1001 Albums Summary

It's nigh impossible for me to review this album in a vacuum from where I sit in 2025, for obvious (I'm assuming) reasons. Instead, I'll give the review that I feel like I would have given it back in 2010. Great listen, most for the beats and the features. The flows from Kanye (I don't think he would've been \"Ye\" or \"Yeezus\" yet in 2010) are fine. He's fine! But he's overshadowed on many tracks: by Rick Ross on Devil in a New Dress; by Rihanna on the All of the Lights hook; and by Pusha-T on Runaway and So Appalled. Several skips for sure, but the few great songs are legit great thanks to the supporting cast. (Fun fact: the All of the Lights interlude was my ringtone for several years.)

I love both of these albums (more on that in a sec). I love Big Boi's traditional hip-hop (but still with amazing beats and bars) on Speakerboxx, and Andre 3000's funky/soul-y/who-can-even-describe-some-of-it-y of The Love Below. We get hits, we get fantastic B-sides, and we get some of the best stuff from one of the best musical acts that we've ever seen. But if I have one criticism, it's that this was released as a double-album. It's HUGE. It's unwieldy at times. Each disc itself is enormous (19 tracks on Speakerboxxx, 21 on The Love Below). Smashing them both together is not only a long endeavor - over 2 hours, according to Spotify - but it's also jarring when making the transition between them. Playing this on random is a nonstarter. It's a minor quibble though. These albums are both classics.