The Black Keys ‎– El Camino

I had to return the first copy since it was very warped. The replacement is a good record overall. Not the greatest, but it is a good sounding record.

Just a warning; this pressing is pretty terrible. I just A-Bed it against the digital recording and the stereo image is much smaller, really muddy bass output (weird that more subsonics have been added to a vinyl pressing: it usually the opposite) and very quiet - need to turn it up much more than my other records, bringing up the noise floor. A real shame.

This is a great album. I feel like they haven't lost anything yet. Brothers, Attack and Release and Thickfreakness are better.

Stop complaining Mind Eraser, Money Maker and Gold On The Ceiling are more than terrific!

... this album marks the beginning of the end

The power is there, the sound is there, the songs are there, The Black Keys are there.
But where "Brothers" was the sound of two guys strugling to get something perfect out, not knowing they did exactly that, "El Camino" is the sound of a band having experienced the reaction of the crowd to their previous record. With "El Camino" they didn't have to walk that same rocky road anymore. The album is again delightfully powerful, but the working-proces has been kept out of the studio. No pain, no misery. Just music, just good. No blues, just (en)joy.

After you remove wit, ingenuity, intelligence, soul, emotion and depth from the music of The Black Keys what do you have left behind? Not an awful lot you might think.

Just short of having a husk of a band making an empty record, the record is immediate, fun and bright but you get the feeling this thing is going to get tired very quickly.

The masses will love this record, just as they love anything that's vacuous, easy to digest and disposable. As such the praise this record is having heaped upon it is not surprising, just typical responses to a record that is immediate and fun but ultimately devoid of genuine substance, which is a damn shame.

Carney's drumming is monotonous and insipid, Auerbach's guitar work at times is very good but everything seems to be a cheap diluted version of The Black Keys. The vocals throughout seem lacking in sincerity, wit or soul which we would normally associate with Auerbach. The Black Keys have all the tools, they have all the talent but this does appear to be doomed to be remembered as an empty and forgettable record and even worse it will probably be the record everyone remembers them for. Is it soulless, forgettable and insipid enough for it to win a Grammy, possibly.

Edit: Jesus I was down on this. I'm not removing or editing the review but just want to say that although I stand by most of the comments it's not quite as bad as I initially felt and feel that it's solid rock album due to a few standout tracks with lift it our of the mire a bit. Think Scissor Sisters trying to make a Black Keys album.