spiller fløjte nu. Og så er det selvfølgelig også denne del der har hits’ne. Det redder dog ikke den katastrofe The Love Below er. The Love Below: 1 stjerne I den samlede vurdering bliver jeg også nødt til at medtage det faktum at jeg skulle slide mig igennem 2 timer og 15 minutter. Hvis jeg skal lytte til så langt et album, så skal det fandme være verdensklasse. Og det er det her ikke.

Not much here interests me. Except hey ya. That's a banger. 1 star

This double album could have been a single album and actually the single album could have been an email with just Hey Ya attached. Rating: 1.5

While I appreciate the 2-for-1 feature, I can't say any of them was good.

cRap

Negative stars. Terrible.

Some good tracks, but mostly self-indulgent toss.

No me gustó nada y mira que los conocia y me gustaba miss jakson

There’s an OK 20 minutes hidden somewhere in this 10 hours of self-indulgent twaddle.

Not for me!

I can't believe I am saying this but I am DNFing this one. I remember my parents owning this album and never listening to it so...

Not for me

Score not applicable, did not listen to album

Me quedo con Hey ya y hasta ahí. Aparte es innecesariamente largo

2 hours and 16 mins of my life I'm not getting back. Unremitting tedium (and no, Hey Ya isn't getting it an upgrade). 1*

Much like the last OutKast album, this one is terrible. This one doesn't just have terrible lyrics, though. It has 40 tracks of insipid brain rotting swill. Peppered within are some "sketch" tracks, which is just a terrible thing to do to an album. Make a music album and go do your terrible sketch comedy or whatever somewhere else. I almost gave up on this album half way through the first track, but damnit, I just had to give this album its fair shake, and I really didn't need to. Any hope this album had for earning a 2nd star from me was dashed when it reminded me that the song "Roses" exists. They honest to God sing "Roses really smell like poo poo". This, after they've already said "shit", so, it's not even for curse word reasons. Also, the context is that the "bitch's bitch" he's singing about thinks her shit doesn't stink (implying she thinks it smells like roses) but he says roses really smell like poo poo, but roses smell nice, so her shit really doesn't stink and she's right? In a song where he goes on and on about how this bitch is a gold-digging whore? It's so dumb.

No es mi estilo, me parece muy genérico del estilo. Seguro no ayuda que no es en mi idioma. Pero seguro no es lo mío

Не люблю реп. Но heeeey yaaaaaa

Nah, none of this is for me.

1 disc was too much. Two was depressing. Lot of skips

hip hop isn't for me. but at least I gave it a shot.

Just awful 1

3 good songs

Not my type

Alldeles för mycket, lönge, många låtar. Orkar bara inte engagera mig i detta. En etta

One decent song out of 40

GOING IN: Quite hopeful LISTENED WHILE: doing laundry FAMILIARITY: Know the artist, not the album SKIP RATE: Gave up entirely REPLAY VALUE: Once was plenty DISCOVERY CURVE: Never happened ALBUM ARC: All over the place VERDICT: Bit disappointing BODY'S VERDICT: Statue mode FAVOURITE TRACK: My Rating: 1 Really disappointed with this one.

One of the only albums I didn’t finish on this list. I kinda liked where everything was going, but The Love Below felt kinda weird. DNF/5.

Not my cup of tea

Album # 26 Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Nobody forced me to listen to this entire album, I wasn’t held at gunpoint, my family weren’t threatened, there was no tangible pressuring encouraging to listen to every single track; and yet for some reason I felt compelled to. My feelings about this album may very well be exacerbated by the fact that I felt I had to sit and listen to it for over two hours, but if your album can’t be enjoyed in one sitting, make it shorter. I find it hard to believe that the highest-selling rap album of all time, one that has the audacity to last over two albums, has only one track that people remember. I understand that this is essentially two albums being packaged as one, but the fact is that it is listed as one album, so I will treat it as one. I’m already not a big rap fan, and this album summarises all of my preconceived grievances with the genre. The first of which is the length; it seems that every rap album goes on for at least an hour, despite being some of the most repetitive music possible. The reason for the length most of the time is that, somehow, a precedent started to add shitty skits in between the songs, which literally no one enjoys. Pretty much every skit on here actively annoyed me, especially Where Are My Panties. I mean, who is that even for? Are people just sitting around with their boys jerking off to an Outkast album? Both sides of the album have general themes, Big Boi’s half is mostly him trying to be taken seriously as an independent rapper and prove that he isn’t the Art Garfunkel to Andre 3000’s Paul Simon (very generous comparison), which is why he repeatedly mentions Outkast and their previous works; and calls upon big rapper features to add legitimacy to his side and give people a reason to want to listen to it. Andre’s side is essentially just him trying to prove that he is straight, being on the verge of busting on half of his tracks and skits. I very rarely like overly-sexualized music, and this is not an exception; it doesn’t help that a lot of Andre’s lyricism comes off as very juvenile to me, especially off-putting was his use of “poo-poo” in the track Roses (which somehow seems to be the second most successful song from the album. “Ya’ll don’t want to hear me, you just want to dance.”, Ok Andre, let’s hear you out: “Nature knows I want you, but not unless you want me too, so spread, spread, for me”, never has a lyric explicitly requesting consent sounded so rapey. Unlike Big Boi, who calls upon famous rappers to feature on his tracks, Andre only invites female artists. Which, judging by the contents of his lyrics, appears only to be in an attempt to have sex with them. Overall, Speakerboxx was mostly inoffensive and generic rap; I actually never actively hated it, though Church was a weak point as it came off as very loud and preachy compared to the rest. But, even though Andre’s side had the only notable tracks, it was the side on which I realized how much I was dreading the start of every track. I will never listen to this again; Hey Ya is the only song worthy of a playlist (except maybe the last track, but I probably enjoyed it extra due to the relief it was finally ending), and I know that I am probably wrong in having this opinion. Maybe if this thing were even just an hour, I wouldn’t feel this strongly, but once this discontentment creeps in, it’s hard to silence it when there is still an hour left of the album. Best Track: Hey Ya, My Favourite Things, A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre Worst Track: Church/Spread Score out of 10: 2

listened to war by outkast and i just knew i'm in for a boring ride.

Starting with the obvious, this album is way too long. Two hours and fifteen minutes is egregious. In the first half of the album, no songs stand out to me, and the choruses are lazy and repetitive. The second half of the album is a little better sonically, but the lyrics are definitely not. One star. (Favorite track: Hey Ya!.)

No

peakerboxxx / The Love Below feels less like an album and more like being trapped in two different rooms where neither artist knows when to stop talking. It is bloated, indulgent, and relentlessly self-satisfied, stretching a handful of decent ideas across an absurd runtime until even mild enjoyment turns into fatigue. What should have been two focused solo statements instead becomes an endurance test, daring the listener to find patience where none is rewarded. The biggest issue is excess, not just in length but in attitude. Songs ramble, ideas repeat, and whole stretches feel like sketches that never earned their place. The humour wears thin quickly, the genre hopping feels unfocused rather than adventurous, and the emotional moments are undercut by sheer overexposure. Instead of intimacy or insight, you get clutter, novelty, and a sense that no one involved was willing to edit themselves for the sake of the listener. By the time it finally ends, the dominant feeling is relief rather than resolution. There are isolated moments that hint at creativity and ambition, but they are buried under hours of indulgence and noise. This is an album that mistakes freedom for depth and scale for substance, and for me it is actively unpleasant to sit through

Not for me

Disc 1 - 0.6/5 Disc 2 - 0.8/5 Total - 0.7/5 As someone who doesn't like rap/hip hop this was an absolute chore to get through at over 2hrs. Hey ya & Roses on the Outkast album are such outliers on this record. The rest is slow, rap heavy, with silly interludes that add nothing. I think if this was 10-11 of the best songs I'd give it more of a chance and rate this higher instead of nearly 40 songs which are mostly filler.

Not my thing….

First off, the elephant in the room: this is two albums. It's not even one long album, it's just two separate albums mashed together. As a whole, it has its ups and downs. Speakerboxx is overall a perfectly okay hip hop album. The Love Below isn't great, full of just plain weird lyrics. That said, Hey Ya! and 35 minutes of filler would be a three star album. I think much like how there's a beautiful statue trapped in a block of marble, there's a good album in here somewhere, if only 90 minutes of meh music were cut out. Overall, this was a poor listening experience and a very unrefined album. It could have been so much better, which in a way makes it so much worse.

didn't mean much to me, felt like background music

Absolute garbage

This was an ordeal and I did not enjoy

Nix Musik! Geweiltverherrlichender Mist! Poser!

I read a lot from the American 1001’s who whine a lot about the over population of British punk/new wave/indie bands on this list. They may have a point but the same can be said about USA hip hop rap artists who want to invade my life with their violent and misogynistic lifestyle. One album popping up weekly is bad enough but fuck me two albums posing as one??? When I saw that I played my joker as I wasn’t even going to quickly skip through this filth. 0/5 25/11/25

Albums al gehad, was toen ook niet goed.

Nope - not for me…

Just crap

Crap

Not my style

Speakerboxxx is a 4/10, The Love Below is a 2/10 except for one song. No wonder I never hear anyone saying OutKast is their favorite artist. "Head doesn't count, right? Ah, thanks God, I knew you'd understand."

Nop

Nah

Really didn't think much of this album. It's Hippop and not very good. Boring, basic and his voice is grating.

Não é meu estilo

Firstly, this album is actually two albums rolled into one, which means it is miles too long. Secondly, it was dog shit, even hey ya l couldn't say this. If you are reading this before listening to it, then save yourself the trouble and use your time more wisely. I would suggest watching a good film, maybe 12 Years a slave.

Didn’t have time to listen to a ton, but first couple were meh, then it got pretty good. It’s a solid rap album but generally not my style

Not my taste

Not my thing

- niet afgeluisterd, vond het maar niets - 0 nummers toegevoegd aan MMMM

Too much crap

I still don't like hip hop. Sorry.

Crap

Too long, not my thing. I felt sick by the end of it 😂. They are not without merit and some tracks were decent to be fair but the sheer length confined it to the single star.

shit

The only song I know by OutKast is Hey Ya and I see why. It breaks out of their normal style for a broader audience. They have a well put together album, but their genre is not my style in the slightest. Roses was funny but I would not regularly to listen it...

Not my cup of tea!

This isn't really a double album as 2 single solo albums. The first is the usual dull formulaic gangster rap shit; just more Stankonia. The second is a slight improvement, more melodic, more singing, more listenable, same shit lyrics. And still, on both albums, the same tedious attempts at amusing 'sketches'. This was a real slog to get through. Over 2 hours. If it wasn't such a drag I would have considered 2 stars. But even though about 15 minutes is listenable, it's not nearly enough to drag it out of the bin. First album - 1 Second album - 1½ Overall 1 So with Stankonia and this, Outkast drop 2 steaming turds..No more, please?

Boring

C'est non.

Started to listen - but Pink Floyd just released Live at Pompeii. Bye!

This album was released before 2025 so it's shit

Not for me and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

👎🏻

Wow. Over 2 hours long for one good song? Hey Ya is fine and the Andre 3000 half is a bit better than Big Boi but the whole album is not for me at all and this might take the cake for way too long. Neither half is good and they don’t work together.

sounds like what you think it would judging by the cover

Not my jam

is their whole discography on this list jesus christ

Listen, I can't lie. I saw the length of this album and I'm not even going to try. There is absolutely no fucking call for that, I don't have TWO HOURS just to throw away like that. Sorry Outkast. Maybe next time.

Here’s the thing; I appreciate Andre3000 was a big deal in hip hop and he changed things in a big way, but this music just isn’t for me. I don’t think Andre had white women in their 30s in mind when he made this, and that’s okay! I like his Jazz flute stuff better.

Did Outkast ever make an album without a ridiculously fucking long runtime? What is this shit? I get it's a double album and the record label forced them to drop it as a single album, but what were they thinking? Surely you'd cut a bit of the fat off before releasing. This was painful. I always thought I was a fan of OutKast, but their deep cuts suck man. OutKast is just popular because of their hits (which are bangers, no refuting that). Let's be mathematical about this. The Way You Move, Hey Ya!, and Roses, total to 13 minutes and 18 seconds. The entire album is 134 minutes and 49 seconds. That means that 9.7% of the entire record is listenable and genuinely good music, and the other 90.3% is borderline unlistenable slop. Don't even get me started on the interludes and intros. Fuck me, what a slog. I feel bad giving this a 1, because ~10% of this album is great. Ten percent is not a big enough margin to save this album from a 1. If this album was maybe half the length it would save it, but fuck me. I thought I was going to enjoy this more than Stankonia, but that album sucks for other reasons, though length and interludes play a massive factor in my rating here, too. I genuinely struggled with this one, in fact I couldn't even finish it after 6 seperate attempts, with massive breaks in between. Hopefully this is the last OutKast album I have to listen to, because as I've discovered, I am NOT a fan. tldr; insanely overrated early 2000's hits album with runtimes too long and pre/interludes that are either extremely uncomfortable or a complete waste of time and exist for no purpose other than to annoy you

Not my genre and I don't get it. What is the purpose of having a duo release two single albums, mash them together into a single "double" album? It's 2 hours long and I want my 2 hours back because it wasn't very good.