Let’s cut to the chase. Anyone expecting a record half as hook-heavy and utterly anthemic as last year’s super successful The E.N.D. is going to be bitterly disappointed, as not only does their new one The Beginning lack anything remotely like ‘I Gotta Feeling,’ it seems that their M.V.P. Fergie was having a bit of a kip when most of these vocals were laid down. Bar a handful of tracks (‘Just Can’t Get Enough, ‘Whenever,’ ‘Do It Like This’) she barely makes an impression.
That’s not to say it’s a dud album though: it’s just feels more like a solo release from will.i. am. rather than a group effort. The slightly ska feel of ‘Light Up The Night’ is a future club classic, the tribute to Chic and Blondie implicit in ‘Fashion Beats’ offers another solid tune thanks to some clever samples, and the steel drums and deceptively simple chorus of ‘XOXOXO’ are an unbeatable combination. Sadly, there are some turkeys in time for Christmas too, with the main offender being the Dirty Dancing sampling ‘The Time (Dirty Bit)’, which sees Will and Fergie channeling their inner Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes before everything descends into Nintendo-inspired blips and beeps. Plus, ‘This Is The Best One Yet’ really isn’t, in fairness.
While Black Eyed Peas’ constant quest to create new future sounds is to be applauded, this latest journey into the unknown would’ve benefited from a few more tracks like the Taio Cruz-esque ‘Do It Like This’ and the sprawling ‘Don’t Stop the Party’. Then we’d really have felt excited about their new beginning.
Key Track: ‘Do It Like This’