White Album + Black Album = Grey Album

Grant B · 02-29-2004, 04:43 PM

I was at a friends house, who is a muscian and he put on the grey album for me. A DJ remixed the Beatles White album with Jay-Z's Black Album. I think most Beatle fans fall into the "Love the Beatles and Don't care for Rap" catagory.
I am not a huge fan but I do like it at times.

I like the mix a lot. It gives a new take on Music 40 YO and makes it fresh. Not everything works but it's pretty cool. Revolution #9 never sounded better!!!!! And to hear Rap over the Helter Skelter riff makes "The walk this Way" rap remake sound 2nd Rate.

Sound Quality is not the greatest but that's life.
Jack, have you got a chance to hear it???? Curious to hear what other Beatle fans think

Richard Gilmore · 02-29-2004, 05:55 PM

Didn't Prince do the Black Album quite a while ago?

Chris Hopper · 02-29-2004, 09:01 PM

And Metallica.

Grant B · 02-29-2004, 10:02 PM

I think even spinal tap did a fictious black album

Black Album [1980] - Damned
Black Album [1987] - Prince
Black Album [1998] - LSG [2]
Black Album [2000] - Edenpark
Black Album [2000] - Mad Trucker Gone Mad
Black Album [2000] - Junction Creek
Black Album [1990] - Kino
Black Album [2002] - K Otix
Black Album [2003] - Jay Z

Rachael B · 02-29-2004, 10:06 PM

Is it available in any other colours? Maybe mixed with the Pink Faries for a creamy look or with the Moody Blues for a stylish shade of robin's egg?

BTW, the discs came yesterday!

**HTF Ads**

Carl Miller · 02-29-2004, 10:32 PM

I'd like to hear it just so I could fill myself with rage, get my sledgehammer, start tearing down the wall in my basement and finally begin work on the planned dedicated HT.

I like some rap, mostly late 80's and early 90's stuff..But there are a handful of rock bands whose music I think should just be left alone, as is, and the Beatles are at the top of that list. No need to freshen up the Beatles my friend, just....

Let It Be.

Grant B · 03-01-2004, 03:13 AM

Rachael
Glad they got there; let me know what you think.

Carl
On the whole I fully agree with you. Most Beatle covers make me run for cover....
I had it playing most of the day and I gotta admit I like it a lot.

chung_sotheby · 03-01-2004, 10:46 AM

Grant & Carl,
Mind you, NONE of the Beatles songs on the Grey Album are covered, but ALOT of them are sampled, using specific beats or tones to create a whole different sound. I really like the album, but some of the songs are better than others. Specifically great tracks are "December 4th," "Change Clothes" and "Public Service Announcement." The level of sampling and beat-making on these songs rivals anything done by the early Dust Brothers. There are about 4 other songs which I think are equal to that of what's on the original Black Album, while the rest are not as good as the original beats. The use of the Beatles is a way of freshening up Jay-Z and his beats, which sometimes come off a little overbearing and overproduced, even with such great ones as Kanye West, The Neptunes, and Just Blaze.

A good thing to do is compare the original track from Jay-Z's album to the Grey Album counterpart. Amazing how the mood of a beat can change the tone of the lyrics, even though the lyrics are untouched.

I think it's a cool concept, with a few stunning results. I am just getting into mixing, but I have thought for a long time about sampling the Rolling Stones and other classic rock to create new beats, such as the beginning of Gimme Shelter and Monkey Man, as well as some of their other stuff

BTW, I am a Beatles AND a Jay-Z fan.

andrew markworthy · 03-01-2004, 12:03 PM

Quote:

It gives a new take on Music 40 YO and makes it fresh

Yep, that's what needs to be done: the Beatles sound so dated, while Jay-Z's music is timeless.

Tim Hoover · 03-01-2004, 12:12 PM

I received an email about this from a musician buddy of mine. EMI had apparently tried to censor this work on the grounds of copyright infringement. This past Tuesday an organized protest was staged online where over 170 sites provided the album for download. From the email:

Quote:

DJ Danger Mouse created a remix of Jay-Z's the Black Album and the Beatles White Album, and called it the Grey Album. Jay-Z's record label, Roc-A-Fella, released an a capella version of his Black Album specifically to encourage remixes like this one. But despite praise from music fans and major media outlets like Rolling Stone ("an ingenious hip-hop record that sounds oddly ahead of its time") and the Boston Globe (which called it the "most creatively captivating" album of the year), EMI has sent cease and desist letters demanding that stores destroy their copies of the album and websites remove them from their site. EMI claims copyright control of the Beatles 1968 White Album.

Mods: All apologies if I'm straying too far into the political arena. I'm trying to keep this post clean, but wanted to provide some history on this album.

BrianB · 03-01-2004, 12:20 PM

Quote:

I like some rap, mostly late 80's and early 90's stuff..But there are a handful of rock bands whose music I think should just be left alone, as is, and the Beatles are at the top of that list. No need to freshen up the Beatles my friend, just....

Except the Grey Album isn't "Beatles done hip-hop" style. It's not a cover album. It's someone using the White album as their only source of samples & instrumentation to remix another artist's album. It's an interesting use of the Beatles' music, and it's an interesting album to listen to. It's not perfect, but when it works, it works really well.