Welcome to rock-crit’s hottest new parlor game, whittling down the massive 39-track buffet that is Speakerboxxx/The Love Below into a manageable one-disc platter. Nick alluded to this phenomenon in his review, and while I happen to agree with his warts ‘n’ all argument against this kind of bastardization, the ADD-addled pop fan inside me can only listen to so many skits and can only skip over personal duds like “Happy Valentine’s Day,” “Roses,” and “Bust” so many times before I start wondering if there’s a better way. While I think that Andre’s disc is a fascinating and rewarding one-sitting listen, I’ve pretty much gutted the hell out of it for my one disc super-set, which looks like this:
Intro – 1:29
Ghettomusick – 3:56
She Lives in My Lap – 4:27
The Way You Move – 3:54
Spread – 3:51
Prototype – 5:26
Rooster – 3:57
Bowtie – 3:56
War – 2:43
Love in War – 3:25
Church – 3:27
She’s Alive – 4:06
Dracula’s Wedding – 2:32
Flip Flop Rock – 4:35
Tomb of the Boom – 4:46
Hey Ya! – 3:55
Knowing – 3:32
My Favorite Things – 5:13
Take Off Your Cool – 2:38
A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre – 5:11
My half-assed math tells me that’s under 80 minutes, but I could be wrong. Of course, if you pare that down even further to an indie-rock-digestible 11 tracks or so, you get a start-to-finish flawless classic that’s tighter than a fucking drum. Kind of puts Echoes in perspective, dunnit?