The E.N.D.

ヒップホップからポップへの移行を完了したBlack Eyed Peas5枚目のスタジオアルバム『The E.N.D.』
2LPブラック・ヴァイナル仕様。

The Black Eyed Peas make effective pop/crossover music, but they aren't content to be disposable pop stars; they also want to write anthemic, vital songs that speak for a new generation. And so comes The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies). For every hyper-sexualized, by-the-numbers track like the hit single "Boom Boom Pow," there are message songs like "Now Generation," which begins, in cheerleader fashion, with the lines: "We are the now generation! We are the generation now!/This is the now generation! This is the generation now!" Led by will.i.am's production, which is continually the best thing about the album, the Black Eyed Peas move even farther away from hip-hop into the type of inspirational dance-pop that has become ripe for advertisements and marketing opportunities, including "I Gotta Feeling" ("I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night") and "Party All Night" ("If we could party all night and sleep all day, and throw all of our problems away, my life would be ea-say"). Granted, there's nothing here as embarrassing as "My Humps," and the production is a shade better than previous material from the group or Fergie solo (although still not as good as will.i.am solo ventures), but The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) becomes a mess of pop/dance/rap crossover. ~ John Bush

いわゆるダンス・ミュージックとヒップホップが大接近を見せるなか、全人類のポップ・アイコンたるブラック・アイド・ピーズがその旬なサウンドをフレッシュにパッケージ。まだ早い?とも思えたハイエナジーな先行シングル“Boom Boom Pow”はまんまと全米No.1を獲得し、定番ネタの“It Takes Two”と“Think（About It）”を用いた“Rock That Body”ではフレンチ・ハウサーのデヴィッド・ゲッタを起用するなど、流行のモードを良い塩梅で落とし込む手腕に感心させられる。エレクトロにハウス、トランス、ボルティモア、ダーティー・サウスなんかを積極的に取り込みながら、キャッチーなメロディーやファーギーの歌声をカラフルに響かせた、最先端のパーティー・ミュージック集。とにかく刺激的で楽しい!
bounce (C)池田貴洋