Black Eyed Peas – THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES) (a J!-ENT World Groove Album Review)

GROUP: Black Eyed Peas

ALBUM: THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES) (Digital Version)

LABEL: Interscope

DURATION:  1:06:26

Release Date: June 9, 2009

1. Boom Boom Pow
2. Rock That Body
3. Meet Me Halfway
4. Imma Be
5. I Gotta Feeling
6. Alive
7. Missing You
8. Ring-A-Ling
9. Party All the Time
10. Out of My Head
11. Electric City
12. Showdown
13. Now Generation
14. One Tribe
15. Rockin to the Beat

The Black Eyed Peas (which consists of will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie) return with their fifth full-length album “THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES)”, their first album release since the 2005 album “Monkey Business”.

Their first single off the album “BOOM BOOM POW” has been the #1 single in America on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for 10 weeks straight and on May 21st, the group released their second CD single “I Gotta Feeling”. Prior to the album’s release, the group released a total of three promotional CD singles through iTunes which included “Imma Be”, “Alive” and “Meet Me Halfway”.

With the first listen to the album, one can easily see hear and come to the realization that will.i.am wanted to try something different musically for this album and in a recent Billboard.com interview, will.i.am told the music publication in regards to “THE E.N.D.”:

“It’s a diary … of music that at any given time, depending on the inspiration, you can add to it,” the artist/producer/songwriter explains. “When it comes out, there’ll be 12 songs on it, but the next day there could be 100 songs, 50 sketches, 1,000 blogs all (online) around ‘The End,’ so the energy really, truly never dies.

“I’m trying to break away from the concept of an album. What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs? That’s not an album. There is no album anymore.”

Many artists and groups have echoed the very same sentiment that will.i.am is feeling and in today’s modern world, people can pick and choose the song they want and one thing that this album has going for it is variety.

In 2003, “Elephunk” gave us consistency with hits such as “Let’s Get it Started”, “Hey Mama”, “Shut Up” and “Where is the Love”. And the other tracks showed consistency with an upbeat, urban style.

For “THE E.N.D.”, the album kicks off with their most successful CD single to date, “BOOM BOOM POW”. What I enjoyed this song is its bass-driven track with upbeat transitions. It has a nostalgic 80′s style but modern groove. Overall, a catchy and addictive track.

The second track “Rock that Body” is an upbeat club track that uses Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two” sample and features Fergie in an animated, sped up voice. Overall, this track grew over repeated listens and became one of my favorite tracks on the album.

The third track “Meet Me Halfway” is a Fergie vocal track that has an 80′s beat/groove. A nostalgic sound but overall, another track that grew with me over time.

The fourth track “Imma Be” is simply a catchy track and is a “My Humps” style of track on the album. A hip hop track that has another cool transition midway into the song and never returns back to the beat of the first half. Catchy, fun and overall an enjoyable track. The fifth track “I Gotta Feeling” is the group’s second single and a fully produced single by French DJ David Guetta. A very different vibe than other tracks on the album as the track is very mainstream in term of its overall musical style and presentation but you can’t deny how catchy this song is. Happy, upbeat and enjoyable!

The sixth track “Alive” is a mid-tempo ballad that utilizes the Auto-Tune is a will.i.am and Fergie driven track that has an early’s 80 groove but again, it’s a track that grew with me overtime and it’s so different from their past work that I really enjoyed it. The seventh track “Missing You” is an upbeat BEP-style of track similar to a style that we expect from a group. Catchy, upbeat and Fergie showcasing her vocals. Definitely dig the arrangement for this track. The eighth track “Ring-a-ling” is an awesome upbeat hip hop/pop track that is another bass-driven track with the group showcasing their rhymes. Overall, an awesome track!

The ninth track “Party All the Time” has nothing to do with the classic Eddie Murphy pop track. Of all the tracks on the album, this was one that I didn’t listen to all that much. The tenth track “Out of My Head” is disco-style of track with modern bass and deep grooves. The eleventh track “Electric City” features a catchy Fergie-driven vocal track. The twelfth track “Showdown” is an apl.de.ap and DJ Replay driven track. The thirteenth track “Now Generation” is a will.i.am’s upbeat social commentary on today’s generation of wanting things “Now!”. The fourteenth track “One Tribe” is a hip-hop driven track which features simplistic grooves to other tracks on the album and ends the album with an instrumental and experimental synth track “Rockin to the Beat”.

Overall, “THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES)” is an album that shows a more musically diverse side to the Black Eyed Peas. There is a real experimental side to some of the tracks on this album with an 80′s nostalgic side to some tracks and others that experiment with dance club but in the end, its a Black Eyed Peas album where you expect to hear rhymes and Fergie belting out vocals but it’s will.i.am’s experimental side that shines through each track and gives us a different side of the group that we have not heard before.

“THE E.N.D. (THE ENERGY NEVER DIES)” is an enjoyable album where many of the tracks in the first half tend to have more of a mainstream feel and the second half that lends more to experimental.

In the end, the album sports an enjoyable mix of variety that shows us that within the last four years of each member pursuing their own solo projects, the Black Eyed Peas (and each member) has matured and grown in different ways musically but when united, together they can really pull of some wicked, enjoyable and catchy music!