"Erase You" sounds sort of like a half-hearted U.N.K.L.E. song with Chris James singing over a drum-heavy beat. "What Have I Done" is by far the worst song DJ Shadow has ever done. It feels like a parody of new age music with vocalist Christina Carter saying things like "We all are together" and "I am your healing spirit" over acoustic guitars and airy background vocals. You're tempted to stop the CD and open up your player to make sure you're listening to a DJ Shadow album.
Chris James reappears on "You Made It." James channels Thom Yorke and/or Chris Martin on a song that apes early Radiohead and current Coldplay. That somewhat pitiful song is followed by "Enuff," arguably the best hip-hop song on the album. Q-Tip and Lateef The Truth Speaker appear on this song and it's quite enjoyable (and not hyphy).
With The Outsider, DJ Shadow has thrown his fans for a loop. On this album, Shadow is a jack of all trades and a master of none. Things could have been better if Shadow had settled on one direction for the album. Some of the traditional hip-hop tracks weren't bad and the thought of DJ Shadow as beatmaker for hip-hop's best is a tantalizing one. A pure hyphy album from Shadow would not be his greatest work, but at least it would have been consistent and somewhat enjoyable. Even a pure pop album would at least be interesting.
By combining all these types of songs together without some sort of underlying theme, The Outsider feels awkward and disjointed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with an artist wanting to do different stuff from what they normally do. The key thing is for the artist to realize they can't be good at everything.
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