Tomorrow “The E.N.D.” Begins! Black Eyed Peas Review

After months of their monster single “Boom Boom Pow” gobbling up airplay and iTunes downloads, the Black Eyed Peas are set to release their fifth album “The E.N.D.” tomorrow. No, it’s not the end of the Black Eyed Peas as the group you know and love, but a new beginning. As the intro preceding the lead-off home run single on the album states, “the Energy Never Dies.”

I had an opportunity to listen to the album in full this weekend, and it definitely lives up to the hype. Front-man and producer will.i.am brings the energy of his solo work to the group with some infused dance-pop and new take on the evolution of hip hop music.

“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.”

With the help of his pals apl.de.ap, Taboo, and multi-platinum female artist Fergie, he and the Peas offer “a lot of dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that.” Don’t be surprised if you start to think of David Guetta when tracks like upcoming second single “I Gotta Feelin’” remind you of the French DJ’s hit “Love is Gone.” Guetta co-produces alongside will.i.am on this and several remixes on the EP “Invasion of Boom Boom Pow.”

Overall the album showcases the group’s traditional style of bringing hip hop, pop, and a cartooney vibe into new songs focusing more on futuristic, heavy bass-infused dance tracks. “The E.N.D.” succeeds in reintroducing four seasoned artists and misfits into the “3008″ attitude that is shaping the latter half of this decade, where records like Justin Timberlake’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds” and artists like Lady GaGa have proven that there is a place for dance music to shape and redefine mainstream pop culture. Bring this record along as a trusty sidekick this summer and “let the beat rock” your iPhone, iPod, and satellite radios all summer. But don’t you dare say that S word on your standard radio dial or you may get Boom Boom Bleeped. FM radio, “your so 2000 and late.”

Album Review: Black Eyed Peas’ ‘The E.N.D.’ [Pop and Hiss - The L.A. Times Music Blog]

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