Album: Voodoo
Artist: D'Angelo
Release Date: January 25, 2000
Genre: R&B Soul
Length: 1:18:54
Label: Virgin Records
Producer: D'Angelo/DJ Premier/Raphael Saadiq/Dominique Trenier
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2012): #481
Rolling Stone Top 500 (2020): #28
I wish I was a voodoo doll and someone could get me out of listening to this...
The second album from D'Angelo, Voodoo was a success when released, peaking at #1 on both the US Billboard 200 and the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and has eventually gone on to certify platinum in the United States.
A laid back, sexy time album, Voodoo features gospel vibes across the entire album. Starting with the song "Playa Playa", D'Angelo gives a performance that could be seen as great, but eventually as the album goes on, it starts to become a tiring act. The funkiness of the bass combined with the angelic gospel sound, this album could have been great. Due to some strange production choices though, the album features nothing but songs that go on-and-on-and-on-an.....
The power of the bass keeps each song decently exciting in the beginning, but after nearly five minutes of the same beat, same sound, and same overall performance, the songs feel as nothing more than a chore to get through. One exciting thing to listen to in the album are the lyrics D'Angelo produces using his calming voice.
These lyrics focus on topics such as D'Angelo's views on love, becoming a father, and relationships in general. Even if you cannot understand the story behind the lyrics of some songs, based on the style of music, it is easy to assume these are the types of lyrics behind every song.
Each song is hard to talk about and give an honest assessment; except for minor differences, you cannot tell that each track is different from the last and almost makes the album seem like an hour and twenty minutes of one long song. The most notorious single on the album "Untitled (How Does It Feel)" is easily the best song on the album. Showcasing his largely falsetto tone, D'Angelo perfects the feel of a sexy-time song. This album is decent if you're going to listen to it in the background, but if that isn't your intention, that is where it falls flat because actively listening to this album quickly bored me into a sleep like trance.
This album is extremely hard to listen to in my honest opinion. While D'Angelo does show signs of talent, his voice is charming, the bass is powerful and when the songs do decide to add different sounds, Voodoo is great. Other than that, however, each song drags on and it's impossible to stay excited about songs that don't change except for a very small part six minutes into an already depressingly long song. One fun test to do with each song is to go through them, start the song, and skip to random locations. Did you hear a skip? I'm assuming you didn't because each section of the song sounds exactly same from the last section. I can understand why people would like this album as it is a nice low-key vibe that would be decent to put on in the background, but it is far from an album anyone would want to listen to and jam to in headphones. By far the worst album I've listened to on this list...so far...
Favorite Songs: I honestly don't feel as though I have any songs that I would put here
Least Favorite Songs: I also don't HATE any songs, but the amount of dragging on they all do just makes me not want to listen to them again
Production Quality:
Mix = 7/10
Innovation = 5/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 2/10
Lyricism = 8.5/10
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 5/10
Instrumental Timbre = 6/10
Group Chemistry = 2/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 2/10
Overall Rating: 4.65/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!